7 wellness rituals to elevate your performance
Credit to Author: Dr. Dwight Chapin| Date: Wed, 13 Sep 2023 14:42:24 +0000
Our modern economy often calls on an incessant drive that pushes us to achieve stretch outcomes on the back of sustained peak performances. The hope that ‘rest will come – maybe next weekend or when the project currently monopolizing our attention finally turns the corner’ weakens when it is never realized. Amidst this, the question we should ask ourselves is, Why? and not, Why am I so tired? But why do we continue to undervalue self-care and willingly sacrifice our health to maintain an unsustainable pace? Why are we surprised when our health begins to decline when we aren’t willing to prioritize the choices that will set us up for success?
We must tether our everyday choices to a greater purpose if we are to regain control, tap into the body’s healing potential, and excel with our health intact and best effort at the ready.
For those looking for a place to start, leading evidence supports the following seven specific wellness rituals. When they are stacked with regularity in a well-crafted formula for self-care, they will elevate your performance to the next level.
1. Prioritize sleep, rest and recovery
By embracing sleep, we’re not just avoiding burnout and reducing our risk of chronic disease; we’re elevating our wellness to its true purpose — rejuvenation. Begin going to bed and waking up at the same time every day. Use light to your advantage with exposure in the morning and dim the lights 90 minutes before you sleep. Avoid caffeine after lunch, end of day snacking, and limit alcohol consumption. Establish a repeatable, calming pre-bed routine to cue your mind that the day has come to an end.
2. Consume healthy fuel
Healthy food allows the body to repair efficiently and activate genes that promote health and longevity. Using diet as a therapeutic tool sends a message to our body that boosts immune function, minimizes inflammation, and allows us to mobilize our energy stores efficiently. Make purposeful choices. Follow an anti-inflammatory diet with nutrient-rich, whole food foods, and avoid ultra-processed products and added sugar.
3. Fight for your waistline
As long as we continue to live sedentary lives and over-consume ultra-processed, calorie-rich foods, obesity and chronic disease rates will continue to rise. Currently, over 40% of Canadian adults suffer from at least one chronic disease. Our bodies have been built to favor fat storage to survive future stretches of unexpected adversity. While this served our ancestors well, we are now living in a time of abundance. Mindfully balancing what we consume, eating within a twelve-hour time window daily, and getting more active, will help to maintain a healthy weight..
4. Move to stay young
When we challenge our range of motion, balance, coordination, and strength by varying our movement and moving often, we improve the quality of our movement and slow the aging process. Sit less and commit to limiting periods of sitting to no longer than 60 minutes. Find creative ways to bring more movement to every day. Highly active individuals have been shown to have a 9-year biological advantage over those living sedentary lives. For those new to exercise, start with a simple walk around the block.
5. Protect your strength
As we age, resistance training becomes essential. By the time you reach your 40th birthday, your muscle mass is already a decade into decline if you are not actively protecting it. Loss of muscle mass independently predicts mortality. The good news is that with a surprisingly small investment of time, you can reverse this trend. Begin incorporating two to three 15 to 20-minute resistance training workouts every week.
6. Nurture mental fitness
Prolonged exposure to chronic stress locks us in a ‘fight-or-flight’ stress response and trains our mind to constantly look for threats. Choosing to operate from this position will cut your life short. In seeking mental fitness, we are charting a course to clarity and maintaining a connection to our ‘why.’ Dedicate 1% of your day (14 minutes and 24 seconds) every day to being still, practicing slow rhythmic breathing, accentuating the out-breath, and recording three things you are grateful for.
7. Play with purpose
Play is integral to developing and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Through play, we celebrate life and elevate our creativity, problem-solving ability, cognitive function, and enhance our social connections. Play accelerates health and well-being and brings happiness, joy, and excitement to our journey. Schedule frequent blocks (at least once a month) to go off script and do something spontaneous that makes you smile.
Embrace and prioritize the 7 Wellness Rituals. Make them more than a list of healthy habits you can tuck into the margins of your busy life. Prioritize and schedule time for self-care.
Dr. Dwight Chapin is the team chiropractor for the Canadian pro-football team, the Toronto Argonauts, co-owner of a large multi-disciplinary health clinic, lead clinician for injury prevention for The Globe and Mail employees, and author of the book Take Good Care: 7 Wellness Rituals for Health, Strength & Hope. More at www.7wellnessrituals.com.
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