January Is Here

January is here and after the excesses of Christmas the gyms are full of new members with good intensions for getting fitter.  Dry January is a great idea to give the liver a break and new diets to lose a bit of weight are all the rage.  However, we do not think about our spiritual being and finding a feeling of relaxation or peace within ourselves as part of what keeps us well and healthy. 

How do you get that Chris, I hear you ask?

The next step is a digital detox hour in the evening before bed.  When we do our teeth, we do not decide to do our teeth we just do it each night at the same time. This is a habit we create because we understand how important this is for our health. 

Why can’t we do the same for our mental or spiritual health – think of it as resetting and cleaning our nervous system, resetting our brain from the days challenges and things to react to, process and learn.

The digital detox is important as we want to control the information and stimulus that our nervous system is receiving from the external world.  News, facebook, Instagram, ticktoc all use the fact that our nervous system is programmed to pay attention to threats or anything that could affect our survival and we are rewarded to pay more attention to these things as this increases our chance of survival biologically.  This is what causes the habit and compulsion, but our nervous system is reacting internally to what we are watching. 

I know the irony is that you are probably reading this on a device on facebook or insta and I am telling you to switch it off!

Especially before bed, our nervous system needs to be in rest and digest, but we need to feel this in our body not just think, “I am sitting on the sofa in my home so I must be at rest”. You may be resting physically but your nervous system could still be in a state of reactivity.

We have got rid of the phone – you are not going to look at it until tomorrow morning now as after this routine, bedtime is the only thing that beacons.  

Find a comfortable position – breath – in through the nose and out through the mouth – 3 seconds in three seconds out.  Breathing using your diaphragm as you breath in our belly should come out. 

After a minute or two doing this as you breath try and remember a memory where you feel relaxed, safe and chilled and feel your body as you go there, everything may feel heavy or relaxed.  Enjoy being here and become aware of how this feels in your body.

Spend 15 min each evening on your spiritual mental balance as well as physical at the gym and biochemical with your diet, new year better you!

Thank you for read our article “January Is Here” we hope you enjoyed it.

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