Introduction
If you feel like something in your life or body has been lacking; lately, you might be wondering what you can do to start taking steps to become whole again. Part of feeling whole inside and out means you must master your health in several physical, mental, and spiritual areas. If you lack control of your life or aren't sure how to get your next steps, you can use this guide for the five most straightforward ways to begin feeling whole inside and out.
Take One Step at a Time
Sometimes, you might think you must take significant giant steps to become whole again to change your life. If you try to task and overwhelm yourself with huge tasks, you will never be able to accomplish what you want. Instead, focus on moving in the right direction with a tiny step, followed by another small step.
For example, if you lose weight, you can start exercising once a week and cutting sugar daily. These changes are manageable and doable. If you tell yourself you will exercise every day and won't eat sugar anymore. You might be unable to make such significant changes in a short period.
Once you are comfortable exercising twice a week, you can add another day or two, depending on your work and time constraints. You can also add on another day of not eating sugar and snacking.
Adding on small steps to other small steps is an easy way to start making substantial life changes eventually. You also need to make sure you are not making excuses for not taking small steps. It's easy to say you are too busy to make changes. If you keep making excuses for yourself, you will fall into a never-ending cycle of never making a change.
Make Goals and Routines
One part of being whole in your new changed life is ensuring you have goals you are reaching for.
For example, you might want to focus first on being whole spiritually. This means you need to have spiritual goals that you are working towards.
For instance, you could have a goal of connecting more with people of the same religion. This means you must start making it a habit to attend services or connect on social media with people. You need to make sure you are taking steps towards creating the fellowship and social groups that you need to meet your spiritual goals.
You can also make routines centred around your goals. For example, for spiritual purposes, you can make a morning or nighttime routine that involves reading spiritual books or spending time in prayer. You can also create a routine that involves weekly fellowship or attending church services if you are part of organized religion.
No matter your goals, make sure you have at least one goal for your physical health, one for your mental health, and one for your spiritual health. You need to have one goal, but maybe even more, for each aspect to master your health. Habits and routines are much more powerful than you might think.
Practices keep you grounded and allow you to fall into natural patterns that can benefit your health and lifestyle. Bad habits can have a powerful effect just as much as good ones. If you find yourself with bad habits, no matter how small they might be, make sure to break them immediately. You can try to replace them with good habits so that you are still filling the time, but with something better.
Eat Healthy and Sleep Better
Part of mastering your health, especially physically, is ensuring you eat better and have better nutrition. Eating healthy means incorporating fresher foods, including vegetables, fruit, and lean meats. You might also want to eat more nuts, whole grains, and dairy. One trick to remember is to stay around the grocery store's border.
Most of the time, the boundaries of the grocery stores are where you find all the fresh food like meats, fruits, and vegetables. The inside aisles of the grocery store are where most processed food is located, including junk food that you might want to stay clear from. Eating better has more than just physical pros, though.
Having a healthy diet can make you feel better mentally as well. When you are nourishing your body, your mind is also being fostered. If you aren't sure how to eat healthily, you can always sign up for meal service or find a few easy recipe cookbooks online. You don't have to make meals complicated to be healthy. When in doubt, include meat, some vegetables, and some fruit at the end of the meal. You can also add in some yoghurt or cheese if you want dairy.
Another trick to follow is to get into the practice of intuitive eating. This means you are listening to your body as you eat. Many people have learned to avoid the signals their body has taught them, such as when it's telling you it's full or hungry. Since our work schedules are often so busy, we get into the habit of ignoring what our body is telling us. When you learn to be in tune with your body, you can eat when you are hungry and stop when you feel full. Intuitive eating also involves eating the food you enjoy and learn what kind of food you appreciate.
To stay at a healthy weight and not resort to bad eating, you need to make sure you find foods you enjoy eating so that you will continue to consume what is good for you and what you look forward to eating. If you don't like certain fruits or vegetables, find others that you enjoy better. Your meals and plates don't have to look the same as everyone else's. Make sure you are not cutting out too many foods or depriving yourself. Deprivation will lead to days of binging.
Quality sleep is just as important as eating healthy when it comes to your overall health. You might be going to bed early, but that does not mean you are getting good quality sleep that prepares you for the day ahead of work or school. Quality sleep means you are getting enough sleep and you are sleeping well.
One way to ensure you get good sleep is to use an app on your phone. You can download many apps that measure how long you stay asleep, your sleep cycles, and how often or how long you dream. You probably know if you are getting quality sleep or not. If you wake up with headaches or feel like you need more rest, you can be sure you are not sleeping well. Ensure you are hydrated before you go to bed, as a lack of water can make you feel worse when you wake up. If you find yourself not breathing well during sleep or experiencing insomnia, it might be worth seeing a doctor to make sure you do not have more severe illnesses that might affect you from getting good sleep.
One way to ensure you are getting better is to create a sleep routine. This involves going to bed and waking up simultaneously every day despite your schedule. You might also consider putting away the screens 30 minutes before bed and reading a book or journaling instead. You can also try yoga before bed or drink some tea or another warm relaxing drink.
Facing Your Inner Demons
You can't be whole inside and out without first facing your inner demons head-on. To start, make sure you understand where your demons come from. They might result from past trauma or failures that still weigh you down. Inner demons might also result from someone in your life who has talked to you negatively or poorly in the past.
Try to see where your demons come from so that you can cut them off from the source. You also need to respond to the demons rather than ignore them. What are they saying that makes your life harder? Why do you think they are saying those things? If you ignore the demons, they will try to come back more vital next time. That's why it's better to tap into them and then learn how to kill them or tame them.
Relying on your Faith
When it comes to growing spiritually, you need to learn to lean on your Faith. No matter what your Faith is, tapping into it when you are struggling or feeling down can be a great way to grow spiritually.
One of the best ways to lean on your Faith is to have music to listen to you when you are in a stressful situation. Make a playlist before you need it to have it ready as soon as possible. If you don't find music inspirational, you can try listening to podcasts instead. Books about Faith and eBooks are also great ways to listen to others and get tips to lean more into your Faith.
If you have a group of believers, you can also make meetings with them and learn to fellowship with like-minded people with the same Faith. People of the same Faith can show you ways to strengthen your relationships. When relying on your Faith, you must also set aside your emotions.
If you are angry at God or have another problem with an aspect of spirituality because of some feelings, you will find it very hard to rely on your Faith when you need it the most.
Negative emotions can get in the way of how you relate to others. If prayer is part of your religion, you also need to make sure you are making time every day for prayer. It can either be at the same time every day, or you can pray when you feel stressed or anxious. You can also join prayer groups if you want and join fellow believers. This will allow you to have other people pray for you and enable you to pray for others.
Final Thoughts
Feeling whole does not happen overnight. The process of being whole is a journey, which means it never really ends. This isn't bad; it means you can learn to enjoy the journey and take every day as it comes. The secrets to being whole inside and out might be different for everyone, but following the five tricks above can put you on the right path to success.
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