The 3 most overlooked ways to get the most out of your day
We’re going to dive straight in and say absolutely nothing written in this blog is going to be new or mind bending, however, it’s often the simple reminders we need the most to course correct.
We like to call these top 3 tips the BMH principle, as it works on 3 areas that heavily impact brain function, body physiology, and our overall mood:
B – Breathwork, or conscious breathing.
M – Movement, however that suits you best.
H – Hydration, because we’re water beings.
B – The Breath
Take one…… deep…… breath……
Now take 3 more, and really expand both your belly (first), and your chest (for maximum intake), and let it go while making a gentle or loud noise. We invite you to do this before you read on.
Notice how you feel for a few moments.
It’s the breath that supports our presence practice and becoming more conscious. We’re all guilty of losing presence; we can find ourselves stuck on an autopilot of thoughts, frantically aiming to tick off the endless tasks on our to-do list.
Do you have a morning breathing routine? If not, try one! Here’s a quick example:
Sit down on a chair or couch, yet upright and fully erect. Have your feet flat on the floor, place your hands at the end of your thighs, close your eyes, and take 10 deep breaths - in through the nose, out through the mouth. Once you’ve finished 10 breaths, rest for a few moments, before doing another two rounds, for three rounds total. Notice how you feel, and perhaps even free write in a journal for a few minutes.
As an additional breath practice, take as many opportunities (of all hours of the day) to breathe consciously. This simply means you breathe the breath, as opposed to the breath breathing you. When we are intentionally using our breath, whether it’s doing the dishes, getting the kids to bed, cleaning up, or at the laptop, we become conscious, and it’s our conscious attention that gives way to a more present, engaged, and connected life.
We breathe on average about 16 breaths per minute, therefore 960 breaths an hour, 23,040 breaths a day, and 8,409,600 a year. By the time we reach 80, we will have inhaled & exhaled about 672 million times; may each one count.
M – Move your body
Life is to movement, as death is to stillness; this is simply fundamental to all life on this planet. The oceans move, the winds move, our beloved animals move; even trees and plants move. When it comes to movement and the human body, the evidence is clear: we improve energy, think better, feel better, age slower, alleviate depression, and become resistant to disease, among many other benefits.
We like to encourage people to forget about what movement is ‘best’. Whether its cardio or weights, high intensity or high volume – getting caught up in the details misses the point. What’s most important is to find what you enjoy and what’s sustainable; if you love what you do, you’ll do what you love. There are so many ways to move your body: walking, cycling, dancing, bounding, Yoga, skipping, martial arts, swimming, sex, resistance training, Olympic lifting, or sports like basketball, tennis, and football – the list is never-ending.
To get the most out of your day, we definitely recommend morning movement, even if for 10-15 minutes. It stimulates the production of neurotransmitters in the brain, so you feel good and can focus on tasks for the day; it also makes you feel like you’ve serviced your body & achieved something. This is especially true if you are someone who sits for many hours of the day; you’ll naturally find you have better focus, more energy, you’re less irritable, and feel better about yourself.
Just like a car needs servicing, our bodies require the same attention, on a regular basis. You’ll never get another one like it, so give it some love, get moving, and live lighter!
H – Hydrate your cells
Depending on which science you read, and depending on which human you’re studying, there are approximately 50,000,000,000,000 – 100,000,000,000,000 cells that make up the human body – that’s fifty to one hundred trillion, with a T. We are largely water beings; our cells bathe in fluids, and every single one of those cells requires adequate hydration.
Here are some signs you could be dehydrated:
- You have low energy, yet meet your caloric needs.
- You have a constant sense of being stiff & rigid.
- Your joints crack a lot.
- You have brain fog and/or poor memory.
- You drink water but you’re still thirsty and never quenched.
- You crave salt.
- You sweat excessively.
- You get headaches or dizziness.
- You experience muscle cramps or eye twitches.
- You have constipation regularly.
One of the best ways to improve hydration levels is by increasing electrolyte levels. You can do this by simply consuming more fresh water rich fruits like watermelon & apples, and water rich vegetables like zucchini & celery, or having a large salad. 100% organic coconut water is a fantastic way to boost electrolyte levels, as well as our favourite way, through fresh cold pressed fruit & vegetable juices.
Getting the most out of the day is not necessarily about how many things we get done, but how we go about doing it. Priming our body to perform at its best doesn’t require a large budget or unrealistic commitments, but rather consistency & sustainability.