If you've read the section on food and drugs, then you should have a good idea where to get started on the road to blissful health and well-being. Once you start eating whole, organic foods and replacing junk-food and candy with fruits and nuts; you'll find pretty quickly that you don't need the drugs and alcohol to supplement your energy levels, and you will have to find something to do with all that extra time and energy you have! That's when we start to get serious about connecting with our bodies in all the fun and exciting ways possible.
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Anyone who has ever experienced the joy of running knows how natural and energizing it can feel. It is no accident that almost all sports and recreational activities involve some amount of running. Humans have evolved to run for hunting and gathering food, and also to evade predators. Running raises our heart rate, increases our respiration and blood circulation. It mobilizes our lymphatic system and strengthens and stretches our bones, muscles and tendons.
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Running is as natural as eating food and it involves almost every part of our body.
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Keep it simple! You can run anywhere, and with no equipment. In fact, the best way to run is barefoot! All we have to do is slow down a bit and pay closer attention to where we step and how we move.
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There are endless ways to exercise and move your body, many of them involve running, some don't. Everyone has their own preferences for activities and we aren't saying that everyone must run. What we are saying is that running is one of the simplest and most effective ways to tune up your whole body. However, like anything, it must be done properly to avoid injury and get the most benefit. Take a look at the info-graphic below for proper running form. It's simple...
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Once you have gotten the hang of landing on your forefoot and keeping your ankle directly under your knee, or slightly behind it when you land; Then you can practice keeping your arms bent at 90 degree angles and not crossing them in front of your body. These professional runners have good form, but they're sprinting. For distance running, our elbows shouldn't swing past the midline of our torso.
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Click on this photo for a great video on proper running technique.
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Be patient. Take it slow, get plenty of rest and good food, and you'll be running marathons in no time!
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Typically, new things are difficult when we first get started; but you will be amazed at how quickly your body adapts to running. We are specially built to run, so if we maintain proper form, take it slow at first - and pay attention to our bodies (plenty of rest, water and healthy foods), everything in our body will start to fall into place. Our breathing gets easier, our circulation gets stronger, we slim up and our muscles get toned. It becomes easier to stay calm in stressful situations and that peacefulness affects every part of our lives.
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The reason why we have focused on running here is because it's the most basic form of exercise that involves your whole body, and it's free! Also, practicing correct running form will naturally change the way you move and positively affect everything you do. Of course, there are so many fun and exciting ways to stay active that we will leave it up to your imagination and your personal preferences and situation to find what is right for you. Whatever activities that you choose to engage in, it's important to stay flexible and focused to avoid injury and allow for healing, to make your routine sustainable. One of the most proven and accessible methods of increasing focus and flexibility is Yoga.
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Yoga is an ancient science dedicated to finding ways for us to experience our unity. This experience will certainly make us healthy and happy, if only for the fact that we must be healthy and happy to truly experience unity in a sustainable way. That is why many Yoga practices focus on fitness and compassion. The more we take care of ourselves and others, the better we feel; and the better we feel, the more we can take care of ourselves and others!
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Click on the photo to explore the benefits of Yoga.
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Click on the moon for sleep info.
Finally, after all the healthy, delicious foods, invigorating exercise and calming meditations - we must sleep. Sleep is the counterbalance to all that we do during our waking hours. Our time spent unconscious allows our bodies to heal, our immune systems to strengthen and our minds to regroup and reset. Getting enough sleep is equally as important as everything else we do, combined! How do we know how much sleep we need? It's easy! listen to your body. Every one of us has a very finely tuned internal clock that will tell us exactly when it's time to fall asleep, and when we should wake up and start the next day. If we're eating the right foods and getting plenty of exercise, our internal clocks will be very accurate and consistent. If we're truly healthy, we may not even need an alarm clock at all, no joke!
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On the other hand, poor lifestyle choices can cause inconsistent and restless sleep. An important thing to remember is that when we make a healthy choice in one aspect of our lives, it makes it easier to be healthy in all the other parts. For instance, when we eat nutritious foods, we get better sleep - and when we get good sleep, it's easier to exercise the next day.
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Furthermore, getting that exercise helps us to sleep better, and regulates our body chemistry so that we crave good foods! Each healthy choice reinforces the next one, and it continually gets easier to be healthier and happier!
A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step...