Sometimes, we all need to step back and see what we’re not doing to live healthier lives.
Here is a list we put together which we hope you’ll find useful.
1.) Stay Hydrated
The best things in life are free! (or ought to be?) The human body is 50-70% water! The stuff is indubitably our most essential fuel and we have almost no limit to it so if you want to over-do something water is a good way to go. Water helps get things moving and keeps them working efficiently inside our bodies. If laughter is the best medicine, water must be the second best. In this day and age most people consume a diet of mostly processed and cooked foods, raw vegetables and fruits are a good source of H2O (coffee is not-a bottle of iced tea is not, caffeine helps dehydrate your body). Water also helps you digest those foods that don’t sit as well as fruits and veggies. Dehydration causes headaches, grogginess, anxiety, muscle cramps, and fatigue. It affects attention, memory, and brain cell function. If you exhaust yourself when you’re dehydrated you could even faint. Not getting enough water can really wear down your body. Time to start living the mermaid fantasy, keep yourself from drying out and your body will thank you.
2.) Get plenty of rest, both at night and leisure
People are truly the wackiest creatures to roam the Earth… why would society collectively choose to work 40 hours per week on their own? How much is a day of your life truly worth? $80 give or take if you’re a Starbucks barista, but it started long before adulthood. They start you off early, when you are about 5…by forcing you into a 35 hour work weeks starting at 7am, Monday through Friday, with homework on the weekends. So kids are in these full time positions, thrust into mini societies and forced to try and assimilate from an early age. Basically nobody is getting enough sleep these days, whether they’re glued to their phones or deep in existential thought, or binge watching some Netflix show, or like me laying there thinking, “what I am going to do tomorrow, or in a week or what I really ought to start doing/stop doing,” Basically trying to fix it all in one go.
Night time can be a beautiful time for creative thought. Dreams are one of the most magical aspects of human existence. Dreaming and sleeping are good for the mind, body and soul. If you envy the happiness of your dog or cat, try lounging around with them for a whole day and reading a book, napping, or drinking tea…it will be just what the doctor ordered if you are feeling over-worked…trust your intuition and your body, don’t fear being perceived as lazy, it is okay to know your own limits and try to use them while building a life for yourself. If you were playing a video game and a character in the game was able to charge up by imaging alternate realities for 8 hours out of 24 each day, you would probably think that’s awesome, but you actually posses this ability! Do yourself a favor and get yourself on a sleep schedule. Waking at sunrise and starting to get ready for bed around sunset is immensely helpful, and so is avoiding technology at night because those blue lights and energy waves really mess with us. Lack of sleep weakens our immune system and makes us grumpy. Sleep helps you focus better than any add medications ever could.
3.) Live In the moment
Deep within all of us lies a stillness, an observer, creation. We were all brought into these lives out of seeming nothingness (outerspace->earth->us), and that fact is far more interesting than the identities we’ve made up for ourselves to cling to. If we bring loving awareness into each moment and take life just as it is. Not always comparing things/people/moments to the past or trying to weigh out what they’ll mean for us in the future. Strip away all of the ideas you’ve built up around yourself. Use the stillness, the energy within yourself to tap into the energies of all things. Respect and care for others and the planet the way you know you should be respected and cared for. Right now is the only chance you have to change your life, to become a healthier person, to connect with those around you on a deeper level, and to become who you’ve always wanted to be. Every day matters, every choice matters, every second matters. Think to yourself, “Who am I right now, without my story, when my eyes are closed and my ears are listening for silence, when I don’t smell a thing and I’m alone and I’m for once not taking in loads of stimulation.” That you is believe it or not, far more capable of handling your everyday situations than you…the thinker.
4.) Make sure you’re getting enough vitamins and minerals – Raw foods are your best friend
Not saying go to GNC and spend $300 on a bunch of pills. Eat to live don’t live to eat! There is a direct correlation between what goes into your body and what comes out. If you are getting all of your vitamins and minerals and keeping your body alkaline and eating the right amount of food… you won’t get headaches, you won’t be irritable as much and you won’t lack energy. You can’t replace nutrients with material possessions. It doesn’t matter how much you’ve got going for you, if you aren’t giving your body what it needs then you are not living a healthy life. If you have problems with digestion, cutting out processed and packaged foods and incorporating probiotic enzymes into your diet will make you feel amazing. We tend to go for food for pleasure, but unlike the immediate gratification you get from eating foods we’ve become addicted to at fast food restaurant… you’ll feel the effects of fruits and veggies on your mood, energy level, you’ll see it on your skin, and you’ll truly love the taste of healthier foods once you can curb sugar, salt, and chemical cravings. Any ailment you’ve got, seriously look into a natural remedy and don’t be surprised if water, broccoli, and garlic can cure you. Comparing what spinach can do for your body to what pizza can do for it, it makes you wonder why they feed kids pizza in school but not bowls of spinach. Corporations have spent decades and numerous resources trying to get us hooked on all the wrong foods, and get us hooked on our excessive lifestyles. This body is your portal to existence, respect it, or at the very least know what you’re feeding it and where it’s coming from and what its effects are on the body, mind, and soul.
5.) Stay active
You can over-rest. There is a fine line and balance is very important in our day to day lives. Moving helps you move and groove. Simply waking up in the morning isn’t going to cut it. Go for a walk or a jog or spend some time doing yoga…it can wake up your body and calm your mind simultaneously.
6.) Stretch, become flexible, become emotionally flexible
Stability doesn’t only require strength but also flexibility. It’s a way to cue in your body to your life, “Hey body, I’m going to be strong and I don’t want to tear or strain or pull anything so it’s important that you bend with me and not against me”. You can will your mind and soul to be here now but stretching your body is what allows it to be here now as well. Don’t be so rigid and set in your ways! There is an exception to everything. Be open to the possibility that you’re wrong sometimes. With emotional flexibility you can experience whatever hand your dealt purely, without labeling it in your mind, and you can take life as it is, nothing more and nothing less. You don’t ever need to respond negatively and you don’t even need to respond at all.
7.) Connect with others and with yourself, Hone your intuition
Look into someone’s eyes and don’t think about much of anything at all, just feel. Empathy and love are what make life truly worth living. Really pay attention to other people. There is no need to dwell on people who are for whatever reason not in your life anymore, if anything send them love. Letting go of the past helps connect you to whomever is right in front of you. Don’t project your insecurities onto other people and don’t assume that you know their intentions, give them a fair chance. If their identity conflicts with yours then you don’t have to like them but that is no reason not to love them. Look for the soul in other people, look to strip away the persona. The more time spent genuinely interacting with genuine people, the more those types of people will gravitate towards you and the relationships you’ll develop with them will constantly blow you away. Safety and comfort come from the realization that you are not alone.
8.) Spend time outside
Every single thing is temporary. Most of everything we create. All of our biggest buildings have got nothing on the timeless design of trees. Get acquainted with your home planet. Every thing is alive and flowing with the energy of it’s creator, That’s why it is so comfortable to hang out in your bedroom (you’ve created it), but the more time you spend outside the more you see how comfortable you can be hanging out with earth’s other creations. Gaze at the sunrise, it will outlive you and everything you have known. Don’t let words like yard and tree and flower and weeds stop you from seeing the beauty for yourself. Knowing our words for something doesn’t mean you truly know that something. It’s impossible for words to convey the mysteries of life and nature. “ground” what of it? Sounds easy to over look… just something you stand on, rhymes with round, the surface of a beautiful blue and green covered rock hurdling through space. Don’t talk about the ground or think about it, get your bare feet and stick them in the dirt, it is good for you, and just as comfortable as a carpet. Once you establish a connection with mother Earth, the past and the future will fade away.
9.) Lean into your passions, find your niche
Reignite your childhood passions and you will experience more joy than you thought possible. Expressing your feelings and connecting with your inner self through art, music, even language, is the best way to stay rooted in the reality of the moment. Relating to color, shape, and movement can help you feel alive. Sing a song! Life is like a long improvisational song. Don’t pursue passions to “get ahead”. Don’t pursue anything on an egotistic level because it is bound to bring about more pain than enjoyment. Find what you identify with on a spiritual level. Build a garden, make some food, create art. How can you spend your leisure time in a stimulating way?
10.) DIY: Become your own grower, food processor, your own adviser and friend.
You are whole, just as you are right now. Be your best friend, grow your own food, make your own food, make your own decisions. You will feel waves of physical and mental relief it you no longer need to rely on The Man for everything. If you are choosing from a place of love then you can’t choose wrong. Cut yourself some slack and as Tony Horton says, Do your best and forget the rest. Nothing is guaranteed, so go for everything. Be a Jack or Jill of all trades.
