Health and Happiness Habits

I have a LOT of bad habits. Losing my keys, losing my phone, being late for, well, everything, leaving the house with 3 per cent battery and playing petrol roulette, I could go on. Over the last few months, I’ve read a lot of lovely little books such as The Secret, The Little Book of Lykke, The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck and Get your Shit Together and I’ve learned that making small changes can make a big difference to your general happiness/productivity/wellbeing. I thought I’d share my new daily habits that could give you a boost in the health/happiness department.

Counting my Blessings

I’ve been reading recently about the law of attraction and how what you put out into the world comes back to you, so it’s better to put out positivity than negativity. This is easier said than done. It’s easy to take what you have for granted and lust for the success/happiness/wealth that others appear to have from the shiny filtered snapshots on Instagram. Each morning as I shuffle down the stairs to make a cup of tea, I silently thank the universe for something in my life that I’m truly grateful for. It could be anything. The cheese advent calendar that you found in Asda, the fact that your dog is cuter than a Disney creature or the whatsap from your bestie that just made you spit out your tea laughing. This is called gratitude practise and it can help you overcome any negative thoughts or feelings.

Introducing Daily Supplements (and actually remembering to take them)

I like supplements, (I take liquid liposomal vitamin c religiously) but in order to feel the full benefits you have to commit and being the forgetful person that I am, I rarely finish a tub or I take them for a week and then go away leaving them at home. Recently, I’ve bought one of those little supplement holders with days of the week on them and I’ve found it’s helped me to remember to take them and I can pop them in my bag when I travel. Genessence kindly sent me their Tumeric and Ginger supplements and a tub of Moringa and Guarana. Together these supplements should help to make me feel less tired and boost my concentration levels, which when staring at a screen for hours per day I could definitely use. The Tumeric and Ginger supplements are designed to help you fight off colds and give your immune system a boost. Again, greatly appreciated at this time of year. There’s also a handy 20% off the Genessence range today due to cyber Monday! Win win!

Green Tea

This is a little daily health habit that I swear by. Whether I’m at home, working from a cafe, sat on a plane or waking up in a different time zone, a cup of green tea is high on my daily agenda. Tetley have recently launched a Sunshine tea which is a green tea blend infused with vitamin D. Research shows that sunshine not only boosts happiness but has a range of health benefits including maintaining a positive attitude. I don’t know about you but with the dark mornings and the freezing cold temperatures, I could do with a little positivitea. Excuse the hilariously bad pun.

Letting Go

That friend that hurt you years ago, the silly fight you had with your other half, the bitchiness on Twitter. LET. IT. GO. Holding on to negativity is not going to do you any favours and refusing to give energy to these things is a new habit that I’m practising. This could mean not getting involved in Twitter drama, not picking up the phone to that friend that drains you of energy from the moment you answer to the moment you hang up and not getting caught up in negative news stories. Conflict with anyone in your life will only draw negativity to you so forgive, forget and focus on positivity. You might not even realise how much energy you have been giving something until you decide to let go.

10,000 Steps

Exercise doesn’t just help you look better naked, it’s also great for the mind. I average around 5000 steps per day and I’m challenging myself to double this every day in December. I walk my dog every day so this shouldn’t be too hard to do. Walking more can not only help you burn extra calories but it releases endorphins that give you that happy feeling.

Reading Blogs That I Love

It’s hard not to scroll through instagram or Twitter these days without seeing negativity so I’ve swapped my nightly social media binge with my favourite blogs. I’m loving Jessica from Cocoa Chelsea’s blog at the moment and her Five Things that Make Me Happy series is a lovely little blog series to read if you are feeling a little down in the dumps. I really love her writing style, there’s something really relatable about her content.

You alone create your day, thought by thought, choice by choice and adopting some new health and happiness habits can make all the difference.

What health and happiness habits do you recommend?

PS: The books mentioned at the top of this post make fab stocking fillers and just so happen to be discounted today! Yay for Cyber Monday!