Welcome to my new logo! I decided to create a new brand to support my vision of transforming peoples’ lives through simple lifestyle changes. My mission is to make a real difference to all my clients. These colourful flags on my new logo represent the underlying health principles for a healthy mind and body. I am super excited to share with you how they came about and why they can help you to get back your health and wellness.
These flags each represent one of the 6 Foundation Principles of Health. Developed by Paul Chek (founder of the C.H.E.K. Institute) they address key areas that impact your body and therefore how you move and feel.
Here is a brief description of each flag/ health principle and 2 simple things you can try today for each lifestyle area.
Are you drinking enough water? We are made up of 70% water but most people are dehydrated. Did you know that by drinking coffee your body needs more water to compensate, and that dehydration causes sore joints, headaches and drowsiness?
Hydration is so important for our good health; water hydrates and cleanses the body, and also is involved in many chemical reactions.
So how much water should you be drinking each day? Here are 2 useful tips:
- Calculate your Daily Water Target: multiply your bodyweight in kgs x 0.033; for example – 60 kgs is 1.98 litres of water,
- Monitor your urine – should be a pale straw colour. If too dark, have another glass of water!
Nutrition is such a massive topic and every day we are faced with choices; our bodies turn over literally millions of cells every day and need to be replaced with nutrients.
It is important to eat a good balance of protein, fats and carbohydrates, adding plenty of whole foods that come from nature, and try to cut out processed/ man-made foods as much as possible. Learn to read the labels in supermarkets and take your time when you do your weekly grocery shop. The toxins and chemicals in many modern processed foods are a significant cause of many emotional and mental conditions.
So, are you choosing wholefoods that will nourish your body, or processed foods full of refined sugar that will deplete your body of energy?
Here are 2 simple things you can do today:
- add more wholefoods like eggs, organic meats, fruits and veggies
- remove processed foods and carbonated drinks
Have you moved your body today? Did you know that exercise helps to detoxify the body through sweating, keeps bones and muscles strong, burns calories and makes us feel good? However, the right level and type of exercise is very individual and depends on our overall physiological load – how stressed out we are – from things like overwork, toxins in food products, chemicals in cleaning products and inappropriate exercise.
So how do you know which is the right level and type of exercise for you?
- Monitor how you feel after the session – overtraining can lead to elevated resting heart rate, reduced appetite and poor sleep.
- Sign up for the 1:1 holistic program which includes a consultation and your personalised training plan
When was the last time you took a really deep breath?
Let’s do one together now:
- slowly inhale through the nose for 5 seconds, hold for 5 seconds, and slowly exhale out through the mouth for 5 seconds.
We breathe about 20,000 times a day. If our breathing is optimal it will contribute towards our wellbeing. If our breathing pattern is less than optimal it can have a profound effect on our health and wellbeing; ultimately leading to problems in our digestive systems, detoxification systems, organ health, posture and sympathetic nervous system which will lead to an increased stress response with every breath!
Just breathing properly is one of the simplest things you can do to improve your health, reducing your levels of stress and boosting your energy. Learn to breathe using your diaphragm:
- inhale slowly through your nose – feel your belly button rising out (the air should fill the bottom one-third of your chest). Exhale slowly out through your mouth (pursing your lips) and draw your belly button in towards your spine.
What time did you go to bed last night? Did you wake up feeling full of energy or wishing you could stay in bed?
In the 1900s people slept for 2-3 hours more per night, on average, than today. That builds to a staggering 730 extra hours per year. Today’s fast paced society has placed sleep just too low down in each 24 hour period. We would rather watch TV late, surf the net, stay out socialising, and then expect the body to function at full capacity, day in day out, without adequate rest and recovery. Ultimately, we are robbing ourselves of crucial repair time for the body and mind and this leads to dysfunction.
Our bodies do those repairs during the night – from 10pm to 2am our bodies repair physical cells, and from 2am to 6am physiological cells.
2 things you can today to improve your sleep and therefore overall health:
- No ipad/ iphone/ TV in bedroom – read a book instead!
- No caffeine after 3pm and no TV after 8pm.
Have you heard of the phrase ‘thoughts become things’?
Positive thinking is so important for our good health. In this busy world, when we can get a bit stressed from everyday life, negative thinking can start to get us down. Instead try focusing on positive things.
Here are 2 things that you can do every day to help you feel more positive:
- Positive affirmations: repeat this phrase (take a deep breath first) “I am happy, healthy and whole”.
- Keep a gratitude journal – write down 3 things every night, ideally just before bed, that have made you happy or laugh or have gone well about the day. When I do this, it really helps to ‘set my head’ for a good night’s sleep
As Paul Chek says, the 6 Foundation Principles of Health address the key areas of a healthy mind and body. Like a puzzle or these flags, if one piece is out of position – showing up in the body as a symptom – headache, dry skin, constipation, low energy – then the body is unbalanced.
When all 6 areas are balanced however (or the pieces of the flag are in their right positions) this will result in optimum health, or homeostasis.
Symptoms are not normal. By addressing the cause of the problem with a (usually) simple lifestyle change – one extra glass of water on waking up, walking with purpose for 15 mins a day, or getting to bed 30 mins earlier for example – that balance and your good health can be found again!
I can help you to get back your good health and feel vibrant and alive! Contact me today and book in your private complimentary consultation for 1:1 coaching, or sign up for the 21 Day Challenge.
A big thank you to Carolyn King from Samford based design company Credos – who designed this fabulous logo of the 6 flags to represent the 6 Foundation Principles of Health.
Nick Ellson
