Take Care of Your Body

It’s amazing how we separate ourselves from our bodies. How we don’t listen to the subtle warnings from aches and pains. How we think that we can override those messages. We continue to eat crappy food, not exercise and engage in other risky behaviours.

Our poor bodies take lots abuse from neglect, poor choices and dangerous behaviors. And yet they go on functioning as best they can for our survival.

You have to see each day as an opportunity to take care of your precious body. Without it, you would be gone.

So, remember the pillars of health every day. All are common-sense habits to keep yourself healthy. We know better but we need to do better.

1. Hydrate your body with filtered water. Dehydration is very common. You need to conscientiously remember to drink clean water throughout the day. This is especially important when you first wake up in the morning. So, start your day with a big glass of water.
2. Eat foods that heal and power your body: fruit, vegetables, whole grains and legumes. Avoid highly refined and processed foods containing sugar, oil and salt.
3. Get as close to 8 hours of sleep per night as you can. That’s when all the magic happens. This is when your body has its chance to do all the metabolic clean up. This helps to keep every cell in your body functioning properly. It is the time for the necessary work for your cleansing organs.
4. Move your body. If you don’t use it, you’ll lose it. You can not expect to remain fit and strong if you don’t dedicate some time to moving your body every day in some form of exercise.  Also, keep off the couch until the end of the day when you are winding down before bed.

Here’s some more tips to keep your body healthy:

• Get a physical once a year. Cancers and chronic medical conditions take years to develop and become evident. Use the diagnostic tools and blood work markers to determine if anything is out of balance. This gives you the opportunity to make corrections to your current lifestyle. There is still time to improve your health habits to get your body back in balance.

 

• Practice good hygiene. Bathe or shower every day using non-perfumed natural products like glycerin soap. Your skin is your biggest organ and it ‘breathes’. So, in the morning, wash off the metabolic waste and toxins from your skin. But don’t add a lot of chemicals back in with perfumed soaps. When you are clean, you improve your mood as well.

 

• Brush and floss your teeth every day. Do NOT neglect your teeth. Cavities and infections can affect your heart. If you have a mouthful of rotting teeth, you are affecting your longevity. When people are suffering a heart attack, nitroglycerin is put under the tongue. This will hopefully prevent the heart episode from being fatal. That’s because the medicine goes quickly to the heart. If you have rotten teeth, the bacteria are going straight to your heart as well. So, clean your teeth at least twice a day. Also schedule a check up with your dentist at least once a year.

 

• Do some activities to relieve stress. Things that are either out in nature like walking in the forest or on the beach or gardening. Or do activities that make you look inward and rebalance your energy. Try to establish a practice of deep breathing, meditating, prayer, yoga, chi gung, or tai chi.

 

• Include physical contact and communication. We are social beings. Connection with others, even pets, in the real world is important for mood and mental health. Hug a loved one, hold someone’s hand, talk to a loved one with direct eye contact. This connection of spirit every day is important for your health.

So, take steps to take care of your body. After all, it’s the only place you have to live.

To develop these common-sense tasks into habits, it is useful to use my Daily Target Sheets. 

I have also just scratched the surface of these important health promoting habits. And there are other habits I have not included here. If you would like me to go into more detail on a topic or address another important habit, contact me through my contact page.