After Christmas and new have been and gone, you’ll probably feel like having a rest from all the rich food, chocolate and alcohol! But how about making January, not only a detox, but the start of a change to your lifestyle for the long term?
This may seem like a hard task, it may even make you want to pull the duvet over your head! But taken step by step over time will make you much more likely to stick to your new lifestyle, rather than, for example, a hard and fast strict diet that may work in the short term, but before you know it you’re back in front of the TV with a box of chocolates.
To get you started for the New Year, here are 3 steps.
- Eat ‘cleaner’
Common ailments like headaches, aches and pains, bloating etc. could be tackled through or even down to diet. What you eat is also important for a healthy immune system and affects your mood and energy. Eating ‘clean’ is the latest buzzword for a healthy well-balanced diet. It’s not revolutionary though; Indian’s have been eating ‘clean’ for around 5,000 years using the Ayuveda principles[1]. To eat more clean (or ‘sattvic’ as it’s known in Ayuveda), minimise or eliminate artificial sugars and processed food and eat a good variety of plant based whole foods such as beans, legumes, whole grains, fruit and vegetables. It also important to understand your body type and hunger levels. Tip to start: start cooking one meal from scratch a week.
- Take back control of your mind
Your mental state can have a profound effect on your health. Stress, for example, is the number one cause of cardiovascular heart disease. Cleansing your mind can help cleanse your body. Whether it’s traditional seated meditation, more modern mindfulness techniques, tai chi or even playing an instrument, spending time focusing your mind on the present, and in particular one task, can help to improve stress resilience, emotional intelligence and your ability to focus on tasks. Further to this, practices such as yoga can help you take this a step further to look at how you think about and perceive things, trying to reduce the psychological and associated effects of negative thoughts.
Tip to start: Try a one-minute meditation[2].
- Get and stay active!
Being active isn’t just about losing weight – activity cleanses your body. Moving helps your blood and lymph flow and improve organ function, helping toxins to be flushed out, keeping your immune system boosted and body resilient to disease. It also helps to maintain and improve your ability to function at everyday tasks. To be active you don’t have to be training for Iron Man, 20-30 mins of moderate activity at least five times per week is plenty to keep yourself healthy. Tip to start: start by walking for just 5 minutes a day and build up.
So if your suffering from that heavy head, lethargy and irritability that comes from weeks of overindulgence or fatigue from the pandemic, then start your journey to detox, not just for January, but for life.
Need more advice and support? Sign up for my New Year Yoga Detox Retreat on the 17th January, one of my 5/10-day bootcamps or my 5 week Freedom 2 Be Well Life Shifter course. Spaces are limited. Register your interest here.
Leanne Bird
Founder of Leanne Bird Wellbeing & Adventure
[1] https://www.banyanbotanicals.com/info/ayurvedic-living/learning-ayurveda/intro-to-ayurveda/
