5 Simple Steps Toward Optimal Health
There are many steps or things that can be done to achieve optimal health. Different things work for different people however, there are proven steps that work for everyone. In this blog post I will discuss 5 steps, which if practiced consistently will help improve the 3 dimensions of optimal health: mental, spiritual, and physical.
Step 1. Drink 16 ounces of warm or room temperature lemon water upon awakening.
The general consensus in the literature, regarding the benefits, is overwhelming. When you think about it, your body has been asleep for 8 hours with no hydration. Drinking water, with a whole fresh squeezed lemon in it, first thing in the morning helps flush the digestive system and re-hydrate the body. Lemons also stimulate stomach acid and bile production, which lead to a happy liver and lymph system. Other benefits of lemons include the fact that they contain vitamin C and potassium, which give the immune system a boost and aid in the production of collagen for healthier smoother skin. On a personal note, it has given me more energy and kept me regular. 🙂
Step 2. 15 minutes of meditation/reflection time each morning.
Research shows that starting your day with stillness is therapeutic. Before I started meditating, I would wake up and grab my phone to check my messages and emails as well as social media sites like Facebook. This started my mind racing with non-stop thoughts, planning, and organizing. Once I changed that practice and started with stillness, it really set the tone for my day and led to a more focused optimistic day. It can be very challenging to slow down and control your thoughts, so it takes practice. For me, I had to make a commitment to wake up 30 minutes earlier than normal to make time for this important practice. Find a comfortable place to sit quietly and undisturbed. Focus on your breathing. I like to feel the belly rise with each breath in and imagine it giving more space for my internal organs to breath. I think about breathing in life, happiness, health and prosperity, and breathing out disease, negative feelings and thoughts of lack. It is only in this stillness that I have been able to really get in touch with my inner guidance.
Step 3. Get Moving.
Again, remember you have been lying still for 8 hours. After hydrating the body, it is important to move the body. You can do things that work for you such as a nice 20-minute power walk, gentle stretching of the whole body, yoga, or weight resistance training. The benefits are a boost in your metabolism, increased and improved energy both mentally and physically, and better sleep at night.
Step 4. Avoid Sugar
Sugar has been referred to as the silent killer and with good reason. It contains no nutrients and has no benefit to the body. It’s just empty and quickly digested calories that pull vital minerals from the body during digestion. It also stresses the liver and pancreas. Sugar gets converted to glycogen in the liver. Too much glycogen gets converted to fat and leads to fatty liver disease. The pancreas secretes insulin when we eat sugar, which stresses the pancreas overtime and leads to disease like diabetes. Other harmful effects of sugar are increased bad cholesterol, thickening and stickiness of the blood, weight gain, sleep trouble and cravings. It is crucial to eliminate sugar from your diet if you want to be in optimal health. Especially things like sodas, sweet tea, and high fructose corn syrup to name a few.
Step 5. Perform Random Acts of Kindness
Random acts of kindness have tremendous benefits mentally, spiritually and physically, impacting all dimensions of optimal health. It makes you feel warm emotionally and that feeling produces a hormone called oxytocin. Oxytocin reduces the levels of free radicals and inflammation in the cardiovascular system. That explains why kindness is good for the heart. Kindness is also contagious and finds its way back to us.
In conclusion, there are of course many other necessary steps toward optimal health but this is a great place to start. Consistency is key to achieving optimal health. Set a goal to be consistent with these 5 steps and track your progress for 30 days. It’s a guarantee that you’ll be a healthier, happier and more fulfilled being. I challenge you to start today. I hope you will share your experience with me at the end of the 30 days. See you next Sunday as we continue on our journey towards optimal health.