5 Rituals to Health
Health is our birthright, right? For most of us, yes. But if taken for granted (through neglect, poor diet and continual stress) you will soon experience the insidious nature of illness - mentally, physically, socially and beyond. Learning to catch imbalance as it happens is the fundamental way to long term, maintained health. There's no limit to how good you can feel, or to how bad. Your health is up to you - and the choices you make are the benchmarks to what lies ahead.
Here are 5 practices to incorporate into your daily routine. Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today.
I. Meditation
Entering into a state of self connection is first on the list. When we take the time to calm our minds, settle our bodies, feel our support and notice our breath do we truly connect to ourselves. This is a powerful place. Most of our experienced stress is a mental illusion with detrimental physical effects. But through meditation we can learn to curb the instincts that lead us down the rabbit hole of stress illnesses. The more you train your mind to enter into a state of presence, the more you'll be in control of the outcome of your life. Your thoughts are designing your life. With so many styles of meditation, there is one that is right for you. Explore the various styles of meditation here.
II. Movement
Movement of our body is so critical to our overall mental + physical health that it must be incorporated daily for basic well being - skip it and emotional stagnation ensues. What is emotional stagnation? It's that frustrating lack of motivation and interest that keeps you sedentary and your agenda chronically unfinished.
There are endless ways to incorporate movement into your day. Yoga - a blend of stretching and cardio is a complete exercise and will keep your body limber, muscles toned and mind calm. Learn more about the various types of yoga here.
III. Diet
Your diet is the fuel that determines your energy. Period. Food is either your medicine or your kryptonite and if you're paying attention, you'll know which foods are healing or hurting you. This is so profound and imperative to the trajectory of your health.
How good are you at noticing the effects of food on your energy level? A good place to start is to take note of how you feel post meal. Are you energized, or tired, foggy?
When we ignore the warning signs of dietary stress, chronic illness sets in. Most modern day diseases can be traced back to food intolerance that has been overlooked or ignored.
Don't undermine your energy, It's time to up your food game.
Plan your meals to avoid hunger temptations that lead to poor choices. Buy quality foods not cheap foods and take the time to prepare it. These extensive health benefits that will effect your long term health. Take it seriously.
IV. Social Connection
Believe it or not, connection to community is not achieved through social media. As it turns out, looking at your friends on a screen is not the same as being with them. Yet more and more of us are replacing realtime contact for this simulated, virtual connection. The affects can be devastating if not kept in check. Studies show that excessive screen time leads to depression, anxiety and loneliness. Awareness is the key to noticing if you're on the path to social isolation. Take the time to determine if you're getting the quality of social engagement that you're soul is needing. Are you being challenged? Are you learning? Are you sharing your lessons with others? All of these lead to a depth of happiness only achieved through face to face social engagement.
If your looking for community, please join one of our classes here.
V. Home Rituals
This is one of my favorites. The art of home routines and ritual is where the bulk of magic happens in our lives. How we live in our space plays an enormous role in how our long term health evolves. If you're days are meandering and at the whim of any distraction chances are you're inner life is also unstructured and off point from where you would prefer it to be.
Insert ritual. Here you lay out the routine of your day to be in alignment with you're health goals. Ritual is simply creating the space in your day to incorporate the things that matter to you. Here is an example of a routine that incorporates self care rituals:
- morning meditation, 10 minutes
- morning stretching, 10 minutes
- warm herbal potion, 5 minutes
- journaling + daily agenda, 20 minutes
- mid day meditation + stretching, 10 minutes
- dinner with friends (you host) 1x weekly, 1.5 hours
- mineral salts bath, 30 minutes
- reading (actual paper book), 30 minutes
- bedtime golden milk potion, 10 minutes
Take the time to infuse richness into your home routine and the benefits of a calmer, happier life will ensue.
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