If the thought of spending a fortune is keeping you from incorporating holistic wellness into your life you are not alone. I’ve been there personally. Yes, it can be a very expensive lifestyle if you buy into the wellness consumerism trap. There’s another way that’s much cheaper and much more satisfying.
Limit Screen Time
If social media has become your favorite past time, or you could classify it as a hobby it might be time to limit your screen time. Yes, it’s a fantastic way to make connections with people all over the world… BUT just like everything else, too much of anything is bad for you. Too much screen time is so toxic for our mental health. That negative self talk you’ve been trying to silence loves social media. When we only see what others want us to see in their world we begin to compare our lives to others. We start to look at our lives under a magnifying glass when all we can compare it to is a continuous scroll of perfect photos and staged videos. Social media is a great tool, but tread lightly my friend.
Easy Ways to Apply This to Your Life:
Wait at least 30 minutes after waking up to check your phone. Don’t look at your phone while eating or in the company of others. Put your phone down at least an hour before bed. Picking up a hobby that you love will help you limit screen time during free hours.
Meditate/ Enjoy Silence
Total wellness includes mind and body. Meditation is your ticket to a healthier mental state. It might be the most profound thing I’ve ever incorporated into my life. It’s the major factor that took me from being overly anxious to a more balanced and fulfilling life. It’s easy to get confused and overwhelmed by the metaphorical or jargon infused information involving meditation. The best advice I can give you is to start.
Spend a few minutes each day siting in silence. If you find yourself getting frustrated by your mind racing try to sit with some meditation music to ease you into things. Each week increase your time by a minute or two. The hardest part of meditation is not giving up.
If you’re looking for meditation music to help you ease into a practice try my grounding sound bath on insight timer (it’s free).
Sleep
WARNING: This one might be the toughest on the list. We are stressed Y’all! Add that with a heaping cup (or twelve) of over stimulation and you have a recipe for depleting natural melatonin levels and wrecking your sleep cycle. As a teenager I was clinically diagnosed with insomnia brought on by an anxiety disorder and manic depression. The medicine prescribed for sleeping didn’t help me sleep, but instead made me high because I still couldn’t sleep. I honestly believed that I was just someone who wouldn’t ever have a normal life at night. Wrong.
Proper sleep is so medicinal to our everyday life. It does everything from helping to boost the immune system to restoring and repairing the body by releasing growth hormones in our slumber. If you struggle with mental illness a healthy sleeping pattern can absolutely change your life. I didn’t realize it at the time but insomnia was like kerosene to the fire of my mental state. Here’s a short article explaining seven healing things that happen while we sleep.
So, how do we adopt this into our daily lives? Most people find this hard because they aren’t willing to break unhealthy evening patterns. Most of us may not even know we have unhealthy evening patterns. I know I didn’t and a doctor never asked me about what I was doing before bed. I was simply given a pill and expected I it to be my saving grace. We might feel that we need a television on to fall asleep or use the excuse that we just can’t fall asleep that early. Yes, it’s going to take some time to create a healthy sleep cycle but with motivation and consistency it’s really not as hard as you expect.
- Your bed is only for sleeping (Maybe one more thing but this is a PG article). Stop hanging out and watching tv there. Stop eating there. Stop looking at your phone or reading in bed. When we only sleep in our beds we actually train the brain to recognize this as a place for rest. After your brain has been trained to believe this you will fall asleep almost immediately when laying down. Â
- Create a calming atmosphere in your home an hour before bed. Turn off any overhead lights and use dim lighting such as lamps. Try to incorporate low volume activities and speaking in lower voices. If you have an oil diffuser burn some sandalwood or lavender.Â
- Calm the mind. Put your phone down an hour before bed. It’s just way too stimulating even if you have removed the blue light function. Don’t watch any stressful TV. Choose something more lighthearted an hour before you go to sleep.Â
- Remove any distractions from your room. Yes, this means your TV and cell phone. If you need noise to sleep get a fan or sound machine. If you need light get a salt lamp or night light. Most sound machines have color therapy night lights included now. So, you might argue that you need your cell phone as an alarm. Get a $10 alarm clock.
- Lastly, set a bed time and waking time for yourself. Even if you aren’t tired get in bed at this time every night. It might start off with some pretty harsh nights of laying there with your eyes closed, but be consistent with this one. Remember, you are training your brain. Athletes train for months to run a marathon; it’ll take your body some time to adjust.Â
Drink Up
Stay hydrated! You hear this one all the time, I know. If you don’t like water learn to like it sister. This is by far the cheapest and easiest one on the list to incorporate into your life.
Water helps lubricate your joints and cartilage. You may be young and flexible now, but years of dehydration and treating your body like it owes you something will cause premature aging and joint damage. Proper hydration helps to carry oxygen and nutrients throughout the body via the blood. It’s also the cheapest detox you’ll ever find by helping flush out waste and toxins through your liver and kidneys. If you’re struggling to find a healthy balance between frequent junk food cravings and boredom eating a glass or two of water can help you kick these habits as well.
Yoga Asanas
Let me first say that yoga is more than mastering difficult poses and overpriced workout clothing. Yoga is for everyone. It’s a beautiful, medicinal movement and unity of the whole body. I put yoga asanas on this list instead of simply work out because it truly is a movement that anyone can do no mater the flexibility level, age or current health status.
Throughout recent decades we’ve been conditioned to believe that yoga is only for a specific type of person in the western world. This is absolutely wrong. Your body is a beautiful machine that needs daily movement to lubricate the gears and keep things flowing. Daily movement/ exercise helps with digestion and releases endorphins in the body for a balanced mood.
You don’t need a membership at an expensive studio to learn yoga. YouTube is full of incredible yoga teachers for all body types and age groups. I personally like to learn yoga from the source from teachers in India. Learning from them has helped me gain knowledge of the true meaning of yoga without the ultra competitive mindset that can sometimes fog western teachings.
The important thing is to find a video and teacher that truly moves you. If you are brand new to yoga asanas please start out with a beginner or restorative class. It’s best to practice first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Try thirty minutes a day to start out and increase from there.
Ditch the Processed Foods
If you’re a 90’s kid there’s a big chance you grew up on Lunchables, Spagettios or some form of microwavable goodness. Don’t blame your parents. It was new, exciting and convenient for mothers who had to work and raise children. We didn’t know it was bad back then but we definitely do now. The problem is, when you’re raised on that stuff your appetite is pretty much only accustom to high sugar and high sodium faux foods. It took me years to stop craving this processed junk. Hell, to this day I still crave Bagel Bites every now and then.
This food may be easy, fast and appealing but it’s taking a toll on your body. Processed food is loaded with sugar, sodium and carbohydrates but lacks immensely in adequate nutrition. Fad diets and diet culture are even guilty of pushing processed foods to make a sale and sucker out of you. Those Atkins bars or lean cuisine meals that are marketed to you as healthy are full of lies.
The best way to detox yourself from a love of processed foods is to start by eating the fruits and vegetables that you already like. Buy them fresh or frozen and cook them with some olive oil and seasoning. Slowly try to add more vegetables into your diet this way. Do the same thing with the meat you eat. Buy raw meat and cook with olive oil and seasonings. You might find that your grocery bill is actually a little less without the frozen pizza and mozzarella sticks.
Go Outside
You don’t have to spend an entire day in the sun sweating but you should spend a few minutes a day. Even if it’s to walk your dogs or water the plants. Fresh air and sunlight are good for the body, mind and soul. When you’re stressed at work take ten minutes to walk outside even if you have to use the excuse that you’re running to your car to grab something. It can help shift your mood from stagnant to balanced. The sun is our body’s biggest source of vitamin D. This is crucial for healthy bones, immunity, and mental health.
Make a goal to spend at least 15 minutes of each day to mindfully go outside. You can sit on your porch or take a walk down the street. Just do it. It’s free.
Breathwork
Breath is a medicine that many us of take for granted. It’s what fuels life, but did you know you actually might be doing it wrong. Yes, it’s keeping you alive at the moment, but it’s time you take full advantage of this free medication. Most of us don’t know how to properly breathe to obtain all the benefits. Are you breathing from your belly or chest? A proper breath should come from an expanded belly. When exhaling the belly should deflate and relax.
Try mindful breathing a few times a day. I like to do this early in the morning to energize my body and start the day. Pranayama, or breathwork, helps to detoxify the blood by increasing oxygen in the bloodstream.
This video is an incredible demonstration of three very powerful breathing techniques.
What we see on social media and blogs concerning a wellness lifestyle can be overwhelming and intimidating at times. Even after years of studying and living a holistic based lifestyle I still get intimidated with all the beautiful influencers or overwhelmed with all the information out there. The most important thing about starting your journey to a healthier life is just starting. Try not to compare where you are in regards to where someone else is that you see online. Remember, they are only showing you the rose colored glasses version. The messy parts of the journey are usually hidden for their eyes only. There are no prerequisites for choosing wellness. There is only an eagerness to learn and a motivation for consistency needed. Take care of yourself. Â
