“I’m running low on time” is not an excuse anymore ‒ find out how to improve the quality of your lifestyle with these simple activities.

Taking contrast showers

Who doesn’t enjoy a hot shower after a long day? Taking your favorite shower gel, putting your waterproof wax earplugs in, turning the water on and… shivering with cold because you turned on the wrong faucet. We’ve all been there, but not all of us realised that by convulsively reaching out to turn on the hot water we actually practiced CWT or contrast water therapy. For a brief moment, of course, but it happened.

Contrast water therapy has been proved to help reduce muscle soreness and improve muscle function in the process of recovery for professional athletes. Contrast showers are incredibly useful for the body, but they aren’t recommended for pregnant women, during menstruation and for people with cardiovascular, inflammatory (angina, cystitis, etc.) and blood diseases.

The key benefits of contrast showers are:

1. Immune system strengthening ‒ contrast showers improve protective properties of the body;
2. Better thermoregulation ‒ the body will learn to adjust to temperature faster;
3. Circulation support ‒ the heart begins to work more actively, organs and tissues receive more oxygen;
4. Vascular training ‒ due to the temperature difference, the blood circulates more intensively, and the walls of the vessels become stronger and more elastic.

Source: Pexels

Stretching your body

If your back hurts after a few minutes of standing straight or you feel it crack after the tiniest turn in your seat ‒ you should definitely consider stretching. Implementing a 5-minute stretching routine will bear fruit in a week! You’ll feel more relaxed and your thoughts will be surprisingly clear. If you choose to stretch before going to bed, you’ll fall asleep faster and sleep more tight.

Here are some perks you’ll get after stretching:

• Inner balance and self-confidence. By becoming more flexible you become more confident!
• Healthy strengthened joints. Exercising regularly, you maintain the mobility and youth of the joints and spine.
• Improved coordination. Stretching exercises make the ligaments more elastic. This will reduce the risk of injury if, for example, you slip and fall.

Source: Pexels

Meditating

Not so long ago meditations were thought of as something alien that only Buddhist monks do. But Buddhists have a high longevity for a reason ‒ their lifestyle is all about taking care of the physical and of the mental. Meditating now is considered a trait of successful people ‒ and we all could use some success.

Daily 5 minutes of breathing in, breathing out and observing the inside of your mind ‒ right after waking up or before going to sleep ‒ can change your life drastically.

Side-effects of practicing meditation are as follows:

• Ability to focus effortlessly. You’ll concentrate on every task and won’t distract easily.
• Emotional stability. You’ll notice how much more control you have over your emotions and reactions.
• Growing sense of awareness. You’ll understand yourself and the others more.

To start meditating all you need is your mind and a quiet place to be alone. If you have noisy family or neighbors, you can use noise-cancelling earplugs to make sure no one disturbs you during your mindful minutes.

In case you’d like to try a guided meditation, we found one for you:

Find 5 minutes every day to put yourself first. Trust us, everything can wait ‒ everything except taking care of yourself.

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