In an effort to feel healthy, a lot of us pledge to get active and lose weight for our New Year’s Resolution. And while being active can help you stay healthy, happy and fit, losing weight may not be the best way to achieve your goal.
Feeling healthy can mean a lot of things. Whether it’s being in the best shape of your life, or feeling mentally good about your self-esteem, friendships, and family. It’s also more than lifting weights, dropping the pounds and watching what you eat. Feeling healthy involves a balance-physically, mentally, and spiritually. So check out a few tips below and pledge to make 2020 your best year yet.
1. Be more caring. The seven grandfather teachings passed down by our elders have given us direction and balance in caring for one another and mother earth. The teachings of respect, honesty, love, courage, humility, truth and wisdom give us the opportunity to listen, learn, and participate while making positive changes in the community and lives of our people. And besides, helping others kindles happiness, as many studies have demonstrated.
2. Drink More Water. Forget what you were told about drinking eight glasses a day and aim for hydration instead. Here’s a handy guide to know when you’re actually feeling parched (it might be happening sooner than you realize).
3. Say a Mantra Every Day and Practice Gratitude. Mantras can keep you grounded in the moment, allowing you to reap the rewards of mindfulness, and they could help you actually believe what you’re saying after a while. (Yes, you are beautiful. And yes, you should repeat that to yourself every day if that’s what you need.) Studies suggest that gratitude can improve overall well-being and may even boost physical health. Try keeping score of what you appreciate every day. Need some ideas to get started? Here are 100.
4. Talk to More Strangers…in a safe space 🙂 It pays to make a little eye contact. Research shows smiling at someone you don’t know could help increase feelings of social connection.
5. Get in Touch With Your Culture. Keeping your culture and language alive can reinforce a sense of identity and build your self-esteem. It’s not documents that define us, but rather what is undocumented. Value their roots and their culture. Our ancestral values continue to exist and evolve through our spirits today. We acknowledge that our existence in this period of history affirms the harmonious nature in which our heritage asks us to live, so that one day we can share with the future generations and tell them, “That, young sacred spirits, is Native pride.”
