Strøm Magazine

Spring / Summer Edition 2021

Editorial

A new era redefines our balance

Two issues of Strøm Magazine have been published since the beginning of this unprecedented period which has changed the way of living around the world. In the last edition, we reflected upon the collective issues that the crisis has brought to light: the place of seniors, marginalized communities and women in our societies, the mental health of citizens and the importance of local shopping, to name only a few.

Inspiration

The beauty that surrounds us / Interview with Kim Thúy

A writer for many years, Kim Thúy has also been a lawyer, restaurant owner, interpreter, seamstress, sharing her life between Québec and the rest of the world, where travels become stories. Born in Vietnam, she arrived in Granby at the age of 10 and has been lulled by the beauty of things ever since. It is with benevolence and simplicity that she talks about the passage of time and the stories that liven her up.

Travel

Dreaming about the world while waiting to travel it

Two thousand and twenty confused us. It is not easy to keep your feet on the ground and dare to plan a trip. But we cannot confine dreams. Our desires for elsewhere spark in our boiling minds. We think about those old projects, the ones we kept for later. It is now time to bring out our bucket lists. They give us joy and take us away from our daily lives. We then observe other horizons, other tomorrows. Because preparing for a trip is above all the beginning of an escape; it is those first readings and emerging emotions for another country.

Spirituality

Personal growth and alternative therapies / The flip side of the coin

In an era when alternative therapies are democratizing and multiplying, psychology and spirituality are used for several purposes: personal growth, the pursuit of elevation and the quest for happiness. For better and for worse! This article aims to demystify the flip side, when obsession and delusion dominate the quest for self-improvement. We seek here to analyze the contradictions that inhabit us, but above all to offer tools to overcome them by understanding reality as it is.

CULTURE

Three lessons from nature / To better meet culture

The fields of fir trees and the lakes camouflaged by the reliefs of the ground; the unstable network and the timid flickering of the Wi-Fi bar; unoccupied chalets and abandoned businesses… they have all been a real eye-opener for my relationship to the arts. Inspired by Thoreau and the countless voices of the call of the wild, spring 2020 and the passage of all its facets into virtuality led me to multiple adventures in distant territories.

ARCHITECTURE

The unfinished work as a mirror of our perception of the world

Each place, artistic construction or handcrafted object reveals the essence of the person who made it and of those who contemplate his work. The creations deliberately designed and loved for their flaws say a lot about the approach of its creator and its followers. Why would a skilled artist voluntarily take the path of imperfection by using raw materials, adding disruptions to his work or even exploiting the deterioration of abandoned places?

Recipes

Cooking outdoors

The beautiful season brings with it the desire to be outside after spending the winter indoors. We meet around the fire and together we devote ourselves to making original, comforting and satisfying recipes because they allow us to cook differently, to come back to the basics. An ideal pretext to reconnect with nature, discover local products, become one with the forest and breathe the air that we have missed so much, to the fullest. Enjoy your reading and bon appétit!

BORÉAL line

BORÉAL / A holistic ritual with high-performance skin care

More than ever, people are looking for effective natural products with a thoughtful composition and tangible benefits. Strøm Nordic Spa responds to this need and presents its BORÉAL skincare line, officially launched last fall. Deeply rooted in the philosophy of Strøm Nordic Spa, this range of products offers performance and naturalness, without compromise.

health

Orthorexia, this grey area of the spectrum of relationships with food

Well-being is a personal quest that punctuates the daily life of many and goes as far as defining their identity, their existence. Is it possible that the pursuit of well-being could, on the contrary and unbeknownst to the individuals, become unhealthy and negatively affect their overall health?

Society

The mental load

The mental load is a sociological concept that refers to the cognitive weight or energy spent dealing with day-to-day tasks. We talk about mental load when we think about the fact that we have to, for instance, go to the grocery store, plan our children’s lunches and prepare them before going to bed. Call the dentist to cancel the appointment of the youngest. Leave the office early Thursday to pick up the oldest from school and take her to gymnastics, while remembering to stop by the pharmacy to renew our prescription!

Science

The Automatic Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) / The science behind an astonishing phenomenon

Have you ever felt a sense of calm, comfort or shivers while listening to the rain gently falling down, someone whispering in your ear, or the sound of the waves? If the answer is yes, you may be one of those people sensitive to the Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response.

wellness

In search of well-being, quite naturally

During this difficult time, we are constantly told to “take care of ourselves”. While it is important to have the opportunity to be on our own, to refocus and take care of our health, it can also represent a challenge. We tend to get lost in the culture of “well-being”, without really knowing where to start, or even what really makes us feel good. One can easily feel a certain pressure and set off in search of an ideal, driven by a concern for performance or comparison. But what does it really mean, to be well, to take care of ourselves? This question is utterly important during a pandemic, when our benchmarks are shattered. One may wonder what are the underlying motivations for the different choices we make when it comes to self-care. In an era where some people expose on social networks all kinds of miracle recipes or lifestyles to adopt to feel “good”, let’s really think about what happiness means and what can contribute to ours.

Strøm nordic spa

Four exceptional havens

Located in the heart of nature near urban centres, Strøm Nordic Spa offers a moment of absolute rejuvenation to those who walk through the door. A complete and evolving thermal circuit, top-of-the-range treatments meeting the specific needs of customers, gastronomic spaces focused on the discovery and seasonality of local products, everything is there to provide an unequaled relaxation experience.

Litterature

Five books to see life in colour

What remains of the grey of our slump, our rose-coloured glasses and our dark clouds, after more than a year of hanging on and then falling off the rainbow? Has the concept of horizon become prehistoric, in the prism of our small-time areas? In addition to the blue of an all-Québec literary selection, the focus is on gifted voices who, beyond all uncertainty, have been able to combine colours to bring out theirs.

holistic beauty

Original beauty

If beauty codes have existed for millennia, the cult of body transformation has upset esthetic standards. A trend closely linked to the impact of new technologies on self-perception. Flattering, funny and (a priori) harmless, instant image retouching and filters to erase our imperfections have created a chasm in the perception of beauty and the esteem of women. Results? The digital generation would increasingly resort to esthetic medicine or surgeries in response to these new criteria of beauty.

wine

At the heart of winemaking

Of course, we drink wine for the pleasure of tasting. Because it’s good, always different, rarely boring. But we also drink it because it has the ability to take us on journeys, to bring us closer, to mark a moment that we would like to remember for a long time. We drink it because it gives us a feeling of well-being, a kind of morale booster.