5 Healthy Habits You Should Consider

Small changes that are worked on regularly can lead to big transformations in your health and wellbeing. Habits are not created overnight, they will take time. First we need to make a conscious choice in order to implement a new habit (or changing one). Then, on some point you will create a new pathway, and you no longer have to think about it because the behaviour becomes automatic. It might be tempting to change everything at once and start a complete different routine but research shows that focusing on small habits and add new ones with time is the best way to create a healthy routine and make the new habits last for the long-term.

You might be surprised that the following habits have nothing to do with dieting and exercise.

1 - Breathe consciously

Even though breathing is an automatic act, we can consciously control it. Pay attention to your breathing. Are you breathing shallow into your chest or deep into your belly? Are you a nose breather or a mouth breather? Try to breathe through your nose as much as possible.

Relaxed breathing calms the autonomic nervous system and ultimately helps with lowering blood pressure, reduce stress hormones, improve the immune system, reduces lactic acid build up in the muscles, and increases energy.

Take a deep breath in your belly and expand your lungs fully, hold your breath for a few seconds and then exhale slowly. Repeat this practice 4-6 times.

2 - Cultivate mindfulness

Mindfulness means paying attention to what is happening in the present moment without judging it. When you pay attention you increase your awareness of what is happening around you and within you. You become more aware of any emotions, feelings, aches and pains that are present. Being mindful is the opposite of being on autopilot where old habits and patterns occur without much thought. Cultivating mindfulness gives you the opportunity to deal with negative emotions in a healthier way than trying to suppress them with outside sources. Mindfulness provide mental and physical health benefits, including reduction in stress and anxiety. Make it a habit to check in with yourself several times during the day to see how you are feeling and what you need in the moment.

3 - Write a Gratitude Journal

Being grateful is a big step in shifting your mindset. Concentrating more on the good things in life than what is going wrong is going to be a life changer. Try it! Research shows that grateful people are less stressed, healthier and happier.

Make it a habit to write down 3 things that you are grateful for at the end of each day and recognise the difference after a few weeks. Is it a person in your life or an experience? Are you grateful to drink your coffee every morning on your terrace or being able to go for walks in nature? Don’t forget to be grateful for your body and what it is doing for you on a daily basis, too. We often take our bodies for granted until they stop “working” how they used to. When we start to get aches and pains or develop a disease we get frustrated with the body instead of looking for the underlying problem. What are you grateful for today what your body is doing for you without asking?

4 - Start your day with a cold shower

You might think that sounds crazy. I know, maybe it is. Normally, you would only take a cold shower when you do not have another chance and most likely you would make it very quick. But hear me out. Cold showers are proven to have beneficial effects on our health and well-being. It might not be pleasant at first but believe it or not - once you made it a habit, you might even crave it. Cold therapy is not only great for increasing alertness and energy levels. Low temperatures boost the amount of brown fat (the good fat along the spine, the neck and between the shoulder blades that actually helps you to lose weight) in the body. Moreover cold exposure makes your skin glow, reduces inflammation, increases the immune system, and can also help to slow down the ageing process - do I need to say more?

Start with taking a normal shower and at the end switch for 20-30 seconds to cold and back to warm water for 2-3 times and gradually increase your time.

5 - Put your phone on Airplane Mode

Although technology can provide many benefits, it can also cause harm to our health when we use it too much. We are always connected thanks to our smartphones, tablets and computers. But that does not mean that we actually have a real connection with people. How often do you see a group of friends or a couple in a restaurant, all on their phones? How often do you pick up your phone, not knowing actually what for and ending up spending the next hour scrolling on social media? Being constantly connected to our phones can have many negative side effects on our health. It increases stress and anxiety, decreases our melatonin (sleep hormone) production and long-term disconnects us from our loved ones around us.

Try to be more conscious during the day when you are picking up the phone. Are you with someone? Why are you reaching for the phone? Is it a bad habit perhaps? For better melatonin production at night, turn off all screens 2 hours before going to bed and unwind with a book, a nice bath or talking to your partner. Believe me the real connections are way better than the phone.

Which habit are you going to implement? Come over to my Instagram and send me a message or tag me in your post @optimalhealthseeker.

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