When we look at our lives they can be broken down into several different pillars. One of the pillars is our body or physical pillar. Taking care of our bodies gives us the ability to do the things we aspire to do. Yet, for many of us, we take our bodies for granted. We don’t exercise enough or at all. We consume foods and alcohol to excess.
As the years pile up and the decades roll along we come to the point where our bodies start to fight back. Suddenly getting out of bed is a challenge. Stiffness sets in because we’ve put off exercise and that beer gut hangs over that you can’t see your toes let alone anything else of consequence down there.
Working out and eating right is a great start but that is not what I want to spend talking about today. We know the profound impact both of these actions has on our lives so let’s get into some other ways we can look to nurture our bodies.
Here are a few ways to nurture your body.
1. Make sleep a priority.
When we are working out or you’ve had a stressful day getting a good nights sleep is paramount to restoring our minds and bodies. A powerful way to get a peaceful sleep is to have a bedtime ritual sometimes called sleep hygiene. This is where you create an environment that promotes consistent and uninterrupted sleep. It starts with a consistent bedtime. Removing all digital gadgets, except a clock or smartwatch. I use a Versa2 with an alarm and I set it to smart sleep. This tracks my sleep and wakes me up at the point I am most awake before the actual alarm. For me, that is usually about 15-20 minutes. Before your designated sleep time take the last 30 minutes to read something inspiring or something you learn about. This is your winddown time so if reading isn’t your thing do some stretching, or meditation. Finally, get up at the same time every day. We never “catch up” on sleep. It’s a myth.
2. Take a visual and auditory rest.
In today’s society, we spend virtually our entire days looking at some kind of screen. Whether that is a computer, phone or TV we are consistently bombarded by visual stimuli. Your eyes need a rest so close them for 15 minutes. You can listen to something that is calming or nothing at all. The point is to remove visual stimulus. Now, do the same for your ears. There is constant white noise going on around us and this stimulus can be deafening. Now if you want to rest both your eyes and ears then look to find an hour in the evening where nothing is on. No electronics no talking just quiet time. You will be amazed at how energizing this will feel.
3. Hydrate to lubricate
We are prone to not consume enough liquid, well at least I am. Now, this isn’t about drinking 8 glasses of water a day. It is about making a concerted effort to drink more liquids. Remember the liquid can be anything you want but remember to take into consideration the caloric value of what you are consuming. There are numerous benefits to drinking more water. Here are some of them.
Helps with other bodily fluids like digestion, absorption, creation of saliva, transportation of nutrients and maintaining our body temperature.
Energizes our muscles which helps in our exercises.
Helps our skin looking good.
Helps our kidneys function properly
Helps maintain normal bowel function
4. Pay attention
Our bodies will send us signals when something is off. We just need to pay attention and act on the signals. For example, at your next meal notice what foods make you feel sluggish and which make you feel good. What activities energize you and which ones deplete you? How much does your sleep impact your mood? And study your habits and see which ones serve and nurture a healthy body and which ones do not.
Of course, there are numerous other things we can do to nurture our bodies. The key is implementing strategies into our daily lives that can be stacked onto other rituals we already have in place. By doing that we set the stage to live purposeful and meaningful lives.