Friday, January 18, 2008

Feel Better - From Should to Done!




According to Harris Interactive, we are less likely to include healthy habits in our resolutions this year. Apparently, we're all a bit burned by having had those fiery intentions to hit the gym every morning fall to the wayside as we hit snooze and enjoy another 20 of shut-eye in winter's dark mornings.


Given that we DO want to feel better and live more full lives, what about all the little things any of us CAN do at a moment's notice with all the benefits and none of the guilt?

The following suggestions are instant-gratification oriented. Designed to support your physical well- being, they offer a bonus bang of being guilt free if you forget to do them and feeling even better if you celebrate remembering them!

  • Walk somewhere. Park further from where you are going. Get off the train or bus a stop early. Walk to see the guy in accounting instead of popping him an email. Walk anywhere. It feels good, stimulates your circulation and wakes you up.

  • Drink water. Yeah, we all SAY we drink enough water, but it's winter and between the cold and artificial heat and all the cold & flu bugs going around, you need it even more.

  • Stretch. Right now, at your desk, even if you don't know what you are doing. You don't have to be a yogi to get the benefit of tension release by gently moving a limb in a way that feels "stretchy".

  • Breathe. We know this separates the living from the dead. But conscious breathing separates the aware from the unaware. So right now, as you read this, observe your breath move in and out of your body.

  • Go potty. Incontinence has risen in the industrialized age, and with computers we often forget to go for HOURS which weakens really important muscles. Bet you have to go RIGHT NOW, don't you?

  • Have a media moratorium - as soon as you hit close on this email, take a 5 minute media moratorium. No pixels. No monitors. Nothing that beeps or blinks. Just you and whatever else there is.
This list is obviously not comprehensive. It's not supposed to be. We want to remind you that your feeling good isn't scuttled entirely just because you didn't make it to the gym this morning/week/month/year. Your feeling good is your choice in every moment and every thing you do.

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