Have a healthy autumn

Autumn is here for sure with all of the beautiful colours and changing weathers. I really love the transition from summer to autumn and October is one of my favourite months, except for two things; the darkness that creeps upon us here in the North and the viruses that goes around giving colds and such. The darkness I cannot do much about other than lighting a lot of candles and to really enjoy the season. I can however provide you with my tips of staying healthy! I used to be one that fell ill with a number of colds each autumn and spring, but so far I’ve been spared, and I really think it’s because my new strategies:

1. Prioritize YOUR health

Growing older has of course helped a lot with making prioritizing a little easier for me as well as realizing that I can’t do everything always. But putting oneself and one’s own health first is still hard for some of us. It seems a little egoistic to care for oneself first and yet it’s the “in” thing to do. And if we look upon it from a larger perspective; it’s much harder for us to help and to give from ourselves to others, if we aren’t healthy. So make sure that you do a few things every day that you know will give you good health and let other things take a step back. For me I find that I often let vacuuming and doing the dishes take a step back so that I can do some of the following things:

2. Get your sleep in

This is the most important thing to get into a routine. Getting to bed early every night, not just on weekdays, especially before ten o’clock (yep, that’s right) will keep you in health alone. Of course this means that you also have to sleep when you go to bed and preferably make it to eight hours of sleep per night. But really, it’s the sleeping before midnight that fully replenishes and restores. It might be hard at first to get the body to fall asleep if you’re used to going to bed later, nevertheless, the body will accommodate fast. Get up in the morning and do something physical every day (see tip 4.!). I can also really recommend doing a restorative pose or even take a nap of 20 minutes in the afternoons if you live a busy life on the go.

3. Eat nutritious food

Eating food prepared and cooked from the ground up is also a huge aspect when it comes to health. We see a trend today where everyone want’s the quick fix by popping a pill or to that will provide for the lack of nutrients in our food, but really, pills will never give the same nourishment as real food. And when choosing food, opt for foods naturally rich in vitamins to support your system this season. I love cabbage and rose hip seeds for their high amount of vitamin C, I feel like super woman when I get enough vitamin C every day!

4. Move your body every day

Yes, you’ve heard it all before, the body is made to be moving and we should to something that get’s the fluids in the body moving every day. However that doesn’t mean that you have to spend hours in the gym or even going to a yoga class every day. Do hip and shoulder circles, do a short squat session (see video of my squat session in the gallery), take a walk or something else that makes you move for at least ten minutes.

5. Go outside every day

Spend a little time outside every day, not matter what the weather might be like. Take a morning or evening stroll, get off a station earlier when going to or from work – breathe fresh air and connect with nature. Having a dog makes getting out easier of course, but I noticed during the summer that I got into a habit of checking social media instead of connecting with nature on my walks with Nova (the dog). So now I prefer to leave the phone at home if I don’t have to be reached, and then we stroll, stop and look at nature and really enjoy the time spent outside.

5. Make your own gold

Turmeric has been on every healthy person’s lips for some time now, and for a good reason! Turmeric host tons of benefits and gives a great boost to our immune system. Make your own golden blend by adding about 88-90% of turmeric, 8% of ginger, 1-2% each of black pepper, cayenne pepper, cardamom and cinnamon, all organic and ground. I do mine in a big batch and then make sure I have some every day. You can either sweep a tea spoon with a glass of water (what I do almost every day, together with a tablespoon of maca powder), or make a nice turmeric latte: gently bring any milk of your choice to a simmer and add 1-2 tsp of the turmeric blend. Stir thoroughly and add a sweetener if you want to.

Except for these tips I should confess that I also use gloves on public transport and make sure I wash my hands before touching my nose, eyes or mouth after I’ve been in contact with anyone and especially kids..! I don’t drink alcohol, as one professor and doctor just said in his lecture: more and more studies are now showing us that alcohol and health just doesn’t mix. There are no health benefits from wine that will outweigh the effect of the alcohol from wine. And more studies are questioning the health benefits associated with drinking wine, showing that they are non existent.

Do you have any other things that you swear by to stay healthy? Please share!

Wishing you an awesome autumn and I hope to see you soon!

Spara