Ferdinando shares with us a wonderful blend of olive oil and Tai Chi, for everyday energy.

Sardinia, this beautiful land where I am privileged to live, has very ancient origins. It is a mysterious land rich in smells, colours, and energy, a land where nature follows rhythms that are thousands of years old. Nature is very generous in Sardinia where more than 400 different plants grow, each one used for centuries for therapeutic remedies. One of my favourite plants is the olive tree, from its leaf the olive leaf oil is extracted which has incredible therapeutic properties. Olive leaf extract, with its Oleuropein constituents, is best known for lowering blood pressure and bad cholesterol, but it can also protect against oxidative damage, it’s anti–inflammatory and helps guard against cognitive decline. I have used olive leaf oil for many years, I love its wonderful health properties!

Editor note: Top tips for choosing a good quality olive oil rich in Oleuropein. (1) Look at the harvest date and when it was bottled, you want to choose oils with the most recent harvest, oil unlike wine doesn’t get better with age. In the northern hemisphere, olives are harvested in the autumn. Early harvested oil will be more robust in taste and later harvested oils are mellow. (2) Where does the oil come from? Not just the country, the specific region. Good quality oil will list the region; those that don’t may be a blend of oils from all over the world and simply bottled and shipped out of Italy. (3) Lastly the cultivars, what olives the oil is composed of. (4) Cold pressed olive oil is always our preferred choice as the process retains all the nutrients.

I like to start my day with some simple yet powerful Qi Gong and Tai Chi exercises. I teach simple sequences that anyone can learn and practice alone, wherever they are in the world. Ideally mornings are the best time to practice, to awaken the body’s natural energy. As a massage therapist I find practicing these routines really energizing; it puts me in a positive frame of mind, aiding my ability to engage and really listen to my guests needs and concerns, whilst also allowing me to transmit a sense of peace and wellbeing to others.