Are you struggling to drag yourself from in between the sheets each morning? Well, you are only human, and I can testify you are most definitely not the only one that would instead pull the cover over their head and fall back to sleep once the chilly weather hits. Fortunately, there are some tactics you can use to make even the briskest of winter mornings a lot easier on yourself. Keep reading to find out what they are.
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Get up when you wake up.
This piece of advice works equally well for when the weather is cold or warm, as it's all about getting up when your body first wakes. After all, the human body is a pretty smart machine, and it knows how much sleep you need each night. That means when you first wake up in the morning is likely to be the time when you feel at your best - something that can make it alot easier to get up and get on with your day, even when it is cold outside.
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You can even use technology to help you make use of this tactic, as there are apps for phones and watches that will monitor when you begin to enter light sleep. This stage is so important because it is the step that occurs just before waking. Therefore by tracking it, the apps can wake you at precisely the right point, and so make rising much easier to do.
Plan something to look forward to
If the thought of tearing yourself from your deliciously warm bed is just too much on a frosty winter morning, why not use the strategy of planning something to look forward to each day? It doesn't have to be anything too big either, as a little self-care act can work just as well.
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For example, the thought of a nice bowl of hot and warming cereal may be just the thing to look forward to and motivate you to get out of bed when it's chilly outside. The good news is that such a dish is good for you too, a topic you can find out more about in this post on the health benefits of eating hot cereal, which you can read online. Hot cereal is pretty delicious too, especially when you add your own personal extras like honey, apple, banana, or brown sugar!
Alternatively, you may wish to motivate yourself by scheduling in some time to work on a hobby or interest. After all, it is much harder to turn over and go back to sleep if the first thing you get to do is the activity you love and value most in the world!
Prep your morning the night before
It's very easy to get overwhelmed when we first emerge from sleep in the morning, something that often makes turning over and nodding back off a more comfortable option. However, you can make things far easier on yourself by prepping for your morning the night before.
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In the wintertime, this involves laying out your AM supplements, loading your favorite pod into the coffee machine before bed, and setting out some fluffy slippers, so your feet don't get cold. You can even spend some time picking out the most practical out fort for the weather you can expect the next day.
Lastly, if you want to make sure the transition from fast asleep to up and at them is as easy as possible in the winter, be sure to remember to set your heating to come on for early in the morning.
Ideally, it's best to do this, so your heating is active around an hour before you like to get up, you will find it much easier to get out of bed. The reason being that there won't be such a striking difference in temperature between your warm and cozy bed, and the rest of your home.
Plan an easy to follow routine
If you are finding it tricky to get out of bed on a winter morning, you may benefit from setting yourself an easy routine to go through as soon as you get out of bed. There are several benefits to this which include getting basic tasks completed earlier on (along with the satisfaction and motivation this provides), and getting your blood pumping and body moving, therefore warming you up.
With that in mind, add tasks such as getting breakfast, unloading the dishwasher, and setting a load of laundry to your winter AM routine. By doing so, you should give both your mind and body enough time to fully wake up before you move onto anything more complicated.
We all want to look after our physical and mental health, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to improve and maintain your well-being. Our modern lifestyles don’t always allow for a whole lot of downtime, and it can be challenging to create a healthy routine that sticks. Perhaps you’ve already got some kind of wellbeing routine, and you’re looking for a few more ideas? To help you create a new roadmap to health, check out these ten unique ideas.
1 . Set Yourself A Challenge
When we challenge ourselves to learn something new, we automatically open doors and gain more confidence. Carrying out the same routine can leave us feeling uninspired and stagnant, yet new challenges bring an element of excitement.
You might challenge yourself to sign up to a language learning course, sing at an open mic night, or to tackle a challenging new recipe. Whatever it is, challenges are the best way to shake things up when you're feeling lethargic.
2. Crystal Healing
Crystals form underground, by a repetition of chemical structures, that takes millions of years. Some people believe that crystals hold different energies and that these energies can be used to improve our health. When you visit a crystal therapist, they will place various crystals on or close to your body. The intention is to ‘unblock’ energy centers or encourage certain moods and emotions. The idea is that crystals can help to balance your energy and improve your overall well being.
3. The Right Herbal Supplements
The world of herbs provides us with so many health benefits; there are many options depending on your ailments. There are herbs for stress and sleep, herbs for heart health, and herbs for improved digestion. Whatever your health goals are there’ll be a herb or two that can help you out! Let’s take a closer look at a few options.
Stress: To de-stress and improve your sleep, Valerian root is an excellent herbal supplement to use. The valeric acid works to repress the breakdown of GABA, which results in feelings of tranquility and calmness.
Heart Health: Olive Leaf is one of the best herbs that you can take to support the health of your health. What’s more, Olive Leaf can boost immune function and protect the body from free radicals.
Digestion: To support digestion, Turmeric is the perfect aid to relieve bloating and support the liver. It’s also anti-microbial and a great anti-inflammatory.
4. Activism & Charity Work
Getting involved in good causes is one of the best ways to boost your mental health and wellbeing. For a few ideas to get you going, check out the following websites:
Earth Day Network: The Earth Day Network is on a mission to diversify and broaden the world's environmental movement. One of their main goals is to protect our Earth and address the issue of climate change.
Femen: The word ‘Femen’ represents the ‘special force of feminism.’ Here you can learn more about campaigning for women’s rights across the world.
Hope Not Hate: The Hope Not Hate group was built to challenge extremism and hate-fueled politics. The idea is to develop a resilience against the politics of fear and of hate.
5. Nonviolent Communication Course
Nonviolent communication refers to a practice that focuses on taking complete responsibility for our experiences. NVC offers a framework that helps individuals to become deeply aware of their thoughts, actions, and listening skills. The foundation principles include:
Empathy for the self: The ideas to develop a compassionate awareness of your inner emotions and experience.
Empathy for others: Developing the skills to listen and understand other people, relating compassionately to their emotions.
Self Expression: Honestly expressing yourself and taking full responsibility for your unfolding experience.
There are many nonviolent communication workshops online, aimed at both individuals and small businesses.
6. Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a holistic practice that is used to target various health conditions, (including stress). When you have an acupuncture session, your therapist uses fine needles to target different parts of your skin. The practice is designed to offer muscle relaxation and pain relief (if appropriate). Acupuncture is also known to improve circulation and boost the immune system. Some people can feel a little uneasy about acupuncture, but there’s no need to be. The process is not painful and rather is focused on healing and relaxation.
7. Cold Water Therapy
Coldwater immersion therapy can improve the lymphatic system, digestive system and boost the immune system. As well as these benefits, cold water immersion therapy is useful to improve circulation. Some studies have indicated that cold hydrotherapy is also an effective treatment for depression and stress. It’s believed that this is because the cold can boost our sympathetic nervous system. You can attend several workshops to learn about cold water immersion therapy, including the popular ‘Wim Hof Method.’ It’s essential to follow the appropriate health and safety guidance, especially if you attempt cold water swimming for the first time.
8. Mindfulness
Mindfulness means ensuring that your mind is fully attending to your experience, to your space, thoughts, and actions, moment to moment. It may sound straightforward, but so many of us allow our attention to drift frantically to the past or future. When we do this we can become anxious and lose touch with the present. To help you to practice mindfulness, it may help to try the following mindfulness apps:
The Mindfulness App: This application provides plenty of guided mindfulness and meditation sessions to help boost your well-being. These sessions range from 3 minutes to 30, so it’s easy to fit these in with your schedule.
Buddhify: The Buddhify app provides hundreds of mindfulness and meditation sessions, helping users to reduce anxiety, and gain a deeper appreciation of the present moment.
9. Grow Your Own Food
Want to supercharge your well-being? Growing your own food is a fantastic way to improve both your mental and physical health. The first step to growing your own food is to create the perfect compost pile; this can help you nourish your soil without using chemical-based fertilizers. To create great compost, remember these tips.
Green Vs. Brown: You need to use an equal amount of green (nitrogen-rich) and brown (carbon-rich) materials to make a great compost pile. Brown materials include wood chips, cardboard, or dead leaves, while green materials are things like grass clippings, vegetable waste, and eggshells.
Aerate Your Compost: You need to ensure that you aerate your compost pile to ensure it gets enough oxygen. You can do this with a rake, a shovel, or by using a compost tumbler. The bacteria that break down your compost need oxygen to thrive, so turning your compost is so important. With the perfect compost and healthy soil it won’t be long before you’ve got some tasty vegetables.
10. Learn About Foraging
Foraging refers to the practice of gathering food sources from the wild, including herbs, plants, fruits, nuts, and mushrooms. Attending a foraging workshop or course can be a fantastic way to learn about wild foods and wild cooking. When you can use the outdoors to gather your own foods, you’ll be working towards a more sustainable lifestyle and gaining a deeper connection with the natural world. Some wild plants are unsafe to eat, so it’s better to attend a workshop before you try foraging yourself.
When you’re looking to improve your well-being, it can help use a journal to track your progress. A journal is a great place to jot down your goals and honestly express your thoughts and feelings.
Something that a lot of people are concerned with these days is trying to become more ethical in how we approach our consumption habits. As a consumer of a wide variety of products, you need to make sure that you are being sensible in the ways in which you buy products and what kinds of products you do actually buy. You can think of each penny you spend as being like an economic vote towards what kind of world you want to live in. So how can you make sure you are being a much more ethical consumer in general?
Read The Fine Print
Check Out The Packaging
Look For Sustainable Materials
As well as the packaging, you want the product itself to be made of something sustainable, if possible. There are usually alternatives you can look to if you want to aim for buying sustainable materials, so you should absolutely make sure that you are trying to do that as best as you can. For instance, hemp products are usually going to be much more sustainable, so you will be able to feel better and be a better consumer if you are using those products.
Research The Company’s Supply Chain
Many of us have something of a conflicted relationship with our health much of the time. Sure, we all know how important it is to be able to live the longest, healthiest life possible. But on the other hand, not all that many of us take the time to actually do the things required to make that happen. This isn't usually just because we're lazy, the truth is that a lot of it comes down to just how busy and stressful modern life can be. However, there are things that you can do to start looking after yourself just a little better. Here are just a few of them.
Look after your health
Given how important it is, it's shocking how many people just don't seem to think enough about ways to take care of their health. If you're not taking care of your body then you're likely to end up in trouble and yet a lot of people push their health off to the side because they have other things to think about like work and family commitments. Obviously, a checkup at the doctor is always a good idea but there are plenty of things you can do at home. Simple things like a change in lifestyle or supplementing your diet with these vegan CBD gummies for sale. Of course, it's always a good idea to talk to someone before considering any serious lifestyle changes.
Learn to switch off from time to time
Get a better night's sleep
Something that a lot of people have to deal with when it comes to trying to get everyone done through the day is to make compromises. The issue is that people tend to compromise on sleep far more often than they compromise on other things. The issue here is that sleep is one thing that you really cannot go without. Not only does a lack of sleep leave you feeling exhausted but it can impact your concentration, impact your mental health, and even lower your immune system.
One of the biggest things that stands between a lot of people and being able to be as healthy as possible is the feeling that it's selfish to prioritize taking care of yourself. As though taking care of yourself means that you're not taking care of other people which is somehow more important. And sure, looking after the people in your life is great, but doing that to the detriment of your well being is just going to make things so much worse, not just for you, but for the people you're trying to look after.
When your hair is dry and brittle, it’s tough to know what to do with it. However you style it, dry hair never looks good and people that struggle with this problem often give up on it and just tie it up all of the time. But that’s a real shame because you want to be able to experiment with different styles and wear your hair in a way that makes you feel great.
Although some people are more prone to dry hair than others, there is usually a reason for it, which means that you can solve the problem quite easily if you work out what the cause is. These are some of the most likely reasons that you have dry hair.
Heat Styling
Most people use a hairdryer on a daily basis and you probably use straighteners quite regularly as well. But overuse of heat styling tools can cause your hair to dry out and become brittle, so you need to be careful. If you are using straighteners often, you need to invest in a good quality pair that will protect your hair as they straighten it. Cheap straighteners are one of the easiest ways to ruin your hair, so it’s worth paying for quality.
If possible, you should also avoid using a hairdryer every day unless you really need to. It’s better to let your hair dry naturally or at least use the cool setting on your dryer to reduce the damage caused by heat. You can also get some great heat protection products to put in your hair before drying and straightening to further prevent heat damage.
Hair Coloring
Coloring your hair is a great way to give yourself a fresh new look, but hair dye contains a lot of chemicals that can dry your hair out, so you need to be careful. Many people cause unnecessary damage to their hair because they don’t know how to dye it properly, so make sure that you familiarize yourself with popular hair color techniques and read all of the directions in the box before you dye your own hair at home. Simple things like leaving the dye in for too long can damage your hair a lot. You also need to make sure that you use the right shampoo and conditioner combinations to protect your hair and repair any damage that is caused by the dye.
Even if you do everything right, you can still damage your hair if you dye it too often, especially if you go for drastic color changes and bleach your hair. If your hair is getting very dry, it’s best to let the dye grow out and go with your natural color for a while so it has time to heal.
Washing Too Often
Keeping your hair clean is important if you want it to be healthy, but too much washing can be a bad thing. If you wash your hair too often, you will strip away all of the natural oils that lock in moisture and your hair will end up dry and brittle. If you wash your hair every day, that’s too often and you should cut back to 3 to 4 times a week at most. Curly hair is more prone to dryness and only needs to be washed with shampoo around once or twice a week. Using a good quality conditioner will help to lock in that moisture as well.
When you do wash your hair, it’s important that you use the right products as well. If you use products that are not designed for your hair type, they can do more harm than good. For example, products that are designed specifically for people that struggle with greasy hair will not be nourishing enough for standard hair. It’s best to avoid any products that contain alcohol because they will strip all of the oil out. Instead, look for natural moisturizing ingredients, like argan oil or avocado.
Environmental Factors
Things like sun exposure, high winds, and cold weather can all take a toll on your hair and dry it out, so it’s important that you are aware of these environmental factors and take steps to protect against them. Wearing a hat while you are outside is a simple but effective way to stop sun and wind damage to the hair. You should also adjust your haircare routine during the summer to make sure that your hair is adequately moisturized after being exposed to the sun for prolonged periods.
If you can avoid these common problems, you will notice that your hair is much healthier and doesn’t dry out as much.
Yoga practice dates back to many centuries ago and has been associated with spiritual, mental, and physical benefits. It comes in several different forms, and one can quickly adapt to the practice to meet specific needs and intentions. Being the flexible practice it is, some people strive to enhance it by incorporating some various aspects.
Among the enhancements that people embrace are healing crystals. They're believed to be the keys to enhancing spiritual bliss and can be used in several ways to strengthen yoga. While these stones come in many types, some yoga enthusiasts recommend some specific, powerful options. The selection is based on the meaning and power associated with each crystal.
Crystal quartz or clear quartz is used to promote clarity of mind. It also enhances spiritual growth and inner strength. As you meditate on it, you'll experience an amplification of energy or intention. Therefore, it's used to align all of the chakras and is incredibly impactful in deepening your meditation state.
Amethyst is a crystal known for its versatility. It's powerful yet calming. When you use it during yoga, you're sure to find peace and calm. The calming aura enables you to let go of the feeling of anger, anxiety, and resentment. As you let go of the emotions, you start to truly engage with the practice that allows you to find inner balance and peace.
Hematite is the perfect crystal for people with internal struggles and can't find balance during yoga. The stone possesses a grounding form of energy that helps bring back sharp focus to the task at hand and centers the mind to the earth.
This grounding energy provides the much-needed concentration to engage in yoga practice fully. You're hence able to follow through with each pose and draw the most out of each.
The rose quartz crystal meaning refers to self-love and compassion for others. Its symbolism is credited with the ability to help you become more patient and accommodative of other people. It's also useful in helping you heal past emotional wounds and hence a perfect companion for anyone struggling with a lack of forgiveness for other people.
This crystal is associated with prosperity, success, and abundance. You can also use it in meditation when your intention is joy, wisdom, happiness, light-heartedness, and peace. The stone can be used to enhance creativity and inspire a more positive mental attitude. Harness the power of warmth, inspiration, and clarity to help you through a challenging yoga session.
You can enhance your yoga practice with the use of healing crystals. With all the crystals available for use during yoga, you increase the chances of your intentions being met. Ensure you know what each represents and meditate on that, one rock at a time. For the best results, ensure you incorporate the stones into your daily lifestyle. The more you use them in meditation, the better they infuse what they represent into your being.
It can often feel like the world is moving at a million miles an hour. For many people, technological development is too much to keep up with, and it can be quite daunting when you visit a place like a hospital for the first time in a few years, only to find that everything has changed. Technology is the driving force behind much of modern medicine, but should you really trust the gadgets, gizmos, and machines used in this field? Let’s take a look at how these tools are made to give you an idea of how safe they are.
A Long History
Many of today’s medical machines are actually based on things that are much older. A hearing test, for example, has been around for hundreds of years. Of course, developments have been made that make modern tests more accurate, but the methods and general ideas are the same. People learn more about fields like this all the time, but the main purpose of building new machines for the job is often automation. Being able to remove people from the picture can make it much faster and cheaper to perform something like a hearing test, giving patients a better experience while also getting higher quality results.
Mechanical Accuracy
While it may not seem like it, machines and the computers that control them are far more accurate than humans. This applies when talking about both thought and movement, and this can have a severe impact on the quality of treatment. For example, surgery robots are starting to be used around the world. These robots are controlled by real surgeons but are able to perform far more precise movements than a human could dream of. This sort of technology is going to be crucial when it comes to operations on very small parts of the body, but this is good, as it improves the safety of the patient at the same time.
Testing & More Testing
It takes a huge amount of effort for a medical procedure to be approved for use on the general public. Countless tests have to be performed, with companies striving to prove that they have produced the right option. Only once many trials are complete will normal people be exposed to them, and this makes them incredibly safe. In fact, you could argue that many medical machines are far safer than things like cars. While they will often be connected to sensitive parts of your body, the amount of testing they go through far outweighs the mechanical devices found in other industries.
It can be hard to trust technology, especially when it has direct access to your body. Of course, though, the medical field is all about helping people, and no doctor would put their patients at risk if they thought a machine wasn’t up to scratch. As time goes by, more and more tools are going to hit the market that bring technology closer to health, but this is only going to be a good thing.
