If we discover the laws that govern this system and live synergistically within them, sustainability will follow and humankind will be a success.” – Buckminster Fuller, architect, systems theorist, author, designer, and inventor It knows what to do to regenerate, heal, and cultivate well-being. Most of the time it’s actually our habits and lifestyle that get in the way of glowing physical, emotional, and mental health. So how can we work with our bodies to support it functioning at maximum capacity and efficiency? Here are 5 tips to help get you started:
1. Focus 80% of your diet on healthy eating.
A healthy diet doesn’t necessarily have to be bland, boring, or restrictive. Start by focusing 80% of your efforts on eating whole, unprocessed, organic foods. Keep a balance of your macronutrients: Eat a moderate amount of complex carbs like sweet potatoes, squash, blueberries, and apples. Avoid consuming too many legumes and grains and other starches regularly as these have been known to irritate the gut, spike up insulin, and may cause inflammation. This will help keep your blood sugar balanced so that both your body and mind function optimally. Make sure you’re getting enough high-quality lean proteins like wild-caught fish, grass-fed beef, free-range chicken and eggs. Your body needs the protein for optimal amino acid intake in order to keep lean muscle mass intact. Don’t be afraid to introduce high-quality healthy fats from avocado, nuts, coconut, and olive oil. Your body needs the right kinds of fatty acids to keep your gut health in order and inflammation at bay. Make the bulk of your diet veggies and leafy greens like kale, arugula, spinach, herbs, broccoli, cabbage, and Brussel sprouts. When paired with high-quality fat such as olive oil these veggies fill you up and nourish you on a cellular level.
2. Move your body at least three times per week.
You don’t have to be a triathlete and take up high-intensity workouts for a long amount of time to move your body daily. A walk in the park, a light jog, pilates, yoga – these are all great ways to keep a healthy heart rate through some form of cardio. Of course, daily body movement can reduce weight gain and it can also help keep your energy levels high throughout the day. With mindful body movement, your body burns away impurities and heart health increases as the risk for heart disease decreases.
3. Take up a simple breathwork practice.
The health benefits of intentional breathing are very well documented. When done properly, breathwork can help awaken the body’s ability to self-regulate, self-soothe, self-nurture, and self-heal. If breathing exercises are new to you don’t worry – you can start with just a few minutes every day and build up to it.
4. Learn how to meditate and do it daily.
Meditation is an excellent tool to help your mind and body function optimally. Meditation can be daunting at first, but it doesn’t have to be. Here’s a quick guided session for you if you don’t think you can meditate.
5. Observe excesses and deficiencies in your habits, lifestyle choices.
We can practice this principle by observing where we currently have excesses and deficiencies in our lives and bodies. Are you eating or drinking too much of one thing? If you’re anxious you probably have an excess of anxious thoughts and feelings, and a deficiency of serene and calm thoughts and feelings. Your anxiety is the result of such imbalance, and awareness is the first step in correcting it. Physiologically, if we were to run your blood work, pee, and poo test, we’d be able to see what kind of biochemical excesses and deficiencies are at work in your body. Many times these excesses and deficiencies, of say micronutrients, neurotransmitters, and hormones, lead to or at least contribute to anxiety and dis-ease. When I ran my bloodwork, pee, and poo tests I found I had multiple deficiencies like low Vitamin D levels, low zinc levels, low dopamine levels, and an excess of copper, and C-Reactive protein, which we’ve seen is an indicator of inflammation. All of these were directly impacting my anxiety and gut issues. Another example of this principle at play is an imbalanced pH level, which more often indicates an excess of acidity in the body, and a deficiency in alkalinity in the body. Excess acidity is correlated to dis-ease and alkalinity restores the balance. If you’re anxious, you have an excess of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) activity and a deficiency in parasympathetic (PNS) activity. You can look at every area of your life and pinpoint where you currently have excess and deficiencies: mentally, physically, socially, vocationally (life’s work, mission, purpose, telos), familially, spiritually, and financially. To maximize efficiency, you begin to balance them out so the pendulum isn’t swinging too much one way or the other.
