3 New Habits to Add to Your 2024 Routine
#1 Guided Meditations
We live in a world where our nervous systems are constantly being challenged and stimulated. Meditation helps to counteract that constant external “doing” and helps your mind shift into “being.” It helps to give you feelings of calmness, improved anxiety, stress, and depression. I hear people say “I’m terrible at meditating” and quit. Very rarely does anyone start off being great at meditation. I love the free app a friend introduced to me called Insight Timer because it has short duration meditations to start with. I recommend 5-10 minute guided meditations when someone is starting out because they will walk you through different mantras instead of sitting in complete silence, which (at least for me) is more difficult. Try adding it to your routine a couple days a week!
#2 Mindful Meals
Constipation is the #1 GI complaint in the country. Eating more regularly can help to facilitate your Colonic Meal Response (also called Gastrocolic Reflex). This is a reflex that when food enters into the stomach, it leads to propulsions within the colon to push meals towards the end to have a bowel movement. What’s interesting is that food doesn’t have to enter the stomach for this to happen-you can think about and even smell food which will trigger this response. What many Americans are guilty of is eating on-the-go, in front of the television, or on their cell phones. A lot of emphasis in our culture is on WHAT we are eating but we also need to be focusing on HOW are we eating these meals? How are you FEELING while eating and preparing these meals? These are ways to tap into your nervous system to help promote better gut motility.
#3 Chew Your Food
Gut health is a theme for #2 & #3 on my list because the gut-brain-axis is so incredible! By improving our sensory experiences with food, we can really improve our gut health. Did you know you should chew your food 30-40 times to break food down before swallowing? This will help to jumpstart your digestion and take some pressure off your gut so it doesn’t have to work so hard. When larger pieces of food enter the digestive tract it can cause gas, bloating, constipation, headache, and lower energy. That’s all great for the physiology of breaking the food down but what about our sensory experience? While chewing, do you focus on the texture of the food? How it tastes? How you feel while eating it? By turning your thoughts inward into your daily activities like eating- this can help to regulate stress and anxiety for optimal health and wellbeing.
