Zen College Life

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

I’m always looking for ways to enrich my life, especially when it comes to my health, nutrition, and fitness. We all know about taking our vitamins, eating our vegetables, not smoking or drinking etc; But I’ve compiled a list of eastern practices, holistic healing practices, and a couple of crazy ideas I think you’ll enjoy. Most of these I have tried myself, but a few I have yet to have been able to try. I will though. Click on any of the bolded titles for a brief introduction to the subject.

Meditation – This is an easy one that you may or may not hear about often. I swear meditation can take you to the other side of the world, or universe for that matter. If you commit to meditation, there is no limit to the levels of consciousness you can reach. To start out, focus on your breath, posture, and silencing your mind. Many people use a mantra, or a repeated saying of some sort to calm their mind, while others visualize themselves throwing ideas out of their mind as soon as they come. Take 5 minutes out of each day to calm yourself, focus on your breath, and achieve a silent mind.

Detoxification - Detoxification is a practice that invokes the removal of toxic substances from the body. This is believed to be achieved through many methods, including diet, fasting, drugs, and many other practices. In theory detox is the ‘tune up’ of the human body, a ‘spring cleaning’ of organs, if you will. There are many ideas of how to go about this, so do a little research and see if anything looks like it could work for you. I personally plan on trying a raw foods diet for 3 days. Hopefully I’ll get the time to do it soon.

Stretching– of course stretching is good for you. We all know that. But how many of us actually do it? Try implementing a short stretching routine into your mornings. Get the blood flowing to those muscles even before your day starts and you’re guaranteed to start off on the right foot!

Deep (diaphragmic) Breathing- Control of breath is one of the best ways to get your body working extra efficiently. I realized this when riding in the MS150 last weekend. When I finally realized how sporadic my breathing was and finally got control of it, it was as if I got a second wind. I was able to push harder up those hills, and fly down the downhills. It was amazing.

Nasal irrigation - This is an interesting idea I came across recently. It involves rinsing your nasal cavity with a warm saline solution, in order to clear out pollutants and excess mucus from your nasal cavity. I think I might try this one, though I’m not sure of the side effects.

Green Tea for Health - I am a firm believer in the benefits of drinking green tea. Having become a tea drinker within the last year, I can really sense the difference in my energy, metabolism, heightened sense of awareness, and overall clarity. The phytochemicals and low levels of caffeine really give you the kick to get through your day, without the crash like coffee and other caffeine drinks. I love it!

Physical Exercise - you didn’t think you were gonna get away without having to exercise did you? Of course not. I am a lover of jogging, walking, cycling, swimming, and I plan on getting into some mixed martial arts in the near future. But you don’t have to do what I do. What about football, basketball, baseball, volleyball (basically anything that ends in or has to do with a ball), endurance sports like cross country, track and field, yoga, calisthenics, weight lifting, hiking, anaerobic exercise, agility training, dancing, and so much more. Just get out there and do something. Get that heart rate up.

So there you have it, a few tips to add a couple years to your life expectancy. Don’t thank me, just tell a friend, or leave a comment. Let’s get healthy!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!