Hello and Welcome! This is third in a series of articles. III: Balance your Life, Nourish your Body and Connect to Community.
I: Change your Attitude, II: Heal your Soul, III: Balance your Life
III: Balance your Life, nourish your BODY through mindful habits: Eat, drink, sleep, exercise
Eat whole foods
- grown or cared for in a humane loving way,
- primarily prepared by you or someone you love,
- and look like a rainbow to support your physical health.
- To promote brain health and increase immunity as well as maintain a healthy memory eat nuts, legumes, and foods that ‘look like a brain”… pecans, walnuts, eggs, cauliflower, cacao, and coffee beans to name a few. check out this post in my other wordpress blog, IntegrativeMedicineStrategiesNow, Brain Food Really.
Drink 3 liters of water a day, more if you exercise or live in a dry climate.
- Water, not tea, or coke, or coffee etc…H2O positively helps with your cellular health.
- It positively affects your cognition, heart, electrical gastroenterological, kidney-urinary, and immune system – WOW, right?!
- Water is profoundly necessary for your body systems and mind to work efficiently, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2908954.
- Your hydration needs are affected by your exercise habits, the altitude at which you live, whether you are menstruating, and your personal system imbalances ( ie: slow digestion, toxicity, meds etc).
Exercise 1 hour a day for maximum health
- if you are not currently doing this, move up to it slowly to build your muscles and systems in a healthful way. Begin with 20 minutes every other day then move to 15 minutes daily, then 30 minutes every other day and them 20 minutes daily, until you make it to 60 minutes a day.
- Choose an exercise regime that suits you, holds your interest, brings in fun.
- Positive Benefits of Yoga -> reducing depressive symptoms, and inducing remission in mild to severe depression in depressive disorders – WOW! (Current Psychiatry Vol.8,No10,p39-47).
7 benefits of exercise: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/HQ01676
- Controls weight,
- combats health conditions/diseases heart, cholesterol, breath capacity, strength, cognition,
- improves mood,
- boosts energy,
- promotes sleep,
- increases interest and capacity for sex,
- fun –> creativity, healthy competition, focus, endurance, social, widens interest.
Sleep 6-8 hours a day. Sleep is the most powerful health promoter!
- It balances your brain, blood, spirit, reduces pain and inflammation. Don’t ignore it!
Sleep is the great neutralizer and reformer.
Sleep plays an important role in learning and memory consolidation.
- Sleep deprivation can result in memory loss and diminished fine motor and cognitive skills;
- can impede response time in crisis situations and increase psycho-emotional problems.
- Lack of sleep can increase pain experience.
Sleep 7-9 hours each night/get to sleep by 11pm. School-age children need 9-10, Babies/Toddlers require 12-14 hours of sleep; Teenagers need 8-10 hours of sleep. For kids sleep debt can lead to an increase of restlessness, attentional, oppositionality issues
Sleep affects Cognition, learning, health, experience of pain & stress; it benefits your Spirit, Mind, and Body. http://www.mindfulparentingmag.com/2012/11/29/the-importance-of-sleep/
Consider the power of community, rejuvenation, and networking
Connecting, collaborating, networking, and groups offer a special kind of balance.
Finding a space to belong, share struggles and get support increases your power in maintaining the balance in your life.
- Studies show that women respond to stress with tend and befriend.
- Connecting in ways that help with self growth and rejuvenation, work interests and social endeavors through focusing on learning or maintaining knowledge helps keep your mind healthy.
- Focusing on groups that sustain your body like exercise groups or training or cooking and nutrition groups.
- And connecting with spiritual outlets will keep you centered and grounded.
Some of this information is from an earlier InstinctiveHealthMedicine blog entitled focusing on mindful living leads to spirit, mind, body health, July 24, 2013.
See how you can institute these shifts today, re-read all the articles to remain in balance. i: Change your Attitude, II: Heal your soul, III:Balance your life. Enjoy, enlighten, and inspire your self, and your life in every aspect of it, Namaste., () in love and light, bg
Gineris, Beth. Turning NO to ON: The Art of Parenting with Mindfulness, 2011; Turning ME to WE: The Art of Partnering with Mindfulness, 2013. www.bethgineris.com
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