Enhance Your Well-being: 5 Simple Tips for a Healthier You

Spring clean your well-being.

In Astrology, March through to the beginning of April is littered with Planets Retrograding and the full moon in Virgo, calling for practical actions. Reflect, Reconnect, & Reset are the main invitations for this month.

We are being called to change our behaviour, behaviour that leads to black-and-white thinking, an all-or-nothing, scarcity mentality. So, suppose you are feeling high for one minute and have negative emotions the next. In that case, I invite you to observe any challenging emotions and survey whether this pattern has been repeating throughout your life.

Is it a past negative experience? A childhood conditioning? A control mechanism to help you feel safe? A belief passed on from your upbringing that may not be true for you anymore? A way of relating in your relationships that does not serve?

Emotional regulation is key in reducing our stress levels. However, this is easier said than done. Emotional regulation is a conscious action that stems only from being able to recognise in ourselves what is true for us and honestly taking stock of where we might need to be accountable.

These five simple actions, which you can integrate into your daily routine, are surefire ways of helping your emotional regulation.

     The first action of the day is to drink a glass of water. I know! It’s simple. This is not just a fad. Water makes up 75% of our body and helps wash away the toxins from it. First thing in the morning, our body is flooded with cortisol, so we can be pushed to get up and move. But it also puts our nervous system in survival mode. Take a glass of water to flush away and replenish the water loss during our breathing while sleeping.

     Set a timer when going on social media: This will help you feel more in control of your time and your time being stolen from you unconsciously. Avoid the cycle of self-flagellation. Putting yourself in control of where you place your attention sends positive feedback to your brain and reinforces this behaviour.

     Incorporate 5 minutes alone in your morning routine: I know your time is pushed, so I suggest 5 minutes. Five minutes of alone time will make space in your body and mind. As an example, after morning drop-offs, I purposely walk back through the quiet section of the park, one, so that I can be away from having to stop and say hello to people and two so that I can tune out the external noises and tune your nervous system in nature. Take deep breaths through your stomach to turn on your parasympathetic system (safe mode, creative mode).

     Make one small change: It doesn’t matter how inconspicuous that change is; do one. It can be as simple as changing a route to work or home or making tea instead of coffee. This does one thing—it keeps our brains active and promotes our resilience to change. It’s flexing the muscles, one tiny bit at a time, that change is okay.

     SMILE and the world will smile back at you: Research shows that simply putting a smile on our face sends a message to our brain to increase our happiness. And two! It prevents the frown lines from forming!

There you have it! Five simple ways to integrate seamlessly into your daily habits. And before you know it, it will be something that you do without even thinking about it.

We have our WomenInSounds on the 20th of March in Uxbridge, resources to aid you in your self-care.

With appreciation,

Cherlyn