The 5 Things I Do Everyday to Have a Healthy Mind and Body

The past few years, I have tried many different diets, fad foods and wellness techniques in order to enhance the current state of my mind and body. For instance, I went vegan for two months and only ate raw foods until 4pm; I cut out coffee, dairy, sugar, and gluten from my diet; I’d eat or apply various essential oils, take different herbs or get acupuncture done. I did as many things as I could to improve the condition of my skin, feel less sluggish, more focused, productive, and happier! After much research and conducting experiments on myself, I wanted to share my list of practices that I do everyday, which I have found to be the most effective in helping me achieve and maintain a healthy mind and body.

1. Meditation: I was first introduced to meditation by my dad when I was about 10 years old. And like most young girls, since it wasn’t the “thing” to do among my friends aside from playing outside, I stopped practicing it until I got older. I picked it up again a few years ago after learning about how many influential leaders have applied this practice into their daily lives. You can read more on scientific evidence from The New York Times about How Meditation Changes the Brain and Body . The main reasons I meditate is it helps me focus better, allows me to have more control over my thoughts, and handle challenging situations with ease. Every morning, the first thing I do when I wake up (aside from checking my Spirit Junkie app to get my daily mantra of the day) is open up the Headspace app on my iPhone. I’ll then set my phone to airplane mode to avoid pop-up notifications from disturbing my 15 minute session. Here are the reasons why I have found the Headspace app to be the most effective for beginners to advanced meditators:

• Offers guided meditations that you would do for a certain number of days, and you can set the amount of time each session should be
• Comes with an assortment of techniques or “series packs” to choose from that can help with enhancing your level of awareness, become a more loving and compassionate person, or improve upon your self-esteem, to name a few
• You can try the Headspace app 10 days for free to see how you like it, before you decide on purchasing a subscription for unlimited access to additional series packs

 

2. Drinking apple cider vinegar: I have written about consuming this before in my post, Tips for Treating and Preventing the Common Cold, and even mentioned it a few times on my Instagram account, but this is truly something that everyone should consider drinking everyday. Apple cider vinegar has been around for centuries, and was even consumed by well-known leaders, such as Hippocrates and Julius Caesar, where the life expectancy during their time was at a much lower age than it is now. I drink two to three tablespoons of Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar and mix it with water every morning to detoxify my body, and keep my skin clear of blemishes or eczema flare ups. Still not convinced you should start drinking this? Here’s a list of more reasons why this elixir is magical:

• Prevents stomach flu and illness
• Dissolves kidney stones

• Regulates pH balance in the body

• Helps relieve nausea, heartburn, chronic reflux, asthma, allergies, migraines, as well as sinus pressure and infection

• Helps reduce or prevent acne, lower glucose levels in diabetes, and weight loss by curbing appetite and breaking down fat

• Lowers cholesterol

• Reduces inflammation and relieves arthritis

• Works well to clear up fungal or bacterial rash

• Soothes bug bites and gets rid of warts (this should be applied as a topical)

 

3. Making my bed:

I have found that this one action sets the precedence for the day ahead, in order for me to successfully tackle on my to-do list. U.S. Navy SEAL,

Admiral William H. McCraven, the commander of the forces that organized the raid to kill Osama bin Laden, offered similar advice during the University of Texas 2014 commencement speech. McCraven said that “Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that the little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you’ll never be able to do the big things right. And if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made — that you made. And a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.” You can view the rest of his commencement speech here: Navy SEAL’s advice to grads: Make your bed every morning. So do me a favor, try taking on this one task each morning that requires minimal effort. It only takes thirty seconds to complete, and it will help you become more productive.

 

4. Eating coconut oil: I know there’s been a lot of hype around coconut oil, but the numerous benefits of this food is paramount. The first misconception about coconut oil I want to debunk is that it makes you fat. This is 100% false and probably the most common reason why people do not ingest it, but use it as a skin moisturizer instead. Although coconut oil is 90% saturated fat, it’s a medium chain saturated fatty acid which means they promote fat oxidation and reduces food intake. That’s because medium chain fatty acids are metabolized differently than long-chain fatty acids, which are found in meats and processed foods. People in tropical climates who have been consuming massive amounts of coconut oil long before we caught onto it in America, have had little or no evidence of heart disease. I consume at least three to four tablespoons of Organic Virgin Coconut Oil by Nutiva throughout the day, or if I’m traveling, I’ll pack a couple Artisana Organics Raw Organic Coconut Oil packets. I’ll either eat all by itself, add it to my tea, bulletproof coffee (which I rarely drink), or use it as a cooking oil since it can tolerate high heat without becoming carcinogenic; it also adds a hint of flavor! Furthermore, coconut oil has been proven to prevent Alzheimer’s disease, high blood pressure, and has antibacterial, anti-fungal and antiviral properties.

 

5. Reflecting on what I’m grateful for: Way too often we tend to focus on what’s going wrong, rather than the joys in our life. I believe talking about our problems is our greatest addiction since it involves expectations of desired outcomes, which is deeply tied to our emotions. Life is all about perspective and if you can find the silver lining in any situation and trust that unfavorable experiences occur to help you learn and grow, I promise you that you’ll be a much happier person! I’m not perfect and I have been guilty of putting my energy into what’s going wrong in certain situations, so how I began to break this habit by keeping a gratitude journal. Every morning or at the end of each day, I’ll write down three to five things that I’m grateful for, which only takes two to three minutes of my time. Some of the things I would jot down could be what I usually take for granted, like having a place to live, or being able to purchase food for nourishment. It could also be something that’s top of mind, such as a people I’ve met, friendships, or relationships in my life that add to my happiness. If wanting to become a more positive person isn’t a good enough reason to start writing down what you’re grateful for, it’s been scientifically proven that those who keep a gratitude journal show higher levels of determination, attention, enthusiasm and energy, when compared to those who do not keep gratitude journals. Want more proof? Here’s a great article from The Huffington Post on The Neuroscience of Why Gratitude Makes Us Healthier.

It might seem like adding these five practices into your existing routine seems like more work, but try looking at it in this way: if you can re-allocate some time away from social media or watching television and apply that extra time towards my suggestions, why not give it a try and see how it improves your overall well-being?

I would love to hear from you on how applying these practices has enhanced the current state of your mind and body, so please feel free to contact me directly or tell me about it in the comments section.

Naturally,
Nadine