Daily Practices

There are certain activities that should not be done daily. Lifting heavy weights, for example. Heavy drinking is another example. Your body needs time to recover from intense stresses. When you stress your body repeatedly, on a daily basis, you can end up overtraining--a condition that leads to muscle breakdown, insomnia, illness, and depression. You can also end up addicted to less healthy daily practices like alcohol, drugs, sugar, and even exercise!

But there are many activities that SHOULD be practiced daily! These are things that enhance your life, make it better, make it easier. Here are few:

1) Walking. Going for a walk gets us outside, where we belong, breathing fresh air, and soaking up sunshine. This rhythmic activity is calming and soothing, can be meditative, allows us to de-stress, and provides gentle exercise. We were designed to walk all day long. Hunters and gatherers typically spent most hours of the day walking, in search of wild game, berries, and other edibles. Walking is an ideal daily practice for humans.

2) Puttering. Very similar to walking, puttering is slow, gentle work of any kind. You can putter in the garden--pulling weeds, watering plants, harvesting veggies. You can putter in the house--vacuuming, dusting, mopping, scrubbing toilets. You can putter in the garage, the yard, the woods, wherever. Any work that keeps you moving, but doesn't exhaust you, is puttering. I try to do some every day instead of scrolling through Facebook!

3) Yoga, T'ai Chi, Qi Gong, Foam Rolling, etc. All of these practices are designed to be done daily. Just as you need to floss your teeth daily, you also need to "floss" your muscles and joints. These practices are all excellent ways to take care of your body, to keep it supple, mobile, and flexible, without stressing or straining anything. In addition, there are many other benefits for the mind and spirit. I highly recommend picking up one of these daily practices for self-care.

4) Meditation, Deep Breathing, Relaxation, Prayer. I am lumping a lot of things together here, but all of these practices link the mind, body, and spirit. Similar to the daily practices listed about, except these include less movement. You can meditate in any position: seated, standing, lying down, while driving, while walking, while dancing, even! All it takes is a focus on the breath, letting go of distractions, and becoming quiet. You might choose to talk to God in these moments, and then we could call this prayer. This daily practice is an absolute must for anyone with anxiety.

5) Gratitude. This is a powerful daily practice for anyone who is prone to negativity, anger, or depression. You can practice gratitude through journaling, prayer, meditation, making art, or any other way that works! Just taking the time to remember all the wonderful things in your life--the people who love, support, and care about you--and feeling thankful can transform your entire day. And your entire outlook on life.

Do you have another daily practice that you think others could benefit from? Why not share it with us in the comment section below!