It’s a chaotic world we live in, isn’t it?
At any given moment it can feel as if you have 101 things to-do, and simply not enough hours in the day to do them! Now whilst life may never really slow down like we all hope it will, you absolutely can.
Taking just 10-minutes out of your week for some well deserved ‘Me-time’ is something that is easy to forget in this world where everything is go-go-go. Intentional solitude is a concept that some of the most brilliant minds to have walked the planet praise for their success.
Me-time has been proven to enhance physical health, strengthen relationships, elevate cognition, and increase your creativity (just to name a few). By reducing the amount of environmental stimulation you are exposed to, the 4 critical benefits of freedom, creativity, intimacy and spirituality have been seen to transpire.The understanding that solitude is a vital social phenomenon stems from these, as all 4 are what allows us to connect with each other, and the world around us.
There are a million different ways that you can give yourself some TLC, so today on Wellness Wednesday we’re going to have a little look at 3 of our favourites that take only 10-minutes to be incorporated into your week!
Mindfulness is a practice that can be implemented into almost every daily task, regardless of what that may be. It is simply the act of focusing your awareness towards one particular thing.
For example; mindful eating is the process of paying full attention to the food in front of you. This includes the smell, colour, taste, and sensation that this particular meal provides, acknowledging that in this moment you are engrossed entirely in the act of eating, and nothing else.
Although mindfulness is an innate ability that every human possesses, its usage is at a loss in the modern world. Nowadays while you cook dinner, you also have to be on call for a meeting, feed the dog, pay attention to the news, write down a grocery list, organise whose picking up the kids up from sport, and make a mental note to message your friend about the new job you think they started today.
Acknowledging mindfulness is the first step (seeing as you’re reading this, that part is done!). Now that your attention has been brought to it, you will hopefully find yourself in moments throughout the week where you recognise mindfulness could be incorporated.
SWIISH Tip: Try to integrate mindfulness into just one of your weekly tasks whether that be walking to work, eating a meal, or folding the clothes. Taking this short moment to pause and focus on one thing only, without judgement, without distraction, and without others, will give you an insight to yourself you didn’t even realise was needed.
Stress is the 6 letter word we all know too well, that is always found hand-in-hand with one thing in particular… tension. Tension can build up within the body and can often go unnoticed, as we can be too preoccupied to pay attention.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR), is a technique for relieving these stressors, by working through a sequential process of tensing and relaxing each muscle in the body. As you tense, you draw attention to the localised stress in that area, making the release of pressure more noticeably relaxing. The beauty of PMR is that you can practically do it anywhere, however, taking yourself to a private space tends to work best.
SWIISH Tip: When you tense and relax, start from the facial muscles and work your way down the body. We found this 10-minute one on youtube, which can be played whilst you lie in bed at night.
When was the last time your feet physically touched the earth?
If like most, you found yourself surprisingly stumped by that question, that’s because between shoes, buildings, and pathways, practically every possible measure that could have been taken to keep you from touching the ground, has been.
The electrons (these are components of an atom) that reside within the earth are negatively charged. These ions help to balance out the body’s own positively charged electrons, with some describing them as “natures largest antioxidant”. Grounding has been shown to help neutralise free radicals in the body through the use of these electrons, with some of the benefits of this including less inflammation, sleep improvements, energy enhancements, tension relief, and lowered stress levels.
SWIISH Tip: Try spending just 10-minutes with your shoes off whilst walking or sitting in the grass, or at the beach. 10 minutes a day is enough to make a difference.
