By Michelle Kruse
1. Just say “No.” Do only the things you need to do and those you want to do; make sure you have plenty of white space left on your calendar. When you feel stressed or overbooked, ask yourself – “Will this matter five years from now?” If the answer is no, blow it off.
2. Make your sleep a priority. Get seven to eight hours of sleep nightly, or even nine if you need it.
3. Eat meals with your family or friends. Take your time, turn off the TV, have a glass of wine (no, not for breakfast), relax, chat and enjoy the food and the company.
4. When you feel stressed, take a deep breath. Find a quiet spot and just focus on your breathing. Inhale deeply and slowly to the count of 4, hold for 7, and out for 8; repeat for 4 to 8 cycles. In only 2 to 4 minutes you will feel calmer and more relaxed, and your blood pressure and pulse will be lower.
5. Out You Go. Breathe the fresh air, feel the warm sunshine on your face, and exercise for at least 30 minutes daily but preferably more like 45 minutes if you are trying to lose weight.
Click here for more steps to a simpler and more enjoyable life.
Related Posts
- Exercise for Life! - Exercise is your insurance policy. It doesn’t have to cost you any money AND it will give you more time on the clock of life. As an added bonus, exercise will add quality to your life.
- Stent Patients Advised to Switch Heartburn Drugs - Anyone taking the clot-preventing drug Clopidogrel (Plavix) after receiving a stent in a coronary artery opening procedure should avoid a class of popular heartburn medications called proton pump inhibitors (PPIs). PPIs include medications such as Nexium, Prevacid, Protonix, Aciphex and Prilosec.
- Mitral Valve Prolapse: Are you a Click Chick - By Michelle Kruse
Mitral Valve Prolapse
Are you a Click Chick?
By Tracy Stevens, M.D., F.A.C.C.
Mitral Valve Prolapse is a common condition affecting one of the four heart valves. The mitral valve has two leaflets that open and close, allowing blood to flow from the upper chamber to the lower chamber on the left side of the heart.
The [...]
- The Supplements You Need for Vigorous Health and a Healthy Lifestyle - In contrast, the common practice today of ingesting daily mega-doses of vitamin C by a person with a normal baseline vitamin C level has not been proven to provide any health benefit. As a rule, supplementing a deficient level of an essential nutrient into the normal range will markedly improve the afflicted person’s health and well-being; whereas using a nutritional supplement to drive an already normal level to an unusually high range usually results in no benefit and sometimes even causes harm.
- Healthier Lifestyle After One Year Soda Free - Sometime this month (I’m not sure of the exact date); I’ll celebrate a major anniversary. Okay, so it’s not the kind of thing most people think of as a cause for celebration, but it’s something I never would have thought could happen. I drank my last sip of pop, soda to non-Midwesterners, sometime last August. I didn’t really plan to quit drinking it completely. In fact, I’d weaned myself to so little that it wasn’t until last October that I realized I hadn’t had one or wanted one in over two months. This may not seem too amazing until I tell you that I used to drink at least six cans of diet soda a day. In college, I’m not sure I had water except when brushing my teeth. I used to hate working out and cramped every time I tried to run. Needless to say, I never considered myself athletic. No doubt due to dehydration. I never drank water. In fact, I used to crack a soda after swim team practice in high school. No wonder I always felt crappy – and could it be a reason I never had perfectly clear skin