Do you have a wellness routine? Creating or recalibrating a wellness routine is a do-it-yourself project that addresses our individual, unique needs. Cultivating wellness in our lives is a mindset as well as specific actions and routines.
So much of “healthcare” in our country is sick care – identifying what is already affecting us negatively and figuring out to treat it. The prevention that we are encouraged often focuses on things like eating right and getting enough sleep and exercise. Of course, these are important. But there is more.
Beyond the physical practices, mental and emotional self-care are key to wellness. Sometimes self-care is seen as self-centered and even selfish. I hope you see how important it is to staying healthy and strong and available for others in your life. Having a wellness/self-care routine that fits your needs is important to the totality of your life.
Reject Extreme Goals, Adopt Sustainable Habits
I recently found an inspiring article which summarizes the approach used by wellness coaches Manda and Meleah Manning. They advocate “forming intuitive, sustainable habits rather than chasing extreme goals.” (You know, like eat no sugar or carbs, workout every day, no pain no gain approaches, meditate for thirty minutes or more daily, etc.)
The article describes four practices that can bring more balance into every part of a wellness routine: start a morning routine, make time to meditate, journal mindfully, and try energy cleansing. The first three are ones we’ve all heard about before. They are described in the article in some unique ways that you may find helpful.
The last one, energy cleansing, is new to me. It is simple, doesn’t take a long time and is highly effective according to coaches. They recommend this daily morning and evening routine: “Begin the day by ‘visualizing yourself safe and protected within a golden egg of light, almost like a forcefield’…. At the end of the day, think about releasing anything you don’t need anymore. ‘You can do this be visualizing yourself standing underneath a waterfall and feeling the cleansing water wash over you, cleansing your energy from the crown of your head out through the soles of your feet.’”
These energy cleansing practices are meditative techniques using the power of visualization and centering. Perhaps you find that many recommended techniques involve more time than you are willing or able to commit. These do not require much time at all. I love the image for each – golden egg of light in the morning and waterfall in the evening. No need to refer to a source article or book – remember the images and the accompanying thoughts will come to you once you have done it a couple of times.
If you lack a self-care/wellness routine, or are ready to revamp what you have, check out the article, “Build Balance Into Your Wellness Routine With These Expert-Recommended Practices” by Annalise Mantz.
In addition, here’s a possible tool to consider. A Year of Self-Care, Daily Practices and Inspiration for Caring for Yourself by Dr. Zoe Shaw provides a daily practice that will take you about 15 minutes. Start whenever you want and see where it takes you.
In the middle of the summer, with temperatures soaring in so many places, to the point of serious danger to health and well-being, we hear over and over: “Stay hydrated.” The message is actually important all year.
Isn’t that what we all wish for? Wishing and hoping – but also, far too often worrying and fretting and fearing that it won’t be so. In spite of increased life expectancy, we are also aware of increased incidence of certain chronic conditions as we get older. The prospect of depending on multiple prescriptions and procedures to maintain a level of health, and affording their cost is a concern for most of us.
