Daily Wellness Check "On-the-Spot"
Updated: Jul 16
I've created short, follow-along exercise video series, like the Recommended Daily Activity series to make taking care of yourself an easy time investment for your daily routines!
Most of us spend the majority of our days thinking outwardly about work, family, friends... life in general outside of our own bodies. It isn't until we're hurting or ill that we start to listen to the inward messages telling us that something might be wrong.
To make a habit of self-care, we can use tools like the Wellness Check On-the-Spot to develop better awareness of our physical and mental health from day-to-day (PDF doc. attached below). Awareness of our current tendencies and consistent effort toward the desired outcome are crucial requisites for building new behaviors, habits, and skills or creating psychological and physical change.
We can also use the Wellness Check On-the-Spot whenever we feel something's off. If we're feeling fatigued or lethargic... we've got a headache... we're feeling emotionally frazzled. Whenever stress levels are beginning to tip the scales and we feel we're losing control or not on top of our game, it can be transformational to take just a few moments in reflection and reassure ourselves that we're taking care of the essential factors that are most within our control. Much like a survivalist goes through a checklist of the most important resources needed in life and death situations, we should continuously check our bodies and behaviors to ensure we're proactively and preemptively caring for our health. To improve chances of getting the most out of life and living a successful, thriving, and healthful lifestyle, consider a daily check-in with yourself that covers the following key factors:
Breath: Accumulate multiple rounds daily of 15-30 continuous, deeper, and slower breaths through the nose and into the lower belly.
How we breathe may be the most influential factor in our immediate state of well-being. Aside from certain physical health conditions, shortness of breath can be a sign of anxiety or other psychological stress, and deeper breathing patterns may have tremendous beneficial effects on our health.
Hydration: Drink a minimum of 8 to 10 eight-ounce glasses of water per day spread evenly across the day.
Hydration plays a massively important role in all physical and cognitive functioning. Fatigue and headaches are two of the lesser-known signs of dehydration. Individual recommendations are to drink half of one's body weight (lbs.) in ounces of water daily; for example, an 180-lb. individual would need 90 oz. of water daily.
Electrolyte balance: Regularly ingest good sources of minerals throughout the day, especially when taking on any vigorous physical activity.
Electrolytes keep our bodies hydrated and moving, our mind-to-body communications clear, and our hearts beating regularly. Signs of electrolyte imbalance can be dizziness, cramps, irregular heartbeat, or mental confusion. Some of the best sources of electrolytes can come from adding a variety of nuts and seeds, fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, meats, and dairy products like yogurt. My favorite way to take in small doses of electrolytes throughout the day is blending fruit, water, and a light, natural sweetener and mixing it into a tea (stay moving frequently to earn those extra sugars, though!)
General nutrient balance: Include regular, well-balanced meals of wholesome proteins, fats, and carbohydrates that are minimally processed, high in vitamins and minerals, with a variety of probiotics.
Nutrition is the fuel we burn when we move and the raw materials we use to repair and restore our bodies when we rest. Preparation and time investment are often key to being successful with healthy nutritional habits. Check with a dietitian to learn what a healthy caloric intake and balanced day look like for you and match those needs with your daily activity levels. If you're making a change and moving more or less, your caloric intake may need to change as well.
Sleep, Rest, & Recovery: Besides affording ourselves sufficient sleep at night, building in active rest periods or breaks throughout the day enhances attention, focus, energy, and mood.
Rest is another vital component of overall well-being. Sleep deprivation can have detrimental effects on both cognitive and physical performance after just one night's loss of sleep. Similarly, the best practice for daily health and performance levels is to give ourselves periodic breaks from whatever task we're currently engaged in.
Mindfulness & Meditation: Schedule times each day to periodically practice mindfulness and meditation to improve mental and physical well-being.
Meditation is another fundamental component of wellness that can bring about feelings of calm, peace, and balance or increase attention and focus. Some examples include breath work, body scanning, quiet walking outdoors, prayer, affirmations, mantras, or focusing our thoughts on the emotions of gratitude, kindness, or love.
Movement: Increase the frequency of daily activity with multiple bouts broken up throughout the day to ensure caloric balance, chemical homeostasis, and physical fitness.
One of the easiest ways to change our state of mind is to get up and move. Physical activity, especially that which challenges the body beyond its levels of everyday functioning, releases chemicals that will reshape the body, brain, and mood. Not all physical activity is equal - structured and supervised exercise is often where we need to start, how we treat health conditions, or how we boost fitness levels.
Need more structure, guidance, or motivation to invest in your self-care routine? Subscribe to my YouTube channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@AaronWyantMS
And check out my quick, no equipment needed exercise routines at: www.AaronWyant.com/onlineprograms
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