When it comes to living your best lifestyle, there are some things you’ll want to know. The first is that no one else on the planet is exactly like you. Thanks to genetics, lifestyle choices, age, and personal values, your needs are distinctly different than those of your family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. What may be good for one person isn’t necessarily the case for another.

The Benefits of Making Wellness a Priority in Your Life

By listening to your body’s cues and making wellness a priority, you’re able to live optimally with greater ease. You won’t become sick or remain ill for long. In fact, you’ll be able to make small adjustments to your diet and daily routine to ensure that you’re getting what you need physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually.

Start Small but Start Now

Here are five life-changing health practices to start today:

1. Drink more water. This suggestion may seem very cliché but many people are extremely dehydrated despite having sources of hydration around them at all times. In the book Quench: Beat Fatigue, Drop Weight, and Heal Your Body Through the New Science of Optimum Hydration, authors Dana Cohen, MD, and Gina Bria note that many doctors believe that over 75 percent of Americans lack proper hydration. Rather than drink toxin-flushing, calorie-free H2O, they drink soda, coffee, and tea which all have a drying effect on the body. If you want to feel more alert and less hungry, make it a habit to carry a water bottle and drink the clear stuff often.
2. Prescribe yourself Vitamin D. Detoxing from the digital world from time to time to rediscover the natural world is among the best ways to get more of this lifesaving substance in your life. Vitamin D is produced naturally in the body when exposed to direct sunlight. Set aside a small amount of time each day to sit outdoors without sunscreen. Turn off your phone, tune into your senses, and let your body do what it does best by taking care of its needs naturally.
3. Add antioxidant-rich foods to your diet. Think beans, berries, nuts, plums, cherries, apples, russet potatoes, and artichoke hearts. Gradually start adding these items to the meals and snacks that you prepare. Antioxidants protect your body against free radicals which damage the cells and cause diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Look for recipes that include these foods so you can experiment with cooking and eating them.
4. Make decluttering habitual. Whether it’s your home, office space, car or mind, clear out the clutter regularly for best results. Everything should have its own place. If it doesn’t, it needs to go. Practice the one in and one out rule when shopping. For every new item you bring into your house or workplace, make it a point to donate one thing you currently own and no longer use.
5. Breathe. Most people are shallow breathers which means they don’t get the full benefit of oxygen. Rather than continue doing what you’ve always done, replace your habit with deep breathing. The meditative response provides many health benefits including better blood flow, energy levels, posture, detoxification, and digestion. It helps reduce stress, too, by relaxing the body and the mind.

Change your life by making small adjustments to your everyday routine. Before you know it, you’ll start seeing big results because of your decision to alter your approach to life. Not only will you feel better physically, but you’ll also feel surer of yourself and the choices you’ve made because they have significantly improved your life for the better.