Physical Wellness
The key to physical wellness is finding ways to connect to your body. How can your body express itself? Do you express your emotions and passions through dance, or a specific sport? Does yoga connect your self to your body by calming your mind and focusing on your breath? The answer is different for everyone. It can be difficult to find what works best for you and how you connect the most with your body. The main concept is that the mind and body are not separate, but rather the same. It is only a Western idea that mind and body are divided and not connected, so realizing that connection is key.
So if you don't know where to start, here is a challenge for you: for one WHOLE day, focus on every breath you take (or as many as you can), and try to make deep breaths. Deep breathing is one way to reconnect with your body and be more in tune with it. Try for at least 100 deep breaths.
The control of your breathing is a direct access to your parasympathetic nervous system (which helps relax you and allow for better digestion). When you are stressed your sympathetic nervous system kicks into high gear. It is originally designed to prepare your body for removing the stress (either by fighting, running, or out thinking the danger). It is a very helpful and life saving device when we are faced in a life-or-death situation (such as a killer dog with rabies suddenly rushing at you), but in a modern world where stress is simply being stuck in stop-and-go traffic or feeling pressures from work/school, then there really is no reason to be constricting those blood vessels and increasing your heart rate. If instead you access your parasympathetic nervous system by engaging yourself in DEEP BREATHING, then you can calm your body and be healthier. I am not saying to eliminate all stress, but I am saying try not to be stressed chronically and make the time to take deep breaths where ever you are.
Another key aspect to maintaining physical health is sleep. Most adults need 8 hours of sleep a night. This is really crucial: to be alert for the entire day without the use of caffeine or other stimulants. Try to get as much sleep as possible because it really does inhibit your body from being healthy by decreasing you reflex response time, being more irritable, a lesser ability to stay focused, decreased short term memory (which explains why staying up late to study for a test is a horrible idea and instead sleeping give your brain time to construct those pathways from knowledge into memory), and many other means. So please try and get sleep. You can always try to focus on your breath, or try muscle contractions and relaxations through different parts of your body. If you exercise during the day it also makes it easier to fall asleep sometimes. Some people find music helps clear their busy mind and fall asleep (especially if there are no words to sing along to). The best thing to do is to keep your bed for sleeping only. Do not try to do any productive reading or homework or computer work at all in your bed. This gives your mind less to be confused about. If your bed is designated for sleeping, your body will prepare for sleep once in your bed, but if sometimes you do homework or research in your bed then your body gets mixed signals: should it prepare for an alert brain, or a more relaxed mind?
So if you don't know where to start, here is a challenge for you: for one WHOLE day, focus on every breath you take (or as many as you can), and try to make deep breaths. Deep breathing is one way to reconnect with your body and be more in tune with it. Try for at least 100 deep breaths.
The control of your breathing is a direct access to your parasympathetic nervous system (which helps relax you and allow for better digestion). When you are stressed your sympathetic nervous system kicks into high gear. It is originally designed to prepare your body for removing the stress (either by fighting, running, or out thinking the danger). It is a very helpful and life saving device when we are faced in a life-or-death situation (such as a killer dog with rabies suddenly rushing at you), but in a modern world where stress is simply being stuck in stop-and-go traffic or feeling pressures from work/school, then there really is no reason to be constricting those blood vessels and increasing your heart rate. If instead you access your parasympathetic nervous system by engaging yourself in DEEP BREATHING, then you can calm your body and be healthier. I am not saying to eliminate all stress, but I am saying try not to be stressed chronically and make the time to take deep breaths where ever you are.
Another key aspect to maintaining physical health is sleep. Most adults need 8 hours of sleep a night. This is really crucial: to be alert for the entire day without the use of caffeine or other stimulants. Try to get as much sleep as possible because it really does inhibit your body from being healthy by decreasing you reflex response time, being more irritable, a lesser ability to stay focused, decreased short term memory (which explains why staying up late to study for a test is a horrible idea and instead sleeping give your brain time to construct those pathways from knowledge into memory), and many other means. So please try and get sleep. You can always try to focus on your breath, or try muscle contractions and relaxations through different parts of your body. If you exercise during the day it also makes it easier to fall asleep sometimes. Some people find music helps clear their busy mind and fall asleep (especially if there are no words to sing along to). The best thing to do is to keep your bed for sleeping only. Do not try to do any productive reading or homework or computer work at all in your bed. This gives your mind less to be confused about. If your bed is designated for sleeping, your body will prepare for sleep once in your bed, but if sometimes you do homework or research in your bed then your body gets mixed signals: should it prepare for an alert brain, or a more relaxed mind?