3 Health Habits For Busy People

It's easy to get lost in the sauce of day-to-day chores, work tasks & personal obligations. Sometimes it can seem like there is simply "not enough time" for anything more than what you have on your plate. I get it, I've been there and know what it's like to be 60+ hours deep in the workweek with what seems like "limited" time. The problem with this "I have no time" mindset is that for 99% of people it's simply not true.

You have an extra 15 minutes here and there to lock in basic habits that will lead to better health. You just haven't made it a priority. So before I lay out 3 simple things you can do to improve your wellbeing, you have to set a standard for yourself. Make it a priority in your schedule to take care of yourself, thus resulting in you being more efficient at taking care of tasks and those around you.

1. Sunlight ??

Time in the sun is one of the most UNDERVALUED aspects of health in the modern world. It's no wonder so many people are ill. How can one build long-term health, locked in a building all day with artificial light, poor air quality, and sitting in chairs? For thousands of years, we spent more time outside than in a shelter, and for the past 100, we've started to do the opposite. With more auto-immune diseases occurring now than ever, we have to begin making correlations with our poor choices as a society instead of continually blaming our "genes." It is straight-up immature of us to buy into this ideology while continually resisting changing our lifestyle choices. Getting outside for just 10-15 minutes a day (preferably during sunrise/sunset will help regulate melatonin production, will get you back in tune with your circadian rhythm & uplift your mood. I make time 6-7 days a week to at least be in the sun for 15 minutes, regardless of my 60+ hour work weeks because it improves my life that much. Here is a great video on the benefits of sun exposure!

https://youtu.be/tpGRZGgxJLo

2. Conscious Breathing ??

When was the last time you stopped what you were doing and consciously decided to breathe for a few minutes? Our breath is imperative to survival, but most of us are running on autopilot with poorly programmed breathing patterns. You can observe in children strong diaphragmatic activity when they breathe. Their bellies compress and decompress naturally, the way we were designed to. Unfortunately, over the years as we age many of us develop poor postural habits resulting in a "hunch", which puts excess strain on our abdomen & diaphragm. If we don't spend the time correcting our posture and breathing from the lower diaphragm, into the back we never fully access our entire lung potential. Take a few minutes to breathe today when you are feeling stressed to re-correct your nervous system. I've attached a video below that will teach you the basics of breathing that you can do anywhere, at any time. No freaking excuses.

https://youtu.be/acUZdGd_3Dg

3. Cold Therapy ??

I grew up in the Northern woods of Minnesota. As a kid going into the sauna in the winter & then jumping into the snowbank was a ritual. In tandem with that I grew up on Lake Superior , and every spring my friends and I would challenge ourselves to get into the frigid waters after the ice melt in the spring/early summer every year. So I'm not going to lie, I have a huge BIAS for cold, but the doctor in the video below doesn't ??. Cold Therapy is a quick way to reduce inflammation, boost your immunity & speed up metabolism. I use it 5 days a week MINIMUM, because of the positive impact it has on my life. Just 2-3 minutes in 40-degree water will do the job. You'll notice enhanced cognition and energy post plunge. Since this experience is so short (and can be done variably with showers) there is no reason you cannot make time for it. The only thing stopping you is yourself.

https://youtu.be/xTVMGyJ8cZU

These 3 brief decisions can drastically affect your health & immune system. Altogether they only take 20 minutes if that is a day of your time. There is not a single excuse to being able to do ANY of them because they are FREE.

Would you be opposed to changing your life for the better? Let me know below if you have ever used any of these health hacks for busy people below.

-Skylar