Four natural ways to boost your mood and wellbeing

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The pandemic has had a profound effect on all of us, but there is a silver lining for mental health in the form of greater awareness and increased resilience, according to the AXA Study of Mind Health and Wellbeing 2022.

The Harvard Medical School Health Blog also published an article positing how positive emotions can help us live longer and healthier. While there are countless factors that influence our mood such as our diet, physical activity, amount of sleep, and social activities, there are also some simple things you can do to help you give your mood a boost that contributes to your overall wellness on the road to a long and happy life.

As a company that protects people’s health and wellness, AXA Philippines, one of the country’s leading insurance providers, shares these four things you can do to help uplift your mood and live a healthier life.

Look out the window and get some natural light. Being in an environment with access to windows and natural light can improve your mood and help your body deal with stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and even prevent infections, according to the American Psychological Association. Simply keeping your window areas clear and opening your curtains can allow maximum natural light to enter your home and give you a much-needed boost.

Unplug, at least for a while. According to a study, people who use social media for more than three hours daily are more likely to experience stress, anxiety, depression, isolation, and fear of missing out or FOMO. Try to make a conscious effort to limit your usage and log off from social media even just for an hour to focus on relaxing non-digital activities like meditation, journaling, or even decluttering. Something as simple as refraining from bringing your phone with you to bed can also help spare you from the unnecessary stressors associated with social media, allowing you to sleep better.

Get on your feet and exercise outdoors. Regular physical activity improves mental health and helps prevent and manage diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and several cancers. This can be as simple as taking a 15-minute walk outdoors or even riding your bike to get around instead of driving to nearby locations. Moreover, spending time and feeling connected to nature is also linked to cognitive benefits and improvements in mood, mental health, and emotional wellbeing, according to the consumer health education division of Harvard Medical School. If you live in the city and are unable to head to a nearby province to commune with nature, there are still lots of ways to enjoy the outdoors, such as taking a walk at a strip mall, or doing activities like cycling, jogging, and doing yoga in an outside.

Build meaningful connections. Filipinos are known to have strong family ties, giving them a support system made up of generations of family members. This is just one example of how we make positive personal connections in life. Personal connection creates emotional stimulation, which is an automatic mood booster, according to a study by Harvard University School of Public Health Study. The AXA Study of Mind Health and Wellbeing also identified connectedness as one of the 10 key skills that help one become ‘fit to flourish,’ reaching the peak of mental health.

On the other hand, people with fewer active social contacts are at greater risk for cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, cancer, delayed cancer recovery, slower wound healing, and mental health concerns. While activities such as volunteering and meeting up with loved ones can help you build meaningful connections, talking to mental health professionals can also help improve not only your mental health but also your overall health. By talking about your feelings and being honest and open, you can get the support that best suits your needs.

When we feel safe and protected, we find it easier to relax or focus on the things we need and want to do, resulting in better overall wellness. That’s why for many people, having health insurance coverage equates to peace of mind because of the feeling of security and protection that it gives.

For health care protection needs, Health Care Access from AXA Philippines is a comprehensive and affordable health care solution for hospitalization and medical needs. It comes with 24/7 teleconsultation, a Longevity Fund that you can use for medical emergencies when you reach age 76 and up, and life and accident coverage up to P500,000. Moreover, AXA also offers Health Max, a lifetime health coverage which has a critical illness coverage against 56 major and 18 minor conditions until age 100, plus an Advance Health Fund for medical emergencies, and life insurance.

Knowing you have a reliable partner like AXA Philippines to support your wellbeing through life can empower you to keep doing what matters most to you. To know more about AXA Health Care Access and Health Max, visit https://www.axa.com.ph/health-protection/health-care-access and https://www.axa.com.ph/health-protection/health-max.

UNIQLO Launches PEACE FOR ALL Charity T-shirt Project

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Global apparel retailer UNIQLO today announces the launch of PEACE FOR ALL, an ongoing commitment to support peace efforts worldwide that uses UT (UNIQLO T-shirt) as the means for everyone to express their individuality. 

Conducted in collaboration with world-renowned leaders in the areas of art, design, literature, science and sport, PEACE FOR ALL aims to raise funds by selling T-shirts with designs that convey a desire for peace. UNIQLO parent company Fast Retailing Co., Ltd. will donate all profits from sales, no less than 20% of the sales price of each shirt, to organizations that provide humanitarian aid to those affected by poverty, discrimination, violence, conflict and natural disasters.

“In May this year, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, announced that the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide now exceeds 100 million. For people who have been forced to flee their homes, support such as clothing, water, food, medicine, and a safe place to sleep, are vital. Over the years we have engaged in a number of initiatives to assist those forcibly displaced, thanks to the support and cooperation of our customers,” said Tadashi Yanai, Fast Retailing Chairman, President & CEO. “UNIQLO ‘LifeWear’ is everyday clothes for daily lifestyles. PEACE FOR ALL is a new LifeWear initiative aimed at aiding those affected by conflict and war and helping to spread the message of peace all over the world. T-shirts have the power to convey a message. Even if you find it difficult to express your own voice, you can participate easily by wearing one of our UTs. The world needs peace now more than ever, and I hope that with PEACE FOR ALL, this message can be even stronger!” he added.

UNIQLO has enlisted initial participation for this project from five creators from various fields who it has collaborated with in the past and will have a synchronized global launch of T-shirts with individual slogans and designs on Friday, June 17.

Overview of the PEACE FOR ALL Project

Launch date:   Starting Friday, June 17, 2022

Product name: PEACE FOR ALL

Price:          Php 790

Sizes:               XS-3XL (Sizes available in stores are XS-XL; Sizes available inline XS – 3XL)

Availability:     UNIQLO stores and UNIQLO.com/ph

Special Website:  https://www.uniqlo.com/ph/en/contents/feature/peace-for-all/

Details of the initial five T-shirts that will launch starting on June 17 including profiles of their creators follow on the next page.

Tadao Ando “In today’s increasingly fragmented world, we need to reacquaint ourselves with the fact that we all live together on one single planet. That is why I have used this particular message. To achieve ‘The Earth is One,’ it is vital that each one of us thinks very carefully about what we, as individuals, can do for society.”   Urbanist, Architect / Founded Tadao Ando Architect & Associates in 1969. Became a professor at the University of Tokyo in 1997 and professor emeritus in 2003. His many works include Japan Pavilion for Expo ‘92, Church of the Light, Osaka Prefectural Chikatsu Asuka Museum, Awaji Yumebutai, Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Punta della Dogana, and Bourse de Commerce.
Kashiwa Sato   “I designed my T-shirt to convey the concept of PEACE, straight and simple. The repeated call for PEACE FOR ALL represents the feelings and voices of many people worldwide. It expresses a strong and heartfelt desire for a peaceful world.”   Creative Director & CEO, SAMURAI INC. / As a comprehensive “total producer” for brand strategies, he collaborates with a number of leading companies on different projects. He produced the launch of UNIQLO’s UT brand in 2007.
INES DE LA FRESSANGE   “Today designers and fashion brands must be generous and think firmly about the world and about humanity. I believe people will enjoy participating in this new and ongoing commitment and in expressing their views about peace in such a pacific way. Don’t you want to wear this T-shirt?”   Model and designer / Ines de la Fressange started her career at the age of 17 as a model. A much-loved muse for multiple top fashion houses, she remains a symbolic style icon in the world of fashion to this day. In 2013, she re-launched her own brand, INES DE LA FRESSANGE PARIS, and continues to embody the concept of French chic as a creative director.
Haruki Murakami   “I just wanted to be of some use (maybe not much, but still). I think it would be nice to create a world in which people, and cats, can live in peace.”   Novelist / Born in 1949 in Kyoto Prefecture. Debuting in 1979 with Hear the Wind Sing, Murakami’s major works include Norwegian Wood, Kafka on the Shore, and 1Q84. His work has been translated into different languages all over the world and received multiple prizes, including the Franz Kafka Prize. He has also translated many of the books that influenced him the most, including The Great Gatsby and Catcher in the Rye. He has seen Harper more times than any other movie, and also loves the novel it was based on.
Shinya Yamanaka   “I took part because I wanted to do something useful as an individual in addition to promoting research as a physician-scientist. The ability of science and technology to change the world for the better is entirely dependent on the people who use it. So, I added the message ‘Humanity must progress.’ “   Physician-Scientist / Dr. Shinya Yamanaka was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2012 for successfully generating induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells from skin cells. He is a professor at the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application (CiRA) at Kyoto University, the Representative Director of the CiRA Foundation, and a Senior Investigator at the Gladstone Institutes in the United States.

 

Additional design creators after the initial June 17 launch include, in alphabetical order by last name (titles omitted): Ayumu Hirano, Rei Inamoto, Kosuke Kawamura, Shingo Kunieda, Christophe Lemaire, Kei Nishikori, Gordon Reid, Adam Scott, and Hana Tajima.

Donations raised through PEACE FOR ALL will be allocated to a number of organizations including the following:

UNHCR

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, leads international action to protect people forced to flee because of conflict and persecution. We deliver life-saving assistance like shelter, food and water; help safeguard fundamental human rights; and develop solutions that ensure people have a safe place to call home where they can build a better future. www.unhcr.org

Save the Children

Save the Children is an international NGO that works to make children’s rights to survival, development, protection, and participation a reality worldwide. It was established in the UK in 1919 and is currently at work in approximately 120 countries.

Plan International

Plan International is an independent development and humanitarian organization that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We believe in the power and potential of every child. But this is often suppressed by poverty, violence, exclusion, and discrimination. And, it’s girls who are most affected. Working together with children, young people, our supporters, and partners, we strive for a just world, tackling the root causes of the challenges facing girls and all vulnerable children.

UNIQLO will actively promote PEACE FOR ALL through in-store materials, SNS, official UNIQLO App, and the company website. Supporters of these efforts should be sure to check the special websites and in-store posters for more information.

UNIQLO continues to earnestly consider what it can do to create a future in which all people are able to live safely, as well as to bring about world peace, and make the world a little bit better. The company will continue to assist these activities and promote them further around the world.

DITO hits 9M subscriber mark, opens new cities

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DITO Telecommunity Corporation, the country’s newest mobile network operator (MNO) hit another milestone during the country’s 124th Independence Day Celebration by attracting more than 9M subscribers. It may be recalled that DITO first hit its one-millionth subscriber towards the end of June last year, a mere three months after its commercial launch on March 8 of 2021.

Atty. Adel Tamano, DITO Chief Administrative Officer said, “Hitting milestone after milestone, DITO is once again preparing for the yearly government audit and is confident of hitting 70% of the country’s population shortly before July 2022, allowing it to finally go head-to-head against the country’s two legacy MNOs in terms of presence.”

He further added that since 2019, DITO has been busy ramping up its network roll-out despite the difficulties of the global pandemic and has made its presence felt in more than 540 cities and municipalities, more than 110,000 sales touch points, built 20 DITO experience stores, erected close to 5,000 cellular towers, constructed more than 100 data centers, and laid out more than 30,000 kilometers of fiber cable to link the archipelago.

“We in DITO are serious about our commitments to weave Filipino communities using the DITO brand of connectivity and will move further forward to deliver,” Tamano stressed.

Later this month, DITO will light up barangays in the following cities as part of its commercial expansion:

1. Sta. Catalina, Ilocos Sur

2. Banayoyo, Ilocos Sur

3. Pasuquin, Ilocos Sur

4. City of Batac, Ilocos Sur

5. Labo, Camarines Sur

6. Buhi, Camarines Sur

7. Goa, Camarines Sur

8. Juban, Sorsogon

9. Pilar, Sorsogon

10. Tunga, Leyte

11. Tabontabon, Leyte

12. Santa Fe, Leyte

13. Manapla, Negros Occidental

14. Dumalinao Zamboanga del Sur

15. Tubod, Lanao del Norte

16. Magallanes, Agusan del Norte

17. Tiwi, Albay

Earlier this month, DITO welcomed subscribers from Paombong Bulacan, Ramon and Reina Mercedes in Isabela, Puerto Princesa Palawan, Pagsanjan and Pila Laguna, San Jose Occidental Mindoro, and Naguilian Isabela.

In addition, from April and May of this year, DITO has made its presence felt from Ilocos, Cagayan, Benguet, Kalinga, Isabela, Pangasinan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Bataan and Zambales to Rizal, bringing up the total area coverage of DITO to more than 540 cities and municipalities nationwide.

To add excitement to the growing achievements of the third major telco player, DITO also held activities to coincide with the commercial launch of Boracay in Visayas where locals were given a chance to be instant DITO retail merchants through a CSR program, and in General Santos City in Mindanao in an event held in partnership with SM.

“Day-by-day, milestone after milestone, DITO has proven to be a resilient and a positively disruptive force in the Philippine telco industry, improving internet speeds and providing growing competition against the two other telcos with the Filipino people emerging as the ultimate victors,” Tamano ended.

For more information on DITO Telecommunity, visit DITO’s official Facebook page (www.facebook.com/DITOphofficial) or website (www.dito.ph).

Make it personal: Name your Cherry Flask for free!

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There’s no other perfect way of showing someone how much they mean to you than by reminding them to stay hydrated! Make sure they get the right dose of liquid everyday by gifting them a Cherry Flask.

Here’s the good news to all vacuum flask fanatics, Cherry Home offers FREE personalization for every purchase of the Cherry Flask 32oz and 40oz. 

Here’s how:

1) Select a color from the following choices: Breeze Blue, Obsidian Black, Phantom Gray, Pop Violet, Bubble Gum Pink, and Varsity Blue for the 32oz. Meanwhile, you may choose from Breeze Blue, Obsidian Black, Phantom Gray, Pop Violet, and Valentine Pink for the 40oz.

2) Simply checkout your order from Cherry Shop PH and a CHERRY representative will immediately contact you for the custom text and your color of choice. Make sure to choose the one with a ‘PERSONALIZED’ tag on the product name so as not to confuse with the regular flasks.

3) For orders via the Cherry Viber Community, just send a message to the Cherry PH (Community) group, indicating your number of order/s, preferred color, and other details for the custom print.

4) Only a MAXIMUM OF 8 LETTERS per name is allowed.

The Cherry Flask efficiently keeps drinks cold for 24 hours and hot beverages at the right temperature for as long as 12 hours. May your loved ones be at home, in the office, at the gym, or out and about, have them remember you anywhere they are while carrying around their personalized Cherry Flask. Get the 32oz for only P750 and the 40oz for just P850 at:

Cherry Shop PH: www.cherryshop.com.ph

Cherry PH Community: https://bit.ly/CherryViberCommunity

Super Dads share how Fatherhood has Transformed their Careers

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Fathers provide, protect, and persevere at home and at work. In celebration of Father’s Day, three fathers from Shopee, the leading e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia and Taiwan, share how fatherhood has allowed them to become better versions of themselves, including at the workplace.

Martin: Evolving as a Leader and as a Father

Shopee Philippines Director Martin Yu has been leading teams to help businesses shift online through Shopee since 2017 and has seen the platform grow. As a father of two young boys, Martin has observed a common aspect between being a father and a leader that he now applies every day: the need to evolve. “When Shopee started in the Philippines, I had to be more of a coach, but as we grew and built up a larger team, I had to adjust my leadership style. I tried to foster a culture where my team is encouraged to speak up and contribute their ideas and initiatives. Now, my role is to ensure these align with our bigger business objectives.”

As a Father, Martin is mindful of how fast his sons are growing up and how he needs to similarly adapt his parenting style to keep up with their changing needs. “I encourage my children to try new things and try to be their buddy. I talk to my sons like we are friends now because they are developing their interests, and I want to encourage them to discover who they want to be in this fast-changing world. Looking ahead, I know I must adapt even more as they become teenagers and young adults.”

Martin’s ultimate hope is that his work will inspire his kids to pursue impactful careers. “My sons are still young, but I think it’s never too early to teach them the value of meaningful work that significantly impacts society and empowers them to pursue a career path that offers that opportunity.”

Michael: Building more Meaningful Relationships

Before coming to work for Shopee Xpress as a partner rider two years ago, Michael worked as an overseas Filipino worker in Taiwan, just like his father. Growing up, he found it difficult to form a solid connection with his father since their relationship mainly consisted of online video calls. When Michael became a father four years ago, he knew he wanted to be a more present figure in his daughter’s life.

As a Shopee Xpress partner rider, not only is Michael able to provide for his family’s needs, but he can also play a more active role in the lives of his two children, aged two and four. “Bago nagsimula ang pandemya, balak ko talaga bumalik sa Taiwan para masuportahan ko ang aking pamilya. Nagpapasalamat ako nang lubos na nakakauwi ako sa aking mga anak araw-araw dahil sa aking trabaho bilang Shopee Xpress rider. Dahil dito, mas nagkakaroon ng meaning ang aking buhay at trabaho.” (Before the pandemic, I planned to return to Taiwan to continue providing for my family. I am grateful that my job as a Shopee Xpress partner rider allows me to come home to my children everyday. Being able to play an active role in their lives has given my life and my job more meaning and purpose.)

One of the things Michael is most proud of in life, is being a present father in the lives of his children. “Ang pinakamalaking inspirasyon ko sa buhay ay ang aking mga anak. Ipinagmamalaki ko na natutupad ko ang aking tungkulin bilang tatay sa kanilang buhay.” (My children are my biggest inspiration in life. It is very meaningful for me that I now get to fulfill my role as a father in a better way."

Mark: Giving His Best as a Father and a Seller

Since becoming a father, Mark has learned what it truly means to work hard and persevere. He nearly lost his daughter nine years ago to biliary atresia, a rare condition that affected her liver and required her to undergo an expensive procedure abroad. By selling customized pillows on Shopee’s platform, Mark has been able to provide for his family’s needs, including his daughter’s regular medication.

As a father and a seller, Mark said, “Nine years ago, I fought to become a father, and I continue to fight for my family every day. When I started my online business, I struggled to get orders, but I persevered and gave my all for them. Selling through Shopee has allowed my family to reach many milestones like building a home and a warehouse. Everything I do, whether as a father or a business owner, is driven by my love for my wife and daughters. Till today, I continue to give my best every day, not just for my family, but also for my customers.”

By embracing their roles as fathers, Martin, Michael, and Mark have come to understand better how to serve their customers and their teams in their respective roles as employees of Shopee and partners of Shopee Xpress. Their meaningful careers have enabled them to make a difference in the lives of others – both at home and in the workplace.