Happiness and Your Health

Studies have shown the healthier we are, the happier we are, too. It’s never too late to achieve greater health, and in a world where knowledge is literally at your fingertips, there is no reason you can’t live a vibrant, healthy and happy life, if you’re ready.

Some quick fixes for a healthier, happier you:

1. Decrease unneeded toxins. Use home air and water filters; don’t track in pesticides and waste wearing shoes in the house; buy purer soap, shampoo, conditioner, and other personal products without phthalates, bisphenols and the like. Check the Environmental Working Group’s website for lists of nontoxic products to use at home; have some air-purifying greenery in your house.
2. Alkalize. Reduce acidic foods—like meat, refined sugar, caffeine, cola and wheat—as well as processed foods, and add more raw, seasonal, colorful veggies and fruits to your diet. As inflammation drops, your body feels less creaky and you lower all disease risks.
3. Eat organic once a week or more. Almost everything we eat has pesticides of some form or another, which remain on our food—not to mention GMOs (genetically modified organisms), hormones, radiation and antibiotics. Organic foods may not look as perfect, but they are usually fresher, contain more nutrients, and don’t contain preservatives.
4. Moderation in exercise goes a long way. Harvard Health says the best exercises are swimming, walking, tai chi, strength training and Kegel exercises. It doesn’t have to be hard and time-consuming at all; you just need to stick with what you like.
5. Decrease stress. The long-term effects of stress are disease, depression, hair loss, irritable bowel syndrome and more misery. Stress management may be the most important tool in your arsenal. Decrease digital time and increase time in nature.
6. Notice what you are thinking. Your physiology is in alignment with your emotional and mental thought processes. The pain we’ve created for ourselves can wake us up to learn to give ourselves and others more loving-kindness. Use a tool, like EFT (emotional freedom technique) or a mantra—a “flip-switch thought”—to choose the thinking that is in alignment with how you want to feel.

Excerpted from Moving Toward Happy, by Terry Chriswell, author and publisher of Natural Awakenings Denver Mile High edition. She can be reached at [email protected].