7 Things to Do Right Now to Feel Better

This weekend my husband and I had our chakras cleared (we didn’t even know they were blocked…or what a chakra was) and saw a fascinating (and scary) documentary called Resistance about bacteria that is no longer able to be treated by antibiotics.

We also listened to panels of experts in their fields about everything from Loving Your Age to Eating Clean, and sampled some a lot of amazing organic food at Prevention’s R3 Summit.  Boy, do I have some good info for you!  Since you are probably pressed for time, here are 7 quick tips from the event that you can implement today for immediate improvements to your health.

7 Things to Do Right Now to Feel Better

1. Did someone just cut you off in traffic?  Was your impossible deadline just moved up two days earlier?  Did someone just call you ma’am!?!  For a quick way to relieve stress, try the STOP technique made famous by Deepak Chopra and taught during a guided meditation workshop by his daughter, Mallika Chopra.

   

   S – Stop what you are doing, T –Take 3 breaths, O – Observe what you are feeling, P – Proceed, now that you are better in control of your emotions.

2. Does your day get ahead of you?  Mine does.  It’s like I blink and it’s time to pick up the kids and I still haven’t found my coffee mug.  Another mediation tip is to set your intention daily.  When you wake up, ask yourself what you want to take away from your experience of the day.  Focus on that and it will put into perspective all the other distractions that life will throw at you.
3. The art of distraction can sometimes work in your favor.

   

   Pound Fitness is a new exercise trend where people use drumsticks during their workout to make it fun.  (I think the real reason they make you drum is so you’re not focusing on how many squats you’re doing.)  Comedian Annabelle Gurwitch uses distraction to make fitness bearable.  Instead of a high calorie girls night out she meets her buddies twice a week for tennis.  I think my favorite tip she gave is: Run to the wine bar.  (She jogs from her house to the local wine bar to meet her husband, has a drink and then runs home.)

   

4. Do you feel run down, tired, and in pain on most days?  Dr. Holly Phillips, CBS’s Chief Medical Correspondent, will tell her patients (after doing a medical exam) to make these three lifestyle changes: 1- Get 8 hours of sleep every night.  2- Exercise for 30 minutes a day (walking counts).  3 – Reduce or eliminate the amount of processed foods you eat. Make these three minor changes for just two weeks and you will feel better.

   

5. Still feeling run down after making lifestyle changes?  Before taking medicines, many ailments can be helped by taking supplements.  Dr. Gary Kaplan, and integrative medicine pioneer, suggests taking fish oil and curcumin to help reduce inflammation (like you would get from arthritis) and Vitamin D3 to boost your immunity.

   

6. Yes, there is a ton of information out there to get healthy, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to act on it.  How do you motivate yourself to act in ways that are beneficial to your health?  Dr. Phillips suggest making your motivation financial.  She had a patient who smoked 3 packs of cigarettes per day and no matter what Dr. Phillips told her about heart disease or cancer the patient kept smoking.  Until one time Dr. Phillips asked how much her habit cost and the patient realized it was about $30 per day.  So instead of smoking she put $30 each day in an envelope and dropped them off weekly at Dr. Phillips office.  (She acknowledges this isn’t typical of most doctors!) At the end of the year the patient had saved $10,000!  #WishYouWereMyDoctor

   

7. There is a lot of negativity out there and the rich and famous are not immune.  Andie MacDowell, actress and spokes model for L’Oreal for almost 30 years, said during a recent interview someone asked her, “How does it feel to become older and lose your beauty?”  While she answered it gracefully, it still made her feel bad.  Rather than taking that negativity out on the next person, she does the opposite and compliments people.   “Tell someone their jacket looks good. Spread a little kindness.”  It doesn’t have to be big, just make a point to make others feel better and not worse.

   

Hope you find these tips helpful!  How about you?  Do you have any good health tips you’d like to share?

Lisa 

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Disclosure:  I was given free admission to the event.  All opinions are my own.

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