It’s that time of year, when the gym gets crazy packed from all of the New Year’s resolution “makers”. Everyone with the best of intentions but why do they sometimes not stick? Why do we fail on our commitment? I truly believe you have to get your mind right before your actions will follow. Try these five tips this year to make sure your health is the absolute best it can be in 2016!
- Change your focus.
How do you start your day? Do you check Facebook and Twitter to see what everyone else is up to before you check in to YOUR day? Well, reality check, no one really is who they truly are on Facebook. Comparing ourselves to others can waste our precious energy and pull us into unnecessary drama. Try starting your day focused on what YOU are going to do and accomplish. A mentor of mine taught me this and it is beyond important to protect your energy!
- Put YOU first!
I get it. I am a mom of three, a wife, a business owner… I understand others need my full attention. But, in order for me to be the absolute best I can be for others, I need to put my health as a top priority first! The healthier and more balanced I am, the better I can be for others. So often I hear new practice members tell me how they wished they would have started care sooner. My advice to you in 2016 is prioritize YOU. Make sure your health is at the top of your list. You deserve it! And I promise, you will be a better mom, wife, daughter, etc. because of it!
- Get Moving!
Now that your head is in the right spot, your focus is clear and you are prioritizing yourself, it’s time to get moving! The list of health benefits is a mile long so we know it is important; sometimes it’s a matter of finding what we actually enjoy doing to make the exercise program stick. Personally, I have found a love for CrossFit; which is constantly varied functional movements performed at relatively high intensity. It allows me the 60 minutes to completely clear my head and focus on challenging my body. Is that for everyone? Absolutely not! So, I challenge you to try out different types of exercise and find what speaks to you! Yoga, Pilates, golf, personal training, swimming, group exercise classes, hiking/biking and just being “active”… These are all great choices that might just be the right fit.
- Get More Rest
The average American sleeps 6.8 hours per night which is much less than recommended. Have you ever really thought about the purpose of sleep? Although scientists don’t know exactly why we sleep, a long held theory is that our bodies are repairing and restoring what was lost when we were awake. That sleep actually provides an opportunity for the body to rejuvenate itself. If every night you are depriving yourself of 30 minutes to an hour of “rejuvenating”, it will catch up to you! Commit this year to adding 60 minutes to your sleep and sleep routine. Try to create your nighttime routine about 30 minutes before you are trying to actually fall asleep. This will allow your body ample time to calm from your day and start to unwind. Let’s face it, running and jumping into bed trying to turn off your “switch” from the day just isn’t happening.
- Get your nervous system CHECKED!
Finally, back to the “putting you first”. For years, you have worried about others; ran your family miles upon miles to and from activities, sporting events and school functions; tried to balance, home, work and your family all while attempting to take care of yourself. Your body might feel a little burned out. You owe it to yourself to get a check of your nervous system. This is what we do best in our office. We work specifically with the “switch” in the brainstem which controls and regulates exactly how your body responds to and processes stress. The only way to know if that “switch” needs reset is through neurological chiropractic testing. Our goal is to check you to see if chiropractic would be a good fit! Does this necessarily mean you need care? No. Not at all. But we could give you our absolute best recommendations for your specific case only after that testing has been done. Consider giving yourself this important check in 2016 to make sure your body can process all the crazy stress you deal with every day – appropriately.
So that’s it! Five tips to making sure this year is the absolute best year yet for your health! Simple suggestions with huge impacts. Get going… You deserve it! Dr. Niki
