- Practice self- care. With all the many different aspects of our lives, we need to remember not to over stretch ourselves. If we can accomplish this, we can reduce our stress levels greatly and improve our overall health. An example of this can be taking 10 minutes to meditate each day, no matter what.
- Simplify your life. Ever felt “I don’t have enough time in a day to get everything done??” Every busy person I know must have said this at one point or another. So how do you simplify? Start by writing down all the activities you perform in a day and separate them into “must do” and “can do later.” See what you can put off or even “not do.” I know a lot of people who are guilty of saying they have to do a task when in fact the task isn’t completely necessary or it can be delegated to another person. Sometimes this means looking into yourself and finding out your own reasons for feeling the need to do a task.
- Start a journal. Taking a few minutes a day or a week to write your thoughts and feelings down can be a form of stress reduction as well as be quite healing. It gives you time for introspection about events, people, how you feel presently and opportunity for reflection later. Writing can help people grow.
- Spend more time with happy people. Have you ever noticed positive energy to be contagious? Well, it is! Positive energy can totally make your day and as an added bonus, draw people to you. If you haven’t noticed, people don’t like being around those who are negative.
- Get rid of any toxic energies in your life. So of course this translates to people. Whether it be a toxic relationship at home or at the office, negative energy really sucks the life out of you. The stress on your body negatively impacts your immune system, overall health and is completely detrimental to self-esteem. If you want to live longer, healthier and happier, cut out the toxic.
- Do things that inspire you. This can mean taking up a new hobby or volunteering for a cause that resonates with you. Feeling inspired can do wonders on your health, creates inner fulfillment, and helps you be the best “you” that you can be. How awesome is that??!
- Spend more time with loved ones. Pencil it on the calendar, be it once a week, once a month or once a year, make time for loved ones and close friends. They help us to stay connected and grounded in the world. The positive energy created enables us to deal with the stress of daily living. Spend more time with loved ones and be more energized!
- Increase your daily physical activity as per doctor’s orders. Walk more, drive less, get off the train one stop earlier, find ways to increase your activity level. Grab a buddy and go for a hike, walk the dog an extra hour. Any small thing you do will have a beneficial effect.
- Become better informed. Research, read more books and articles. Subscribe to a blog. Join a meetup or LinkedIn group to expand your knowledge and exchange information (C’mon, you can’t possibly know everything!).
- Learn more about your food (this one’s pretty important, your health depends on it). Read as much as you can about food: where it comes from, the processing, the chemicals used, hormones, antibiotics, organic agriculture, GMO foods, Non GMO verified foods. Do you know what residues are showing up on the food chain and in you??
- Reduce your body burden. Swap out chemical household cleaners for ones with natural ingredients. Simplify your beauty routine and reduce your exposure risk to toxic chemicals. Incorporate simple skin care recipes to your regimen. Use cosmetics with fewer ingredients and brands which are more natural.
- Be a well-informed consumer. Focus on what materials go into your lotions, creams, shampoos, anti-perspirants, eyeliners, face washes and BB creams; there are a lot of chemicals out there I promise you. Bioaccumulation is a topic we should focus more discussion on as more and more chemicals are showing up in our bodily fluids (like urine and breast milk). By the way, do you know how many chemicals are in your BB cream??
- Cook more meals at home. This gives you control over ingredients which can mean less sodium, less additives, antibiotics, pesticides, contaminants and healthier choices of protein and veggies including organic.
- Visit with a dietician. If your insurance provides coverage or if you’re able to afford it, consulting with a dietician or nutritionist can mean living a longer life. See if you’re eating enough nutrients, consuming the appropriate caloric intake and eating what’s healthy for you. If you fall out of range in your BMI, he or she can guide you to what’s healthy for you.
- Green your lifestyle. Turn up the green! (it’s fun!) Recycle, compost, reduce your carbon footprint. These all lessen our impact on the environment. A healthy environment is needed to sustain the generations yet to come. How can we produce healthy, toxic free agriculture if we only have chemical laden fields and water?
- Quit smoking. Do I really need to say more?@!
- Get a skin exam. Seeing the dermatologist is just as important as seeing your primary doc.
- Drink green tea. If your doctor gives you the green light, the benefits of green tea can be multiple. It contains polyphenols, which in studies have shown positive impact on breast, ovarian and prostate cancer as well as fight off free radicals. You can’t get these antioxidants by drinking plain water. Drink both.
- Limit consumption of processed foods. They’re processed with chemicals.
- Eat organic food when possible to reduce pesticide and chemical exposures.
- Try the non-medicated route to relieve aches and pains or headaches. Try for example, meditation, guided imagery or acupuncture to reduce pain.
- Give a different form of exercise a try. For example, tai chi or yoga.
- Repeat positive affirmations. The mind is a powerful tool, if you want something to happen, start believing and repeating. If you think it, it will be.
- Try an alternative therapy for stress reduction, to garner energy and help balance your inner self:
- Meditation
- Aromatherapy
- Deep breathing
- Acupuncture
- Reiki
- Massage therapy
- Sweat therapy
- Tapping
25. Work on awareness. On this final tip, I’ll leave you with some wisdom from Dean Ornish, MD. It can help jumpstart the behavior change you need.
“Awareness can help transform suffering into meaning and action and may even be a catalyst for healing. In this context, pain becomes information and motivation, not punishment” (I luv this, so true!)
Which wellness tips do you feel will help improve your health and quality of life? Which ones are you currently practicing?
If you found any of these tips helpful, please share this post with your friends and family.
I'll be hunting down more skin stuff for y'all, :@)
L