BP9: On Being and Becoming (ever-increasingly) a More Integrated Human Being - Part Three

[Insert picture of a really well-made bed]

Greetings, friends...

This is Part Three of--and the conclusion to--the small blog series I began two weeks ago.

From Part Two (last week)...

Our health and healing as people are dependent upon BOTH God and us. God is our healer; the body God gave us is also our healer; and, further, we, through our lifestyle choices are our healer. To be healed requires us to partner with God in our healing.  If we're not feeling well, there's always a reason. Always. The body God gave us is designed to move toward healing. Except when it dies, the body is always moving toward health, healing, and the preservation and bolstering of life. Always. The problem is that we, through our lifestyle choices, hinder our body's God-given ability to move toward healing and the preservation and bolstering of life.  We cause ourselves harm by (1) engaging in unhealthy things (things we DON'T need) and (2) by not engaging in healthy things (things we DO need).

And now, Part Three...

To help you begin to listen to and take greater care of your physical self, here are some arenas of the physical where you can begin to become more integrated (Note:  I recommend that you begin practicing all of these immediately):

Arena 1: Going to Sleep.

Reset your alarm for a time that's 30 minutes earlier than the time at which it's currently set. For illustrative purposes, let's say your current setting is for 6:00 am.  Adjust it to a new 5:30 am wake-up time.

The average person needs about seven- to eight-hours of sleep a night. Given this, let's split the difference and say 7.5 hours. Set your heart and mind to getting a solid 7.5 hours of sleep each night--and no more than that (even on the weekends!). If, in the above example, you want to sleep for 7.5 hours and still wake-up at 5:30am, that means you need to be asleep by 10:00pm. To facilitate this, I recommend that you turn out the lights at least 30 minutes before you need to be asleep. For the above example, that means you should be turning out the lights no later than 9:30pm. 

Arena 2: Getting up When You Say You're Going to Get up.

Tomorrow morning, when your alarm goes off at the new wake-up time, get up. After getting up, take note of how you're feeling. Do this every time you get up in the morning.

Arena 3: Making Your Bed.

Tomorrow morning, after you get out of bed, immediately make your bed. And do it well. Over the next few days, practice making your bed well, and intentionally begin to create for yourself a specific methodology for doing it well every morning. After making your bed, take note of how you're feeling. Again, do this every time.

Arena 4: Brushing Your Teeth.

Before you go to bed at night and after each meal, floss your teeth, gargle, and then brush your teeth.  After flossing/gargling/brushing, take note of how you're feeling.

Arena 5: Eating Breakfast.

For breakfast, eat only one piece of fruit. I recommend eating a piece of grapefruit. If you don't like grapefruit (or if it doesn't like you), eat a banana or a bowl of berries. After eating breakfast, take note of how you're feeling. 

Arena 6: Drinking Water.

Drink at least ten glasses of water a day. A good rule of thumb is to drink one glass of water every hour you're awake. I don't recommend drinking tap water. Drink only filtered or bottled water. After drinking each glass, take note of how you're feeling.

Arena 7: Walking.

Walk for at least twenty minutes a day. If the weather's uncooperative (if it's cold and rainy out, etc.), go somewhere where you can walk in doors, and then walk there for at least twenty minutes. If walking is difficult for you, substitute walking with some other form of movement (yoga, gardening, weed pulling/trimming, etc.) While you're walking/moving--and, of course, afterward--take not of how you're feeling.

Arena 8: Eliminating gluten, processed sugar, or dairy.

Eliminate from your diet (please note, this is to be a permanent [that means for the rest of your life] elimination) either gluten, sugar, or dairy. While, ultimately, I recommend you eliminate all three, for the time being, focus your efforts on eliminating just one of the three. If I were to chose the one that's the most important to eliminate, I'd chose processed sugar (including honey, agave, etc.). Note: Fruit sugar doesn't count. Each time you chose not to ingest whatever it is you've made the choice to eliminate, take note of how you're feeling.

While doing the above will be challenging, it's not out of your reach--I guarantee this.

Godspeed to you as you embark upon this new journey... these new (or bolstered) practices...

Dave 

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Today's MRL Maxim: "Discipline equals freedom [Jocko Willink, Retied Navy SEAL]."

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Today's MRL Call-to-action: Decide when you're going to get out of bed each morning, and make a small promise to yourself to get out of bed at that time. And then, when the alarm sounds, deliver on that promise BY GETING OUT OF BED WHEN YOU PROMISED YOU WOULD!