Healthy Tips
5 minutes stillness a day
You don’t need to be a “meditator” in order to meditate.
Only 5 minutes a day of breath and a pause gives your parasympathetic system a chance to kick-in and improve your general health. Stare at the walls and breathe. Try it!
Farmacy
Use your grocery store and your local farmers' market as your FARMACY and eat your medicine every day.
A tip by Dr. Mark Hyman
Sleep
Did you know that a good belly laugh will increase the potential for a good night's sleep?
So, don't forget to get the right dosage of your daily laugh!
Improvement
When you seek an improvement in any area in your life, you need to measure and determine your baseline first. Then it takes consistency, mini-goals along the way - on top of the big ones, and time.
Scrape Scrape Scrape
Scraping your tongue improves your sense of taste and decreases cravings. It removes bacteria, and therefore improves overall health and oral hygiene. And last but not least, it reduces bad breath and improves the appearance of your tongue.
It is often overlooked, but a daily practice of tongue scraping supports physical and mental wellbeing.
I recommend a copper or silver tongue scraper.
Add hot sauce to your dinner
There are so many reasons why hot sauce added to your meals - especially your dinner - is beneficial. One great reason is the satiated feeling – it is less likely you’ll over eat.
De-clutter
De-cluttering creates self-confidence and self-worth and will restore a sense of order to your life inside and out.
Getting your home organized and tidy can help you to relax and sleep peacefully.
So, start this weekend with one drawer or closet. I promise you, it will feel great!
Spirituality
Spirituality is not necessarily the belief in a higher power. To find your spirituality is truly to find what gives you depth and strength.
Maybe you find it in adopting or fostering an animal, exploring nature, volunteering at the Boys and Girls Club, or even serving a Thanksgiving meal at the Salvation Army...
Cravings
If you wish to reduce your unwanted/
unhealthy cravings
-especially for sugar- one thing that is easy to do is to eat a meal with a variety of colors, flavors, and textures.
Reframe your story
When dealing with self-judgment, feeling stuck in some areas in your life, or just recognizing unhelpful mindsets or behavior, reframe your story.
Change external locus of control to an internal one, live by your personal values and not the values of others. Ask yourself what can’t you control (past) to what you can (present) and switch judgment to curiosity and neutrality.
Cooking with
cast iron
Believe or not, your cookware can affect your health. Nutritionally speaking, cooking with cast iron can increase iron content in food, and you also avoid exposure to nasty chemicals typically found in non-stick pans.
Matcha Green Tea
Matcha has concentrated antioxidants, which may reduce cell damage and prevent chronic disease. It also promotes heart health and prevents liver disease or damage. Matcha has been shown to improve attention, memory, and reaction time.
And… it is super easy to prepare. I invite you to switch at least one of your daily cups of coffee to Matcha.
P.S.
Costco carries organic Japanese Matcha. Hurray!
Smile
When you wake up in the morning and it is one of these days that you feel blah and gloomy and you find it difficult to smile… just fake it!
When you simply fake a smile, it makes you happier and more optimistic.
So, move the corners of your mouth up, and it will help you think positively.
If you choose to practice your smile, it will boost your amygdala – the emotion control center in your brain - and it will cheer you up automatically.
You are tricking your body to think "it is OK!" and in response, it tells you: “YES, IT IS!”
More tips are coming...
Crowding out instead of eliminating
Crowding out is a great way to change some bad habits. Add just one good thing to your nutrition intake every day (a glass of water, healthy shake, fruit). Slowly but surely you’ll crowd out the “bad” stuff.
Dry Brushing
To me, the biggest benefit of dry brushing is stimulating the lymphatic system - meaning helping the body get rid of toxins. Other benefits include exfoliating the skin, increasing circulation and energy, and helping to break down cellulite.
Start with your feet and brush upward towards the heart with circular motions.
Superfoods
Superfoods are food and medicine in one. These are foods that have a dozen or even more unique properties to support your health and body.
A few of my favorites are Goji berries, Cacao (aka the real chocolate), Coconut (it comes in many shapes and forms), bee products (for me, only local and sustainable).
So, familiarize yourself with superfoods, and load up your pantry with your favorites.
Happiness
Rather than trying to find happiness, build your life around things that you intrinsically value. Happiness will be a beautiful byproduct of that focus (Susan David).
Living by your values is a decision and a choice you could make daily, time after time, and therefore choose happiness.