Trying to achieve a better lifestyle? Does it seem like a long & difficult journey?
The new year just rolled in, and it has never been a better time. Make the year 2020 count, make it the year of attaining the lifestyle that you always wanted.
Lifestyle is all about maintaining physical, mental, and emotional health and making them work in harmony. There are five core elements to take care of. Managing and optimizing these elements help in leading a healthier life. As complicated as it sounds, this article tells you how bringing simplicity is the key to realizing your lifestyle milestones.
1. Socialization
Being social creatures, humans thrive to interact. It’s the concept of society and community that makes us dream, learn, work, and excel. In modern terms, socialization has gotten limited to chats, social media, emails, and video calls, which are truly convenient modes to stay connected. But in a true sense, it lacks all goodness you can gain from just a physical high five.
According to studies, a handshake releases enough Oxytocin to reduce stress, increase trust, and even reduce cholesterol levels. Social contact can protect the brain from neurodegenerative diseases. Researchers have confirmed that older people with closer friends possess more mental agility in comparison to the ones without friends.
Thus, meet your family often, hang out with your friends, take out some time to spend with your community just like older times when festivals were celebrated together & dinner time was family time. What a fun and easy way of staying fit & motivated!!!
2. Mental Stimulation
Mental stimulation can be internal or external, through our thought or environment. It is vital for a healthy life as it increases the flow of blood, oxygen, and nutrients to the brain. With our busy schedule and hectic lifestyle, mental health always takes a back seat. We find time for a physical workout but nobody talks about keeping the brain agile.
Our brain loses its inherent luster due to long hours at work, repeated chores, and high levels of stress. It needs some stimulation time and again, there were techniques in ancient times that would help keep our brain alert through unconventional ways. One of them is Katapayadi Sankhya. This is an ancient (689 BCE) Indian way of learning complicated formulas through verses. This method would assign Sanskrit letters to numbers. One number can be assigned to many letters (similar to our old mobile phone keypads, where digit 2 could be A, B, C, and 3 could be D, E, F).
For example the following verse:
“gopi bhagya madhuvrata
srngiso dadhi sandhiga
khala jivita khatava
gala hala rasandara”
Which translates to:
“O Lord blessed with the yogurt of the milkmaid’s worship (Krishna), O savior of the fallen, O master of Shiva, please protect me.”
When used in Katapayadi Sankhya it derives 3.14159226535897932384626433832792
Do you ask what’s this?
It’s the value of Pi to 31 decimal places. Wow!!!
Such techniques are found in most ancient civilizations and were then used to pass on culture and heritage before the documentation of history began.
Let’s tantalize our brain with such techniques to make it sharp and alert.
3. Nutrition
“You are what you Eat”. According to a recent study, nutrition accounts for about 80% of our overall health. Nutrition is fundamental for leading a sustainable and healthy lifestyle. This is because the food you are consuming fuels your body and mind for the whole day.
Following a well-rounded diet can do wonders for our body, one with low in flare and high in goodness. Such was the diet in older times. Sattvic diet (Indian diet from forgotten times) included fruits, dark leafy greens, vegetables, nuts, legumes, whole grains, spices, and herbs. It used to be cooked in earthenware as it adds calcium, phosphorus, iron, magnesium, sulfur, and several other minerals to food. Clay pots are also alkaline. Therefore, they mix well with acidic food and bring a balance in its pH level. Furthermore, deadly diseases like cancer do not develop in an alkaline atmosphere.
Getting back to simpler food from simpler times, and incorporating sustainable cookware can be instrumental in improving our nutrition. Easy way to stay healthy!!
4. Physical Activity
Exercise is a crucial aspect of living a longer and healthier life. Our body is designed to move around for a minimum of 14 hours every day. Regular exercising and participating in physical activities ensures that we receive this amount of movement. Additionally, staying fit helps not only in performing physical tasks better but reduces mental stress.
A lot is happening in the health and fitness industry with new techniques and new workout formats. Fun and effective but sometimes time-consuming. With gym membership fees & personal trainers, sometimes physical activity costs more than just the motivation to stay fit. But not necessarily.
For most of us with a shortage of time and being smart with our money, there are other ways to give our body the shake it needs. Routine chores bring multiple benefits and purpose to each task. Walk to your local store, leave your car at home. Take four flights of staircases every day at work. Use mortar pestle to make the paste for cooking.
Keeping your body active doesn’t have to be a task, it can be a habit.
5. Spirituality
Spirituality. Connecting to one’s self. Vital to hold body, mind, and spirit together. Brings us inner peace with so much chaos around us. A peace that makes us think better, act better, and live better.
So, what can we do to improve spiritual wellness?
Yoga helps enhance your spiritual wellness by reducing emotional and physical strains on your mind and body. Yoga can help in lowering stress, boosts the immune system, and lowers blood pressure, reducing anxiety, depression, fatigue, and insomnia.
When you wake up early in the morning, during your lunch break, or before you go to sleep, devote 5-10 minutes for meditation every day. Incorporating meditation as a part of your lifestyle will relax your mind fostering a stronger relationship with your spiritual wellness.
Uncovering spirituality may also take some self-discovery. Some questions to ask yourself to discover what defines you are:
- What are your important relationships?
- What do you value most in your life?
- Who all give you a sense of community?
- What inspires you and gives you hope?
- What brings you joy?
The answers to these questions help you identify the most important people and experiences in your life.
Health is a natural facet of liveliness. Ancient India held the secret of “Jivet Sharad Shatam” meaning a hundred years of vigorous, happy, and healthy life to the total harmony of the mode of living with nature and the spiritual inheritance of life. For a healthy lifestyle, take steps to maintain a balance emotionally, socially, spiritually, physically, and mentally. It’s a better way, for a better lifestyle.
