Have you ever felt like your life needed a change or a jolt of energy? Sometimes you feel like you're disconnected or dissatisfied with your life and the direction it is going. Maybe you just feel like you're not being as healthy as you could be. So I took it upon myself to compile a list of things that I have found super helpful. Here are 10 simple activities that you can add to your daily routine to help you feel your best; mentally and physically.
1. Drinking warm lemon water in the mornings before you eat breakfast.
Drinking warm lemon water has some awesome health benefits including improved digestion, a boosted immune system, and nurturing healthier skin. It is also said to give you an energy boost. Try swapping your morning coffee or tea with lemon water.
Recommended for you
2. Exercise
Yeah, this one is probably pretty obvious. But what you may not know is that you don't have to do 45 minutes of Insanity every day to get healthy. High-intensity interval training (what some people call HIIT) workouts can be super effective with only 10-20 minutes a day. Pick your ideal time, knock out those few minutes of exercise and then go on about your day.
3. Meditate for at least 5 minutes.
This is your time to center yourself. Meditation reduces stress, improves concentration, improves metabolism, promotes healthy brain function and helps to stabilize your emotions. The list of physical and mental things that meditation helps with or improves is very long. I encourage you to at least try to reserve 5 minutes of your day to meditate. This can be your time to listen to God or to listen to the inner workings of your mind and soul.
4. Unplug your devices for at least 1 hour
Although it would be easy for you to rush back and plug them in, the action is symbolic. You are powering down your electronic devices and focusing on doing something else. Paint a picture or sing a song. Go for a walk or play a game. The possibilities are endless and you might even look forward to your powerless hour!
5. Find some time to do what you love to do
Whether it be painting, making music, listening to music, reading, writing or playing video games, find time to do what you love. Not only will you find joy in doing what you love, you will be at a place of familiar peace.
6. Sleeeeeeep.
People really don't seem to understand how vital sleep is to the way we feel, think, act and the way our bodies function. Get 7-8 hours of sleep every night. You'll thank yourself for it.
7. Oil Pulling
Maybe you've heard of it, maybe you haven't. I've started doing this on a weekly basis but a lot of people do this daily. It is super easy and has great health benefits. You just take one tablespoon of virgin coconut oil and swish it in your mouth for 15-20 minutes. Oil pulling is an ancient Ayurvedic ritual dating back over 3,000 years and is said to whiten teeth, increase energy, flush out toxins, boost the immune system, and prevent heart disease amongst a host of other health benefits!
8. Read A Good Book.
Reading is an amazing way to take your mind off of stress and immerse yourself in completely different worlds. Those who read more tend to have better memory, they tend to have better critical thinking and analysis skills, they tend to know more and they tend to have wider vocabularies. (I am totally biased towards this one)
9. Clean up clutter!!! Get rid of 3 things you never use
Slowly you will see the truth about how much junk we keep around that we don't in fact need. This one you may not have to do every day. Try once a week or once every two weeks.
10. Smile with your eye sockets.
Seriously! Having a genuine smile (or a Duchenne smile) on our faces makes us feel good! Studies have even shown that people who genuinely smiled did better on exams than those who didn't and that people who genuinely smiled reduced their stress level faster when exposed to a stressor than those who didn't smile.
