Do you want to reboot your health, but don’t know where to start?
You’ve tried so many different approaches, without any of them actually sticking.
I want you to know that it’s normal to go through cycles with your health and habits. Different seasons, circumstances and phases of life will affect your health in different ways.
The problem is running from one approach to another as soon as you realize that you need a reboot. What if you stuck with one approach that really works, and you can come back to when you stray off the path?
Instead of viewing your path to health as linear, think of it as a circle.
Mind Body Adventure Wheel
Taking the circle one step further, I like to imagine a wheel, like the wheel on your bike. If your wheel has spokes that have integrity and are the right length, then your wheel will work great.
If, on the other hand, some spokes are short, others are long, and some are bent, your wheel won’t be able to roll your bike anywhere. It’ll just be a wonky wheel.
The framework I’ve developed for working with my coaching clients is a wheel with 8 spokes (see graphic). Each spoke represents an essential ingredient in the recipe for your best health. When you’re healthy and your wheel is strong, you’re living your best life.
Let’s get into those spokes and how they work.
Morning Rituals
The way you start your day informs your mindset for the day. Have you ever noticed your stress levels spike when you wake up and check your email first thing? It can be hard to recover from that. On the other hand, when you set aside time in the morning to start your day with intention, you set yourself up for success. And, because consistent action over time is what creates big results, your days turn into weeks, weeks in months, months into years, and years into your whole life. Set your health and your life up for success with morning rituals that support your health, both physical and mental health.
Sleep
If you’re going to wake up early and start your morning with healthy habits, it’s important for you to get restful sleep so you wake up fresh. The science is clear that 7-8 hours of restful sleep per night supports cognitive function, boosts mood, increases energy, regulates weight, and much more. One of the keys to good sleep is practicing a bedtime routine that supports you in winding down at night.
Food
Stop counting calories and start nourishing yourself in alignment with your unique constitution and the seasons. Ayurveda, the sister-science to Yoga, tells us that each of us is unique. When you personalize your diet according to your constitution, you optimize your energy and your health. For example, someone who has a lot of fire wants to focus on cooling foods. If you have a lot of earth/water then then you want avoid heavy foods.
In addition to constitution, it’s also important that you change up your diet with the season. Cooling foods are great in summer, warming foods are perfect for fall and winter, and lighter foods are key for spring cleaning.
This may sound complicated, but it’s not. You can accomplish wonderful things for your health with just a little knowledge of the 3 Ayurvedic constitutions: Vata, Pitta and Kapha.
Schedule
The schedule I’m talking about here isn’t your work schedule. The healthiest people schedule their days around the natural light/dark cycle, otherwise known as circadian rhythm. When you eat is just as important as what you eat. What time you go to bed and wake up can either be a detriment to your health, or a boon. If you base your daily schedule around your work schedule only, you have the opportunity to look at your day differently and optimize it for better health and an amazing life.
Exercise
Movement on a daily basis gives you energy, helps your digestion and strengthens your cardio. If you’re not moving enough, it’s time to reflect on your all-or-nothing attitude. Don’t wait to exercise until you can do the perfect activity for the perfect amount of time. Walking 20 minutes per day will make a difference for your physical and mental health. Multiply that over many days, weeks, months and years, and that movement will work like compounding interest. Plus, when you do it enough you decide you really like it and end up doing more. A body in motion tends to stay in motion.
Boundaries
Setting boundaries around your goals so you protect what’s important to you, AND setting boundaries with yourself is a big part of leading a healthy lifestyle. If you’re always saying yes to stuff that isn’t important to you, and you feel overwhelmed and overcommitted, then how will you create time for healthy habits? Your ability to say yes to what’s important to you, and therefore no to what’s not, is a key ingredient to your health and living a life you love.
Adventure
Yes, outdoor adventures like kayaking, biking, skiing and hiking are awesome for your health. But, that’s not the only adventure I’m talking about. At the core of adventure is doing something that is uncomfortable and where you’re not certain of the outcome. Because if you’re certain of the outcome, then it’s not an adventure. The Dalai Lama said ‘do one thing each that scares you.’ Facing your fears and cultivating courage is good for your health.
Mindfulness
The most powerful thing you can cultivate in your life is self-awareness. When you have good self-awareness you have the power of choice. You can’t cultivate a life you love and optimal health when you don’t know yourself, don’t know what’s important to you, and especially, when you don’t have the awareness that you’re going off track. Mindfulness practices develop both self-awareness and present moment awareness so that you can powerfully choose and create your life. You can’t control what happens to you, but you can control how your respond to what happens.
When you think of your health as a wheel with these 8 spokes, you can get a good picture of what area(s) of your life to focus on. No more guessing. You don’t have to reboot all of them at once, although you can, especially with guidance. There’s no right or wrong so you can reset any of them at any time.
If you’re ready to get a good picture of where you can start to optimize your health, AND learn 8 Essential Spring Habits, I invite you to join my free webinar coming up on Monday, Feb. 28th at 7 p.m. EST. I’ll walk you through an exercise where you draw your own wheel so you can see where to start your health reset! No more guessing. Click here to register.
