In this episode I am going to walk you through 10 Simple Habits to Optimize Your Mental Wellness. And show you how to track them.
Taking active measures to support our Mental Wellbeing has never been more important than it is right now. As I am writing this blog post we are going on week 4 of self isolation due to COVID-19.
Doing (and tracking) the 10 Simple Habits to Optimize Your Mental Wellness will completely transform your mental wellbeing.
Over the past 9 years ago, I have piecemealed these daily mental wellness habits together one by one.
The list started with water, meditation, movement and fruit and veggie intake tracking and has evolved over time into these 10 Simple Habits to Optimize Your Mental Wellness.
I am excited for you to try them for yourself.
I encourage my clients to download the free App, Loop Habit Tracker, create their own list consisting of these 10 daily habits and modify where needed.
DOING AND TRACKING THESE 10 SIMPLE HABITS TO OPTIMIZE YOUR MENTAL Wellness has been a game changer for me and it CAN DO THE SAME FOR YOU.
In this mental wellness optimization episode you will learn:
- The 5 things you should be doing 1st thing in the morning to set your day up for success
- More about the simple optimization protocol I use daily to get my brain and body firing on all cylinders
- How to create an evening calming routine to improve sleep quality
- Why I recommend to my clients that they NOT track their sleep
And how Optimizing your mental wellness will help keep you sane during uncertain times!
Track these 10 simple habits for optimal mental wellness:
🌄 = Morning 🌞 = Afternoon 🌙 = Evening
Water 1 8oz. Glass/Hr 🌄 🌞 🌙
Did you know the human body consists of 60% water? Drinking water throughout the day helps support every bodily function. I always keep a large glass of water at my desk at all times and refill it often. I bring my glass water bottle with me with on the go. I try to drink more water than any other liquid and out of actual glass cups. I encourage you to ditch the hormone disruptor lined plastic bottles do the same. It will improve your health and the health of the planet.
Morning Meditation + Prayer 🌄
In 2011, in an attempt to quit drinking and using, I was presented with two choices 1. check myself into treatment or 2. cultivate a meditation practice. Of course, I chose the latter but, in the end, I still had to attend treatment to finally get sober.
Initially I was trained in transcendental meditation which consists of 20-minute mantra-based meditation 2x per day. Mantra based meditation just means you silently repeat a Sanskrit phrase over and over in your head when ever your mind starts to wonder.
Over time I deepened my meditation practice by attending a 10-day silent meditation retreat where we were immersed in Anapana (sensation based) and Vipassana (sensation/body scan based) meditation.
Every morning before touching technology (VERY IMPORTANT) I meditate for at least 30 minutes using a combination of anapana and vipassana. Cultivating this practice over the past 9 years has been so helpful in reducing my negative ruminating thinking while at the same time reducing stress and improving serenity levels. If you are new to meditation start HERE.
At the end of each meditation I will do what’s called a loving kindness or metta meditation /prayer which sends love and kindness out the myself and to the world. Very powerful practice. Click HERE to watch how I do it.
Warm Lemon Water 🌄
Alkalizing your body and hydrating your colon with warm lemon water first thing in the morning helps kick start your digestion and clears the digestive tract of toxic build up from the night before. Drinking warm lemon water consistently has significantly helped with my life long constipation. Bonus!
Morning UV Sunlight + Grounding 🌄
I make an oversized mug of warm lemon water and take it with me to sip on while I go outside barefoot and sit in the yard. I will sit facing the sun and take 15 mins or so to soak up the morning UV rays. This helps boost vitamin D and serotonin production throughout the day. Vitamin D is essential for optimal immune function and serotonin is the neurotransmitter that determines happiness. Both super important for optimal mental wellness and ever more important when it comes to sleep.
Did you know that serotonin is the precursor for melatonin production? If you aren’t sleeping well chances are you are probably feeling a little depressed. UV light helps.
Let’s talk Grounding and why it’s so important. Remember that all mass is made up of atoms. Atoms are made up of protons, neutrons and elections. About 99 percent of the human body is made up of atoms of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen. When the human body is grounded, its electrical potential becomes equalized with the earth’s electrical potential through a transfer of electrons from the earth to the body.
As we go about our daily life, we are constantly exposed to positive charges – which in this instance positive is not a good thing.
The constant recharging of the body by positive charges in the atmosphere will neutralize many of the negative charges needed to neutralize reactive oxygen species (free radicals). Free radicals are created through inflammation, infection, trauma, cell damage and toxins.
Grounding offsets the positive charges which improves inflammation, immunity, pain and stress response.
Stated simply, one of the best things a person can do to lessen the likelihood of developing a chronic disease is to spend at least part of their day connected to the earth 🌎 in one way or another.
Mental Wellness/Gut Optimization Nutrients 🌄
3 years ago I started on a gut-brain axis optimization system that forever changed the course of my life, for the better.
After quitting alcohol 6 years ago and despite my vast knowledge of holistic health, nutrition and working with thousands of clients I was experiencing things like memory loss, brain fog, fatigue, anxiety/depression and insomnia. It literally felt like my brain was low on cell phone bars.
As it turned out I need to repair my leaky gut, rebalance my gut flora and optimize the signaling of neurotransmitters and hormones from my gut to my brain.
This simple system has allowed me to take my mental and physical health to the next level while drastically reducing my supplement intake.
It’s been the least expensive thing I have ever done to get to the root cause of all of my mystery health symptoms. I do not go a day without it. You can purchase it by going HERE.
Here is the summarized clinical data to support it:
Movement 🌞
Try to aim for some movement every day. Whether its stretching, rolling out using my foam roller, yoga, TRX Bands, a bike ride or a workout on the Peloton App.
Pre COVID-19 I was attending a hodgepodge of classes around town using ClassPass. I knew when my yoga studio shut down in the very early phases of social distancing that things were going to dramatically change when it comes to in person group exercise. I have since bought a Peloton bike and I am loving it in addition to their variety of classes on the Peloton App. The Peloton App has tons of workouts to choose from that don’t require the purchase of their bike or treadmill.
Get 90 days access to the Peloton App for free by going HERE.
FRUITS + VEGGIES 7-9 SERVINGS 🌞
Fruits + Veggies 7-9 Servings
Anti-Inflammatory + Natural Sleep Support 🌙
Addressing the body’s inflammation cascade while your brain is defragging and your body is regenerating during sleep is also very important. My evening supplement routine consists of:
EVENING CALMING ROUTINE 🌙
My evening routine consists of slathering Essentially Salv-ee Magnesium Lotion on my feet, turning red lights on in my bedroom and doing crossword puzzles or reading for 30 minutes. Red light therapy 30 minutes before bed improves sleep and melatonin levels.
My calming routine could also include of diffusing some essential oils, taking an Epsom salt bath and a short meditation depending on the day.
Play around with it for yourself.
SLEEP 7-9 HRS
The best things I have done for my sleep is to prioritize it but NOT track it. From the Fitbit Versa to Galaxy Watch to the Oura Ring. It got obsessive there for a while.
The quest for the perfect night’s sleep was actually causing less quality sleep. I now aim for 7-8 hrs. and gauge the quality on how I feel.
No more sleep trackers for this girl.
My TOP 5 HACKS That Will FINALLY Get You “IN THE ZONE” ALL DAY, EVERY DAY!
With every Episode of Jess Janda TV, I like to empower you with a POWERFUL FREE RESOURCE that you can download and incorporate into your life right away.
This week I’ve put together a resource called My TOP 5 HACKS That Will FINALLY Get You “IN THE ZONE” ALL DAY, EVERY DAY!
In it, I outline exactly how to zap brain fog and fatigue, reduce anxiety, optimize sleep quality, balance stress response and get your brain and body firing on all cylinders again so you can show up fully as the CHANGE MAKER you were put on this earth to be.
Click the button below to download it!
Jess
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