Set Your Foundation for Health

Posted on October 27, 2023 by Sofia Neves, One of Thousands of Health and Fitness Coaches on Noomii.

I am lucky to say that throughout my life, I can count with my fingers how many times I was seriously ill. However, I learned the hard way that health is much more than the absence of disease; I now believe that it includes a feeling of vitality and wholeness in all areas of your life. Health is the foundation of happiness and it is a journey. Supporting your health requires showing up to honor your unique needs and understanding that they are always changing. This means that how you support your health shifts over time.

I don’t think I ever pursued health in my entire life; I took health for granted. I pursued my intellectual and spiritual development but I forgot to take care of my physical body in the process. It was only when I lost my health that for the first time I realised that without health we do not have anything. I believe now that health is about respecting yourself enough to not give up on fulfilling the needs of your body, unfortunately, I used to lack that respect.

When I finally awakened and I looked for answers to undo all the damage I had done to myself, I felt overwhelmed and confused with the widely available and often contradictory health information that I could find with just one social media post, internet search, or magazine article. Thanks to my studies and mentors I realized that supporting health doesn’t have to be complex!

There are many fundamental practices that you can revisit regularly to take care of yourself and truly transform your well-being. These strategies make up the foundation of any wellness journey and allow you to start where you are as you build momentum toward your healthiest self.

Let us Explore some Health Basics

Review the following health basics that can support your health. As you review each health basic, think about how you might incorporate it into your daily life. Focusing on even one at a time can improve your energy, mood, and vitality.

Nourish
What you consume both on and off the plate can either energize you or deplete you. Don’t overthink it! On the plate, prioritize whole, minimally processed, nutrient-dense foods. Focus on having your plate with rainbow colors. Vegetables & fruits are the only whole foods that provide you with a large palette of nutrients and colors to choose from. Off the plate, consider how your environment, your interaction with others, and the media you consume make you feel. From there, you can gradually crowd out influences that may be keeping you from feeling your best.

Hydrate
The human body is more than 60% water, and every single cell requires adequate hydration for optimal functioning. They require water for metabolic activity, strong immunity, weight loss and cellular function. On average we should drink 30ml of water per kg of body weight (example: someone of 70kg should drink 2.1 liters of water per day). While it may seem simple, the act of hydrating yourself can have a significant effect on how you feel. Hydrate with filtered water and/or caffeine-free herbal teas daily. You must sip your water slowly, this allows the water to mix with your saliva, which is highly alkaline in nature. Drink your water mainly outside your meals and drink it preferably lukewarm or at room temperature. If you aren’t sure where to start, experiment with adding one extra glass of water as soon as you wake up each day.

Rest
It isn’t just what you do to improve health, but also what you don’t do. Being still is just as important for you as keeping active. Consciously taking 15-minute breaks throughout the day for both mental and physical rest can help you renew, refocus, and reconnect. Rest also includes prioritising sleep, which profoundly impacts your body’s functions. Make sustainable shifts to your sleep routine by getting into bed earlier each night (22.00 pm is the ideal sleep time from a natural medicine perspective. I will explain this in detail in another blog).

Move
Whether you are moving your muscles and joints or moving air in and out of your lungs with intention, one of the best things you can do to help improve health is move. Find little ways to squeeze in movement that feel authentic and enjoyable to you each day – consider a walk around the block or gardening or dancing or taking time for mindful breath work between back-to-back tasks or meetings.

Align
Connecting to whatever is meaningful to you, your values or your purpose can have a profound impact on your health and life satisfaction. Consider taking a moment before starting your day or in the evenings or both, to establish a routine where you think about what is important to you, you set your intentions and you spend some time being grateful for all your blessings.

Connect
Strong, healthy connections with yourself and others are vital to your well-being. Set a reminder on your phone or put a note somewhere nearby to check in with yourself once during the day to see how you’re feeling (it is an act of self-care). Also make an effort to spend time with people that are important to you or just reach out, a quick text message can go a long way.

Immerse
Immersing yourself in the natural world is fundamental to well-being. Time in nature can boost mood, help lower stress, and open the door to finding spirituality. Taking time to breathe fresh air, bask in the sunlight, or bird/tree-watch out a window are all simple ways to engage with nature each day.

When I began to mindfully include some of these health pillars in my life, I saw a shift in my health. Focus on one basic change at a time and when it is natural and effortless move to the next. I can guarantee you, if you master the basics you will soon master your health.