Adopt these 7 habits and you’ll feel better, look better, have more energy, and spend less on
medicine and health care. These common sense tips are in concordance with yogic diet and
lifestyle guidelines.
Eat Well. With our hectic lifestyles, we often opt for fast or pre-packaged foods. While quick and
tasty, such foods are usually loaded with fat, salt, and carbohydrates, and low in nutrition. Such
foods contribute to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and tooth decay. There is nothing sadder
than a 7
natural foods can be an ongoing process of exploration and discovery. For a healthy diet eat lots
of be just as tasty if not more so than junk food. In fact, the large variety of flavor, color, and
taste of natural foods can be an ongoing process of exploration and discovery. For a healthy diet
eat lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, low-fat protein, and fiber. Eat fats and dairy products in
moderation. Some fats are better than others. Unsaturated fats, especially mono-unsaturated,
are the healthiest.
fats are better than others. Unsaturated fats, especially mono-unsaturated, are the healthiest.
Partially hydrogenated vegetable oils are the worst, and now outlawed in some states. Coconut
oil is especially unhealthy even though it is a vegetable based oil. Salt intake in the US today is
in toxic proportions. While a reasonable daily sodium intake is 1000 mg, many restaurant meals
contain 2000-3000mg. Soy sauce is generally loaded with sodium. Use it in moderation or just
leave it out. For more tips on healthy eating see below.
Relax or Meditate. The human brain is amazing: it can compose a sonnet, diagnose an obscure
disease, or build a spacecraft. But as willing as the mind is to work around-the-clock, it needs
regular rest. With our constant work, family and financial worries, we often struggle to turn it off
temporarily. Meditation is the practice of temporarily turning down the thought process. As
mundane as it might seem, this is the hardest thing for most people to do. Just close your eyes,
and see whether you can go 30 seconds without a thought popping into your mind. But learning
how to shut off the constant mental diatribe is a pillar of good health. There are many different
meditation techniques. The simplest approach, in a
nutshell, is to find a comfortable seat in a quiet environment. Close your eyes. Let thoughts flow
in and out like waves crashing against the beach and receding. Don’t fight your thoughts, just
try to avoid getting attached to them or developing a story around them. Even 5 minutes a day
of quiet sitting can improve your health and sense of well-being. What a simple and inexpensive
way to enhance the quality of your life!
Exercise Often. Regular exercise improves heart function, muscle and bone strength, balance
and flexibility, circulation, mental clarity, and the overall sense of well-being. Exercise reduces
your risk of heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, depression, and insomnia. Do something you
enjoy, such as walking or jogging, swimming, tennis, biking, hiking, dancing, weight training, tai
chi, yoga, soccer, or softball. Naturally, we have a slight bias towards Ashtanga yoga, as we feel
it encompasses all the necessary ingredients of healthy exercise. Unlike other yoga styles, the
Ashtanga practice emphasizes cardiovascular and strength training in addition to balance,
stretching, and relaxation.
Don’t Smoke. Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. Quitters are
winners. Within weeks of quitting smoking, pulmonary function and exercise tolerance improve,
and respiratory symptoms decrease. One year after quitting, the risk of heart disease drops by
half! Counseling and medications can help you quit. If you smoke, the single most important thing
you can do for your health it to QUIT!
Get Enough Sleep. Restful sleep is important to proper physical function, emotional balance and
an overall sense of well-being. Most adults require 7-8 hours of sleep. Insomnia may be
temporary or chronic. To improve sleep, limit stimulants (caffeine, decongestants), exercise a few
hours before bed, and do something quiet and relaxing the last hour of your day.
Don’t Treat, Prevent! Many chronic ailments can be treated or cured with early detection.
Effective cancer screenings include PAP smears for cervical cancer, mammograms for breast
cancer, colonoscopy for colon cancer, and skin inspection for melanoma. High blood pressure,
high cholesterol, and diabetes are epidemic in our society, and are easily detected with simple
tests.
Socialize Often. We humans are social animals, and naturally crave the company of others.
Reach out to friends, neighbors, and family to stimulate your body, mind and heart. Join a club,
church, gym or community center. Sign up for adult classes or volunteer for a local charity. Share
your life with others --after all, we’re all in this together!
Start living healthy today by bringing awareness to your old habits. How do you relieve stress?
Do you smoke, drink, eat, or get grumpy? How do you pick your food? Do you grab whatever’s
cheap or convenient, or do you read the nutrition label? Once you’re aware of your bad habits
you can replace
them with healthy ones. Set realistic goals. Making many changes at once is dramatic, but likely
to fail. Make a list. Only when you’re comfortable with one change should you tackle the next. It
took years to develop those bad habits, so give yourself time to change them.
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