7 Healthy Habits That Will Change Your Life!

Discover 7 Healthy Habits That Will Change Your Life!

These are 7 scientifically proven strategies to improve your life, health, and happiness.

Hydration for Detoxification

Drink glass of room temperature water with freshly squeezed lemon juice, first thing in the morning.

This is such a simple and powerful way to improve your overall health and well-being! When you sleep, your body is busy recovering from the day, removing waste and excreting excess acids, which is why our urine is usually more acidic (and more yellow) first thing in the morning. Creating an alkaline state in your body by drinking lemon water on an empty stomach, early in the morning, can boost your immune system function, and therefore help prevent disease.

It’s also a powerful way to detox your body as it stimulates the production of bile, which is the substance responsible for removing waste products from the liver. Additionally, it gets our digestive system ready for the day by helping produce more stomach acid and promoting healthy bowel movements.

Lemons contain compounds known as flavonoids, which have an array of health benefits. These flavonoids are antibacterial, antifungal, antidiabetic, anticancer and antiviral. You’re also getting some vitamin C!

Move Your Body For Happiness

Wake up your body by stretching or moving in a way that works for you. Try a single modified sun salutation to move the body and create energy flow.

Starting your day with a gentle stretch or movement of choice will boost your energy as well as improve your mood and focus for the day. It also helps improve posture and alleviate aches and pains.

Movement has been found to improve cognition and mood, which may be due to the release of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). Yoga, in particular, has been found to reduce feelings of depression and anxiety.

Those who practice yoga regularly have been found to enjoy additional benefits, including lower levels of inflammation, improved heart health and better-quality sleep.

Try a free yoga sequence from YouTube!

Meditate to Reduce Stress

Still your mind with a short meditation practice. Take a moment to say a prayer of gratitude or visualize your day, goals, body, health, abundance, and your best life.

Meditation is a powerful tool, which allows you to unlock a sense of stillness and peace, even in the busiest of times. Two practices we love to focus on whilst meditating are visualization and gratitude.

Visualization has a profound impact on our psychology. There is so much emerging research regarding visualizations! Elite level athletes train their minds before big games and matches by visualizing how they want it to go. Studies have also shown that those who visualized playing the piano had the same improvements as those who actually practiced playing the piano.

Our minds are so powerful and our brain doesn’t know the difference between us thinking about something vs us doing something physically. So why not put your mind to good use? Prune those neuronal pathways in positive direction.

Another focus we like to have is gratitude. Taking some time during your practice to focus on gratitude can be powerful. Studies have found that those who habitually focus on and appreciate the positive aspects of life through a gratitude practice, experience greater levels of happiness and well-being. The benefits range from improved moods, stronger relationships, better health outcomes and overall happiness. When we focus on positive aspects of life, more of those positive things will show up for us! It’s just like when you’re shopping for a car and when you decide on the one you want, you start to see it everywhere.

Cold Exposure

Finish your shower with cold water (the last 10-30 seconds).

Cold water immersion (or hydrotherapy) supports the body’s innate healing power by activating the immune, lymphatic, circulatory and digestive systems.

It is such a simple yet profound way to boost your health and vitality. Cold water immersion has been utilized for centuries! Think of the polar bear dip, or the spas in Europe! It has been found to activate your “disease-fighting” white immune cells. It also up-regulates your lymphatic system, which is a network of vessels that support the body to cleanse itself of waste, bacteria, and microbes. Cold water therapy causes these vessels to contract and pump the lymph fluid around the body, thereby removing accumulated waste.

It also stimulates blood flow, forcing blood to vital organs and oxygenating your whole body. Lastly it increases what is known as “brown fat”, which is a metabolically active type of fat that actually uses energy rather than storing it.

Breath-work for Increased Energy

Seven long, slow, deep breaths to calm your mind and body and oxygenate your cells. Breathe in for 4 counts, hold at the top for 4 counts, and breathe out for 4 counts. Repeat 7 times. This is also called Boxed Breathing.

This ancient practice is one of the simplest ways to reduce stress, increase alertness, and boost your immune function.

Practicing slow, deep breathing is an incredible way to quickly switch from being in the “sympathetic” division of your nervous system, which is your fight or flight stress response, to being in the “parasympathetic” division of your nervous system. When your body is in the parasympathetic mode, your heart rate slows down, breathing slows, there is increased blood flow to the digestive and internal organs and you feel more relaxed. The parasympathetic division is commonly referred to as “rest and digest.”

There are also apps that can help you train in this type of breathing. Check out InnerBalance by HeartMath.

Love Your Body

When you’re drying off from the shower and when you’re brushing your teeth, repeat a body love affirmation.

Body affirmations or self-love affirmations are a powerful way to promote self-acceptance, love and healing. This will help boost your confidence and bring more gratitude to your daily life.

Examples of self-love affirmations are:

• • • • “I am worth loving”
      • “Every day I am getting stronger and healthier”
      • “Wellness is my natural state of being”

Nourishment for Vitality

Enjoy a balanced breakfast of protein and healthy fat.

Start your day off right with a healthy and balanced breakfast. Adding a form of quality protein, fat, and fibre to your meals will help you balance your blood sugar levels and avoid “energy slumps”, and reduce sugar cravings throughout the day. Here are a few examples:

• • • • High fibre food sources such as vegetables
      • Good fat sources such as coconut oil, avocado, olives, nuts, seeds, and olive oil
      • Quality protein sources such as eggs, hemp seeds, chia seeds, tempeh, grass-fed animal protein, nuts and plant-based protein powders

Avoid known food allergens and sensitivities – these foods increase inflammation and will therefore increase number and severity of symptoms that you experience.

If you’re looking for more help with your mental and emotional health, please book with us.