The 10 daily things you can do to feel healthier, happier, and have more energy.
Today, I’m sharing with you the 10 best methods or daily activities that have made me, and my clients, feel better, fitter, healthier, happier and vibrant. These 10 activities will not only boost your immunity… your skin will also look healthier, you will have more energy and will feel in much better shape. It’s as of you are treating yourself and your body to some extra care and love, which will always have positive effects.
To me, and to many other people I know, this type of articles is extremely important, because all we hear today in most articles and mainstream media is “pandemic“, “infections”, “virus“, “vaccination”, “wear a mask”, “stay indoors and don’t see, let alone hug anyone”… These kind of articles are based on creating and promoting fear, which is very bad for our immune system and stress levels.
Why aren’t mainstream media, governments and the medicinal sector sharing more information about how to boost your immune system, how to prevent disease, how to stay healthy all year long? We shouldn’t be fearing a virus. Viruses have always been among us, they were even here before us! The functioning of our body depends on cells, bacteria and we have a ton of viruses constantly in our body all the time. Viruses won’t harm a healthy and well maintained territory, they will rather feed on weaknesses and deteriorating territories (read: bodies).
Today, they are feasting! Because the majority of the human bodies is unhealthy, deteriorating, weak, so it’s easy for them to spread and multiply. How come? Evolution…
It’s a huge paradox. We live longer than we used to. We have more knowledge, medicine and cures than ever before. But, we are mostly inside, seated. We don’t have enough exercise anymore, we eat processed “dead” foods. We fill our bodies with too much mental activity, stress, tons of food that has very little to zero nutritional value, electro-magnetic waves, pollution, pesticides, E-numbers, a ton of useless information, deteriorated water (oh yes, don’t underestimate what you get (or don’t get) into your body by just drinking tap water!), etc. We are destroying our biodiversity and ecosystems, which brings about new diseases.
And yet, we have access to everything! We have access to superfoods, vitamins, plants, healing rituals, coaching, and so much more… Things that our grand-parents didn’t have access to. There is an abundance of tools and foods available to us, that can help us maintain a good health.
Below we are going to cover both foods and activities that you can integrate into your daily routine to optimise your health AND your life.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
Benjamin Franklin
Number 10: Walking or hiking
One of the cheapest and best cures to almost every ailment is a good walk. A good walk in the brisk air and preferably in a green environment such as the woods, will clear your mind, will oxygenate your body, will help the circulation. Walking is also grounding, brings a sense of awe for nature and hence brings you back to the present moment. When you are truly present in the now, your mental activity calms down, your stress levels drop and you feel rejuvenated.
Don’t just go out with your ear-pods plugged in. Try to really enjoy the stillness. Listen to the sounds of nature, like the birds, the wind, the crackling of leaves or branches beneath your feet. Breathe in deeply and exhale deeply as well. Hiking in forests in a more active way is also good for your health. You activate every muscle and the energies in your body flow freely again.
9) Lemon & lukewarm water
Starting you day with a glass of lukewarm water and fresh lemon juice is excellent to detox your body. Lukewarm water will:
- Stimulate the bowel movement and give more regular and consistent stools
- Help to eliminate “Ama” which is the Ayurvedic term used for accumulated toxins in the body. The accumulated toxins in the body will form a sort of greasy white layer in the body and on the tongue in the morning. Scraping this layer of your tongue and spitting it out + diluting this greasy layer with warm water will help your body eliminate its toxins.
- Most humans on the planet are chronically dehydrated. Especially after a night’s sleep, your body needs water to continue functioning correctly. A glass of water in the morning will hydrate you again before starting your day. With warm water you drink more slowly, so you will better absorb this water. To combat dehydration it’s much better to drink small amounts regularly than to drink a large amount 3x a day.
Fresh lemon juice will:
- Good source of vitamin C, which will boost your immune system
- Powerful anti-oxydant that will not only support weight loss but that will also have a positive effect on your blood sugar. Drinking lemon juice has been known to help in the prevention of diabetes type 2.
- Lemon also has anti-inflammatory effects that will reduce swelling and that will facilitate the repair of damaged tissue
- Helps prevent kidney stones
- Enhances your skin quality and purity
- Gives your digestive system a boost in the morning and will therefore enhance your digestion.
This is like the basic health and immunity morning boost, but for even more anti-inflammatory effects, you can also add fresh ginger and turmeric, which are powerful roots with many virtues!
8) Oil Massage & Oil pulling
Another super booster for your body, wellbeing and health are oil massage and oil pulling. Both activities or practices come from the Indian medicine Ayurveda. Oil Pulling consists of putting a spoonful of organic oil (sesame oil, coconut oil) in your mouth and letting the oil circulate everywhere in your mouth. After a couple of minutes, spit out the oil and rinse your mouth. The oil will “pull” toxins out of your mouth and gums and will have a very positive effect on your dental health but also on your overall health.
Not only does oil pulling have a teeth whitening effect, it will also reduce and often heal dental and gum problems. It will also enhance physical and mental vitality, detox your body from heavy metals build-up, and give a cleaner, clearer skin.
Oil Massage is a practice where you put warmed oil on your body and deeply massage it into your body. Not only will you feel relaxed and rejuvenated, you will also feel loved, deeply nourished and hydrated. Your skin will feel soft and the effect of the warm oil will reduce wrinkles, cellulitis and scars. It will increase your skin blood flow.
Though it is easier when someone else massages you with warm oil, you can also do it yourself once a week. Use slow and long movements and take time to have the oil deeply penetrate your skin. This will also reduce muscle soreness, lower blood pressure and promote lymphatic drainage.
7) Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) is one of my all-time favourites. Because I work a lot outside with my horses in all kinds of weather, my hands tend to get really dry with cracked skin. I’ve tried a zillion different hand creams and moisturisers and nothing helps to get soft skin again, except ACV! When my hands get really dry, I give them a hand batch in ACV and after only ten minutes my skin gets really soft again. Did you know that ACV restores the natural balance of your skin?
I also use it on my hair, which makes it very healthy and glossy. Whenever I have a skin problem, ACV is the answer!
But besides restoring the skin, it is also:
- a natural laxative and it improves digestion
- A spoonful of ACV for a week or two (deluded in water or juice) improves the whole digestive system, regulates the stools, reduces belly fat and reinforces your immunity. You will also feel more energised.
- lowers blood sugar levels and improves insulin sensitivity
- increases satiety and helps people to lose weight
- lowers cholesterol, blood pressure and improves heart health
You will probably find even more benefits and healing properties if you look up “benefits of ACV”. It is often called a miracle product, and it’s natural and abundantly available!
6) Vitamin C, D and brewer’s yeast
You might wonder why I add vitamins and supplements in the list. Well, I’ve noticed that in today’s context, we really need extra supplements. I notice a difference in my body when I eat vegetables from the supermarket or from my own garden or a local organic farmer.
There’s no way around it : the food we eat today contains a lot more additives than it used to decades ago. A lot of vegetables have been genetically modified in order to create more resistant food that can be grown in huge quantities (because there’s so much of us and the demand is so high), and food grown today contains less vitamines than it used to. Of course, vegetables are still very nutritious and the most healthy part of your meals, but because of soil depletion it does contain less vitamins today. You can read more about this subject in this article from Scientific American.
So a consistent “refill” of your vitamin levels might be advised. My all-time favourites are vitamin C, D and also brewer’s yeast. Vitamin C will give you more energy and will boost your immune system. The good thing with vitamin C is that, should you take too much of it, your body will automatically eliminate the excess vitamins.
With vitamin D, it is now well-spread information that most of us lack vitamin D. To have normal vitamin D levels, you should be able to bathe in sunlight and in the sun for a minimum of 2h per day and with your whole body (so not in clothes) exposed.
For most of us, this is not the case, especially not the more up North you live. So it is advisable to take a vitamin D complement all year round. You will feel more energised, more balanced. Your skin will benefit form it.
And for the skin brewer’s yeast is a must have. In my family, for generations now, every mother has given brewer’s years to her kids as soon as they started puberty. This ensured that as teenagers we weren’t covered in pimples or acne. I see the difference with my boy who doesn’t take his yeast consistently : when he stops taking it, he gets pimples on the nose and we he starts taking it again, they all disappear. Brewer’s yeast will make sure your body gets enough vitamin B, which cleanses your skin, enhances your metabolism and gives you an overall good health.
5) Yoga / Qi Gong
Another favourite of mine : yoga and Qi Gong. Every morning and every evening, I take 10 minutes out of my day to do yoga or Qi Gong exercises. Whenever I fail to do them, I feel heavier the day after.
There are very simple yoga exercises that are easy for anyone to implement on a daily basis, and they will ensure a stable health. Yoga and Qi Gong are known to also improve your immune system, to balance your whole body (digestive system, nervous system, muscles, etc.) and to strengthen your body.
A daily practice brings you stability, balance, good health, focus, improved breathing, and much more. Since I’ve been practising yoga on a daily basis, I’ve grown 2cm (because of all the stretching) and I don’t get sick anymore. And if/when I do, it will be over very quickly, because I heal much faster.
Check out my YouTube channel for some yoga or Qi Gong exercises!
4) Plant-based diet
This might come as a surprise to you, or not… But from all the people I’ve interviewed and from own experiences: you really feel at your best when on a healthy plant-based diet. A couple of years ago, I was still eating meat. Since I’ve stopped that, I feel much more resilient. I am also less aggressive in my communication, I have less trouble managing my emotions and my digestion is much better.
When I also eliminate dairy, refined sugars and gluten, I am at my best! That’s not something I achieve all the time though… But I do notice that when I have eaten a pie or cake, or just too much sugar, bread or dairy products, my digestive system is disturbed again and I have less energy.
On the other hand, when we eat the fresh vegetables and fruits from our garden in the summer months, we all thrive here. I am not going to elaborate on this topic here, there is plenty of information out there. An inspiration to me was the documentary on Netflix “What the Health”, and you can also find more about this topic in my other blog articles.
I just wanted to share with you this important point, because the moment I shifted to 70% plant-based, I felt a tremendous difference. And so did the rest of my family. It really helped to boost our immunity, to feel healthier, stronger, fitter and more energised.
3) Energetic treatments: Shiatsu, Acupressure, Reflexology, …
Number 3 on my list that I recommend are energetic treatments. Why? Because we can spend all our time and attention to body and mind, but if we don’t take care of our body on this subtle level as well, then we will still have ailments, or chronic diseases or blocked emotions.
Shiatsu, for example, really helped me go to the next level in my life. The treatments worked on long-dated injuries or emotional wounds from the past. To give you an example: at some point (before having regular shiatsu treatments), I had adapted my lifestyle and my nutrition. So I started feeling healthier and stronger, but I was still often confused. Even though I felt much better, I still wasn’t very grounded or stable. I used to jump from idea to another, wasn’t very focused or disciplined and I still sometimes had backaches.
Thanks to Shiatsu (and reflexology as well), I was able to transform limiting patterns within my body, release toxins, aerate my overflowing brain, etc. What I had released mentally, could also be released by my body. Sometimes you work on certain aspects of your life, and you change mentally, but that doesn’t necessarily means that your physical and/or emotional body integrated that change.
So if you want to add to your wellbeing, release all your physical tensions and reinforce your immunity even more, you should definitely schedule a session with a professional several times a year (depending on your needs).
2) Meditation
A difficult one for some people, and yet so life-changing and essential!! For years, I avoided the daily discipline of meditation. I heard every day how it helps so many people, but I couldn’t get myself to do it. When I tried, I was so submerged by thoughts that I felt I was failing completely and so I didn’t continue.
It is only when I started accepting myself with my many thoughts that my willingness to try to meditate increased. I’m all for “Practice what you Preach”, so I couldn’t see myself “selling” wellbeing or advising people about wellbeing without integrating meditation in my own life.
So one day, I decided that it was time to test what all daily meditators were saying and I made a schedule: every morning a short morning mediation, followed by a visualisation fo my day and a gratitude exercise. And in the evening, an end-of-the-day meditation and breathing exercises.
The moment I started dedicating myself to this routine, I had the impression that I was living in constant “flow”. Today I notice that when I skip my routine for a few days or during the weekend, that my energy & positivity levels immediately drop again.
Having a short daily meditation really calms the mind, but it also gives you more focus, more purpose. After my meditation, my mind is clear, and I know exactly what I have to do that day. I don’t get distracted, I word faster and more efficiently and by the end of the day I am really amazed at all I’ve accomplished. Whereas before this practice, I had a tendency to procrastinate, I was sometimes sluggish and I was often working on 4 things at the same time.
Here a very short video with a meditation exercise that is simple and that everyone can easily integrate.
1) Intermittent fasting
Last but not least: intermittent fasting. Why is this my number one? Because it is so effective, easy to apply to almost anyone and super simple!
I’ve just written an article about intermittent fasting, in which I explain all the benefits and how to do it. So I invite you to read that article as well. But to sum up: intermittent fasting is like a “break” for your digestive system. Because of that “break”, it will function more effectively. The fact that your body and digestive system get this rest, you burn up more “stored” fat, you feel lighter, more energised. And you cravings for sugar or unhealthy food will vanish after a few tries.
Because your body is not exhausting itself with a heavy digestion, there is more space, energy and liberty to fight off viruses or other harmful cells. Your body restores itself naturally because it is decluttered. It’s very logical and it works wonders!
Health is a state of complete harmony of the body, mind and spirit. When one is free from physical disabilities and mental distractions, the gates of the soul open.
B.K.S. Iyengar
I hope I inspired you to get started with some of these tips. Don’t try to apply all of the 10 tips at once, but try out a few of them, and see how it affects you. Whatever works well for you: stick to it and create a routine around it.
The main message here is: instead of fearing to become ill or to get weaker or older, start preventing, start taking care of that amazing body and reinforce it wherever you can!
Have a great week!
Géraldine
geraldinechapelle.blog 