Interest in a holistic lifestyle is constantly increasing and more people are looking for ways to live more healthily. There is a jungle of different views on how we can live holistically and it can be difficult to find concrete guidance. In this article, health scientist Alva Brobakken gives clear and simple tips on how you can create a holistic healthy lifestyle and breaks old findings and theories.
Here are three holistic tips for a healthier lifestyle:1: The diet: What should you actually eat?
There are lots of different theories in nutrition and "What to eat" and above all "What NOT to eat". I know exactly how confusing it is with constant claims about what is "right and wrong". When I then started studying different forms of health at both university level and the alternative medicine, I realized the complexity of the question of what actually is "healthy food". In fact, no one has a straight answer that applies to all people about what is healthy food. Which means that there is no "One diet that fits all". Everything depends on lifestyle, perceived well-being, genetics and environment. To know what makes you feel good, you need to be in touch with yourself, your body and soul. Based on that, you can then sense what makes you feel good about eating. Some do well eating a vegan diet, others don't. Some feel good from drinking coffee, others not at all. These preferences can also fluctuate with your lifestyle, mood, environment, etc. The point of this is that we cannot look outside of ourselves for an answer. We can gather inspiration, knowledge and understanding, but only you can know what makes you feel good. Trust yourself, all the answers are within you. Your body often speaks to you more clearly than you think.
Tip: Focus on what you can add to your diet instead of what you should remove. Food is love, give yourself that love and enjoy filling your body with energy, life and power .
2: Movement: How do you move?
Even exercise, or movement as I call it, there are many different theories and findings about. My philosophy on the matter is that movement is magical in many different ways, but with that said, too little, and even too much movement, is often not grounded in love for the body.
Ask yourself the questions:
Why you (not) move?
Is it an act of love?
Is your (non) movement in harmony with your body?
What do you need right now ?
These are important questions to ask yourself because it is easy for the movement to become an achievement. An achievement we beat ourselves up for or an achievement so great that we can't even bear to begin. The movement may look different at different stages in life. In periods we may be able to move more intensively and more frequently, while in other periods we need more calm. But the foundation should always be with love for yourself. Feel what you need right now. Let it be just as it is, and try not to make it an achievement. Create a way to let movement flow freely in body and mind.
Tip: Move with love for yourself, just that. Listen, feel the body, you know what you need. Count on it .
3: Your truth: What happens when you stop?
Dare to stop, let the externals be silenced and see with curiosity what comes up. We live in a time of constant impressions, expectations and standards. We are met with endless impressions every day and it can easily lead to us losing ourselves and our truth. To know what is our truth, we must dare to listen within. Ask us questions that may be difficult to understand but are extremely important for our well-being. Stop, breathe, write, feel, reflect, talk.
You are held by so much love. Sometimes we need to open up in order to dissolve the blocks that hold us back from being our truest, most authentic selves.
Tip:
Box breathing:
- Breathe in 4 sec
- Hold your breath for 4 seconds
- Exhale for 4 sec
- Hold for 4 sec
Try starting each morning with deep breathing. Breathe the air into the lungs and then down so that the stomach goes out. Then exhale the air from the stomach and then the lungs. In through the nose and out through the mouth.
Do these a few laps, you might start with 1 lap and another day you might do 10 minutes. Start small and watch with a curious eye what is happening inside you.
Gratitude journal. Try to start writing in the morning or evening what you are grateful for today. This tool is SO powerful. Take the time to do this every day and feel the gratitude and love within you flow.
The article is written by Alva Brobakken, who is a trained health scientist. Do you also want to write an article for our platform? Email us!
"My name is Alva Brobakken, I am a trained health scientist specializing in nutrition. I also work as a holistic recipe creator and my mission is to spread knowledge and inspiration to people to take care of themselves, to find their way back to a body in harmony and well-being ." - Alva Brobakken
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