For my first wellness article for you Jonesboro readers, I thought I might discuss 3 practical steps that you can use in your daily life to incorporate a bit of “wellness” into your own personal routine. Like I said in my intro article, wellness isn’t something that we “strive to achieve”, it’s a way of living. It takes practice, time, and patience with yourself. It’s about making your current circumstances the best that they can be by becoming present, centered, and connected to yourself, wherever you are in your journey of life.
The first step is identifying what wellness is to you, because it’s going to be different for every single person (even those in your closest circles). I want you to think, “What does the best version of my life look like? Are there parts of my life that I want to change or to look a bit different?” Think about your job, your relationships, and the way that you spend your free time. Before you can start to incorporate new habits into your daily life, you must first know what your version of wellness is.
This change could be adopting a different fitness routine, discontinuing a bad habit that no longer serves your well-being and highest version of self, starting to make different food choices, or it could simply be to start saving a bit more money. Whatever that is for you, write it down, recognize it, and let it be known to a friend.
The second step is habit stacking. As some of you may recognize the term from the famous book Atomic Habits, add the habit that you want to start onto a habit that you do every day. Want to save money? Add $1 to a jar every time right before you head out of the door for work. Want to start to build muscle? Keep a dumbbell by the coffee pot and do 20 squats while the coffee brews. Want to start journaling? Keep it by your bedside and do it right after you brush your teeth each night.
By adding in a habit to things you already do, you can start to rewire your brain to make those new tasks habits, and it will get easier from there. Slow and steady is what builds sustainable change.
The last step is to always, always give yourself grace. While this may seem silly, this is the most important step. Remember that life comes in seasons and cycles, which means that your external environment might look very different than it once did. Certain tasks are going to come before others in certain stages of your life, and that’s okay. In fact, it’s good. You’re evolving.
There is absolutely no point in being hard on yourself, there is only now and what changes you can make in the day you do have. Talk nice to (and encourage) yourself; that’s the best form of wellness there is.