I am LATE with this post! I try to post the Health Hack posts at the beginning of a month but what with the Falcons in the Superbowl, some crazy goings on at home, an early birthday trip and lots of watching my sons wrestle on the weekends, it just didn’t happen. Better late than never! Here’s what I’m working on this month and hope you find something that inspires you to do something better, different or new.
1. MAKE A POSTURE BREAK PART OF YOUR DAY
Granted, this is something I work on every day and every month and preach to all my classes, but I just don’t think we can focus on this enough. These days I constantly see men, women and now children hunched over their smartphones, laptops and steering wheels all day long. It makes me envision an entire generation of hunchbacks who will not only look terrible, but will also suffer terrible aches and pains from such poor posture. In my classes I really focus on those upper back muscles and chest opening exercises to fight this stance. Here are 3 quick and easy stretches that you can do while you wait for your coffee in the mornings or when you take a break from your laptop. Seriously. Try Them.
Lift and Release the Shoulders – Stack your spine. Lift your shoulders to your ears, pull shoulder blades down your back as you allow gravity to pull shoulders back down.
Chest Opener. This is one of my favorites that I love to do first thing in the morning and throughout the day.
Shoulder Opener
See the full article on ThankYourBody.com
2. DO SOMETHING FOR YOUR FUTURE SELF
I have stolen this one from a Gretchen Rubin podcast and I just loved it! A listener offered this idea as a way to make your day happier. I think it’s a great take on making yourself happier, but can also be to make yourself healthier. The idea is to do something now that will make your life better in the future. It doesn’t have to be in the far future either. This idea can be as simple as making your coffee the night before so it can be ready to brew the next morning (and you can do your stretches while it does!). You can do your grocery shopping and prep all of your healthy vegetables on Sunday so you can enjoy them all week. You can pack your gym bag and lay out your clothes at night so you will be ready in the morning. You know how glad you are when you do make the effort to do these things before you need them! You can also think of it in the long term. You might not really want to get up and get to the gym for that spin class, but your healthier future self will thank you. Choosing to eat healthy might seem boring at times, but your future self with low cholesterol, low blood pressure and good doctor reports will thank you.
Think of things you can do this month, and beyond, that are for your future self.
3. SAVE THOSE FAVORITE AUDIO BOOKS AND PODCASTS FOR CERTAIN TIMES
I have said many times what a fan I am of audio books. I always have one downloaded for listening at any time. I am also a huge fan of podcasts and have collected a few I love to keep up with. I have found that if I “save” these for certain things, often things that may seem like chores, it makes that chore a completely different experience. I have cleaned out our garage listening to a book, raked leaves and worked in the yard to books, vacuumed and done housework while listening to podcasts, sat in endless carpool lines listening to either books or podcasts. It turns out I don’t mind doing these things at all as long as I am listening, learning or being entertained!
These are my three simple, health hacks for February.
Enjoy Your Day!
Leave a Reply