HEALTHY HABITS: 10 Routines that Transformed My Life

Good daily habits can make such a big difference to your overall health and your life. In this article, I'm going to share 10 daily habits that have changed my life to talk about 10 daily habits that have made a really big difference to my life in different areas such as physical health, emotional health, and brain health. Before we dive in I wanted to say a few things so you know the context. The first thing is these daily habits have been the result of gradual habit-forming over the last five years- it's not something that happened overnight. It is difficult to form habits and it does take time. The second thing - although these habits are daily habits I don't put pressure on myself to do them every day especially when things get too busy or things are too overwhelming. Sometimes things slide a little and that's okay. When you're making lifestyle changes it's not about perfection it's about doing what you can generally I do try to do these habits at least three to five times a week IN the times that I'm stressed out because I feel that they do help me stay on track and they do help reduce stress. Anyway, enough with the introduction let's get into the habits. The first daily habit is that I drink a glass of water as soon as I get up. Well not as soon as I get up -I brush my teeth, I go to the bathroom and then I have a glass of water. I find that this has made a big difference in energy levels in the morning. When we're sleeping we're not taking any water and when we wake up we can be mildly dehydrated and when we're dehydrated our fatigue levels go up. There is some science behind this - . So a good thing to do is start your morning by getting enough hydration. I drink a glass of filtered water. If I feel like it, I'll add some lemon to it I don't always do that and it's usually at room temperature but if you like warm water that can work too. It is about personal preference but drinking some water in the morning is a great thing to do for your energy levels. Number two I meditate for 10 minutes every day. I used to be very skeptical about meditation when I first started. I didn't believe in it I didn't think that there was science behind it but there is a bit of science. It can do things like reduce anxiety, it can help you improve your immune function, it can help reduce pain. There's a lot that it can do I have a few links in the description box but for me, the biggest change is mental clarity and I feel much more calm. I am not naturally a calm person but I am not naturally a calm person. Meditation - years of meditation have gotten me to this point and I do think that there are a lot of benefits to trying it out. Now if you're a beginner, meditation can seem very daunting and I have two tips to provide. So the first one is to try to be very open about meditation in the beginning. The first 10 to 15 sessions for me were very difficult. I didn't know what I was doing and I felt overwhelmed and I felt like I was doing it the wrong way. It wasn't until the 15th or 16th session that I got into it and I started to see the benefit. So give it time. The second thing is if you are starting try guided meditation versus meditation where you're just doing it on your own. Guided meditation can help you stay on track and can guide you through the process. I use an app called Calm - I highly recommend it. I love it. There is also another app called Headspace which you could try out. Number three I go for a brisk walk outdoors every day. Now I have to say that I live in Canada so a brisk walk outdoors every day does not happen year-round! It doesn't happen in the winter but for the rest of the year, I do try to get outside because I find it's such a mood booster to get some fresh air.. get some sunlight and be out in the greenery and there are studies that show that exposure to greenery is good for your health. As usual, everything's in the description box. Now for me, the brisk walk is not just a mood booster - it's also the way I get exercise. I am NOT a gym person I have never been in a gym person I just don't enjoy it who knows who the people who enjoy the gym I would love to do that but I just can't I don't like it so for me getting exercise has to be something that's part of my lifestyle and I love going up the walk so I started to make my walks my exercise now the World Health Organization recommends that we get about 150 minutes of moderate cardiovascular activity week or 75 minutes of cardiovascular activity a walk can count if your heart rate is high enough so when I'm walking I test my heart rate I have an app on my phone samsung health is the app that I use and my heart rates usually between the moderate and thicker zone so my walk counts as a workout it counts as water and activity so that's how I get my 150 minutes of exercise per week through my walk number