13 Steps to Bloody Good Health

by Ashwin Sanghi

Good breathing practices over extended periods of time will eventually encourage good posture as good posture and good breathing are intrinsically connected.

Deep breathing means more oxygenation to all the cells in your body. This increased oxygenation increases muscle mass. In fact, deep breathing is known to correlate with lower levels of cortisol and higher levels of melatonin.

Deep breathing can help manage addictions better.

flaxseeds, flaxseed oil, walnuts and chia seeds.

Some probiotic sources are kombucha, yoghurt, kefir, sauerkraut, miso and tempeh.

Gautam Buddha said, ‘You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserves your love and affection.’

Loving yourself means having the courage to forgive yourself and acknowledge the fact that you are a human being and it is just human to make mistakes. Loving yourself means understanding what makes your soul happy, and doing things as frequently as you can to achieve that happiness. It also means realising that not everyone will love you, and that not everybody has to love you, but you can always and forever love yourself and therefore take care of your mental, physical and emotional well-being. This includes eating healthy, getting enough sleep, doing regular exercise, finding time for your hobby and taking good care of your health.

Take care of your needs too. If your children constantly see you putting your needs on the back burner, they will be more inclined to do the same. Remember that what you do today can determine the kind of life your child will lead tomorrow.

Invest in yourself. Go for regular body check-ups.

Research indicates that affection between parents, children and close friends can help the brain, heart and other body systems.

Less stress: Being in a committed relationship is linked to lower production of cortisol, a stress hormone.

A healthy relationship can set the perfect tone for a healthy lifestyle. If your spouse, friend or other loved ones encourage eating a healthy diet, exercising, not smoking and other healthy habits, you are likely to follow their footsteps. It is a lot easier to take on healthy habits when you surround yourself with people who are doing the same.

‘Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy.’

‘To ensure good health: eat lightly, breathe deeply, live moderately, cultivate cheerfulness, and maintain an interest in life.’

Stress is part of life—be it minor hassles such as the morning traffic rush or the irritable boss or more serious issues such as the health of a loved one or a messy divorce.

stress results in a rush of hormones such as cortisol into your bloodstream. This leads to increased heart rate, tensed muscles and quicker and shallower breathing. This inevitable ‘stress response’ is the result of genetic programming hardwired into us from prehistory—ostensibly to help us react intelligently to natural disasters and predators.

‘If you treat every situation as a life and death matter, you’ll die a lot of times.’

Breath focus: This method is simple yet exceedingly powerful. All you need to do is to take slow, long and deep breaths.

Mindfulness meditation: This involves sitting upright in a comfortable position and focusing on your breath.

Yoga, tai chi and qigong: These are three ancient techniques that combine rhythmic breath with physical movements. The physical element involved in these methods can sometimes be the perfect distraction from rapid thoughts.

‘Most of us are frightened of dying because we don’t know what it means to live.’

When we want to become fit, we exercise. When we exercise, our body releases endorphins, the very hormones that block pain.

Once we become successful, we buy everything that we ever wanted—cars, clothes, home. Each time we acquire something, our brains release dopamine which is a ‘pleasure’ hormone. Dopamine helps motivate us to work hard so that we can experience the pleasure of the reward.

The next happiness hormone, oxytocin, is the easiest to get. It is released when we love.

Serotonin, the last happiness hormone, is released when we do something that benefits others—when we give to causes beyond ourselves and our own benefit.

Invest in relationships: Research studies suggest that relationships provide the strongest meaning and purpose to our lives. So cultivate meaningful relationships.

Set realistic goals: Setting goals for ourselves is good. However, goals need to be realistic to avoid disappointment.

Always be nice to people and help those in need: Sharing happiness multiplies our joy.

Have fun: Do something that makes you happy. Meditate, pursue a hobby, find your passion, find something you love doing and work towards it.

Eat sensibly: Eat light meals at regular intervals and keep your glucose levels stable.

Exercise: Sweating it out is rather important in the quest towards contentment.

Cultivate optimism: Develop the habit of seeing the positive side of life.

The point is don’t postpone celebration or being happy waiting for a day when your life is less busy or less stressful.

Meditation, listening to music and yoga are useful ways to bring our emotions into balance.

Swap jokes, watch your favourite sitcom or funny YouTube video, actively pursue humour. Don’t skip the cartoon strip of your newspaper. Read funny stuff. Spend time with friends who have a sense of humour.

Keeping feelings of sadness inside can make you feel worse.

Resilience can be learned and strengthened with strategies like having strong social support, keeping a positive view of yourself, and accepting change.

Focus on the good things in life and try not to obsess about the problems at work, school or home.

Avoid associating with those who are always complaining about life. Such people may ruin your positive thought process.