Hey CFR! How have you been feeling throughout the holiday season? I’ve seen a large amount of you get sick over the past few weeks, and I want to purpose an idea that there are 4 daily rituals that all of us do, and they tend to fall apart around Christmas and New Years with all the party’s, travel, and over indulgence.
“What are the 4 daily rituals”, you might ask. Well, everyday you will eat food, you will sleep, you’ll drink water, and you will breathe. Now of course there are always exceptions to the rules so don’t go getting crazy on me. Like maybe you’re fasting, or maybe you’re trapped in the desert with no water for two days, or you’re all hopped up on stimulants and haven’t slept in awhile. I hope that’s not the people I’m writing to, but you never know.
Anyways my point is this. Since we do these 4 things practically every single day of our lives, it seems to me that we should be incredibly good at accomplishing these simple tasks. But unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of most people I encounter struggle with at least one of the 4 if not all of them. Look at the list; breathing(probably the most dysfunctional),eating, drinking water, and sleep. These are the basics, but we all struggle with them. What happens in our society that creates such a disconnect from our most primitive functions?
So be honest with yourself. Do you drink enough water? If your not, you can kiss great results goodbye. Such a mundane task of drinking water can be linked to countless health issues. Being chronically dehydrated WILL stop progress in its tracks. Your poor body and brain are begging for hydration. Please drink water and lots of it.I hear people blame their health issues on so many things it makes my head spin. It’s easier for me to be blunt as I write this, but do you do those things with ninja like precision? Even if it is just one of those things you struggle with, that could be the answer to your overall health condition.
Ok so you don’t drink quite enough, how about your food intake? Do I really need to elaborate here? Just remember this. You are what you eat. Quite literally the nutrients from your food power your body. And of you’re not giving your body what it needs it will manifest physical conditions to alert you.
Same thing with sleep. If you don’t sleep enough your brain cannot function at its full potential and neither can your body. The primary time for regeneration happens as you sleep. I see people frickin kill it in the gym, put in all this hard work and then go home and sleep a mere four hours. You have officially wasted results that you could have had. You don’t get strong from a workout. You get strong from the way you recover from a workout.
And finally breathing, my personal favorite. Coming from someone that was so anxiety filled and depressed as a young person and who now lives an incredibly happy and fulfilled life, I can truly relate to the vicious cycle that dysfunctional breathing causes. The research is undeniable at this point. The fact that anyone would question that something you do 25,000 times a day doesn’t have a significant impact on our lives definitely surprises me. It’s not their fault though, the world just doesn’t promote something as autonomic and free as breathing.
Remember the saying,”sometimes the best things in life are free,” Well, here is a free thing you do from birth to death, your entire existence. Probably a smart idea to do it as close to optimal as possible.
If you don’t know what optimal breathing is, watch an infant do it. It’s effortless with expansion in the belly, the sides, the chest all simultaneously. It’s in and out through the nose and doesn’t make any sound. The breath should be easy and efficient just like nature intended.
So the next time you’re sick, have a headache, feel overly tired, have a stomach ache, or just feel slow and lethargic, ask yourself, “Have I done my 4 daily rituals?” And if your answer is no, start with getting better with those things before you pop some pill or call your doctor.
Don’t forget we are in a healthcare crisis and it’s those little unnecessary doctor visits that jack up my premiums! Love you all. Keep putting up the good fight.
P.S. I will be hosting a workshop in April that will go over all 4 rituals in much greater detail! I promise it will be fun and very educational!