Make your bed, transform your life

Make your bed. Yes, your own bed. Fold the blanket, tuck in the sheets, roll up the mattress, fluff the pillows. Make your bed (every day!) no matter who you are or how much help you have. To win, we need to learn self-discipline and consistency. And it starts with small things like these. Besides that, you get to start your day with something accomplished. Even if that one task is a small thing like making your bed, it can make a world of difference to your mindset for the rest of the day.

Bye-bye digital eye strain

We need our eyes for everything. It’s about time we invest some time in exercising our eyes. With the extent of our exposure to screens and bright lights, we are causing degeneration of our eyes at a rapid rate. After every one to two hours of looking at your phone, laptop, tablet or television screen, stand up and look at objects that are twenty to thirty feet away (like the tip of a tree, a branch, a vase and so on) and hold your gaze for at least twenty to thirty seconds without blinking. This practice helps relieve strain and boosts eye health. And the more exposure you have to screens, the more you need to do it.

New day, new opportunities

A new day brings new opportunities and chances to rewrite your story of how you want to live, the changes you want to make and who you want to be. The time for change is now. Not later, not tomorrow and not January 1. When you decide enough is enough, the human mind moves towards change and action. Today, decide and commit to that one step (no matter how small it may be) you can take to move closer to your health goal. It could be as simple as adding slices of carrots to your meal, taking a five-minute walk to a park or learning one asana. You have one life. Live it well. Abundantly and with meaning.

Juggle your way to a sharper and smarter brain

Juggling is not just a circus skill. It is a scientifically proven brain sharpening skill, and who doesn’t want a sharp and smart brain? All you need to do is get two balls and start juggling. By doing this, you strengthen the white and grey matter in your brain, the two most important aspects of brain health and cognitive abilities. The grey matter involves processing of thoughts, emotions, memory retention, learning, grasping power and thinking, and the white matter allows communication between two grey matter areas. When it starts to degenerate, we experience memory loss issues.

Even if you’re not perfect at juggling and drop the ball several times, it is okay. You are still strengthening your brain in several ways. It’s a fantastic activity for those experiencing forgetfulness, memory loss, inability to concentrate or even to prevent degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and dementia. It also helps improve the hand-eye-brain coordination.

Did you take a mindful shower today?

Everyone who loves a good shower can vouch for the fact that these are therapeutic. A powerful way to improve this experience is to do it more mindfully. Don’t merely jet your way through it. Let the distractions go and use this time to focus solely on you. Reflect on how you think and feel with every step. Observe how your thoughts change.

How to do it
• Listen to the sound of the water hitting the floor. Sowly step into the shower.
• Feel every drop of water touching your head and cascading down your body.
• Notice the temperature, the rhythmic flow and the droplets on your skin.
• Soap your body and breathe in its fragrance.
• Remind yourself how precious your body is as you scrub it gently.
• Take ten deep breaths and relax.
• Once done, rinse your body slowly.
• Visualise yourself washing away your anxieties, sadness and worries.
• Watch the negative thoughts flow down the drain.
• Reflect on how you feel. Offer gratitude for a clean body.

Excerpted with permission from Small Wins Every Day: 100 Powerful Ways to Transform Your Life and Health, Luke Coutinho, Penguin India.