“We must practice what we preach, for philosophy is not a subject for popular ostentation, nor does it rest in words, but in deeds. It is not an entertainment to be taken up for delight or to give a taste to our leisure, but it should fashion the mind, govern our actions, and tell us what we are to do and what avoid. It sits at the helm and guides us through all hazards; nay, we cannot be safe without it, for every hour gives us occasion to use it. It informs us in all the duties of life: piety to our parents, faith to our friends, charity to the poor, judgment in counsel; it gives us peace by fearing nothing, and riches by coveting nothing.”
― Seneca
In this article we will embark on a journey to find a possible way to live a good life. We will bring together the ideas of great philosophers and the work of many people who have produced countless studies on how to live a happy life. We will divide our endeavour into two parts about wealth and health, as balancing these two is of utmost importance.
How to build a super-power, start by taking a cold shower
Do you know the feeling of going from a warm bed to a cold shower? Have you not? Then maybe we should put it into practice. And why is that? Because it never gets ‘less fun’ and we may have to negotiate with ourselves from time to time. But the benefits of cold showers (or ideally cold water exposure) are well worth it.
It forces our bodies to kick into gear and clear our brains of any residual substances that make us sleepy. Think of it as a nice, warm cup of coffee in the morning. It’s just cold, very cold. It improves regeneration, it motivates the body to increase blood flow. It even improves the quality of our skin.
It has been proven that after a cold shower, our production of dopamine (the feel-good chemical) is increased above baseline for the next two hours. But wait, that’s not all. Because we have to deal with ourselves, a cold shower never really becomes pleasant. We increase our resilience and self-discipline.
Even more amazing. We can use these learned qualities in different areas of life where resilience and self-discipline are needed. And we can get all this just by immersing ourselves in cold water, which is great, isn’t it?
How to above many problems rise, excercise
How are we supposed to find time to exercise in our busy lives? Well, maybe this question will change our minds. Do you want to be around to see the things you like happening in your life? Exercise significantly reduces the risk of premature death. The benefits are too numerous to list, otherwise no one will read such long article.
When we say exercise, it’s not all or nothing. Every little bit counts. It can start as simple as walking outside for a while. Or maybe we just buy a running/walking treadmill and get our daily dose while binge-watching our favourite Netflix series. It’s irresistible, isn’t it?
As with everything in our lives, it’s all about finding the right balance between activity and rest. Did you know that exercise can make you more creative by increasing blood flow and nutrients to your brain? And did you know that exercise can make the difference between being around to see your grandchildren grow up or not?
Our bodies are simply designed to move. I suppose we all take our cars in for tune-ups. But why don’t we do the same with our bodies, which are capable of fine-tuning and growing themselves with just a little exercise?
Running faster than Mr. Rabbit, that’s a habit!
Our lives, health and success are very much influenced by our habits. We get up in the morning, brush our teeth, make a cup of coffee. And it all goes so effortlessly, right? That’s the power of habits. We have to be very careful and selective with them. A good habit can grow into great deeds over time.
There are so-called cornerstone habits that we should want to be present in our lives. These are habits that attract other good habits. For example, we make a habit of exercising and after a while we notice that we are choosing and eating more healthy foods. That’s the power of cornerstone habits.
When we make habits from the points mentioned in this article. We are setting ourselves up for future success and good health. Of course, nobody can predict the future, so anything can happen. The point is that we try to increase the chances of good outcomes as much as possible. And that’s exactly what adopting the right habits will do for us.
How to for ages last, fast
What would happen to a tool if we continued to use it without proper maintenance? It will break, right? And what if we eat all day, do we think our body has time to repair itself? As in our daily lives, sometimes we work and sometimes we rest. And we should do the same with our body.
The human body is an amazing and very resilient machine. But there is always a limit. If we want our body to serve us for a long time. We have to allow it to repair itself. And that’s what intermittent fasting was created for. It’s also known as time-restricted eating.
People have created many variations. The most common are 14/10 and 16/8, where the first number represents the length of the fast in hours and the second number represents the eating period. Simply put, we can for example eat between 12 – 20 and fast otherwise and that is a 16/8 regimen.
It’s important to listen to your body and adjust in a way that works best for you. It may be that for one person it is best not to eat for a whole day and then eat normally the next day. For someone else, a 16/8 fast may work best.
How to most benefits reap, sound sleep
Do you know that if there was a pill that could give you the same benefits as a good night’s sleep, the company would make a fortune? And yet this amazing pill is available to all of us for free. It’s called sound sleep. It allows our bodies to repair, rejuvenate, store memories and even soften our perception of unpleasant events that have happened.
We may hear someone say, “Morning is wiser than evening”. And he/she is right. You may have your own experience where something that happened in the evening seems annoying, but in the morning we feel differently. That’s the power of sleep.
Did you know that many great inventions were made during sleep? When we are in a deep sleep, our brain works differently and provides us with solutions that we might not have come up with when we were awake.
It’s never too late to meditate
We can all agree that our bodies need a rest from time to time. But did we know that our minds can also rest? Meditation can be as simple as breathing exercises while sitting in a quiet place for just 5 minutes. If we take care of our mind, our mind will take care of us. There are a myriad of studies showing the benefits of meditation. Just try to find some.
Did you know that our brain can work in different states like alpha waves, beta waves…? A wise man once said: “Problems can’t be solved in the same state of mind in which they were created”. Perhaps he was talking about our ability to change our minds through meditation and gain a new perspective?
Similar to sleep, when we become experienced in meditation. We can reach a state of mind that increases our creativity. And what can we do with this creativity? Perhaps create something new that no one has seen before.
How useful was this post?
Click on a star to rate it!
Average rating 0 / 5. Vote count: 0
No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.
We are sorry that this post was not useful for you!
