Over the years, starting in my early 20’s, I started to integrate habit building into my life. I quickly realized it made my life easier and helped me grow. At the time, I was more interested in ease and streamlining tasks to be faster. By now (in my 30’s), I’ve come to the realization that habits greatly define people and vastly affect their happiness, well being and success in life. From hobbies & passions to health goals to success in business, applying habits is what gets you to the mastery level. Without consistent daily or weekly habits, you won’t be able to master anything. Have some epic goals in mind? Start implementing habit building to get you there quickly!
Here’s 5 Holistic lifestyle Habits I think are must haves for everyone. They’re easy to integrate into any lifestyle and will help improve the mind, body and soul (all aspects of your well being).
1. Self Care - You’ve only got 1 body and mind, so you need to take care of it. Most people today have such busy and complicated schedules, they don’t carve out enough time for a self care routine. But if you want to feel and look your best, and age gracefully, don’t ignore your body's needs now. This might look a little different for everyone. If you’re a server on your feet all day, get a foot massage once per month. If your work is physically or mentally stressful, get deep tissue massages & meditate regularly to relax & reset the body & mind. If you’re looking for youthful skin, commit to a natural skin care routine daily/weekly etc. Take some time to think about what would personally benefit your body and mind, and start doing it on a regular basis.
2. Meditation - This is now being extensively studied by scientists worldwide, and the data is in! Meditation has been PROVEN to help improve focus, concentration, self-esteem, reduce anxiety, improve pain tolerance, improve emotional regulation and attention, and even help fight substance addiction. My personal opinion is that it helps you be the best version of yourself possible. There’s countless free guided meditations on YouTube, Netflix and apps on all platforms to help you get there. Not to mention in person meditation centers (found in most major cities). Starting a habit of doing this each morning or night before you go to bed can quickly transform you mental state and immediately jump start life improvements. Start out slow and see where it takes you. You might be surprised at how much growth could stem from this habit. I started with quick 5 min meditations and this quickly grew to 1 hour within only 1 year of consistent practice. There’s literally thousands of articles and published data on the topic, but these 2 articles below are great examples of benefits.
This article perfectly outlines the more scientific benefits of mediation (from a mental and physiological perspective)- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/feeling-it/201309/20-scientific-reasons-start-meditating-today And this article help shows proven benefits from those headed towards enlightenment in their spiritual quest https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1697747/
3. In-Person Connections - For the love of god, put down your cell phones and connect with your loved ones! Actually look into your friends and families eyes and talk, laugh, cry and just plain connect. No devices, no video games, no movies, just hanging out and enjoying each other's company. Sad but true we actually have to dedicate time for this now. There is nothing more annoying or disrespectful than going out to dinner or hanging out with someone who is just sitting there staring at their screen… Why are they even hanging out if they can’t connect?! If you have too, have a no device/cell phone basket. There’s some really cool ones on Etsy if creating your own is not your fortay-
https://www.etsy.com/listing/739657379/unplug-phone-box-crate-wood-cell-phone?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=no+cell+phone+basket&ref=sr_gallery-1-1&organic_search_click=1&frs=1
4. Hydration - Swap out drinks for water! Seems silly and simple, but a lot of people struggle with Soda and alcohol addictions. If you wouldn’t feed that to plants or animals, why are you consuming it? Most processed drinks are full of sugary chemical garbage. Coca Cola can be used to clean engine sludge & pennies, gross! Making an effort to slowly swap out bad choices for good ones will make your body feel better and save a ton of $$$ in the long run. There’s a lot of health benefits from drinking water, besides hydration….check it out https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/290814 For most of my adult life, I’ve opted to have water at restaurants. This originally was because I found that the $3.50 ice tea was almost never fully drunk by the meal's end, what a waste of money! But constantly drinking water (specifically spring water) seemed to grow into a habit I love and will never let go of. I found my municipal city water is contaminated with disgusting chemicals. Check out EWG - https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/. You can enter your zip code and check the quality of water in your town. Spoiler alert, you might be absolutely disgusted at what you find. If you’re not lucky enough to have clean well water, you may want to opt for spring water or getting some serious filters in place. I’ve even used water filters on my shower heads for years. If you wouldn’t drink the chemicals, why would you bathe in them? This brand has some great drinking and shower filter options - https://www.aquasana.com.
5. Walking - Another no brainer, but something people are not doing enough of daily. Using a phone or watch step counter can help bring to light how many steps you’re actually doing per day. Did you know walking 7,500 steps (30 min at a brisk pace) can prevent type II diabetes, according to a published study Frontiers in Endocrinology. Park further away in the parking lot, take the stairs instead of the elevator and make a conscious effort to put those steps in! Walking helps keep your heart and lungs fit, gives you stronger bones, improves balance and can reduce body fat. One clinical trial even showed how walking can improve your creative thinking - https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xlm-a0036577.pdf Having walking dates with family, friends or even phone dates can help lock in a consistent walking habit, while improving your health and even creativity at the same time!
Happy exploring your newfound holistic habits!
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