Want to feel healthier & happier this spring? Top tips to get you started.

‘Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.’ - Jim Rohn 

It feels an age since I wrote about the autumn equinox with my 7-point plan to stay healthy through winter. Yet in other ways time seems to have flown. I’m not sure how many of us have managed to make our own health a top priority during this time but we have a great opportunity to turn this around as it’s nearly spring!

The days are getting longer and, for the most part, brighter. We’ve even had a bout of dry weather and blue skies. Now with lockdown exit plans phased into the diaries, vaccine roll outs continuing apace and warmer weather ahead, this is a perfect time for many of us to appreciate the importance of our physical and mental wellbeing.

Late American author and motivational speaker Rohn’s quote above is a critical reminder that maintaining optimal health is the most important gift we can give ourselves, even though it can take a lot of work. And each new day is the best time to look after ourselves. In short, the focus on our health and wellbeing should be baked into our daily lives to ensure we take care of both body and mind.

When we are caught up in the daily stresses and strains of daily our daily lives we can often forget this. Fortunately, the markings of the seasons help us stay in tune with the needs of our bodies in line with the season. The changes of weather, the access to different outdoor exercise options depending on the weather, and the variety of seasonal fruit and vegetables means we can flex our plans in line with the seasons.

The onset of spring signals birth and renewal and serves as a critical reminder of how important life is.

 Spring equinox 

Marking the beginning of spring, the Spring Equinox has been associated with ritual, tradition and celebration for thousands of years. Early humans welcomed the coming of spring because it meant easier access to more food. Over 3,000 years ago ancient Egyptians built the Great Sphinx that pointed directly to the rising Sun on the day of the spring equinox, a day Persians observed as their New Year (Nowruz, or ‘new day’) at this time, which some countries and regions continue to do today. 

The spring equinox also influences the date we celebrate Easter, as it’s set on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox (called the Paschal Full Moon). The name Easter can also be traced to the pagan season of Ostara, a festival celebrating the new season's change from a long, dark winter.

A time for renewal and growth

You do not need to be religious or spiritual person to celebrate spring as a time of renewal and new growth. From the first crocuses and daffodils to the newborn lambs bouncing around the fields, birth and renewal is all around us. As we emerge from our winter cocoons – more pertinent this year having spent winter in lockdown – we can take this time to take stock of our own health. If we feel we’ve neglected our physical and mental wellbeing of late, then this is the perfect opportunity to look at the changes we need to make and to start focusing on our new health goals.

I don’t claim this to be as easy to do as it is to type; old habits are hard to break.

We may need to go back to the beginning and reset our goals. it may even require seeking motivation and support from a PT, a life or health coach, or teams on hand at your local gym. Fortunately, with most services re-opening soon fitness workers and coaches are all chomping at the bit to get back to face to face work so there’ll e no shortage of help and advice. And, for those of us more budget constrained, there’s a plethora of reasonably priced Apps as well as online resources to tap into – we just need to be clear first on those goals we want to achieve.

In the meantime, there are small changes you can implement to get you on the right track.. I hope to write more about these in detail in future blogs, for now here’s a summary list.

Quick tips to help you get started.

1. Make your goals realistic and achievable. If you start smashing them you can always update them and set more ambitous goals.

2. Find a friend to work out with. Companionship and a little bit of competition are forces for good – and help speed up progress!

3. Do more of those activities you enjoy - and include them along side your exercise programme and not instead of them,. This may sound basic, but from walking, cycling through to gardening, staying more active will not only keep you fitter but will also help you break less healthy habits such as TV or snack bingeing.

4. Increase your time spent outdoors and catch up on all that vitamin D production lost through winter. Choosing activities and exercises that enable you to spend more time outdoors in the fresh air and close to nature also have so many additional health benefits for both body and mind.

5. Focus on good quality sleep. Spending time in the sunshine can improve the quality of our sleep so make sure you revisit the basics of sleep hygiene to keep up those zeds. It also worth investing in black out blinds or curtains to ensure the light nights and early mornings do not get in the way of your full complement of sleep through the summer months.

6. Put the foundations of a healthy eating plan in place by starting every day with breakfast and avoiding eating or snacking within two hours of bedtime.

7. And hydrate! I know you know it but how many of us forget to drink throughout the day? Make sure you take on non-caffeinated and non-alcoholic drinks through the day (ideally water or herbal teas). Try to keep your caffeine consumption to a minimum and avoid it completely up to 7 hours before bedtime.

Although the spring equinox is not until Saturday, March 20 (at 9:37am in the UK to be precise!) you don’t have to wait until the end of the month. Today is always the best time to start making those positive changes. And your body will love you for it. As Rohn reminds us, it really is the only place we have to live.

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