Eight Appointment to Make With Yourself.
Getting massages, acupuncture, and coming in for regular Chiropractic care are all great ways to support good health. Just like getting a cleaning from your dental hygienist is super important for keeping healthy teeth throughout a lifetime. You have likely learned that making time with health care professionals is part of a lifetime of good health. Good on you for being so great to yourself!
Now what about the visits you make with your doctor self everyday?
"What?" you say, "I'm no doctor and this everyday thing?" To be a little more clear, do you go without brushing your teeth everyday because you go to your dental hygienist one or two times per year? Of course not. You know that your breath would be awful and your teeth would suffer cavities or worse. You floss and brush your teeth everyday because you know that your teeth and gums need both you and your hygienist's commitment over a lifetime to stay healthy.
So what are the other visits you need to make with yourself everyday to maintain, or improve your health and well-being?
1. Make an appointment to get enough quality sleep. Plan for 7-9 hours if you are an adult. That means 7-9 hours without the TV going and the tablet or phone put away. We are talkin' about good old fashioned deep sleeping. Try it, we think you will like it.
2. Schedule time to move your body. Walk, swim, pedal, dance, box, throw balls, lift heavy things, hike, ski, jump around. Whatever you like, do it. Research says 20 minutes per day of doing something that gets the heart and body working a little harder is the thing. Did you know you can get health benefits from even 5 minutes per day? Yep. just 5 minutes.
3. Make a plan to drink clean water. Staying hydrated is good for the body so shoot for 6-9 cups per day for adults. Another thought about clean water, we need to clean our insides, do you want to do that with water or soda? Want to go run a hot 7-Up bath - Not. Water please!
4. Speaking of cleaning your insides, set aside a few times per day for waste removal (yep, ya need to move those bowels and urinate). Holding back on drinking water to decrease urination amounts is not the best idea. A build up of waste material puts extra stress on the bladder and kidneys, and the longer that waste sits in the bladder the more bacteria can populate and proliferate. And that is just one of the health problems not urinating enough can cause. Refer to #3 and drink water to ensure you are cleaning house.
And poop. Well, once per day is a good idea, two to three is best. If this is not happening, or it is difficult to go, make sure you are drinking enough water and moving around everyday (too little of either can slow down the network) or talk with a natural health care provider like Dr Dobelbower to figure out how to help your body improve your bowel function.
5. Make a one to three appointments each day to eat healthy, whole foods to nourish and repair the body. Focus on eating lots of clean (pasture/organic) meats, tons of veggies, lots of fat and oil, with occasional fruits and nut and seeds to satisfy your inner hunger while keeping your glucose and insulin at appropriate levels. Some people will feel and function better with more veggies, some with more fat and protein.
6. Call on a friend or family member for a few minutes of connection and companionship. Humans need to feel connected and share experiences. Plus, hey it is fun to connect. It does not have to be about the meaning of life, just a few moments of laughing is all it takes.
7. Make an appointment of 1-2 moments to breathe deep and clear your mind. Surprisingly, taking 30 seconds a day to belly breathe and clear your mind will make you more productive, creative, and feel more at peace with your world. All of that in just a few brief moments, wow.
8. Schedule a time for growth and learning. Take a class, read a book, dive into your hobby, listen to a podcast...whatever it is, challenge yourself a little to learn something and/or go outside your comfort zone. A healthy mind is an active mind with curiousity that does not stop when we reach any age. You know the old saying, "Once you stop growing, you start dying."
A few of you are already saying, "I don't have time for all of these appointments." But, another way of thinking about these habits is to make healthy living a priority. See our other article on deprivation if you need a little information about how to do that. Most of these daily health habits take only a few moments of time to reap big rewards over a lifetime. You are likely already doing many of these things, so take a moment and decide if you need to adjust or add any of the other daily appointments to up your health.
What healthy habits are you already doing?
What healthy habits are you doing well? And how does that make you feel?
What healthy habits could you do better? How do you think you will feel when you improve them?
If you find that one or two of these healthy habits are being derailed due to a health issue and you just don't know why you cannot do it, think about talking to a natural health professional like Dr Dobelbower about what could be the cause. Find a solution and be capable of living a vibrant healthy life!
