5 Daily Habits To Master Now

There are external things that are beyond our control and then, there are daily practices that we have power over.  I would like to focus on 5 daily habits that we can create and have oversight. These are day to day practices that we can weave into our daily lives to support our health.  We eat, drink and sleep anyway…so let’s do it well! Additionally, creating these healthy habits are known to support our immune system. After all, the Flu season is fast approaching, while COVID19 still abounds.  There is no greater time than now to support and surround the very basic structural, functional, and biological unit known to us…the human cell.  After all, we are made up of more than 30 trillion of these units. So, let’s get them to work for us, shall we?

Here are 5 daily habits (with a bonus) to get you started today.

Habit #1 Nutrition – Eat whole foods plant-based as much and as often as possible. While grocery shopping, stick to what is on your healthy grocery list and stay on the outside aisles (produce section) during your shopping spree. If you keep highly processed packaged and artificially flavored/colored food from your cupboards & pantry, you’ll eat less of them.

Habit #2 Hydration – There are two ways to ensure you are drinking enough water daily:

1) Take your current weight in pounds, divide it by two. That number in ounces is your minimum daily requirement. 

2) The good ol’pee test. Look to see if your urine is light yellowish to close-to-clear color. If not, drink more water throughout the day.

Habit #3 Meditation - Meditation is a mind and body practice that has a long history of use for increasing calmness and physical relaxation, improving psychological balance, coping with illness, and enhancing overall health and well-being. Your challenge is to start with one minute today. Find a safe location, find a comfortable position, close your eyes, relax, listen to your deep breaths. When you find your mind wandering, bring yourself back and listen to your deep breaths. Start with 60 seconds today (preferable at the same time every day) and for the rest of the month. Build the practice to 2 minutes the following month and so on. By the end of the 12^th month you will have built a 12-minute meditation practice.

Habit #4 Movement – According to NIH, there is irrefutable evidence of the effectiveness of regular physical activity in the primary and secondary prevention of several chronic diseases. Among them are Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, Cancer, Hypertension, Obesity, Depression, and Osteoporosis. Find something that you love and start moving today!

Habit #5 Sleep – Get 7-8 hours of consolidated, consistent, consecutive sleep. This is way more effective in “brain trash removal” than any day spent at Burke Williams.  I would challenge you to do this for 7 days and see how much less brain fog you have! Look up sleep hygiene to get you started.

BONUS Habit #6 Gratitude - DID YOU KNOW?  Gratitude improves physical health (heals), sleep, psychological health (rewires your brain), mental health (makes you 25% happier), as well as increases empathy and enhances self-teem, performance and resiliency.  Tomorrow morning upon awakening, I invite you to (before your feet touches the ground) say 10 things out loud that you are thankful for. When you do this daily for the next 90 days, you will develop a practice of Gratitude Daily.

These habits work synergistic-ally. Although you may see results with getting good at doing one, the results you acquire with doing all consistently will support  you in moving forward towards the physical vitality and mental clarity you deserve, right now!