Ready to become you 2.0? Seriously? Here are five easy things you can take on right now.
If you stay out in the sun too long, you will get a sunburn.
The longer we stay in the sun, the greater our risk of getting sick from it (whether that means dehydration, sunburn, sun stroke, or worse!). No amount (and no SPF) of sunscreen is going to protect us when we lie around 95% naked for hours on end. Sunscreen gives us the false sense that we are protected.
If you keep on sipping, you’ll keep on lightening your load.
Hydration is key to protecting your insides from the effect of heat. Fluids will keep the ickies cleansing out, the cells happy, the muscles mobile, the brain functioning…and it doesn’t have to be just water. It definitely should not be fluorescent coloured, sugar-filled, plastic-bottled drinks laden with sugar and salt, but here are some delicioso options. We need hydration in the summer because we become little shvitz balls and in the winter because the air is very drying.
If you take five minutes every day to sit in silence, you’ll realize how much nonsense spins in your brain.
When was the last time you actively did nothing? No music, no TV, no nothing. Sit and be quiet with your thoughts for five minutes. Start to notice the tape recorder we play in our minds, decide whether those thoughts are helping you or hindering you. Once you become aware of them you can start to change them. And when you change your thoughts and start believe the positive ones, it all gets a little sweeter.
If you rinse, slice and properly store you veggies when you come home from the store, you’ll be more inclined to eat them.
You only throw out the produce you bought because it rotted away deep in the heart of your vegetable drawer. If those vegetables were cut, cleaned and ready to eat, well, you would eat them. What about trying to shop only from your local farmer’s market or produce store for the week? See what happens if you leave the convenience packaged food at the store. You have to eat something – let it be fresh and alive!
If you move gently while breathing deeply, you worry less.
Studies have shown that 20 minutes of gentle exercise combined with deep breathing such as in walking and yoga will increase gaba production in the brain (slows that spinny brain thing), reduce cortisol levels (attributed to a multitude of chronic diseases), increase white blood cell production and circulation (boosting immune function) and increase lymphatic circulation (hello detox!).
Now, go for a gentle walk, while deep breathing to the store, pick up some local blueberries, watermelon, strawberries, kale, cauliflower and carrots, rinse slice and store, blend some of that into a smoothie to sip on and when you’re done, just sit quiet for five minutes. How hard is that? You 2.0 here you come!
Image courtesy of Pensiero.
