Top 5 Intentional Habits for a healthier you in 2023
Whatever your reason for being here, for reading this article, following High Health Club, seeking support and guidance, whether it’s simple curiosity or something deeper, there is one thing I know to be true, we all want to feel, look + be, our best, always. It’s a universal desire that we all carry, yet, one that often seems to be at the end of something we need to do, change, get or achieve. In order to be our best, we first need to be ‘healthy’, it’s as simple as that.
According to the World Health Organisation, ‘health’ is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity + according to The Global Wellness Institute, ‘wellness’ is defined as the active pursuit of activities, choices and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health.
Here our focus is you, on our community, clients and customers, on how we can support you to thrive, to be your best, to be in great health, to love yourself, your skin, your body, your mind, to feel good, to be less stressed, happier, healthier, supported, part of a community, turned on, accepted, seen, loved and inspired.
Unfortunately Modern Living can be a lot, and we face stresses and demands that are unprecedented. We receive more information in one day than our ancestors would have received in their whole lives, we are switched on, plugged in, fed toxic food, we breathe in toxins, sold toxic body products and cleaning products, led to believe that our bodies are ‘designed’ to handle all of these toxins in the environment, we’re fed conflicting information around the best diet/foods/movement/lifestyle, we’re told that organic foods are best, yet the prices are unsustainable for most and the supermarkets, there for our convenience, offer many foods that are for the most part, unsupportive of health, pre-packaged, engineered, ‘food-like’ substances, rather than the health promoting, well grown, clean, whole foods that we actually need.
We’re fed a barrage of media information putting pressure on how we look and how well we age, as well as how we communicate with each other, bringing more ways than ever before, for us to ‘compare’ ourselves to others and ascertain if we’re ‘keeping up with the joneses’, leading to a more pressured, unhappy society, with more disease than ever before.
I share all of this, not to scare or disparage you, merely to show you, that if you’re confused about why you don’t feel great, overwhelmed with the 101 ways to wellness or unsure about how to make meaningful change in your life and in your wellbeing, it’s no wonder.
High Health Club’s ambition is to help you on your wellbeing journey and navigate the space between where you are and where you want to be, with a focus on balance, not perfection + living an 80/20 lifestyle, so you can enjoy life, rather than beat yourself up, drop the rules and realise that there is no wagon to fall off. We want you to understand how to support yourself, in an age where we all lack time, through quick, efficient and powerful tools to enhance your wellbeing.
Top 5 Intentional Tools for Wellbeing
Be Present when you’re eating - eating mindfully, chewing well, slowing it all down, taking notice of what you’re eating and not rushing through your food can be the simplest tool to support your gut and have a huge impact on your digestion, allowing your digestion to work optimally and your brain to catch up to your belly and register when you’re full; this simple tool often prevents overeating, which can lead to bloating and discomfort after eating.
Be Kind to yourself - we love the quote, ‘the words you speak become the house you live in’. It’s so important to be kind to yourself, negative self talk can be a real challenge to shake, however just trying to be kinder and more loving to yourself, can have a huge impact. It might take awhile to change or even notice how you talk to yourself but it can change your whole outlook on life if you do.
Be Intentional and allow yourself to feed the joy - whatever your ‘guilty pleasures’ or ‘indulgences’, allow yourself the joy and pleasure, don’t deprive yourself, it never gets you anywhere and often leads to bingeing, closely followed by self recrimination. Allowing yourself the pleasure of the food/treat/glass of vino or whatever it is, can often support you in keeping it moderate. Your body also reacts to stress which shuts off your digestion, leading to bloating and stomach upsets, so be really intentional and mindful and see what shifts for you.
Give yourself time - rushing around, being ‘busy’, not giving yourself space to rest and process life, rushing to meet deadlines, rushing for trains, stressing about being stuck in traffic, all of these things tax your nervous system, your adrenals and can lead to illness and disease, not to mention cause damage to your gut lining. Allow yourself the time and space you need and stop buying into the need to be ‘busy’ all the time and rush around.
Consistency is key - don’t yoyo, be consistent. One of the most common things I see as a wellness coach is people trying something a few times and saying it doesn’t work for them. You will not fix your gut by taking one months worth of gut powders, you will not be ‘good at meditating’ by doing it once or twice, you don’t get fit by exercising for a week or month, it’s consistent daily practice. Your lifestyle and current wellbeing is a direct result of the last 6 months of your actions. Small daily actions on repeat, either add to your overall health + wellbeing or not, depending on the habit. It’s all a choice. Be consistent, choose well.