By Loise Machira

To fully enhance the foundation of our wellbeing which includes the mind, body, and spirit, one must constantly work on each pillar. So how do we bolster our physical and internal health? As soon as you wake up in the morning, avoid looking at your phone for one hour because it’s a distraction. Instead, incorporate these 3 key steps in your morning routine.

The Gratitude Prayer

Most successful thought leaders or entrepreneurs have attributed their success to choosing a grateful mindset. Whether you’re spiritual or not, being in a grateful state of mind enables you to focus on the positive things in life allowing you to shift your focus away from anything that could be stressing you. As Oprah Winfrey says, when you focus on the goodness in life, you create more of it. You can start by simply thanking your higher power for blessing you with the gift of a new day, or dedicating time to read scripture.

When it comes to self-care and being at our best, developing our spirituality can help us cope, grow into a better, more whole, and happier person. By including spiritual practices in your self-care routine, you’ll be more hopeful; compassionate towards others; more understanding of shortcomings; and you’ll start feeling a sense of purpose. Believing there is something greater than us, and that we don’t have to carry the entire burden alone will lead to peace of mind.

Meditation

In previous articles, we have highlighted the importance of meditation multiple times, but we can’t emphasis it enough. One of my favourite contributions on this topic was by Kenneth Muhangi, who has an upcoming book called 'The Self and Meditation' which will be launched soon. Meditation teaches you to be still and present because you shut out the external noise and focus on the internal by looking at your thought process enabling you to trace the roots of where they stem from. This builds self-awareness, makes you less reactive, and you enter the world with focused clear mind.

Jay Shetty, a former monk and world-renowned mindfulness expert defines meditation as the act of prepping your mind and body to take on the challenges of the day, rather than entering it with fatigue, lethargy, and lack of clarity. You can meditate for a short period of ten minutes and as you improve the practice, you could reach one to two hours. The longer you’re able to meditate, the better it is for your mental health.

Exercise & Healthy Eating

Now that you have set your spirit and mind for the day, it’s important to get your body moving in any form possible. Whether it’s taking a morning walk, running, practicing yoga, boxing, or hitting the gym for an aerobics class, getting active first thing in the morning has many benefits. It will make you feel more awake, and you’ll be more energized. Science has proven that a quick stint of exercise has been shown to be more effective than a cup of coffee in promoting cognitive abilities.

Morning workouts significantly enhance your personal discipline which is likely to spill over into other areas of your life. It will also give you a feeling of achievement because the hardest task of the day will be complete! Your productivity level will be increased enabling you to deliver more results. If you’re sacrificing time to exercise, it only makes sense to pair that with a healthy breakfast. Our physical health is 80% what we eat, and 20% of exercise.

Each step has its individual advantages, but when all three are combined, your spirit, mind and body will be in alignment. B. K. S. Iyengar one of the most celebrated forefathers of yoga practice, stated that health is a state of complete harmony of the mind, body and spirit.

Yours in Wellness,

@TiziTalks

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