The New Year is always a great time to think about where you may want to make some changes in your life. Today, we teamed up with our neighbors at WildRoots Salon & Studio and Turning Leaf Acupuncture and want to talk a bit about some food for the mind.
All of us at Hill Country Market believe in the importance of eating well and being conscious about where our food comes from and we know many of you do as well. In this series we’ve already talked about how eating fresh and local can make a significant change for how your body feels day-to-day. [Click here for that post].
But we also realize that feeding your mind is just as important. In our society, we’re obsessed with constantly being on the move. We’re always trying to move faster and we’re often told that being busy is a sign of importance and doing hard work.
But the hard work can actually come from feeding our minds in healthy ways to make ourselves the most efficient and uplifting versions of ourselves. So here are some of our tips for taking a breather, and slowing down to improve yourself and make a healthier you.
1. Reading. Whether you read a great piece of fiction to escape to another world or a thought-provoking piece of non-fiction, reading can be a way to relax, refocus, and learn something new. Reading can help force your mind to pull out of all the overwhelming information you may be dealing with. That way, you can return to your work with a refreshed mindset.
2. Doing a breathing exercise or taking a yoga or workout class. We all know that some form of exercise is imperative throughout the week. The difficulty comes in finding the time. When you’re feeling too busy and overwhelmed, there isn’t going to be a moment of, “Ah, now I have time to exercise”, somewhere down the road. You will have to make that time happen. Making the time to exercise and focus on you is important and in the long-term, will make you healthier and more energized. You can then accomplish more of those busy and overwhelming tasks of your day. You may need to remove something of less importance from your schedule or set more boundaries with work or home. By doing so, you can make sure to have a small window each day to focus on you and your mental and physical health.
Bonus Tip: Watch more than two hours of tv a day? The average American watches about four+ hours per day. Try eliminating an hour or two from your tv time to do a breathing exercise in silence somewhere in your home or to exercise. Or have a day or two a week where you don’t turn the tv on at all and focus on you instead.
3. Celebrating fun “holidays”. This is a small and relatively easy one to do. There are many calendars that can be found online that feature not only major holidays, but some of those fun and often wacky national days such as, “National Donut Day” and many, many more. Keep a calendar of those days near your desk and find ways to celebrate them with your coworkers, friends and family, or just for you. They are a good reminder to have some fun in life. Remember, you only get to live each day once. Finding something small like this can keep your fun-side and positivity a priority each day.
Here is one of those sites —-> http://www.holidayscalendar.com/holidays/weird/
4. Have a European style meal. Setting aside more time to eat and do so in an enjoyable way can be a big deal for your mental and physical health. Spend time sitting with friends and family and chatting. Or take time for yourself at a meal and give yourself more time to enjoy your meal. Try eating in smaller portions and spread them out over a longer meal time. When we eat quickly, we often eat more since our body and mind don’t have enough time to register how much we’re eating. Eating slower gives your body and mind time to digest the food and register that you are full. You’ll often find yourself eating less, but actually feeling full. Another variant of that is to eat in the reverse order of our common culture. Often, we eat a small or no breakfast, a decent lunch, and a large dinner. But your metabolism slows as the day wears on. Try reversing that schedule. Make time to eat a larger breakfast, (which will kick-start your metabolism), eat a decent sized lunch, and then a smaller dinner when you get home.
5. Spending time in nature. Spending time outdoors can help you refocus on bigger things and relieve you of a bit of stress. It also gives you a visual break if most of your day-to-day schedule involves being in an office or working from home. Combine the great outdoors with some of the above mental and physical health tips and you’ll be in a great place.
We hope these tips help as you pursue your New Year’s Resolutions. If you’d like to read our other “Fresh Start” posts they are listed below:
Fresh Start: New Year’s Resolutions
Fresh Start: Nutritious Black Bean Soup Recipe
Fresh Start: “Making a Change”, Interview with Turning Leaf Acupuncture
Fresh Start: Care for Your Body
Fresh Start: Salsa-Braised Kale Recipe
Thanks for following!
Hill Country Market 