Wellness Habits to Live By

It is important to make self-care a non-negotiable. I am guilty of not following through on all of these, so this helps as a subtle reminder to practice these habits regularly. Here are 10 wellness habits to live by:

1. Planning Time for Self-Care

I feel like there is a guilt associated with pampering yourself sometimes. If we have busy, complex schedules it is hard to justify taking a 30 minute bubble-bath. But when you sit down and plan out how you are going to incorporate specific habits into your routine, whether it is reading everyday, or baking or scrapbooking- whatever floats your boat, it is more likely that you will fall through on it (that is my experience anyway).

2. Staying Hydrated

Super guilty of this! I always feel like I am somehow in a deficit when it comes to drinking enough water and staying hydrated. Buying a canteen water bottle has somewhat helped mitigate that issue, because I am constantly reminded that I need to drink water if I am carrying it around.

I also happen to be a coffee-drinker, and when you are opting for coffee more times than drinking water, you better look out. One thing I have done was starting my day by drinking warm lemon water before my coffee, and introduce herbal tea in the afternoon when I would normally opt for a decaf coffee as a pick-me-up. You are still getting your fluids in, and with yummy flavours like peppermint and lemon.

Also if you are feeling lethargic, by adding a little salt (Himalayan or sea salt) to your water can help combat that feeling of lethargy as you may be low in certain electrolytes and trace minerals. There was a period of time where I decided to cut all sugar out of my diet (including natural sources of sugar- like fruit) as an experiment, and through the transition period I felt super lethargic, dizzy and constantly fatigued - I had absolutely no energy. Walking up the stairs was a challenge. Once I started adding sea salt to my water, I felt like I was able to get through the day.

3. Getting Enough Rest

I sound like a broken record, but again going to bed at the same time and waking up at the same time everyday can really help in this regard. Getting enough rest is vital to our functioning. Also don't just think about how many hours of sleep you are getting each night, but rather the quality of sleep you are getting and adjust it accordingly. For instance, I can sometimes be in bed for hours without being able to fall asleep, or I can be tossing and turning for the majority of the night. You will be able to tell if you feel rested or not upon awakening.

One thing that has helped me in adjusting my routine is not treating your bed as anything else but a place for sleeping. I used to do a lot of my work on top of my bed, so when it came to bedtime it was hard to just close my laptop and fall asleep. If you use it for the sole purpose of sleeping, you are conditioning yourself - bed = sleep.

4. Walking

Being more active does not mean you need to be a marathon runner. It is best to work out in a way that works for you, so that you will do it - otherwise you will dread doing it. I find that walking at a moderate pace while listening to music or a podcast is the ultimate stress reliever and is a good way to increase your cardiovascular fitness.

I am lucky that I get to live in a city where everything has such close proximity, but I try to avoid taking the subway or street car in Toronto when I don't have to use it, and opt to walk.

5. Reading Before Bed

This also helps get your into your nighttime/sleep routine. First, you get to catch up on reading material and second, based on experience, I fall asleep a lot faster when reading a book as opposed to watching youtube videos or scrolling through Instagram.

Also, y'all are going to think I am crazy (if you haven't already thought that) but last year I bought these orange tinted glasses to block the blue light on my laptop, so that it would not interfere with my sleep. Guess how many times I wore those glasses? A total of 0 times.... Story of my life though.

6. Self-Reflection (journalling)

If you go to the resources tab at the top of my website you will find pdfs of journalling prompts I use. I personally like doing this in the morning as a way to set myself up for a productive day. Also if you are not a fan of guided journal prompts, it is also very liberating to just jot down any unfiltered thoughts that come to mind as a form of 'morning pages'. This helps me declutter my mental space and has been useful when looking back on it as I can attribute why I am feeling a certain way based on what I had written down earlier.

7. Addressing and Analyzing your Stressors

This may not seem like an obvious one, but when you really try to understand what is stressing you out, you will most likely find either a practical reason or a psychological reason behind it. I once had a psychology professor tell our class that when we approach situations in life try to make the association of whether it is a psychological fear or a practical fear that may be hindering you from moving forward. I think the same principle applies here. If you are stressed out by a toxic family member for instance or whether it is just the clutter in your physical environment, by taking the time to analyze that, you can then come up with an appropriate means to solve that issue. Talking with someone else about it can really help too.

Again we are busy complex creatures and sometimes it just gets all bottled up if we don't address these stressors and it can become very unhealthy in the long-term thereby putting your health at risk even if you don't immediately see it.

8. Digital Detox

A good majority of the work I do revolves around social media and staying up-to-date with what is going on in the media. It can be quite draining, but also it can really impact your interpersonal relationships and ways of communicating with others. One way I try to detox is by not taking my phone out when I am in a conversation with someone, or when I am eating a meal with friends or family members. It may just seem like a small thing but it really makes a world of difference.

Also as I stated in previous posts, by putting your phone on airplane mode when you are trying to work on a task or disabling notifications for sites/platforms that would otherwise bombard your attention is a small step in helping you be more productive and concentrate on the task at hand.

In the context of self-care, it is also important to disengage with the digital world from time to time. Again I am guilty of this, but when you are constantly trying to keep up-to-date with social media it can be hard to put things into perspective. You are constantly seeing the best version of someone and their constructed lives, that it can be quite damaging if you feel like you can't compare. It is important to remember that there is a lot of planning and construction behind every Instagram shot. Also a word of advice: don't trust people when they use the hashtag #nofilter...

9. Focus on Gut Health

When you begin to understand that your gut is like your body's second brain, you will only begin to imagine how much of an impact it has on regulating other important bodily functions. Part of the philosophy behind living a holistic lifestyle is by recognizing that things are more interconnected than they may otherwise appear. I will be dedicating an entire post on gut health, but I think in order to optimally take care of yourself, improving your gut health is a central element.

10. Stretch

I have always had bad posture, as I am known for always slouching and being all crunched up, thereby constricting my muscles. It also isn't the most attractive look. One way that I work towards better posture is by daily stretching. By stretching you are helping keep your muscles flexible and strong in order to maintain a range of motion in your joints. This is very important for people who work at a desk all day long as your muscles may becoming weaker and unable to stretch all the way- resulting in tighter hamstrings for example.

By stretching one day you cannot expect to be automatically flexible, but if you practice it consistently, over time you will begin to see your flexibility along with not feeling awkward in your own body.