Would you say you have daily healthy habits? If so, what are they? List them out, not in your head, on a piece of paper if possible, if not your phone. What are your bad daily habits? Write them down. How many good habits do you have and how many bad habits do you have? Are the scales tipped or are they balanced?
Having daily healthy habits will change your life, and I say WILL with 100% confidence.
The 2 most important times of the day to create and craft your healthy habits are first thing in the morning and last thing at night.
If we don’t clear our minds and energy field before we go to bed, we carry the day's stresses and worries into our sleep and through to the next day.
Have you ever went to bed in a bad mood and the next day was filled with some unfortunate events that you ‘really didn’t need’?
Or you go to bed in a happy mood, you got everything done that you said you would, its been what feels like an easy day and you drift off into a peaceful sleep, waking up in the morning feeling refreshed and ready for a new day.
Healthy daily habits when done in the morning and evening help set you up for your day and help to close your day.
If you read an article/report/essay the most important part is the introduction and the conclusion. Without them it would just be a bunch of information with no context. The introduction gets you prepared for what’s coming and the conclusion summarises.
The biggest tip I can give you when it comes to habits is you have to stay consistent. As soon as the consistency starts to dwell your motivation will go with it. Start small. For example if you were wanting to read some of your book every night and you haven’t read in ages then don’t start with 10 pages. Start with 3 pages, if you read more then great if not at least you have accomplished the goal and this will be the catalyst to keep going.
I have been making cold water therapy part of my weekly habits. Twice a week I submerge into a tub of freezing cold water for 2 mins. I crouch in the tub, water to my shoulders, close my eyes, get my music on and breathe. It sounds awful but it feels amazing!!! The point to this is I didn’t start with 3x a week or 4x. I started with 2 because I knew it was achievable. By making it achievable, I made it easier to stay consistent which gave me the motivation to keep going.
So here is your gentle reminder to start being more aware of how you are spending the first hour when you wake up and the last hour before bed. Do you go straight on your phone or are you taking a minute to breathe and get your body and nervous system ready for the day. Do you go straight for a coffee or do you read, exercise or meditate?
When you go to bed what’s happening in the last hour of your day? Is chaotic or are you beginning to slow things down?
Here are 6 things I have found incredibly helpful to add into my daily habits.
1. Nature
Getting out side and being in nature is not only good to create mental space but it also has many physical health benefits such as lowering blood pressure and stress hormone levels, it reduces the nervous system arousal, enhances your immune system, reduces anxiety and improves your mood. So whenever you can get outside even if it’s to read your book, go out a walk, or do some gardening, do it.
2. Educational content (podcast, book, YouTube, social)
Feeding your mind with things that are going to help you grow and learn is better than feeding it gossip, drama and negative events. Our brains are like sponges, they take in a lot more than you know. Science shows we go about our day to day activities using 95% of our unconscious mind and only 10% of our conscious. Meaning that the majority of our decisions, the actions we take, our emotions and behaviours depends on the brain activity that we aren’t even aware of. It lies beyond our conscious awareness. So use things like podcasts, YouTube or books. Follow people on social media that inspire you and motivate you not ones who piss you off.
3. Breathing exercises/Yoga
The reason cold water therapy feels so good is because of the breathing and mental focus. When you step out you feel alive and high on life. This is because when you get in, your body naturally goes into shock and in order to override that you need to focus on your breath making it slow, smooth and deep. This signals the brain to tell it that you are safe and your relaxation response is switched on and you can sit in the water with ease. Using your breath helps to detoxify the body and allows us to live in a more relaxed and balanced state as apposed to stress, worry and fear. Here we are overriding our system and doing this daily helps with mood, stress, anxiety, lung capacity, detoxification and so much more. Yoga is another way to focus on your breath.
4. Meditation
I’ve said it a million times, if you don’t already I highly recommend you begin to meditate. The physical and mental health benefits that science can now prove far outweigh your reason not to do it. People who say to me ‘i can’t mediate my mind is too busy’ make me laugh. I’m sorry if you're one of them and I don’t mean it in a disrespectful way but saying that is like saying ‘i’m too dirty to have a shower’. You go for a shower to clean yourself, you mediate to slow your mind down. The excuse you are using to not do it is the exact reason why you should do it, that’s what is designed to help with along with many other things.
5. Writing things down
Think of an empty jar. Every day you add marbles to this jar. These marbles represent every stressful or negative thought you have. Every time a worrying or stressful thought comes into your head you drop a marble in the jar. Now I don’t know what size your jar is but I can almost guarantee if you were to start filling it as soon as you wake up that jar would be full by probably midday. The jar represents your mind. Eventually after a day or more the jar will be full and the marbles are going to start overflowing and make a mess. So empty your jar daily. Best ways to do this, write things down. Get it out onto a piece of paper if you can. If you need to use your phone that’s okay. This can be tasks to do or it can be journalling. It can be sitting for 5 minutes in the morning and writing down your intention for the day and then in the evening writing down what went well in your day. Getting pen to paper is a great way to empty your mind and create new ideas.
Healthy habits are a game changer and when you can get into a flow and make it a natural and automatic thing, your life will get a whole lot easier.
I hope this helps and you take something from this blog. Daily healthy habits have changed my life and I know it will change yours. Remember start with achievable goals and build. You got this so go get it done.
Sending love
Jen
Xxx