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Hope you’re having a beautiful day. Such gorgeous Winter weather we’re enjoying here on the Gold Coast right now! 🙂

Winter tends to be the season when so many of us get struck down with whatever ‘flu du jour’ is going around. So, I thought I’d share this little postcard with some healthy tips for ‘living well’.

After all, the more we look after ourselves, the lower our stress levels are, and the more ‘resilient’ we seem to be when it comes to keeping those nasty little bugs at bay.

Eat Real Food

Our bodies thrive on natural, whole, unprocessed foods, such as grass-fed meats and fresh vegetables (organic is best). Limit your intake of any processed ‘food’ i.e. food that comes in a bag or a box and you’ll feel all the better for it.

Drink Pure Water

Water is nature’s solvent and vital to all life. Drink plenty of pure, ‘filtered’ water daily. It will keep you hydrated and also help the body to flush away toxins and impurities. Hydration is happiness!

Move Your Body

Our bodies are made to move. They do not do well with prolonged periods of inactivity, such as sitting at a desk all day or too much time on the couch. Incorporating some exercise into your daily life, such as walking or swimming will help to boost your happy hormones and also your energy levels.

Breathe Fresh Air

Breathing is living and yet many of us are shallow breathers. Taking time each day to do a few minutes of slow, deep breathing (especially out in nature) right down into the pit of your stomach will flood the body with oxygen, stimulate the lymphatic system and help your entire system to relax and de-stress.

Soak Up Sunshine

In addition to making us feel good, exposure to sunshine/sunlight provides us with our primary source of vitamin D. Adequate vitamin D intake is essential to maintaining good health and in the cold winter months we need to be proactive in making sure we get enough of it. Around 20 minutes per day seems to be the most commonly recommended guideline.

Laugh & Play

When was the last time you had a really good laugh? Laughing releases endorphins, which in turn releases stress. As much as modern life demands our serious attention, good health and well being (which is more important than anything else) demands that we also allow ourselves to laugh, play, sing, dance and be silly too. Life is supposed to be fun, isn’t it?

Go Barefoot

I don’t know about you but I love barefoot walks on the beach. The squeaky sand between your toes and breathing in the salty ocean breeze. It’s just heaven! Plus, going barefoot has shown to be effective at discharging all that electrical energy i.e. ‘earthing’ that we get from our beloved devices. Yes, I love my smartphone too.

Rest & Relax

For most of us it is a BUSY life. There’s so much to juggle and so much to get done that taking time out to rest and relax slips further down the list of priorities. The thing is without giving ourselves time to STOP, ‘catch our breath’, unplug and recharge the batteries, stress levels escalate weakening our immune system. What often happens next is that we’ll get sick and then we are ‘forced’ to take a break at what may be a most inconvenient time. Challenging as it may be, we need to put ourselves first and schedule in our ‘me time’, whether that be weekly, fortnightly or monthly. We can’t think of this as a luxury but rather a necessity.

Sleep Well

Getting a good night’s sleep is absolutely critical to your health and well being. In fact, it’s so critical that we’ll sleep away more than a third of our lives. During sleep our bodies repair, reset and rejuvenate and if you don’t enough quality ‘shut eye’ every system in your body, not to mention your mind and emotions will be negatively effected and ability to function in your daily life starts going downhill. Helpful tips for sleeping better include making sure your bedroom is nice and dark, having a relaxing bath and drinking calming tea (such as chamomile) and staying off devices at least an hour before bed.

Live Now & Be Happy

I’m sure you’ve heard the quote, ‘The past is history, the future is a mystery and the here and now is a gift, that’s why it’s called the present.’ All we have is now and I believe the more we choose to embrace the moment with an attitude of gratitude for all the good we have our their lives, the happier we are. I’ve certainly experienced this to be true in my life.

Anyway, I hope you’ve enjoyed these healthy living tips. Many of these you will already know, but just ’cause we KNOW what’s good for us, doesn’t mean we actually DO what’s good for us.

Of course we can include regular massage in this list too! ;D We’re always here for you at our Gold Coast massage practice when you need to relax, unwind and recharge those batteries.

There’s nothing like a really great massage to ‘soothe away the sore’ and make everything feel better. “Ahhh…”

Thanks for reading and we look forward to seeing you soon!