by admin | May 16, 2022 | Health
Morning Routines for a Successful Day
Everyone desires a successful day as being successful is one of the humans’ highest wishes, now that we live in a world beyond just survival. While it may seem hard to achieve, it is highly possible, all you need to do is condition your body and mind to do certain things. Your mornings can determine the dynamics of your whole day, which is why it is a good idea to practice the right morning routines. In this guide, we will discuss the morning routines you can use to kickstart your day and make it YOURS!
What does it mean to have a successful day?
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow are all the same except for what is done on each of these days. Yesterday may have been rough, tough, or unpleasant, and today may not be looking good, however, tomorrow can be better depending on what you do TODAY. A successful day isn’t necessarily the one during which you made a lot of money or achieved something amazing.. It is often one which you can look back on and smile because you feel fulfilled and satisfied.
Having a successful day means that all plans made for the day were accomplished and you are fit to progress by looking forward to the next day. A successful day starts with an accomplished morning ritual, as the beginning of the day sets the tone for the remaining part of the day, as we mentioned already.
If your mornings are usually boring, inactive, degrading, the rest of the day will probably carry this vibe on. If your days haven’t really been fulfilling recently, you need to look into the things you do in life and more importantly, in the mornings. On this note, here are four-morning routines for a successful day.
Four Morning Habits For A Successful Day
So what does a morning routine for a successful day really consist of? Well, a set of mental and specific habits, which you too can develop!
Let’s see.
1. Early rise from bed
Wake up with determination. Go to bed with satisfaction.” Rising early from bed is one of the practices that will enhance a successful day. Since “An early bird gets the worm,” it means that if you want to achieve all your plans for the day, you need to wake up early and get to them – This will help you get everything done quicker, with more ease and earlier, leaving you a window of time for yourself.
Some people get their days messed up because they don’t get up early enough. Getting up early provides you with enough time to prepare for the day, and creates stability for your mind. Furthermore, sunlight governs many processes in the body and the spectrum of light during the earlier hours of the day, close to the sunrise, are highly beneficial for us.
2. See to personal hygiene and immediate chores
A healthy body leads to a healthy and refreshed mind which will lead to high productivity; hence, seeing to personal hygiene is vital. When you are clean from head to toe, your hygiene is taken care of, and your clothes are neat, there’s a sense of calmness that clouds your mind. Being clean prevents you from becoming a nuisance to those around you.
On the other hand, immediate chores such as tidying up where you slept, washing up dirty plates, or putting dirty clothes in the laundry may help with keeping a healthy and organized mind. As above, so below, as within, so without.
3. Warm-up for the day’s activities
To achieve proper wakefulness and prepare yourself for the days’ activity, there is a need to warm up for the day. Warming up includes exercising, meditating, eating breakfast, greeting those around you, watching the morning news, engaging in some light inspirational reading, playing some brain-tasking games, or other activities that keep your mind active.
Remember that as soon as sunrise hits the horizon, you’re bound to get out of the state of drowsiness and into the fully awake and alert state that allows you to seamlessly go through your day.
4. Go through your to-do list
Before sleeping every day, it is advisable to keep a to-do list for the next day. Keeping one helps to plan your day and keep you focused to achieve a successful day. In the morning, go through your to-do list to remind yourself of the things you need to achieve for the day and set new goals if need be!
Conclusion
There are certain habits you can adopt in your morning routine, but in the context of having a fully successful day, you must remember one thing… That is namely the fact that success and happiness are an internal state.
So maintain that state and stay open for more physical and mental growth, progress and wellbeing!
by admin | May 7, 2022 | Health
Journaling 2: Gratitude Journaling
Turning Gratitude Into a Skill. Gratitude is often looked over as a skill for well-being and healthy emotional intelligence. Thinking of gratitude, most people imagine someone having an overwhelming abundance of prosperity in their life, and like most things, people wait for accomplishments in order to start being grateful.
But that’s actually wrong. As humans, we always strive to move forward and achieve the next thing on our list. Unless you’re depressed, the chances are that you won’t be happy once you meet your goals simply because it’s in our nature to strive for more. We tend to get more happiness out of the expectation than the achievement.
Things Can Always Be Worse
When was the last time you celebrated the fact that you’re simply alive? Or the morning sun? Or that someone smiled at you on your way to work this morning. Small things like these, when thought of deliberately, can help you start noticing positive patterns in the world. So remember – Whatever situation you’re in, good or bad, that too shall pass!
Gratitude Expressed On Paper
As explored in the first part of this article series, if we want to get better at something or understand an idea, we need to write it down. The thing we want to get better at here is recognizing the beauty in the world and to train ourselves to be happy. This is where gratitude journaling comes in. Gratitude journaling is a recollection and an archive of all those small moments in your life that at first glance seem negligible.
However, once you start piling them up, you start noticing more and more that there are plenty of reasons to smile, no matter how dire the circumstances might be. Thoughts are fleeting, and that’s why this is gratitude journaling, not gratitude thinking. Although just thinking about it might bring some benefits, thinking is an automatic process that does not require you to do anything physically.
Writing, however, creates a ritual and a habit. Apart from that, writing creates an archive of those grateful thoughts that you can come back to if you’re feeling down. An archive like that can’t be built on thoughts simply because we don’t have that capacity as humans. You can only store so much in your head.
How To Start Gratitude Journaling
Now you’re probably wondering – “Alright, how can I get started?” And well, the truth is you don’t need much to get started. It’s simple, but not easy. All you need is a notebook and a pen. Don’t overcomplicate things.
You don’t need a new notebook with custom embroidery that says Gratitude Journal in gold letters. Use an old one you already have and rip off some used pages if you have to. Remember, this exercise is about being grateful for what you already have. Once you have all the necessary tools, sit down and think for a minute or two about things that you are sincerely grateful for.
The fact that you’re alive and reading this is a big one. Once you cover all the big ones, you can become more specific and personal. Now, dedicate a few minutes to writing down those moments or things you’re grateful for. Then take a minute or two to meditate on them and truly feel gratitude. Try to imagine life without your reasons for gratitude.
That’s it.
Repeat tomorrow.
The Toughest Part
The hardest part is creating the habit, and doing it every single day, trusting the process even on the days where you don’t want to do it, and the days you don’t experience some kind of immediate gratification. The most important part is thinking and staying present.
It’s tempting to just jot a few generic reasons down just so you can feel some kind of sense of achievement. You must resist the urge to rush things. Mindfulness is important here. Be mindful and take a few deep breaths. Think again about why you’re doing this. The key part of this exercise is coming up with reasons that are sincere.
Take-Home Message
This often forgotten practice is worth sharing with you because of how effective gratitude journaling can be for your mental health and physical well-being, as well as for those around you who benefit from an increase in positive energy.
In summary? Journaling seems like one of those things that may seem too good to be true but actually work! So take time out each day or week and put pen to paper – literally or digitally – and see what happens! And please share your experience by commenting below. What are some ways you’ve used a gratitude journal? How did it make a difference in your life?
Share your experience with us!
by admin | May 2, 2022 | Health
Journaling Part 3 – Dream Journaling
As we know, journaling is mostly used to capture and record the time of our lives when we’re awake. We use it to keep track of goals, tasks, thoughts, and anything that we might want to record, keep or think about. Dream journaling, on the other hand, is the act of capturing and recording the ambiguous and strange world of sleep and dreams.
There are different reasons you might want to start dream journaling. Poets, artists, and creators of all kinds use the dream world to find inspiration and explore their own subconscious ideas without the nagging constraints of your waking mind.
What Is Dream Journaling?
The act of dream journaling in its rawest form is the act of documenting the feelings, plotlines, and details of your dreams. This, in return, helps you identify patterns within your dreams and helps you better remember them. Dream journaling is a practice usually employed by people who want to induce lucid dreams.
Others keep dream journals in order to reflect on what their subconscious minds are engaged with. Recording your dreams improves your general dream recall and makes you better and better at remembering your own dreams. Here are a few tips to give you a kick start in case you decide to give dream journaling a go.
Ways To Keep A Dream Journal
The most common and basic way to keep a dream journal is to have a dedicated notebook and pen lying next to your bed in order for you to record your dreams as you wake up. However, you can be creative and find a way that works for you. Some people are too sleepy to start writing directly as they open their eyes.
An alternative to writing might be grabbing your phone and recording your dreams on voice memos, it’s a lot easier and frictionless for beginners compared to writing them out. If you’re looking to get serious, consider buying pre-formatted dream journals that have designated sections for different things allowing you to format your dreams better with categories like mood, place, and so on.
Once you get going, remember to be consistent, and soon you’ll find that you start noticing patterns and recurring themes in your dreams. Now that you have this information about your subconscious mind, it’s time to use it.
Key Benefits of Dream Journaling
Once made a habit, dream journaling can give you an insight into your own mind. If you find yourself suffering from recurrent nightmares, try writing down the patterns of your dream. Afterward, you can use them to recognize you’re dreaming and stop the nightmare, consciously inside the dream itself.
This practice is called lucid dreaming, and it entails knowing you’re dreaming inside your dream so that you can navigate and steer the dream world to some degree. Another compelling benefit of recording your dreams is getting out of a creative rut. We’ve all found ourselves struggling to come up with a good idea or solve a particular problem.
And the thing with brains is, they don’t stop. They work constantly in order to maintain all of the natural processes within our bodies. So, chances are that faced with a difficult issue or problem that you just can’t seem to figure out, your brain will be working on it in the background even while you sleep.
Use this to your advantage.
Closing Thoughts
We spend 33% of our lives asleep. This time is usually written off as time that can’t be used for anything else but rest. The truth is that our minds are constantly working in the background. Sorting and sifting through information gives us these movie-like experiences that most of the time are pretty weird, and we have trouble remembering. Our dreams are maps of our experiences in our day-to-day lives.
Have you ever had a pretty interesting dream you wish you had written down somewhere? Or maybe a pretty good idea that came to you in your dream? If we choose to do so, we can harness the creative power of dreams and use it to better our own waking lives. Remember that if you want to start dream journaling, focus on making it a habit and always do it first thing when you wake up.
by admin | Apr 18, 2022 | Health
How to make a morning routine
It’s morning time again, as strange as that may sound! That lovely alarm clock has just softly – or perhaps not so gently – jarred you up from your comfortable slumber, and it’s time to get your day started.
Before you settle into your regular morning routine, try out a few, if not all, of these healthy ways to start your day. You may make the most of the time you have before heading out by doing so, and you’ll be more likely to keep to healthy living habits for the rest of the day.
Here are 5-morning routines to help you start your day off on the right foot.
- Meditation.
Meditation in the morning sets the tone for the rest of the day. It will assist you in becoming more focused, content, and upbeat. Your mind has a proclivity for jumping from one notion to the next. This is known as the “monkey mind” in Buddhism. One of the advantages of meditation is the ability to break free from regular thought patterns, particularly negative ones. This can assist you in moving from reactive state to a caring, proactive state of being. Set aside at least 10 minutes each day, first thing in the morning, to prepare yourself for the day ahead. The amazing spiritual teacher and inspirational speaker Louise Hay has a great morning meditation (available on youtube) that she suggested you listen to before you even get out of bed – how hard can it be?
- Get a large glass of water to drink. Pour yourself a big glass of water once you’ve gotten out of bed.
Remember that your body hasn’t had any food or water in 8 to 12 hours. Therefore it’s dehydrated. Add a fibre supplement that aids your digestive system, if you want to take this healthy practice even further. One spoonful in a glass of water will not only help lower your cholesterol, but the added fibre will also make you feel fuller, preventing you from overeating when it’s time for breakfast. If that’s not your thing then just add lemon to your water or apple cider vinegar to give your digestion preparation and a healthy boost.
- Eat A Healthy Breakfast.
As you probably already know, breakfast is breaking the fast and should be done wisely and well. Often considered the most important meal of the day and should never be neglected. Remember that your body has gone without food or drink all night therefore, one of the first things you should do is refuel your engine. Breakfast should be as healthful as possible. So fast fod from a drive through is usually out, plus most of those breakfast items can easily exceed 1000 calories. That’s a lot of food for a single meal. Anyway back to the healthy meal. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to swiftly prepare something nutritious to eat at home if you keep your refrigerator/kitchen/ pantry stocked with healthy options. Fruits, seeds, nuts, porridge oats, scrambled tofu, avocado on toast, fruit jams, theres so much to choose from. Don’t forget to take probiotics and digestive enzymes before you eat if you have been struggling with feeling bloated or having wind or any discomfort.
- Write A To-Do List / Journal Another morning routine to get into is to jot down a few things on paper that you want to accomplish that day while you’re resting your breakfast. Any immediate goals you want to complete that day can be added to this “To-Do” list. These objectives could be related to your job, home, children, or weight-loss attempts. Having a To-Do list gives you specific things to focus on, increasing your chances of completing them and, as a result, being more productive. It’s also a great time to just journal and write down in a separate book your thoughts and feelings without judgement, just to get things out and on paper, it has been shown to be very healing and cathartic.
- Stretch, Dry body brush and Shower – Do some light stretching, yoga or take a short walk, to open the body up, and allow the energy channels to clear and balance. Head to the shower afterward. Before showering use a soft dry brush to exfoliate your skin and get lymph moving, brushing firmly towards the heart, then shower in a warm shower and finish with a cool shower. This gets the circulation and lymph moving and also helps tone skin. Wakes you up too
- Set a high standard for yourself. Start each day to do your best and achieve greatness. You are capable of anything in your early waking moments, before sight, sound, or smell. Then your “world” pours in, and you begin to fall into routines and patterns. Having a good morning routine is beneficial, but it is insufficient on its own. It would help if you held yourself responsible for your success and happiness. Keep a gratitude diary and write down what you’re thankful for as well as what you want to accomplish that day, week, month, or year.
Begin with a little project and work your way up. You’ll learn to focus your mind on what matters most to you, and you’ll start to see how your vision of success will manifest. It will train your mind to look for the wonders of life throughout the day. You’ll start to rewire your mindset to be more positive, and you’ll start to assist others to do the same. This will also lower your stress levels, improving your overall health and quality of life.
Great morning habits will make you feel happy and energized to go out and create a successful life. Keep in mind that change occurs at various times throughout your life. First, become the person you want to be, and then the life you want to live will emerge around you.
by admin | Apr 15, 2022 | General, Health
How To Train Smart
“Hey bro, I found this sick Dwayne Johnson workout on the internet and I’m about to try it out today, I’m so pumped!”
If you’ve heard this in the gym, odds are you’ve stumbled upon someone who does not really know what to do with their training plan and is, well, experimenting.
Which is not bad, really!
However, much like anything, training is precise mathematics and you need to understand each variable and factor affecting the end result and create your plan based on that. And so, if you are over those celebrity workouts and are ready to get in the best shape of your life, keep reading!
Training Fundamentals
To find out what the best training regimen for you is, you have to first and foremost understand the backend of your workouts.
A workout can be measured using 3 main variables:
- Intensity
- Volume
- Density
Essentially, intensity shows how close you are to your maximum strength capabilities – The heavier the weight, the higher the intensity.
Volume measures the total amount of weight lifted in kilograms or pounds – To calculate volume, you take the working weight and multiply it by the number of sets and reps (100 kg x 10 reps x 2 sets = 2000 kg total volume)
Density measures your volume, relative to the total time needed for its completion including rest times, and is measured in kilograms per minute (i.e 2000 kg volume completed for 2 minutes would be a density of 1000 kg/minute)
Ok I’m Confused, Why Do I Need This?
Understanding the different training variables presented above is essential for being able to create the correct training stimulus. Let’s have a look at the variables and how you can set them up for certain results.
Intensity
The level of intensity, or in other words, how close you get to your maximum strength capabilities, will determine the recruitment of muscle fibers, as well as the stimulus for certain adaptations. (i.e strength gains, bulk muscle growth)
| Intensity (%) |
Description |
| 0-35% |
This is the warm up zone, you don’t want to be here for too long if you’re trying to grow muscle! |
| 40-60% |
On here, more and more muscle fibers get recruited – This is a good zone to go through before your heavier working sets |
| 65-80% |
This is the intensity zone where you can do moderate to heavy weight sets for 6-15 repetitions, until failure.
Focus on this zone if you want bodybuilder-like muscle growth! |
| 85-100% |
In this intensity zone, you can do 1-5 repetitions with a really heavy weight.
This is known as the powerlifting zone and mainly results in maximum strength gains.
If you are training in the bodybuilder intensity zone, do include this powerlifting one every now and then. |
Volume
One of the interesting things is that in terms of muscle growth, it doesn’t really matter if you will train in the 65-80% intensity range or the 85-100%, as long as volume is equated.
However, the 65-80% range allows for greater volume to be put out, more easily, due to its less strenuous nature. Below is a volume cheat sheet, which can help you determine the number of sets depending on your training experience.
| Training experience |
Volume (per muscle group, per week) |
| Beginner/novice |
~5 Challenging Working Sets |
| Intermediate |
~10 Challenging Working Sets |
| Advanced |
15-20+ Challenging Working Sets |
Note that a “challenging working set” implies a working set that is taken close to failure (1-4 reps in reserve).
What About Density?
Though many people pay attention to the weight (intensity) and the number of sets and reps (volume), no one really cares about density.
And let us tell you this – Density is important when you are trying to achieve the highest volume of greatest quality possible in your workout, because density is dictated by rest times. For instance, if you do a set of 5 reps using 100 kg and only rest 1 minute, odds are that you will only get 3-4 reps on the next set.
On the other hand, if you take 2-3 minutes of rest between each set, you will be able to sustain sets of 5 and thus, your quality volume will be greater. Spread that density, both in your workouts and in your entire training plan!
Here’s a rest times cheat sheet:
| Intensity |
Rest Times |
| 0-50% |
1 minute |
| 60-80% |
2-3 minutes |
| 85-100% |
4-15 minutes |
Take-Home Message
On the back end of your workouts, are different ratios of the 3 main training variables which we discussed in this article.
Now that you have an idea about these training variables and how their different ratios create different end results, let’s hop onto part two of this article series, where we’ll talk about understanding your goals and actually creating the training plan!
See you there.
by admin | Apr 13, 2022 | Health
3 Top Acne Skin Care Tips For A Healthier Skin
When dealing with acne skin care, most of the medical professionals commonly suggest that people affected with acne must practice certain skin care methods that will help improve the condition of their skin.
Acne, as you may already know, can be a very severe skin disorder that affects thousands of people from all over the world. It not only affects the surface of the skin but also the inner layers of the skin. Acne usually occurs on the face, neck, chest and back, and it starts during the adolescence period but can come on later in life especially around menopause.
During the past several years, a good number of acne experts and skin care professionals have conducted many studies on how to prevent the formation of acne. And fortunately, these skin care specialists have come out with certain acne skin care tips that can be of great help for fighting acne. I have selected the three simpler yet most powerful acne skin care tips that you can follow in order to have a healthier skin. These are mentioned below:
Acne Skin Care Tip # 1:
You Should Always Clean Your Skin Very Gently
First of all, personal hygiene is very necessary for fighting acne. So as most experts usually suggest, you should gently clean your skin with a mild cleanser at least twice a day. This simple acne skin care step is deemed important for fighting acne since washing your face or the other affected areas will wipe away the acne-causing bacteria found on the skin.
Also note that although you are sometimes told to scrub your face, scrubbing is not a good acne skin care move since it will just trigger the development of acne, worsening the condition. In addition to this acne skin care step, it is worth noting that astringents are not always suggested unless the skin is very oily. And, they must only be applied on the oily spots. You don’t want to over stress an already stressed skin. Calm is important.
Acne Skin Care # 2:
You Should Refrain from Frequently Holding or Touching Your Skin
Another helpful acne skin care tip is to avoid frequent handling of the skin. Don’t pinch, pick or squeeze your pimples, since it will only worsen the condition. Many people consider this acne skin care step as one of the most important acne skin care pointers knowing that it will likely cause infection and scars formation, therefore you should avoid rubbing and touching your skin lesions if possible.
Acne Skin Care # 3:
Always Choose Cosmetics Carefully
This last acne skin care tip that people who are being treated for acne must be mindful of is: changing some of the cosmetics they use. Note that in order to avoid the onset or the development of acne, the cosmetics you plan on using like the foundation, blush, moisturizers, and eye shadow should be oil free.
Aside from that, this tip also states that you must avoid oily hair products for they may cause closed comedowns. Therefore, those products that are labelled as noncomedogenic should be applied.
It is a fact that many of us are very conscious of our skin condition. And as such, we are always wanting to have a fresh, good-looking skin as much as possible. Unfortunately, many of us also fail to come to the conclusion that simple steps are the best ways to accomplish this goal. Simple steps can mean huge results.
We often fall into so much frustration and desperation that make us go out and buy any high-priced beauty products that in the end just turn out to be a waste of time and money, and even worsen our acne and our state of mind. Try sticking to natural products without any parabens, pegs sulphates etc. and choose cruelty free and vegan if possible.
Conclusion
Try to do the above three tips as a start and remember you also need a good diet, calm mind, healthy, well exercised body, to calm hormones and also a lot of good sleep and hydration.
Hopefully, the above-mentioned tips will be a good start to help you enhance your skin condition.
Above all keep smiling you’re already beautiful.
