3 Things You Can Do RIGHT NOW to Increase Your Wellness!

You know when you just don’t feel quite right.

When you feel a bit ‘all anyhow’ (as my girlfriend puts it). The times when you are feeling cloudy, drained, a bit down for no reason, a bit bored and uninspired, tired, not wired (sorry, started rappin’)?

Anyway, if you ever want to feel better and increase your wellbeing, these three simple steps will give you the much needed boost you are craving:

1. Step One: BREATHE & FOCUS!Not just in-out-in-out like you are at the moment. There are three mini-steps to this >

   Step 1a: breathe with purpose. Stop doing what you are doing right now and sit up very straight. Straighten your back, push your shoulders back and adopt a pose of being an athlete – someone who is strong and totally centred. Now take four or five really deep breaths, breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. When you breath make sure that you are breathing with your stomach, not your chest. This is very important.

   Step 1b: now, remaining in this pose but a little more relaxed do the following breathing exercise:

   • breath in to the count of four
   • hold your breath for the count of sixteen
   • breath out for the count of eight.

   Now repeat this 5-10 times. This breathing technique really stimulates the flow of lymph and helps your body to detoxify and energise your cells. The effect of doing this right now will be dramatic – but doing this three times per day for the rest of your life will make a huge, huge difference to your health.

   Step 1c: now return to the deep breathing and return to feeling really centred. Once you feel contented and happy start to focus on just one thing that is really great in your life – be it a friend, a memory, a loved one, a past success, the image of you completing a goal, your last holiday, the last time you really laughed hard, a great song or even just a really nice feeling. Continue breathing and focusing on one or several of these great images for as long as you like!

   This exercise can also be really effective if you have something to do that is troubling you, such as a presentation that you are nervous about or a whole heap of work that you have been putting off etc. What you want to focus on is the image of yourself and your feelings as if the job is already done. Focus on how good it feels and how much better you will be once you have accomplished this thing. It can provide great clarity and motivation.

2. Step Two: LAUGH & SMILEThis might sound stupid, but laughter or just inane smiling can completely elevate your mood, stress levels and wellbeing. Believe me, this honestly works! Don’t believe me? Try this:

   Right now, wherever you are and whatever you are doing just tilt your head right back – look at the ceiling and smile as wide as you possibly can. What has this done to your mood? Exactly.

   It is possible just to be able to laugh on the spur of the moment. If you find this difficult – just keep trying. It is a skill worth learning. Go on, I know it feels stupid now – but just do it – LAUGH!

   Nothing funny has to happen, yet by smiling and laughing we are sending the signal to our brain to release endorphins. In fact, a great example of the effects of laughter is the recovery of Norman Cousins from crippling arthritis through laughter!

3. Step Three: HYDRATE!Dehydration is the number one cause of feeling tired and foggy, headaches, cramps and loss of concentration. Making sure that you are well hydrated (particularly with alkalising lemon water) means that your body is able to function properly, keeping you alert, refreshed, detoxified and on-the-ball.

   You should be drinking AT LEAST 2 litres of nice clean water every day – but right now, if you go and grab yourself a tall, fresh, cool (but not too cold) glass of fresh, clean, pure water your body will reward you.

The premise behind my selection of these three steps is that our psychology and our physiology are inextricably linked – that is one does not act without driving/being driven by the other. Our wellbeing – in my opinion is the sum of our psychology (how we think, act and feel emotionally) and our physiology (how we move, our posture, our physical body and the way we feel physically).

Many of you will have heard the Tony Robbins phrase:

Emotion is created by motion

And it is absolutely true. These three steps involve the use of physiology and psychology to bolster and boost each other. And that is why they work so well together!