5 Simple Ways to incorporate a Holistic Lifestyle

Here are five simple ways to incorporate a Holistic Lifestyle:

• Practice Mindfulness
• Be Intentional
• Fuel and heal your body with natural, healthy foods and products
• Self-care
• Indulge in creative and emotional outlets
  

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Practice Mindfulness-

In a nation where everything is in a constant state of rush, stress and extreme chaos. Our daily responsibilities and routines can become too much to handle, so it is vital to step away from the madness.

Stop and pause. Be aware. Be in the here and now. This is something I struggle with at times, because I tend to find myself thinking and focusing too much on the future rather than the present moment at hand. We can all practice mindfulness by being less reactionary and not so overwhelmed by whats going on around us.

Activities like yoga, tai chi, and meditation can help with being more mindful, because these techniques allows an individual to bring awareness to their body, thoughts and emotions.

I recommend starting out with a guided meditation to help get you started, and even taking a yoga or tai chi class. You tube is a great resource for finding guided meditations to listen to, and there’s also many fitness channels that do yoga challenges for beginners!

Be intentional-

I think it is important to be intentional throughout our daily lives and routines. Whatever we do and engage in reflects what and where we are putting our energy towards. This intent can apply to every aspect of our lives, generally, at least for me being intentional means to be purposeful about the things I do.

Here are some ideas and examples of what I practice in my day-to day life with being intentional…

Shopping:

Sometimes when I am out with one of my girlfriends or family-members, and I see something I want (but don’t need)

I ask myself, “Is this something I need to have that will make my life better, or make me happy? How will this add value to my life? And can I afford it? Will I be missing out on this product if I don’t get it?”

Most of the time the answer is NO, even if it would make me happy most of the time that emotion of happiness is short-lived and the item or product will end up not getting used or lost somewhere in my house.

Just think and ask yourself these kinds of questions, if this item/ product in fact were to add value and impact my life in some way, how would I maintain or keep up with this item/product?

Considering, if it is something that you will cherish and utilize then it is something worth having. If it is something you’re just buying to cope with your emotions to make you feel better in the moment, then most likely you don’t need it. At that point you’re just ‘retail therapy’ shopping which is dangerous if made a habit of.

This is why it is important to be very mindful and intentional on the things we purchase and consume.

Media & Technology: 

Another way I practice being intentional is with my consumption of technology and my use of media.

I have started being intentional when it comes to who & what I am following on social media. Sometimes on apps like Instagram it can be easy to see the lives of others and compare ourselves to what they post (even though most of it is just false sense of reality) we still do anyways.

And when it comes to who we are following and what profiles we are following. it is important to make sure we are consuming positive information and content that is not damaging to our mental health.

For me, I like to follow pages that showcases people in our world who are doing great things for others and our environment. I like to follow pages that promote positivity, success, health and happiness.

Whatever works for you, I recommend following pages and profiles that add value to what your consuming and doesn’t effect your mental health negatively.

Comparing our lives to someone else’s can be damaging to our mental health. I know I fall into the trap of viewing someones profile and thinking my life isn’t as exciting or perfect, even when I consciously know most of what people post includes filters and great Photoshop.

My solution to minimizing who and what I follow consists of…

• A monthly de-clutter of people, profiles and pages I follow on all social media platforms
• Being intentional on who I continue to follow and not follow
• Determining what posts and profile accounts are valuable to me, and promotes good mental health

Fuel and heal your body with natural, healthy foods and product-

Something that I have been allowing myself to get better and be consistent at is the types of foods and products I intake.

I believe that food is medicine and it is the main source of healing our bodies, so whatever we eat the most of whether it is fast foods or plant-based meals we are fueling our bodies with those nutrients.

To incorporate more of a holistic diet it is essential to eat more foods that are natural and healing. Also, it is also good to be aware and know the reasons as to why you are choosing to eat healthy and natural foods.

Eating healthy and holistically looks like…

• Eating organic foods
• Non- processed foods/minimal processed foods
• Drinking purified water

Healthy eating contributes to our mental and physical health in a powerful way, because it advocates for vitality and our well-being. Holistic nutrition is eating foods as close to it’s natural state as possible for optimum health.

Here are some benefits of a holistic diet:

• Disease prevention
• Increase focus and energy levels
• Better sleep
• Improved mood
• Strengthen immune system
• Enhances skin texture

Self- Care-

Self-care consists of many things. It is necessary to take care of our mind, soul and body. There are many ways to take care of ourselves and it can be something as little as getting a good amount of sleep and quality sleep.

Here are three areas where you can take control of your self-care, and nurture yourself with some holistic self-care tips!

1.Caring for your body-

Become active- One way to care for our bodies is to stay consistently active. Being active doesn’t mean you have to be advanced in fitness, a body builder, or someone who works out every single day.

However, if that’s you that is totally fine. If you’re someone who is new to working out (like me!) and becoming more active its best to start off small.

Here are some simple ways to be active…

• Yoga
• Martial Arts
• Track/running
• Boxing
• Swimming
• At home work-outs
• Join a sport
• Hiking
• Walking dogs

Quality sleep- For me sleep is everything! I know some people who need to have the TV on or something playing while they are asleep. However, I can’t stand having the TV playing when I’m sleeping, because I feel it disrupts my mind from relaxing and sleeping peacefully. I love the silence when I sleep. If I feel the need to have something playing I usually listen to soft, relaxing music without any lyrics or sleep meditation music.

There may be some of you out there who actually prefer sleeping with the TV on or something playing. In my opinion if you go this route, I would encourage playing something that is positive rather than random things playing, because once we fall into a state akin to sleep that is when our subconscious mind is more acceptable to receiving information.

       2.Caring for your mind-

Meditation- An effective way to care for your mind is to practice meditation. Taking 10- 30 min out of your day everyday to calm your mind will help with clarity, and good concentration. There are limitless benefits with meditating, and it is a good technique to care for our minds. The results are life-changing, if done consistently.

Some benefits of meditating includes…

• Promotes emotional health
• Controls anxiety
• Can decrease blood pressure
• Relieves stress

       3.Caring for your space-

Aromatherapy- Aromatherapy is something I want to dabble into in my self-care routine. When I was in college living in the apartments on campus I always looked forward to taking baths with essential oils and Epson salt. One thing I haven’t tried is the aromatherapy diffusers, which I know has huge health benefits as far as breathing.

I personally love scented areas, it just makes the air feel sweeter and it really does help me breath better. Diffusers are very helpful when you have the flu, sinus problems, breathing disorders and allergies. Caring for your space in this way will promotes quality air and breathing in your home.

Plants- Having plants could also be another way to clean the air in your home. Having plants or flowers feels like having a piece of nature in your home. My favorite thing of having plants is watering them, and watching them grow. Plants are definitely mood enhancers. I think the best time to have plants and flowers is during the spring and summer.

With that said, if you have a backyard or area to plant flowers outside your house, that would be an even fun and closer way to be apart of nature and enjoy the outdoors.

Indulge in creative and emotional outlets-

A great way to live a holistic lifestyle is to involve yourself in activities that you enjoy. Getting yourself involved in activities you love allows you to express yourself. One of my creative outlets is to color in coloring books. This activity is so therapeutic for me, because it allows me to be creative and to sit with myself. My emotional outlet consists of writing in my journal to jot all my thoughts down or even writing about my experiences of the day.

I know that creative and emotional outlets are different for everyone. To find your outlets think of something you enjoy participating in on your free time. Think back to something fun you may have done as a kid, and it doesn’t have to be something you know how to do or are good at.

For example, when I was younger I spent a lot of time in daycare and at one of my daycare’s I learned how to sew pillows and stuff them. When I was in Kindergarten I learned how to write in cursive. And in middle school, when I took art class I knew how to draw people! (Not the stick figure kind).

Unfortunately, I don’t know how to do any of those anymore, but I would love to one day re-learn all of those skills. I believe things like that are great examples of some outlets to indulge in. Even if there is something you want to re-learn that would serve as a creative or emotional outlet for you, I say go for it!