5 easy steps to give your fitness a head-start (without exercising) - Live Life Better With Yoga

• Updated on: 2019-09-27
• Read original article here

It has happened, again!

You promised yourself, you would get up early today and exercise, but you didn’t. Oh, that feeling of guilt…

You pull yourself up, get ready and arrive at your office and are intimidated with all the energy around.

Where do they bring it from — all the enthusiasm to work every day?

In spite of sleeping beyond schedule, you aren’t feeling up to it. Yet, you venture on to finish tasks on your To-Do list — feeling nothing more than average.

You are tired of feeling average! ‘What is wrong with me’ you wonder… what is missing…

It is about time I told you the secret of breaking this vicious cycle. That which stops you from being anything near to fit.

Here it is, in 5 easy steps –

Picture the face of any of the successful people you follow — the famous Silicon Valley CEO, your favorite sportsperson or the film actor of your dreams. Remember the confidence oozing out of their faces…!! Wait, are you sure, its confidence?

Now you would say, of course, they do, they are successful! On the contrary, self-love is what drove them to success.

Loving yourself the way you are, doesn’t mean you close the areas for improvement, but exactly the opposite.

It means that you approve of yourself, of who you are at this moment and accept yourself as a whole. You see the beauty in imperfection, the good things and the bad (if I may).

And because you like yourself so much, you will not settle for anything less than the best. Self-love will give you the energy to commit yourself to improvements that you have been wanting to make.

Here is a simple morning routine that you can follow to practice self-love:

What is that primary body function on which everything else depends? From Heartbeat to Blood circulation to Digestion to Filtration — every vital function your body performs.

They all depend on Breathing.

Here are some everyday examples for you to see the relationship between the state of our mind and the quality of breathing caused –

It is therefore easy to understand that better breathing results in better emotions and better health.

Follow these simple steps to improve your breathing –

All of us have heard this at one point or another ‘’Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy wealthy and wise.” Well, don’t underestimate conventional wisdom.

Modern science seems to be waking up to the importance of the sleep-wake cycle. In 2017, three scientists were awarded the Noble Prize in physiology for their study of the molecular mechanisms controlling the circadian rhythm, or the body clock.

This body clock is physically located in the brain. It is a part of the limbic system, which is responsible for our emotional health and personality.

This clock gets affected by our environment — external as well as internal. Hence it can get disturbed by erratic lighting, erratic schedule, erratic emotions and many more.

Not only can regulating it results in better health, but also better mood, better decision making, and more creativity. Hence, it can actually make you healthy, wealthy and wise ????

Follow these steps to regulate your body clock:

In a world of constant stimulation, we have our stress hormones constantly amped up. We are running out of our stock of ‘’fight or flight’’ hormones. Hence the feelings of getting drained, burnouts and the ever-decreasing sense of excitement from the things that once used to make us happy.

The only way we can balance it is by properly relaxing.

Most of us think that sleeping is how we relax, but how many of us have a peaceful sleep? I am talking about really peaceful, deep sleep. No snoring, no bad dreaming, not even dreaming of any kind.

Our ‘’to do’’ lists are too long for us to be able to have that kind of sleep and there goes the relaxation bit out of it. Relationship worries, career aspirations, incessant traveling, coping up with the social standards we have set for ourselves.

The simplest ways to practice deep relaxation are:

There is an old Zen saying ‘Sit in meditation for 20 minutes a day, unless you’re too busy, then sit for an hour.’

You have thought of it and perhaps tried it all — Gymming, Pilates, Zumba, Dance Lessons? The list is endless…

Whenever you think of fitness, you are always thinking in terms of physically exerting yourself. Because that is what we think fitness means — Physical capability, incessant physical activity without getting tired.

We even have fitness blogs suggesting you should fill up your schedule in a way that you are constantly challenged, physically. Get the groceries walking and not in the car, sit on a stability ball instead of a chair, get off your seat every 20 minutes, do planks while watching TV — really…!

Multi-tasking is the most over-rated things ever. All the reason behind people losing creativity. Our mind is supposed to focus at one work, it actually can perform only one function at one time — efficiently.

Follow these steps to minimize your daily exertion:

It is your 28th day of consistent morning exercise routine, you are overflowing with joy.

Completely awake, you dress up sharply and enjoy the journey to the office.

Everyone notices when you enter and you exchange handshakes with your team with a brimming smile. Crisp start to an ideal day!

Your To-Do list is almost done before you break for lunch and you are looking forward to that presentation where you get to showcase what you have achieved.

You have finally discovered the secret of real fitness. It is more than physical.

Now, get up and commit yourself to these 5 steps for 28 days.

A new and amazing you are just around the corner! Get up and get going.