Everyone has different ideas and experiences when it comes to Physical Wellness. Some of us don’t think about it at all. Some of us set unrealistically high standards for ourselves and give up when we don’t meet those goals. Some of us make attempts to get more fit and feel healthier, but we find we don’t have the time or the patience for a regular routine. Others of us want to practice healthier habits but don’t know where to begin.

Wherever you fall on the spectrum, there are some simple steps you can take every day to increase your Physical Wellness. If you’re just getting started, you can integrate these tips as your Physical Wellness evolves, and, if you’ve been taking steps toward better fitness for a while, you might find something new on the list that surprises you. Physical Wellness isn’t just about diet and exercise. It also involves rest and leisure, hygiene and self-care activities.

Explore this list of quick and easy tips to enhance your Physical Wellness routine.

-Drink plenty of water. This tip shows up everywhere, and with good reason. Most of us know we should drink water, but we don’t. We drink tea, coffee, juice, and of course, plenty of soda. None of these can match the health-enhancing power of water. Why drink more water? Water is essential for every bodily function, because we’re actually made of 70 percent water. Not drinking enough water can lead to various health problems including constipation, dry skin, weight gain, nose bleeds, headaches and sinus problems. Our cells need water to remove waste and assimilate nourishment. If we’re engaging in regular physical activity, water intake is of particular importance. The more we sweat, the more water we lose, and we’ve got to make up the difference. Drink a minimum of 8 glasses a day—more if you can swing it. And no, diet soda doesn’t count!

-Get moving. We all know that regular physical activity is necessary for fitness. It’s also essential for our emotional health. Of course, there are those of us who love working out, but many of us prefer a nice long evening on the couch at the end of a hard day. Some of us would argue that we’d love to exercise regularly, but we simply don’t have the time. But physical activity comes in all forms. Recent research has shown that walking in 10-minute bursts throughout the day can have the same heart health benefits as 30 minutes of continuous walking at the same pace. So, take a short walk first thing in the morning, at lunchtime and after dinner. Exercise has a cumulative effect, but the key is consistency. For optimum Physical Wellness, it’s vital that we each fit in a minimum of 30 minutes a day, 4 days a week. We can all find the time. Want to do more? Go for it, but don’t overdo it!

-Don’t forget a healthful diet! With the explosion of fad diets over the last few years and our general lack of knowledge about proper eating habits, a healthful diet isn’t what it used to be. But the guidelines are a lot simpler than many of us think. Three meals a day, a couple of light snacks and a focus on whole foods including proteins, fruits, vegetables and whole grains are the main ingredients for healthful eating. Keep refined sugar intake to a minimum. The quickest way to make a change? Add a salad of raw vegetables and fruits to your daily diet.

-Go to bed! That’s right. Getting plenty of sleep is an often overlooked but vital part of any good Physical Wellness routine. We also need a little time to unwind before bed. Create a bedtime routine. For an hour before bedtime, we can do something relaxing to get us in the mood for sleep. Avoiding physical activity is key. Instead, we should focus on being still and quiet. Reading, taking a hot bath, listening to music or watching a little television are all good choices for winding down. Once this becomes routine, our bodies will know that these activities are a signal for sleep, and we’ll find it easier to drift off.

-How about hygiene? Our hygiene habits have a significant effect on how we feel. Showering, moisturizing, brushing our teeth and flossing may seem like simple acts, but it’s amazing how often we neglect some of these essentials—especially moisturizing and flossing. Making it a point to perform all four of these simple hygiene acts every day is an act of self-love that can make us feel better emotionally as well as physically.

These are the basics of Physical Wellness. Doing any or all of these things is a great way to start down the path toward a healthier body and a happier outlook. Not only do our bodies get in better shape, but our minds become sharper and our emotions steadier. Along with the other 7 Aspects of Wellness, Physical Wellness creates a solid foundation for a better life.

This article has been reprinted with permission from 123FeelBetter.net

For those of us looking to be more in balance, we often struggle with where to start. More than being the huge statements of change, balance is found in the more subtle changes that take hold. How can I achieve balance in just five minutes, you ask? Keep reading for some small actions that can make a big difference.

Emotional Wellness: Journaling is perhaps the single most important action in an Emotional Wellness plan. Even if you only have a few moments in a given day, taking a little time to check in with yourself and what you’re feeling will help you to gain self-awareness. Making time for journaling is also an act of self-care. When you practice regular self-care, you instantly feel better because you’ve let yourself know that you matter.

Physical Wellness: Some days you just don’t have time to exercise. Unexpected events can take up time and make working out less of a priority, even if it’s only for that day. If you don’t have time for a full workout, allow yourself five or 10 minutes of stretching, crunches or even just a simple walk. When you really don’t have the time, though, you can still support your Physical Wellness. Focus on drinking enough water and eating healthfully at every meal.

Occupational Wellness: Make a to-do list when you get to work. Organizing your tasks in this simple way will give you clarity and help you get done what needs to get done. It will also prevent the anxiety that can come with feeling disorganized and lost as to what to do next.

Environmental Wellness: Every time you use a dish at home, wash it and put it away, or rinse it and put it in the dishwasher. You may not be able to clean your whole house every day, but if you rinse every dish immediately after using it, you’ll avoid dirty dish build-up. This will make cleaning easier when you do have time for it, and you can feel good about not creating more mess to deal with later.

Spiritual Wellness: Read a daily meditation every morning. Whatever your spiritual philosophy, there’s a daily meditation book to suit your style. Find one that fits your spiritual beliefs, and set aside a few minutes to read a short entry before launching into your day. This will center you and give you perspective. This small investment of time can help you maintain Spiritual Wellness in practically no time at all, making spirituality an integral part of daily living.

Intellectual Wellness: If you work at a computer, take a few minutes to scan the news online each day when you sit down to your desk. If that’s not an option, pick up a newspaper, and read the headlines. This will keep you abreast of what’s going on in the world, and regular reading helps strengthen your cognitive skills.

Social Wellness: Spend a few minutes every day catching up with a loved one. Talk to your kids or spouse about what happened that day, call up a friend for a chat or meet a new acquaintance for coffee. Making quality time for your loved ones, even if it’s only five minutes, will strengthen your relationships and help facilitate better overall Social Wellness.

Because there are so many small pieces, this may seem like a lot, but these actions create a stable foundation of balance in our lives. They only take a few minutes each per day, and many of them can slip right into with the routines we already have inplace.

You’ll find, as you make small efforts toward a more fulfilling life,,that other enriching opportunities will begin to appear, seemingly out of nowhere. Action opens you to more action, and more opportunities. All you really need is that initial choice in favor of wellness. This is how you create everyday wellness, by making wellness a lifelong, day-by-day choice.

About the Author

The 123 Feel Better company provides resources for people seeking to change their lives. With a focus on overall health and wellness that centers around the 7 Aspects of Wellness, or 7 major life areas that comprise a full and complete life, the 123 Feel Better company helps individuals acquire the tools necessary to affect positive change and accomplish their goals.

How to Set Goals Consciously

Who doesn’t love a quick-and-dirty how-to guide? Once you’ve figured out your motivations and expectations, how do you go about setting a conscious goal? Here are a few things to keep in mind:

You decide what you want and need. It is important to take into account how your choices will affect your loved ones, but ultimately you must make sure that your personal goals are in line with your own values, desires and dreams.
Weigh your potential goal against all the other goals in your life. Clashing goals can cause problems. If all of your goals are in keeping with your values, though, there won’t be too much interference.
Balance your goals across several life areas. Again, there are 7 Aspects of Wellness: Emotional, Environmental, Intellectual, Occupational, Physical, Social and Spiritual. The best way to integrate all of these aspects into your life is to set small goals in each area, working up slowly to maintain balance as you progress toward greater and greater wellness.
Set the bar. The best goals are realistic, but they’re also challenging. Setting the bar too low and you sell yourself short. If a goal isn’t challenging, then it isn’t really a goal—it is something you’ve almost attained, don’t really want to attain, or won’t have to work very hard to attain. Sure, goals should be manageable. But they should also lead you toward your deepest dreams and desires—and this will always take work.
Be specific. Write down exactly what you’re going to accomplish and how much time you’re going to take. The more specific the goal, the better your sense of direction. If you say, “I want to get more organized,” how will you know when you’ve reached your goal? Specific goals help you to monitor your progress, and allow you to feel the sense of pride that comes with completing each step.
Make a map. A long-term goal is just that—a long-term goal. This means it’s going to take some time to accomplish whatever you’ve set out to do. When a landmark is far off in the distance, you need a map, complete with landmarks all along the way, to get there. Make a written plan, containing the steps necessary to get to your goal. Break your goal down into mini-goals, and voila! You’ve got your map to success.
Leave yourself some breathing room. Of course you want to aim high. What’s the point of setting goals if not to shake things up and make major positive changes? The thing is, life is always throwing curve balls. So when your day doesn’t exactly go your way, or when you’re facing a hiccup in your progress toward a goal, it’s important to have flexible, forgiving goals. Some days, you may absolutely have to work late and miss your workout. Solid goals will allow you to backslide a little without sliding all the way off the map. Everyone is human, everyone faces challenges and glitches, and everyone makes mistakes. Make sure your goal allows room for life’s unpredictability, and your own humanness.
Set yourself up for success. A positive, supportive environment will make it much easier for you to stay inspired and on track. This includes maintaining friendships with people who encourage your wellness, and avoiding relationships that have a negative influence on your behavior. It also means making your home a healthy place in which your goal can grow, removing anything that might deter you from your aim. Don’t live with messy roommates if your goal is to get more organized, and take all the junk food out of the cabinets if your goal is to eat more healthfully. Use common sense!

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What Christians Can Learn from Yoga

I feel like I am in an interesting position. I have been a dedicated follower of Christ for all my life, and have made it a point ever since I was old enough to understand God (in what little way I can understand God) to live every moment to glorify Him. And somehow, whether it has been God’s path for my life, or whether it has been the role of temptation… I have been led down the path of Yoga. Well whether or not I “should” be doing Yoga or not, it’s too late now because there is no going back. But alas, God can meet you wherever you are at… If you let Him. And I feel like God HAS met me, and is using Yoga to reveal some important things to me.

One thing that Eastern religion and yoga really emphasizes is the importance of the practice. The Yogis teach that in order to reach enlightenment (which is the whole goal of this path in the first place, right?) you must dedicate yourself daily to the different limbs of the practice. Then, once you have practiced long and hard enough, you eventually get all blissed out and everything is just fabulous.

I’m not here to place any judgement or say one way is right and one is wrong, cus really, who am I to say? All I have is what I know to be true in my heart, and that is that there is a living God who loves unconditionally, and who sent himself in the form of man to Earth, to suffer and die for the sake of the sins of the world.

Again,I don’t have all the answers, but learning more about, and practicing Yoga, has shown me a few things about my own relationship with God…

I think I fall into the same trap that I feel a lot of Christians fall into (whether they are aware of it or not. Do yoga and you become aware of a whole lot of things…). And this trap is also the very foundation of our beliefs: that we are saved by grace, and don’t have to do anything to make God love us more than He already does. Which is true. Yet somehow, in my mind at least, I let this give me permission to not do anything. Like to blow off reading my bible or praying or going to church or listening for that still small voice inside of me that, if I sit and listen to it, WILL totally guide me and give me everything I need to live a meaningful, joyful life.

And this is where Christians can learn so much from Yoga. Happiness takes work. The bible makes it clear that life is gonna suck, but the suckiness produces something inside of us that makes us stronger in the end (James 1:2-8). Meditation sucks. Yoga asana (the poses) suck. Practicing good karma can sometimes really suck too. But Yogis keep doing it because the end promise is better then any of the suck you have to go through to get there.

So what I have realized is how lazy I am when it comes to my spiritual walk, and how much this manifests in my life. Just believing is not enough. I know I am saved, and that is fine and dandy, but I am called to be the hands and feet of God. In order to do that I need to be plugged into Him. I need to choose one path, and stick to it. It is I, and I alone, who can make the conscious decision to do whatever it is I need to do to refocus myself on God. When I do this, every moment becomes purposeful and powerful, because I am walking in his promise that He will take care of me, and that is quite enough.

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Laughing and smiling has countless health benefits, plus it is fun.Check out this laughing yoga to see what I mean. As Yogi Ramesh says, “No feel shy.”

Laughing Yoga, Absolutely Hilarious
Published from 123feelbetter.net.
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