REGIMENS

• Drink some tea – teas are a great way to hydrate, detox and add a host of minerals and vitamins to your body. It's a great way to start the day off or wind a day down. Check out teas under Beyond, for a more in-depth view on specific teas and why they are so beneficial to our health. You could also include some blended-up fats like coconut oil, grass fed butter and maybe even some collagen for a nice frothy tea latte.


• Give yourself an extra 30minutes – when starting your day off, most people rush themselves forgetting to eat or to chew. Either way, it stresses the body throwing your whole day off. So stop and take that extra 30 minutes, prepare yourself a meal or a fatty drink, then sit down and enjoy it. Taste it, chew it, let it go down before you rush off to your next appointment. Trust me, you will be doing your digestive system a favour and many other organs.


• Do some yoga or stretching – if you have some time do some yoga or get in a good stretch both of these have been proven to improve flexibility, build muscle, increase blood flow, drain lymph nodes and boosts immunity. Yoga allows you to feel strong in your body and mind. Stop the everyday madness by shutting it off and tuning it out for once. It's time to focus on you, your body and what it has been trying to tell you. Gain strength physically and mentally giving yourself a sense of pride in what you can become. Our lives are so focused in on electronics that we sometimes forget on how to shut it off. Society has us wired in 24/7 but it doesn't have to be that way. It is possible to blend the two but I think it's time for people to start waking up and tune into themselves a bit more than what everyone else around them is doing. Give yourself that chance to breathe and focus on one thing, nothing give it a try, the effects might surprise you!


• Turn on some music and let loose – music has been proven to make you happier, lower stress and can strengthen learning and memory. That in combination with dancing and letting loose really helps to soothe the mind and boost your overall mood. Plain and simple it makes you happy, gives you self-confidence and self-esteem making you feel great.

Starting the day off happily not only makes you feel good, allowing you to be more productive but is contagious. A genuine smile or bout of laughter spreads like wild fire!

• Pamper yourself - give yourself a facial or paint your nails/toes. It's a great way to bring yourself up if you're feeling down and focus on some self love. Painting your nails seems silly but really it is so much more then just painted nails. It takes your mind off the race track, figuratively speaking, allowing you to relax. When you're overwhelmed with several things on your to-do list, it can be an easy to accomplish task with immediate results that makes you feel good.


• Have a bath – a bath is great for speeding up your heart and clearing out your chest and sinuses. This is because of the stream and improved oxygen intake. Adding essential oils such as eucalyptus or peppermint helps enhance these effects. Another obvious benefit of a bath is its calming effects. The warm water allows our muscles to relax, brain to relax and can also increase levels of serotonin, which is associated with happiness and well-being. Again, adding lavender or Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) will help to enhance these effects. Epsom salts, are a great way to help the body detox by replenishing its magnesium stores which also naturally helps with a sound and deep nights sleep.


• Get a massage from a massaging tool, chair or masseuse – massages are a great way to relieve built up tension or pressure that you've accumulated while sitting at your daily desk job, for example. This one area is of the many that can get stressed and cause you pain along with many other problems such as poor blood circulation, decrease (LPL) lipoprotein lipase activity (bodies ability to burn fat), increased chance of heart disease (because of the other two problems listed above accumulating), weakened muscles and bad body posture among others. Now I'm just talking about one area of the body that is tense and sore, the lower back mainly, but there are so many other areas that could benefit a massage. The reason a massage is so healing and good for you is that it relaxes your muscles, releases feel good chemicals and blocks the pain signals from the brain. Massages are great for after a workout or strenuous activity as it has been proven to decrease inflammation and increase cell repair.


• Dip your toes in some heated water with added essences – because there are no pores on the soles of your feet, they are better able to pull any oils quickly into the bloodstream. This is because sebaceous filaments are what carry sebum through the hair follicle to the skin. Although, on the soles of your feet there are no hair follicles and thus no sebaceous glands to secrete sebum. Sebum functions like a protective shield, allowing very little to be absorbed, such as oils. Therefore, the soles of your feet make a great entrance for beneficial oils to be absorbed directly into the bloodstream in only a matter of 20 minutes. So, go ahead and try your favourite essence and see what happens! Make sure to dilute the extract in a carrier oil such as coconut or castor oil, if applying directly to the skin as some oils can be too strong. Or simply add a drop or two to your warm water and soak it up!

It's not a sin to think about yourself and what makes you happy. We all need to put ourselves first sometimes to remember what this life is all about. Happiness, Joy and Love.

• Deep breathing – it is so easy to take breathing for granted. Rarely, do you find a person that really pays attention to their breathing and when you do most people think that they are some kind of flower child that's out to lunch. But actually, there is a strong correlation between deep breathing and health benefits. I mean it's logical that people need air or oxygen to survive right? However, no one takes into consideration the quality, quantity or in which way they breathe in. The average person pays no attention to their breathing habits and therefore most of the time don't breathe deep enough, rather rapid, shallow or sometimes not at all. This can cause many problems such as anxiety, panic attacks, dry mouth, respiratory aggravation and fatigue among others.
  
  To observe the best way on how we should be breathing, is by watching a newborn. They naturally practise deep diaphragmatic breathing by using the diaphragm to pull oxygen into their lungs. You will notice the expansion of their belly while they inhale air through their nose and into their lungs and contracts as they exhale.
  
  Over time, for many people, this type of instinctive breathing has been lost, due to many environmental stressors. Now, we breathe shallow with our chests and usually through our mouths, sometimes even holding our breath, without knowing, taking in less air. When we breathe from our diaphragm, long, deep breaths, we can calm our minds, think clearer and release tension from the muscles in our shoulders, necks and chests by not inhaling from our chest but rather allowing our diaphragm to do the work. Ultimately, preventing headaches, lowering blood pressure and increasing energy.


• Light some candles or turn on an essential oil diffuser – our sense of smell is a powerful thing. It's more than just a way to perceive an odour. Certain smells could make you happy, boost motivation, influence good or bad dreams, relieve pain, help you to quit smoking, improve your balance and so much more. Our sense of smell comes from specific sensory cells located within the nose. These cells are directly connected to the brain and in some cases can stimulate a distant memory or thought more clearly than if there were to be no smell, proving to help with cognitive function. Certain aromas can also trigger the motivation to spend money. Studies have shown that people are more likely to buy an object in a store that has a nice smell as opposed to the same object sold in another store with no scent. This is why, for example, in Las Vegas you will find the casinos to have a pleasant scent throughout. Showing that people will stay longer and spend more with an appealing scent. Another powerful effect it can have on us is through our sleep. By helping relieve us of stress, fear and anxiety to achieve an overall sense of calmness, some scents can alleviate us of insomnia inducing a good night’s rest. Not only can it help us rest but research shows it can have major effects on our dreams suggesting that certain good smells can provoke good dreams and quite oppositely bad smells can evoke bad dreams.


• Listen to white noise – sounds such as a heart beat, rain, a river or ocean waves, birds whistling a quiet melody or droplets of water into a pond all of these sounds are regarded as white noise. Created by a set of frequencies played in a specific monotonous like sequence to off set loud and disturbing background noise. This is particularly helpful for sleep disruptions and also leads to better concentration and increased focus.


• Blue-light blockers – blue-light exposure before bed can be detrimental for your sleep. For much of our life time, the sun was our major source of lighting forcing us to spend the majority of our evenings in almost darkness. Now-a-days, since the invention of artificial lighting, people have been granted the perpetual source of illuminating lights. Examples being florescent lights, television, phones and computers to name a few. But is this a good thing? Coming from a daily life that regulated our circadian rhythm by using only natural sources of light such as the sun and candles, to now obnoxiously bright, in your face, blue-lights that consistently stimulate alertness. Our crucial to good health, sleep patterns are to pay and have been therefore greatly compromised. Blue-lights have been proven to shut off our bodies natural sleep hormone, melatonin keeping our brains alert and awake. This is why wearing blue-light blocking glasses helps significantly to stay up past sunset while also allowing you to continue using electronics that emit blue-light. It's a win-win situation that doesn't jeopardize your sleep.
• Turn on a salt lamp – the amber colour diffused throughout the room from a salt lamp is not only calming but has actual proven science behind it too. Simulating the glow of a sunset, they signal the body to start producing melatonin and relaxing the body for sleep. Preparing yourself for sleep hours before actual bed time allows the body to wrap up any business for the night. By this I mean slowing the heart beat, turning off digestion and any other stimulatory functions. On another note, salt lamps are said to reduce the number of negative ions emitted within a small space.
  
  Briefly explained, negative ions are beneficial to the body while positive ions are harmful. This because negative ions have been scientifically proven to neutralize free radicals, enhance immunity, revitalize cell metabolism, purify blood and promote deep sleep and proper digestion. Positive ions can do the opposite making you feel uneasy, nauseated, promoting poor sleep and increasing headaches. You can find negative ions in nature around forests and waterfalls while positive ions are in heavily congested cities, cars and electronic devices.
  
  Salt lamps are also said to attract mold, allergens and pollutants found in the air by attracting the water molecules that carry them then depositing them on the surface of the lamp. Although, one small single salt lamp may not produce significant results immediately, over time like plants, they can make a difference in overall health.
• Meditation – is a great way to relax and wind down for a good night’s sleep but it could also be proven useful to start the beginning of your day. Meditation is a great way to improve self-image and give you a more positive outlook on life which significantly helps the reduction of depression. Improving your mindset can be extremely beneficial to yourself and others around you. Radiating kindness will bring you more happiness and satisfaction. When you smile or help others, it brings you a sense of joy boosting your overall mood and sparking your motivation, feeling as though you can do anything and make a difference. It can also create a peaceful mind and bring mindfulness to your surroundings. This can bring creativity and allow you to see certain views that you may not have otherwise seen. It's a great way to lengthen your attention span and generate patience allowing you to become more focused and productive on certain tasks at hand. This could potentially help with memory loss due to old age. Meditation is a great way to regulate hormones and bring balance into your life. Like I've said before, hormones are so important to your overall health to be able to overcome problems such as psoriasis, high blood pressure, weight gain from hunger, insomnia and so much more. Calming your mind down in any way you can could give your hormones a chance to mellow out.

• Get to bed on time – this last point is arguably one of the most significant points of a healthy lifestyle. Sleep is so important in the healing and regeneration of anyone's body. Whether you worked out or broke a bone, physical injury heals faster with sleep as blood supply to the muscles are increased, energy is restored and certain hormones are release for tissue growth, repair and development.

For the young, sleep is essential for the brain to grow and for the old it is essential to form and maintain pathways allowing you to learn and create new memories. Without sleep, it becomes harder to concentrate and respond quickly. The effects of sleep don't just stop there though, it affects almost every type of tissue and system in the body. Studies have shown that chronic lack of sleep or inadequate amounts of quality sleep increase risks of disorders such as high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, obesity and more. So how do we “get to bed on time”? Well, for starters, establish a time you feel is appropriate to go to bed at and stick as closely as you can to that time. Our bodies were designed to follow a circadian rhythm, in short it causes you to be sleepy when the sun goes down and wake when the sun rises, kind of like an internal alarm clock. With that in mind, our internal alarm clock is not supposed to change and when it does it wreaks havoc in ways such as a decreased immunity, hormone fluctuations, and sleep issues like jet leg. For example, when we cross time zones, our body's internal clock gets messed up because it's programmed for a 10pm bed time but in your new time zone that may be 7pm or 1am. Thus, keeping you up late or putting you to bed extra early. Then if you ignore your “new bed time” and go to bed later, in your new time zone, the next day your brain is going to be foggy, you'll have troubles concentrating and feel exhausted among other things. All your internal “times” will be off, your normal wake and sleep times as well as normal routines like exercise, eating and possible other habits. When your body establishes an everyday routine, like an infant, it likes to stay consistent. It is possible to, say, go on vacation every once in awhile and change these routines and for the first day or two you might feel off but you could bounce back fairly easily. Where as if you were to do it every day, then this becomes difficult for the body to cope. For additional informations see: https://medium.com/thrive-global/the-science-of-how-sleep-changes-your-brain-from-infancy-to-old-age-3ca4a6857e27