Keep Yourself Healthy

Some people don’t have the time or energy to go to the gym or to exercise. But there are some habits that we can incorporate into our everyday lives to help keep us well and healthy:
Take 10,000 steps or walk 5 miles per day. Walking burns calories and cut cholesterol, strengthens back muscles and bones, slims your waist, lowers blood pressure, shapes and tones your legs and butt, reduces risk of heart disease and diabetes, reduces stress, improves mood and sleep, and it’s FREE.

Drink adequate water daily. The most common rule of thumb people follow with regards to water intake is 8 8-ounce glasses per day. However, new research suggests that this varies based on the person’s weight, activity level and climate. The 8 glasses should be the minimum. What I personally do is I bring a water jug so that I always remember to sip water every couple of minutes.

Adequate water intake prevents dehydration, cleans out the body, promotes healing processes and helps control weight. (www.wikihow.com)

Adapt a healthy seating posture. For those of us who are working in the office, how many hours a day do we spend sitting? My guess is that it’s around 8-10 hours (and that may not include commuting/driving time).
Proper posture is important as it: keeps the bones and joints in the correct alignment so that muscles are being used properly; helps decrease the abnormal wearing of joint surfaces that could result in arthritis; decreases the stress on the ligaments holding the joints of the spine together; prevents the spine from becoming fixed in abnormal positions; prevents fatigue because muscles are being used more efficiently, allowing the body to use less energy; prevents strain or overuse problems; prevents backache and muscular pain; and contributes to a good appearance. (http://www.clevelandclinic.org/)
Here’s how to achieve the correct seating posture: A. Sit up with your back straight and your shoulders back. Your buttocks should touch the back of your chair. B. All three normal back curves should be present while sitting. A small, rolled-up towel or a lumbar roll can be used to help you maintain the normal curves in your back.
Get at least 7 hours of sleep per night. Same as the water intake, this varies between each person as there is no “magic number”, but 7 hours should be the average minimum. No matter how many hours you sleep, the most important hours for you to be asleep are 11pm to 2am, as this is about the time window wherein your adrenals recharge most effectively.


Lack of sleeps can result to the following (http://www.sleepfoundation.org/): increased risk of motor vehicle accidents; increased in body mass index (greater likelihood of obesity); increased risk of diabetes and heart problems; increased risk for psychiatric conditions including depression and substance abuse; decreased ability to pay attention, react to signals or remember new information.
Follow the food guide pyramid. This pyramid calls for eating a balanced variety of food to get all the nutrients you need and to help you maintain a healthy weight. For guidelines on how to measure servings, please refer to this link.

Manage your stress. Stress- the zest of life! I heard somewhere that bad stress is the father of almost all illnesses. Bad stress is when our body cannot cope with a stressor easily, as our body system is not designed to stay on continuous alert. Ways to manage our stress are: avoidance, short circuiting (something is not stressful unless we allow it to be; cutting off, ignoring or redefining something that can be a stressor); mitigation (techniques we can use to help our bodies tolerate stress better and return to normal state more quickly).
Laugh more often. Laughter is the easiest and most inexpensive way to have fun each day! It is a good antidote to stress and it releases endorphins, a natural analgesic chemical that can have a euphoric effect.

Spend time with people who make you laugh… allot a few seconds each day to read jokes in your cellphone… learn not to take yourself too seriously…

Forgive. During our last retreat at Balai Indang just this month, Rev. Eugene Hao stressed the importance of forgiveness again and again. Personally, it’s not something that is easy to do… but it’s something that everyone MUST learn to do. If you want a healthy spirit, mind and body- this is not an option! From healthmad.com, I found out that forgiveness is celebrated every year in June (very timely) and here are the benefits of forgiveness: (for more, please visit this link)
- Forgiveness is good for your heart as it is associated with lowering heart rate and blood pressure.

A recent study has found that forgiveness is positively associated with five measures of health, i.e., physical symptoms, medications used; sleep quality, fatigue, and somatic complaints.

- Forgiveness helps stress relief by lowering blood pressure and heart rate.
- Forgiving helps improve immune system through building up a harmonious and happy life style. Chronic anger, hurt, guilt, hostility can have a debilitating effect on us since these toxic emotions create an avalanche of stress hormones.
- Since forgiving reduces the stress-related complications, it guarantees your good sleep.
- When you do not forgive others and yourself, you are stressed, bitter and tense. This leads you to many more ailments such as ulcers, heart problems, anxiety attacks and even cancer.
- Refusal of forgiveness damages individuals and societies
- Forgiveness is good for your body and mind, your relationships, and your place in the world.
There are still a lot more ways to achieve physical and mental health… what I listed are just some of the few easy and free ways towards them. Staying healthy is one of the best gifts you can give yourself and your loved ones. Let’s all start being more proactive in taking care of our health… anyway, there’s nothing to lose and so much to gain.