“Since everything is a reflection of our minds, everything can be changed by our minds”
– BUDDHA
The world and our immediate surroundings, you know the 5km that you can navigate yourself in, maybe a little gloomy right now. I certainly have my days where everything seems like an exerted effort then there are days that I leap out of bed, smash the training, eat 5 vegs for breakfast, lock in hours of study and tick the elemental boxes that are my holistic health.
At such a tumultuous time, the following elements are not only to improve fitness for upcoming hiking adventures but as a lifestyle of empowered living;
NUTRITION, FITNESS, NATURE, MINDFULNESS, EDUCATION, REST
Holistic Hikes is more than a guided walk in the wilderness, it’s a road map for living your best life.
Nutrition
You are what you eat, so let's make sure that we are fuelling body & mind for optimal adventure energy! Nutrition is crucial to our holistic health. The food you eat can help boost your immunity in winter, repair our cells and muscles post-training, and have a significant role in the way we feel about ourselves and emotions.
Good mood food is not only nourishing meals that restore and renew us on a cellular level, food interplay's with our hormones which affect every aspect of our lives.
As a nutrition and health coach, I feed my family to nourish and fuel them. I don’t count numbers or weigh my food, you shouldn’t neither. Aim to eat a rainbow of predominately plant-based foods and feel the difference.
TRY: A new plant-based recipe with at least 8 different plants, drink 2+ litres of water a day, add seeds to breakfast eggs- veggies too for good measure.
Buddha Bowl goodness
Fitness
Fitness workouts not only help physical adaptions but vastly improve our psychological well-being too. When we exercise, we release endorphins that improve our sense of well-being.
Micro stressors such as resistance exercise not only improve our bone density, muscle strength, and endurance but build mental resilience and strength too.
AIM: 10,00 steps a day, a body weighted workout, yoga or Pilates class or jump outdoor and play with the kids- hang off the monkey bars and do some pull-ups.
Nature
Connect with Nature daily, drink in the fresh air, find stillness, and ground barefoot on the earth. The expansiveness that nature provides is the nervous system's reset that we are biologically connected to.
As humans, we spent thousands of years sharing a deep connection with nature. Modern man (and women) have wandered from this and with it come many chronic diseases and ailments.
Daily exposure to sunlight is crucial to our circadian rhythms, allowing restful sleep and assist in the optimal functioning of all our internal systems.
DO THIS: Barefoot walks- connect with the energy of the earth, watch the clouds go by, listen, and watch the birds outside, walk around the block and notice the early blossoms. garden
Grounding through barefoot walks help to reduce inflammation
Mindfulness
Bring awareness to your senses without judgment. Learn to reflect and create space between stimulus and response. Think of this element as pause training.
Pausing the reactivity to events, people or circumstances, and a little more gratitude in space created before reacting to create a calmer, more balanced, and happy you.
Through pro-active actions and intention experience presence as a present. Silence your mind, bring awareness to your senses, and tap into the power of now.
TRY: Gratitude journal, music, 1 social media free day a week, get creative with watercolour drawing or sketching, mindful photography
Education
Knowledge is power. Not only does learning educate and empower, but it also makes for a better connection with others promotes personal growth and importantly contributes to positive feelings of self-worth.
Learning something new, whether a documentary or book, spending the time to immerse yourself in a new experience and learn something new will grow your grey matter.
Plus if you're a little anxious from scrolling socials, or want to combat the boredom of isolation, putting our mind to something will fulfill your sense of purpose and accomplishment.
TIPS: Read an educational book; bio or factual, podcasts, documentary or learn an instrument
Rest
Rest and recovery is often an overlooked aspect of not only training but life. Getting adequate quality sleep and rest ensures that we physically repair but also has a significant effect on our mental health and well-being too. Rest is crucial to sustaining life.
If you’re training, ticking off 10,000 steps a day, or a HIIT session, we need to ensure that our recovery is adequate for our body to renew our cells, repair muscle stress, detox the day's toxins, and store your day to memory.
DO THIS: avoid stimulants a few hours before bed, no phone/ screen 1 hour before bed, listen to a guided mediation to sleep, Jump into bed early and read then flick the lights off to get rest.
Legs up wall yoga pose, or savasana (corpse pose) for just 10 mins can help to rest and overactive body & mind
Having structure helps to overcome the flood of feelings that we are living through at the moment. It isn’t like anything we have experienced before so to have the routine, intention, and positively framed attention, we can alleviate the depths in which we may fall.
Some days you may tick all the boxes, others only one or two and that’s okay.
Be kind to yourself and observe your hesitations and explore with an inquisitive mind to what’s going on for you. Have you slept? Are you eating well? Moving your body? Connecting with others?