We are all now the product of 2 years of the coronavirus pandemic, and that will have likely bought all of us different challenges and various things we are all truly grateful for. I would guess that health, and family and friends, are somewhere in everyone’s top values.
Rather than make new years resolutions, I like to celebrate the good I want to continue with and then add some new year “integrations”.
I’d like to table some integrations that will fuel health – things to enrich your happiness and love of life. These new year “integrations” could be exciting opportunities to challenge yourself to grow and change.
Knowing health is the foundation of anything and everything we want to do in life, can you hand on heart say you give your health the time and consideration it deserves? A new year brings new opportunity, so ask yourself, are you dedicating enough time and effort to your health foundations? That means daily exercise and fresh air, it means food planning and preparation, and hydration. Are you fueling your body kindly? What about aiming for 10 a day – salad, vegetables and fruit? That means 3 portions per meal and one snack. It is possible. Anything advancing on your current consumption would still be moving you in the right direction though! 2-3 litres of water a day? Cut the processed foods and sugars? All will undoubtedly help support a better health.
Physical health is often easier to address than mental health and what we see from experience at HYPOXI is that as clients lose fat from stubborn areas and reduce their weight and shape to optimum health, their mental state improves. It’s a vicious circle of inspiration / emotional trigger, mind motivation, and physical action, and it’s constantly on repeat to progress. In order to get the physical motivated the mind needs to provide a kickstart. That is why the old adage of the hardest part of anything is getting started is so true. It’s always a good idea to start with the end in mind, and then break the journey into sub goals. What you do today can change all your tomorrows. It’s about empowering yourself and taking action. Not putting off until tomorrow what you can do today.
So, the first action is what you are celebrating about you and doing more of in 2021 -that’s the first list. The second is how do you want to be enriched and identify your new year integrations.
The next thing needed is tips and tricks for getting the motivation from somewhere and getting started. Sitting there waiting for inspiration to strike is leaving it down to chance. Motivation often arises from being scared of the outcomes of not taking action.
Life is not a rehearsal; it has finite days and years for us all. Health needs to be in everybody’s list of priorities.
Getting started is all about doing something. You can become successful at something without knowing what you’re doing. You can become successful at something without having much particular talent at it. But you can never become successful at anything without taking action. Ever. So, you just have to start with something and give it a shot.
Developing a ritual is a good way to stick to action. A ritual involves a series of actions performed in a fixed order. So you need to make an appointment with yourself, or involve a significant other it that helps you, to nurture your health. Diary in food shop and prep time, diary in exercise time and get a doable, and most importantly an enjoyable routine. You’ve perhaps heard it before – fail to plan, plan to fail. 30 minutes a day of fresh air and exercise is surely your body’s right?
If you’re still having a hard time fitting regular exercise into your day, it might be time to examine your beliefs around your body, what you think a healthy lifestyle is, and whether or not you’re doing exercise that you find enjoyable and worthwhile.
Once you’ve started on your new year integrations your motivation may well wane so it can be helpful and fun if you share your new year integrations with a friend or family member and do them together – either remotely or in person. Help one another to keep going and stay motivated.
Wishing everyone the happiest and healthiest 2022.
Best wishes, Dianne