“24 HOURS OF SMART, INTENTIONAL CHOICES- STARTING WITH THE FIRST 20 MINUTES OF YOUR DAY CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE.” AUBREY MARCUS
This all starts with the simple decisions you make in your daily choices and daily habits. Sleep, Nutrition, Movement, the way you react to Stress, Hydration, Time Out, The Breathe and Connections all have a major impact on your daily life, your mind, your body and your WELLBEING.
Today we are going to look into the last four on that list. (Please see prior blog for the first four!)
60% of our body is made up of water- our bodies cells rely on it to work to full capacity. We are starving for it every morning- but we tend to not listen to these signals and reach for a cup of coffee- which dehydrates us even more.
The first step of your morning should be to drink water- How much? It’s different for everyone but approx 500ml – better too much than too little. Whats even better than water? Add some minerals. Our body needs electrolytes and water to get the optimal balance right for cells to perform and hyrdation to be the best. Try adding just over half a teaspoon of salt and 1/4 lemon to your morning water to get a mineral cocktail. If you get cramp often- look into magnesium supplementation as well.
What about my coffee? We need to hydrate before having coffee. When you consume caffiene this lets off a ripple effect in your body- namely increases adrenaline and cortisol- yes- these are your stress hormones. If you are an already high stressed, high aniety and highly strung person- this coffee is doing you no favours. By saving it for later in the day when you are hydrated and can have it with some healthy fats- this will decrease the negative effects it has on your body.
Our bodies were made to live in our PNS nervous system (Relax, Restore, Repair), and sometimes go into our SNS nervous system (Fight or Flight response). Due to our busy and stressed lifestyles now- we tend to live more in our SNS then our PNS…and this is causing major problems to our health. Yes- we need more down time. Our body, our mind and our wellbeing all crave the drop of stress hormones and the increase in happy hormones…. and we need to promote this DAILY.
What is one thing you can do every day that you know relaxes you? Try and build a habit to do this daily. Waiting for your long weekend away or the next school holidays is not going to cut it. We need to be doing more things we love to do EVERY day. So put your phone in a different room, switch off, relax- and enjoy the benefits!
Here are some suggestions to get your body from the SNS system to the PNS system:
I am sure you will know what makes you feel calm and what makes you feel happy- now how can you implement them into your life daily?
How we breathe sends signals to our brain on whether we are in a stressed or calm state. We can literally change the state we are in within 90 seconds through the breathe. When we are stressed we tend to take short, sharp breathes and our chest rises and falls. We want to send signals to our brain to relax- to this we need to take big, deep, belly breathes. Practise this when lying down- put your hand on your belly and watch it rise and fall when you inhale and exhale.
Try doing this method of Dr Libbys to really slow down your breathe:
“Inhale for 10 counts, hold for 10 counts and exhale for 10 counts. Get in a comfortable position for between 5-10 minutes. You can extend the count of exhalations to 15 the more you practise.”
Dr Libby describes The breathe perfectly in her blog:
https://www.drlibby.com/health-wellbeing/breathe-yourself-calm/
Try adding The Breathe into every hour of your life- slowing down the fast pace we live in.
It’s time to get back to real-life connections. We feel like we are connected to many people, many friends and many lives- as we see their updates or as I like to call it their ‘highlight reel’ on their social media. But what really makes the impact on your wellbeing is being connected to friends, family members, your community, your neighbour, your partner… and every person who adds to your life! We get a dopamine hit every time we have a positive conversation or a good expereince- when we are surrounded by people that we enjoy or love- we are more likely to get these dopamine hits, which are amazing for our health.
Try to unplug and reconnect. This might be a phone call to an old friend, a conversation with your partner or flatmate, or it may just be connecting with yourself. Try and do this everynight- to forget about your working day, your adult self and your worries. Be present with yourself and whoever you are with- so you can reconnect back to yourself and what is important to you.
If you want to make your life better- you need to start with each day at a time. Try and add just one of these tips into your daily life and see if it makes a difference.
Happy Wellbeing!
Miranda xo
