We often tend to ignore our bodies and minds to the point of not realizing the fundamental importance and impact on our life that the properly functioning body and mind have. In the continuous rush of day-to-day existence, in the midst of all the important matters that we absolutely have to take care of, we forget that if our body starts to malfunction, we will not be able to direct our attention and energy into anything else anyway. To prevent this from happening, try to incorporate physical activity into the normal flow of your day. Move at every opportunity you have! This will not only allow you to maintain your physical fitness and ability to do things but it will also greatly impact your mental fitness and the way you feel in general! It is difficult sometimes to find an hour or two for physical exercise. However, it is possible to integrate a lot of physical activities into our other daily activities. Get off the bus a couple of stops earlier and take a walk. Use stairs instead of an elevator. From now on, every flight of stairs, every hill to climb can be your ally in being more active. Whenever practicable – ride a bike instead of a car. Park your car in a place that will make you take a nice walk. Do you like to dance? Put the music on and dance till you’re breathless! Stretch discreetly when at work, on the train or plane. Waiting for something? Another opportunity to open up the body, release the muscle tension and move your body! Move and stretch when you wake up in bed. Move, stretch and release when waiting in the traffic jam. Move when sitting and traveling on the bus. Move when watching TV or listening to your favorite podcast. The sky is the limit! Or your imagination is. Be creative. Every day can become a game, an interesting challenge – how do I create an opportunity for some movement today? Your body is designed to move. Regular, balanced movement activities prevent illness, heal and strengthen. ...
Slow health – philosophy of natural health cultivation.
Most of us are aware of a vast difference between “fast food” – mass produced food stuff that is highly processed, brought from far away, frequently “improved” with artificial ingredients, and the food that is prepared locally, with attention, from natural and fresh ingredients. The latter is sometimes referred to as Slow Food. There are also other similar approaches that introduce certain changes to our daily life in order to improve some of its aspects. Slow Living – aiming at improving the overall quality of our life Slow Cities – trying to improve the experience of living in the city Slow Money – dealing with investing into local, sustainable, eco-friendly projects. And many, many more. As easy as it is to understand the difference between fast and slow food, the principles of Slow Health are quite self-explanatory. Slow Health approach recognizes the necessity of our active participation in the process of determining the level of health and well-being that we experience. It doesn’t expect “quick fixes” and through understanding of our systems’ mechanisms and the interconnectedness of body and mind, it concentrates on creating qualities in our life that are stable and long lasting. Slow Health does not dictate us what we need to eat or how we should exercise. It merely shows us how important it is to pay attention to our moving habits (or their lack of) or what, how and why we eat what we eat. Slow Health is a concept according to which we begin to take responsibility for ourselves, we begin to learn about ourselves which results in better understanding of our own needs, goals and aspirations. Practicing Slow Health we realize the need to regularly challenge both our mind and our body in order to maintain their functionality as long as it is possible. SLOW in Slow Health is an acronym for: S – sustainable and simple – we choose practices that are possible to easily continue for an indefinite amount of time. L – local – the practices and exercises can be performed wherever we are without a need for any special, elaborate equipment or space. O – organic – the practices are natural and aligned with our predispositions W – whole – the different exercises address various aspects of our health and well-being. ...
Natural health cultivation. The simple approach to maintaining your daily health.
Every day we need to challenge ourselves to stay fit. Without this challenge, there is no growth. Without this challenge, a gradual decline begins. We need to challenge our cells. We need to challenge our mobility. We need to challenge our strength. We need to challenge our immunity. We need to challenge our mind. There are many ways to practice these challenges. Here are the three main ones: Every day make sure that you experience a little bit of being: Sweaty, Hungry and Cold. Sweaty means you’ve strengthened your body’s ability to be functional by moving, exercising, being active. Hungry means you’ve strengthened your digestive and cellular system by letting the body digest, rest and rebuild. Cold means you’ve strengthened your immune system by exposing your body to colder temperatures. Try to develop regular: Movement Habits Fasting Habits Body Tempering Habits ...
Two sides of the coin.
Yin and Yang or the aspect of duality is present in everything. Male/Female, Day/Night, Dark/Light etc. etc. It is no surprise then, that our daily cultivation includes both elements. We are not trying to find some imagined quality of neither Yin nor Yang. Quite the opposite – embrace both as an integral part of life. As long as they remain proportional to each other and our particular needs, we will remain in balance. When trying to instill healthy habits, we need to remember about both sides of the coin. For example: Yang Yin Exercise, move with intensity, speed. Exercise, move gently, slowly. Eat abundant, nutritious food. Rest from food, fast. Breathe deeply, with intensity. Breathe slowly, practice breath holding. Spend some time in the city. Spend some time in nature. Get used to, practice with the heat. Get used to, practice with the cold. Think, use your intellect. Meditate. Work. Be active. Rest. Sleep. Etc. The list never ends. Both sides are needed. Be creative. ...
The best for you…
The best exercise system is the one that works for you and can be sustained indefinitely. The best diet is the one that works for you and can be sustained indefinitely. The best health habits are the ones that work for you and can be sustained indefinitely. ...
Happiness in Simplicity.
Minimalism has been a fashionable trend lately. Many blogs, youtube channels, and websites capitalize on the wave of interest in simplifying our extremely complex lives. I like it. I hope more and more people realize the value of restraint. Especially in the material sphere. For me, personally, minimalism is about efficiency, optimization, and contentment. We own too much, eat too much, stress out too much, worry too much etc. How do we eat just enough? Own no more than we need? Work or exercise in an optimal way? Of course, there is no one, simple answer to these questions but the very fact that we start asking them can potentially lead us in the right direction. We all have the responsibility of looking into ourselves and learning about our real needs, about how we can function in the best possible way, about our natural inclinations. When we begin to get rid of clutter in our lives and by clutter I don’t mean only the stuff that we own but also negative people we spend too much time with, old habits that lower our quality of life, thinking patterns that cater to experiences from the past that are no longer applicable etc etc, – only then we have a chance to see clearly what holds real importance to us. What gives us a long lasting satisfaction and contentment. What it means to be happy. ...
Use it or lose it!
Maintaining health is similar to riding a bike. You cannot ride a bike and then just stop and expect you will maintain balance. The moment we stop moving our balance is compromised. The moment we stop practicing healthy habits, our health, sometimes unnoticeably, starts declining. The moment we stop using our muscles – they start getting weaker and weaker. The moment we stop stretching – we start getting tighter and begin losing our mobility. The moment we stop making a mental effort to remember, to create solutions, to recognize and react – our mental capabilities’ decline begins. The main weapon we have to prevent this from happening or at the very least, to slow it down, is our effort to continue performing or maybe even improving our ability to perform various actions so that we maintain this ability as long as possible. WE DO TO BE. Idle pleasures like watching television or playing computer games, while ok in small doses, can quickly turn into “preferable” way of spending time, developing strongly addictive habits that do not challenge our mental or physical capabilities, thus contributing to the decrease of our well being. The gradual limiting of our social interactions, relying on patterns and solutions that we are very comfortable with, even practicing the very same practices without seeking improvement can and frequently does bring a slow decline. Is it only because we are getting “older”? Or is it because we are getting lazy? If we look at examples of those in later stages of their lives, who continue working in their field, studying, practicing, researching, it is easy to notice that their abilities do not correspond to their chronological age. In a positive sense. One more reason not to stop DOING! ...
Get yourself unstuck
This morning I was sitting and drinking my hot lemon water. It was still a bit dark outside as I was looking out of the window, enjoying the moment of quiet contentment. I looked at the window sill that had something on it that I could not recognize. A shape of an object I could not identify. Intrigued I was staring at it and straining my mind to no avail. I just couldn’t figure out what it was. It was too dark in the room and my brain couldn’t make out anything out of it. I decided to shift my body to the left and right, providing my vision with a slightly different angle and an enhanced depth perception. It took seconds for me to realize I was looking at a half opened, glossy book reflecting the window light outside. It seemed so obvious and simple that I couldn’t understand how I had not seen it a minute ago. Sometimes when we are stuck, we need to change the angle a little bit, change the perspective on the situation we are having difficulty with. It is like looking at something from the distance. I look and I don’t know what I am looking at. What is it? No recognition. The brain is trying to process it, to remember but it can’t. It is stuck. In order to move on, I need to adjust, to change my way of looking at it, interpreting it. Sometimes all it takes is taking a couple of steps to the side, climbing a little higher or stooping down. Suddenly we realize what it is we are looking at and we marvel at our inability to see it just a moment ago. When stuck – change something. It doesn’t have to be a big change. You are not trying to completely change the situation. Just your way of looking at it and understanding it. Practice it on small things in your life first. Small challenges are your great chance to train and develop the ability to find solutions. ...
Now is all we have.
We tend to worry, consciously or unconsciously almost all the time. When we’re in a “good place”, we worry it might end soon, when we’re in a “bad place” we worry it will never end. When we have stability we worry about instability. When we have instability we still worry about it. We spend a lot of time in the past, future and inside our imaginary world that never actually happens. In the meantime we are missing almost everything that is. Here and now. We forget to appreciate. We are unable to notice the good and beautiful. Our time slips away unnoticed and the imagined moment of happiness gets pushed further away again and again. The moment we turn our attention to the present moment the possibility to find contentment opens up. Just by observing what is, without emotional or intellectual involvement we begin to perceive the magic of our everyday existence. The precious little moments of joy and wonder. The appreciation for what we have. The great satisfaction from sharing and giving. Do you remember to be here and now? Slow down. Take a deep breath. Release all the tension. Appreciate this moment. Smile. ...
Cultivating happiness in marriage.
Today I stumbled upon this cute infographics on cultivating happiness in relationship and decided to share it with you. Some statistical data behind happy marriage can be quite revealing! Courtesy of: Milkwhale ...
