Seven Habits for Healthy Body, Mind, and Spirit

Remember when it was considered weird or even ‘whacko’ when people would talk about becoming one with the body, mind, and soul, particularly through meditation, tai chi, yoga, vegetarian diet, or organic food? Not anymore. These approaches are no longer ‘alternative’. They are healthful and helpful. It’s a simple truth that a healthy body promotes a healthy mind and a healthy mind promotes a healthy body. And connected to both is the spirit. Think of the people you consider most balanced, relaxed, and best able to cope with life. They are the ones who have learned to connect and coordinate the health of the body, mind and spirit. For you to do the same will involve adopting some habits of healthy living.

Switching to all organic food will reduce the toxins entering your body and affecting your digestion, organs, immunity, and mental health. Pesticides, antibiotics and GMOs cause inflammation and attack autoimmune functions, which will affect your wellness, energy, sleep, attitude, and mental health. Eat certified organic food to benefit not only you, but your local farmers as well. Knowing where your food comes from and what is not in it will make you feel better on many levels, which is always good for the soul.

Organic food is wonderful, but make it even more so by ensuring your body receives the best balance of nutrition daily. Supplements should be free of all inflammatory ingredients: sugar, dairy, gluten, artificial flavors, artificial colors, harsh chemical preservatives, and ingredients unnecessary to your wellbeing. Choose supplements designed specifically to support and enhance particular areas of your body and mind: gut health (closely connected to your mental health), autoimmune function, mental acuity, bone integrity, heart health, energy levels, and organ health.

Stress can promote overeating, diminish sleep quality, weaken immunity, cause inflammatory reactions, and depress mood. Mere negative thoughts can cause adverse reactions in your body. Removing stress from our modern lifestyle can be a challenge. Regular physical activity, meditation, human touch, enjoyable hobbies, and positive, healing mantras are most definitely habits of healthy living and can benefit your mind, body and spirit. At the very least, take a few deep, cleansing breaths before reacting to anything and look at every stressful situation as an opportunity to learn, cleanse, and grow. Even better is to foster a belief system that your actions every day benefit other people.

Many cultures use herbs and spices as a spiritual connection. Stop drinking coffee and switch to herbal and green teas infused with things like ginger, hibiscus, chamomile, calendula, and fennel. They have a calming effect on mental and physical stress. Cinnamon is also an excellent one to add – it tastes wonderful and is extremely helpful in managing blood sugar, diabetes, and pre-diabetes.

Water is life to human beings. Make sure yours is pure and untainted. Too many municipalities in America have water that is not entirely healthy to drink. Perhaps Flint, Michigan, is the most extreme example, with lead in its water supply affecting every part of people’s physical, mental and spiritual health. Some towns and cities add chemicals like fluoride and chlorine to water in a bid to keep it ‘fresh’. Meanwhile, fracking, dumping, pesticide runoff, and other destructive practices put even more toxins into water. If you cannot drink pure spring water or rainwater, ensure you have a high-quality filter. Your body and mind will thank you.

Sadness cannot exist without happiness. Despair cannot exist without joy and laughter. There is a balance. It is easy to allow the negativity of news, work, relationships and social media to tip the balance heavily toward despair, even anger. Smiling and laughing will release endorphins, which are hormones that transmit ‘feel good’ reactions through your brain and nervous system. The ability to smile and laugh regularly is a sure sign of health. Science has indeed proven that smiling makes you feel better.

The one constant we can expect in life is change. Accept it. Embrace it. When your brain absorbs new experiences and knowledge, you grow. Openness to better food, nutritional supplements, and stress relieving practices is a hallmark and habit of healthy living. Openness to new experiences, knowledge and mental pathways will help you in your journey to improve your health in body, mind and spirit.