Living A Healthy Lifestyle

So many of us spend our waking hours chasing deadlines and elusive goals and hard to find spare time. Few of us realize that in order to be less stressed and to lead a happier and healthier life we need to organize ourselves. Not only will this process be good for our mental health but also for our physical well-being.

De-clutter the area around you:

The most obvious first step is to de-clutter your environment. If your home or your office is cluttered, you will spend most of your time searching through the mess. Once everything is in place and you have less things to manage, life becomes much simpler and less stressful. Organized living space looks better, saves effort and leads to positive vibes among all those who live there.

Learn to organize your time:

Being organized vis-a-vis time does not mean that you lose all the spontaneity and fun out of life. It means that you do not waste time and you have more spare time for yourself. Once you have more time, it naturally follows that you will be able to indulge in activities that you enjoy, and joy and pleasure shall follow.

Set goals and boundaries:

Do not try to do everything at the same time. Set achievable goals and boundaries, and map out a plan to achieve them. An organized life style leads to a better state of mind, and to more time to sit back and relax. This is all that is needed for a healthier lifestyle.

Music is food for the soul – all of us agree with that – it is an accepted idiom. But did you know that music is good for your physical health also. It has many beneficial consequences, and often works in conjunction with medical treatments for any ailments.

Relieves Stress:

Medical research has proven that the positive vibes of music help to negate the negative vibes of stress. When you are tired or agitated, just sitting back and getting lost in the sounds of your favorite music can help you calm down. It also helps in relieving the symptoms of depression and anxiety. Good music may not take away the cause of the anxiety but can help decrease the levels of distress that you may feel.

Helps you sleep better:

Listening to peaceful and relaxed music at night can lull your body into a state of relaxed slumber. However, if you are fond of more jazzier music, just listening to it before you retire can make you feel all is well with the world, and thus get a good night’s sleep.

Heart rates:

Medical practitioners are increasingly using music therapy to help control the heart rate of their patients. Listening to music can lead to a slower breathing and heart rate and also a relaxed response to the treatment being provided.

Think back, how often has just a few minutes of listening to music helped you to feel better and healthier and brighter. Do it more often, after all your health is of great importance.

As we are becoming more aware of the ravages of climate change and of the effects of an unhealthy environment, many of us are turning to solutions to make our homes and lives more green. We are taking small but sure steps towards a basic lifestyle change and thereby leading to a healthier life and home.

Organic food:

All of us are aware of the various kinds of organic foods available in the market. These do not have any preservatives or chemicals added to them, and are naturally grown. Increased use of these food items helps to decrease the chemical intake in our bodies and to decrease the toxics in digestive systems.

Be outdoors more often – try walking and aerobic exercises as means of keeping fit:

Step out of your closed environments. Try walking as an exercise, or try to do aerobics to keep fit. This will help you because you will be breathing fresh air, and also you will be less dependent on machines for your physical fitness.

Reduce carbon footprints by driving green and car pooling:

Try to commute with others – use a car pool or buy hybrid cars. This will decrease the stress on you since you will be driving through traffic jams less often, and also you will be leaving less of a carbon footprint for your children

Reduce use of chemicals for cleaning:

Use natural cleaning agents in your home. There are many new ones available now, which do not have too many pollutants added to them. Thus you will leave lees of a residue behind for everyone to inhale.

Asthmatics – There are many ways in which you can improve your lifestyle
Asthma is a disease which cannot be cured, but it can be controlled. There are certain lifestyle adjustments that need to be made, but once those are in place you will realise that you are feeling much better and the frequency of attacks has decreased.

Identify and remove the triggers:

The first and the most important step is to identify the triggers that bring on the attacks. Remove stuffed animals, heavy rugs, and heavy draperies from your home. Avoid tobacco smoke, especially secondary/passive smoke. Try not to keep a pet, but if you do have one, give it a bath frequently. Launder bed linen and pillows frequently.

Monitor yourself regularly:

Monitor your asthma regularly with a peak flow meter. This will help you see any warning signs that an attack is being triggered. It is easier to control an attack when it is just beginning to surface.

Watch your diet:

Improve your diet. Eat more fruits and vegetables, and keep a watch on what food triggers or decreases chances of an asthma attack.

Exercise regularly:

Keep your body fit by doing exercises. A lot of asthma patients stop exercising altogether, which does not help them in the least. It is important to consult your doctor, but do try to indulge in some exercise at least 3 times a week. You will find that gradually your stamina will increase and you will feel better.

Once you have decided to make the changes in your lifestyle, make them slowly, one step at a time. Incorporate changes which will decrease your stress, make you feel healthier and make your body stronger.

The Surya Namaskar, or a salutation to the sun is a series of twelve postures derived from Hatha Yoga. Considered by many to be the most complete physio-spiritual exercise in the world, it has a scientific basis to it.

The twelve asanas stretch your spine backwards and forwards alternatively. They also involve inhalation and exhalation at specific times. This helps in cleansing the breathing system also, and in also controlling the amount of stress you put on your heart and lungs.

The Surya Namaskar can be done by people of all ages from the young to the old. It has been very beneficial for those with heart diseases and also for with weight problems. It can be done at any time of the day, and all you need is just a mat and any corner of your home.

Generally, people practice 12 surya namaskars at one time. You can begin with two or three, but you will soon realize the beneficial effects of it, and you will be able to do more rounds. In a Hindu religion context, it is believed to be better if you perform them facing the sun, but it is not essential.

Surya namaskar helps improve your digestive systems, it helps to make you more agile, and it also helps in making you lose weight.

So what are you waiting for?

Go ahead, try out this series of asanas, slowly at first and then as you feel a change for the better, you can increase the frequency. Soon they will become an essential part of your daily routine.

Heart problems (the physical kind) afflict a large number of adults in the world, and unfortunately we are beginning to see cases even of children being affected by them also. If you have a heart problem, here are a few guidelines which can help you to lead a healthy life. But please do follow the doctor’s instructions before anything else.

Reduce stress:

This is the primary suggestion for any healthy life. Try to destress yourself by meditating, resting more often and by leading a more relaxed lifestyle.

Choose a better diet:

Eat foods which are low in saturated and total fats, and high in starch and fiber content. These will help to lower your cholesterol level. Choosing foods such as fruits and vegetables and whole grains will aid this process.

Lose weight:

If you eat foods that have lower fat levels, then they also have lower calorie content, and they will help you lose weight. Losing weight is an important part of your lifestyle changes in order to prevent an increase in your heart problems.

Be physically active:

Depending on your age and the severity of your heart disease, you can try to increase the amount of physical activity you indulge in. Exercise, and some form of physical activity help to decrease stress and improve the fitness levels of your heart

Doctor’s visits:

Be regular in your health check-ups. Do not neglect this aspect of your life even if you feel that your health has improved tremendously. Take your preventive medicines regularly and watch your weight and your cholesterol.

Are you on a diet?

Most of us at some stage of our lives are on a diet to either lose weight or to decrease the size of our butts or just to feel better.

But, are you sure that the diet plan that you are following is healthy?

It may be helping you lose weight but it may also be helping you lose your immunity or may be harming your internal organs thereby causing long term harm

Here are some of the common dieting downsides:

Do not follow a diet that makes you cut out an entire food group, even for a short period. Your body needs all the food groups for sustenance, so try to decrease the quantity, but do not eliminate a food group altogether.

In the same concept, do not follow a diet which asks you to concentrate only on one type of food. You are again making the same mistake, you are depriving your body of the nutrients that it needs.

Diets which are dependent on packaged meals or specific meals work very well for a short time, but once you go back to your normal food habits, they cease to work. They lack variety, they prevent you from eating socially and they also slow your metabolism.

Hence, no matter which diet plan you follow, do take care to see that you do not deprive yourself of adequate nutrition and that there are no negative long term consequences.

Do you like the articles on this blog? You may want to subscribe to the RSS feed to get regular updates. If you want more health and fitness article, I will recommend that you also visit the fitness blog – Chick and Fit. The inline images on that blog make the posts very lively.

A healthier lifestyle is something all of us seek nowadays. The importance of having a healthy life and thereby being able to decrease the complications arising from tension and ill-health have acquired a lot of prominence in modern day living.

Yoga is one of the simplest, effective and cheapest ways to do this. It began as a system to achieve union of body and mind, by Indian sages many, many centuries ago. Today, it is being propagated as a means of improving our health and of diffusing the tension in our body and mind.

Yoga primarily helps to relax your body and mind. The Pranayama asanas are specially beneficial in this field.  The other asanas that follow help in making you more flexible, and in releasing all the stiffness from your bones and muscles. They help in achieving a co-ordinated improvement in all parts of your body.

The regular practice of yoga helps you to sleep better, wake up refreshed and to feel an overall sense of well being. A natural corollary of this process will be an ability to deal with stress and also find peace within yourself.

Yoga needs no special preparations. Just a quiet corner of your home and a mat are all the equipment needed. You can do yogic exercises till any age and you can begin at a very young age. Within a few days of regular practice you will feel the improvement as your mind and body will respond to this centuries old system.

All of us know that our lifestyles are affected by what we eat, but few us realize that what is also very important is how regularly and how often we eat. There has been ample research which has highlighted the benefits of a regular lifestyle, not only with regard to exercise but also in connection with eating schedules.

Irregular meals have been proven, by Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, to be responsible for a larger waist size and more blood disorders than those who were more habitual in their routines.

We have known for centuries that our bodies are very reliant upon routines. They crave for food at certain hours, because that has been the norm for them. When this regularity is deviated from, then the bodily systems begin to react against this and we get upset stomachs and headaches etc. Our digestive systems, which are interwoven with almost every other system in our body, respond negatively to meals at odd hours.

The European Journal of Clinical Nutrition has proven in a study conducted by them that regular and frequent meals help to lower the risk of heart attacks and strokes. Most of the participants reported better moods, improved energy levels and better heart functions after eating regular meals.

Most of us know that regularity and discipline in any form – whether it is work or exercise or eating has always been beneficial.  Food is one of the prime movers in our lives, let us reap the optimum benefit by eating regularly and correctly.

Hey, all you late risers, wake up, look outside, it is a beautiful new day. The sun is bright and the leaves and flowers are looking fresh. Get up and go out and take a walk in any park near your home. If you do not want to exert too much, take a gentle stroll through the park. If you are feeling a little more energetic, why not try a slightly brisk walk.

The health benefits of a morning walk are so many that it is surprising that everyone does not indulge in one. Your body is relaxed and much more responsive to external stimulants than at any other time of the day. It is able to exert much more at this time than at any other time of the day. Hence you are likely to burn more calories now than at any other time with the same amount of effort.

But much more than this is the beneficial effect on your mind. The air is clean, since the pollution levels around the city are at their lowest at this point. Your body breathes in more oxygen and there is a certain level of detoxification that happens now. There are fewer sounds around you, and you can hear the chirping of the birds and the occasional rustling of the leaves. Research has proved that nature’s sounds help to relax the mind and de-stress the body.

So what are you waiting for? Get up, wear a nice pair of walking shoes and just step out on the road to the park or the garden. You will love it.