How could there be a better topic than your over all well being? If you read my recommendations with any regularity, you know I energetically recommend that you meditate and exercise and eat really, really well. The reality is those three things can change your life. They are challenging to DO and consequently we slip and slide back into old habits. When that happens, the key is to simply “be kind” to yourself! Acknowledge that you are in a slump for some reason. Tell yourself it’s okay and that TODAY you are picking yourself up and getting back on track.
The minute you are back on track, your “brain remembers” how good self care feels…..regardless of how seldom or irregular your self care is, if you have been doing even a LITTLE bit in the direction of new habits, you’ve made a tiny dent in a new pathway in your brain! Truly. And your brain will recognize the new behavior…..time makes the tiny, shiny, new dent deeper and more familiar.
Some helpful guidelines! I recommended Rick Hanson’s new book Hardwiring Happiness some time ago. So dig into that for helpful steps.
I read an article in the Sunday New York Times Magazine…. How Old Is Your Health? It provides a way to measure your “fitness age.” Here’s the process….there’s an online calculator………..
www.ntnu.edu/cerg/vo2max
This allows you to calculate your fitness age without lab tests….Before going to the website you need the following: waist measurement and resting heart rate. Plug these numbers along with age, sex, frequency and intensity of exercise….. that apparently equals your fitness age.
WARNING…. the article also says the results can be sobering. If they are, more frequent and more intense exercise can you will see a change in a positive direction! How amazing is that?
Now one disclaimer…. I have not done this yet…. couldn’t find a tape measure yesterday and had already had too much coffee. I plan to be prepared and focused and MINDFUL in order to do it this weekend! And if you are at all interested, will report the results.
But, mainly, here’s to your health and longevity…. you can hopefully take more steps in the direction of your current and on-going well being than you perhaps realize. One day at a time, one step at a time is key…. along with that suggestion of “be kind” to yourself when you back slide…!! Just make the slide short and brief!