Intuitive Eating
It’s time to toss out the diet-du-jour and get back to basics! Intuitive eating is all about listening to what your body is telling you it needs. Restrictive diets that demonize a certain macronutrient, like carbohydrates, are seeing a shift to balanced, seasonal eating.
Chances are you’ve begun craving root vegetables over the endless salads of summer – and intuitively, you’re right on the money. The vitamins and minerals of heftier food will help you get through winter.
Human beings lived in harmony with the seasons for millennia. Though nutrition has been reinvented in the past few generations, there’s a LOT that our ancestors got right.
As long as the bulk of your food comes from whole and not processed sources, listening to what your gut instinct is telling you may prove to be the wisest nutrition decision you can make.
Earthing footwear
It turns out that padding your feet in inches of foam and arch support may be creating more problems than it solves. According to Harvard professor and foot guru Daniel Lieberman, traditional shoes result in far more injury than benefit.
Enter minimalist shoes. The next best thing to walking barefoot, these light-footed kicks boost circulation, reduce inflammation, and strengthen, rather than coddle, the muscles and tendons of the foot.
Minimalist shoes have an ultra-thin and flexible sole, a neutral heel, and lots of space for your toes to extend and spread to their natural shape (this happens naturally when you walk barefoot). Expert tip: my osteopath defines great footwear as something you can fold in half!
Take it slow and steady with getting used to this mode of foot transport. Chances are your feet, like mine, will need an adjustment period after all that cushy living! The benefits, however, are enormous. Your feet will become pillars of strength - and your foundation will be rock solid.
Digital detox
With screen time at an all-time high, we’re beginning to witness a swing towards more mindful consumption. Ranging from the simple act of tracking your digital footprint to unplugging for a period of time, a digital detox can pay dividends for your mental health.
Sundays are emerging as the day of choice to give our screens a rest. This can mean an hour, an afternoon, or a whole day to remember what life was like before the internet came along. Take this time to get out in nature, cook, meditate, work on a creative project, or just daydream.
The point is to allow yourself to just BE without the dopamine fix that is your phone. Giving yourself the space to be unreachable for a few hours is a priceless gift that costs nothing at all.
The evolution of self-care
Sure, a bubble bath is nice, but the past year has taught us that true luxury is seeing other people.
After a year that forced us to keep our distance, we’re finding new ways to connect - and discovering that these new communities fill our cups more than a day at the spa ever could.
Self-care is evolving into a communal endeavour; walk and talk with a friend, join a cooking class, or simply look up old acquaintances. In-person connections have never felt so good.
