The Wellness Hour: Crafting a Daily Routine That Boosts Your Mind, Body, and Spirit

It's proven that taking time out of your day to focus on yourself has positive benefits for your well-being. Taking an hour out of your day, whether in increments or a full sixty minutes, breaks up monotonous routines, refreshes your mind, and improves your body's ability to function. The longer you engage in wellness and mindfulness, the better you feel overall.

There's no time like the present to create a self-care routine that helps you attain reasonable goals. You should go through your routine three times a week, but you can do it as frequently as you like. Here are some tips and advice to help you create a wellness routine that's interesting, engaging, and refreshing.

Set Alarms as Reminders

It's all too easy to burn through a burst of energy without looking at the clock. When you do this, you wind up missing out on taking a break and making your energy last. Setting an alarm is easy and effective, as well as shifts your thinking away from what you're doing.

Not sure of the best time to set an alarm? Track yourself through the day and note when you feel energetic and when you feel drained. Chances are good that you start work with a fresh mind, then lose that freshness over a couple of hours. A second and third wind come along later, accompanied by the same loss of energy.

Take note of the time you start feeling like you're slowing down, then set alarms for 10 minutes before those times, and take your break. Engage in an activity or exercise that makes you take your mind off work for the preferred amount of time, then put your mind back on work. You'll find that it's easier to deal with your energy levels and are more likely to coast through the day with the least amount of fatigue.

Rotate Through Different Exercises

Doing the same things on a regular basis tends to cause boredom, and boredom is something that will make you not want to stick with your routine. Instead of doing the same exercises, whether mental or physical, every day, create a mix that you think you'll enjoy. For example, look up chair yoga routines for certain days of the week, and look for mental challenges that take a few minutes at a time for other days.

Make it a point to find enough activities to consume an hour a day. Chair yoga or other chair exercises can easily consume a half-hour to an hour of your time at one go, but you may prefer to split them up into four 15-minute sessions throughout the day. There are no hard and fast rules that say you have to do the entire routine at once, and you may find that it's better to spend shorter periods of time on each activity.

Look to combine both physical and mental exercises for the best possible stress relief. There are a lot of exercises you can do in and with a chair, and mental exercises help you take your mind off your work for a while. For example, you can do lymphatic drainage exercises to help your body push its waste products out, and puzzle games help you zone out while giving your head a break.

Set Your Intentions and Keep Boundaries Firm

The purpose of creating a wellness hour is to stick to your intentions and do the routine. However, that intent can be disrupted by a colleague or family member who doesn't respect your routine. That means you need to find a way to keep them out of your space or find a space that is isolated enough to make it difficult for you to be found.

You also need to remind people that you're not available for some time and that their issue can wait. Their problem is never so urgent that it can't wait for resolution, and you will take care of it as soon as you're finished with your routine. Either they respect this, or they find someone else to take care of the issue. Ultimately, they benefit from leaving you alone as you'll be in a better state of mind to deal with their problem.

Eat Regularly

It's far too easy to ignore the stomach's demand for food. The fact is, food is fuel that helps you get through your day. If you find it difficult to eat a full meal, snack on healthy options, minimize caffeine consumption, and pick foods that are known to satiate hunger while delivering energy. A full stomach makes it easier for you to focus on your wellness routine as well, helping you to get the most out of your efforts.

If you're making your wellness routine part of your workday, bring food from home. It's the most effective way to keep yourself full, and you'll have more time to dedicate to your routine.

Another healthy aspect of making your meals is using pots and pans that have a non-scratch surface. Using these types of pans means you won't be ingesting the non-stick coating as it won't flake off with the use of utensils, and you help improve your health.

Block Out Your Technology

Make it a point to turn off your technology before you start your routine. It's important that you focus on completing your routine for the full benefit, and alerts are all but certain to break your concentration and interrupt your progress. As a result, you'll find it's harder to get back to where you were and may have to start over again.

If you can't turn your devices off, set them to important alerts only. That way, you won't get your focus disrupted by something that's not urgent, and you can be assured that the alert is for something important.

Don't be Afraid of Spontaneity

Sometimes, you get a mental block or just feel like you can't push through the physical resistance of doing more work. Yet it's not time for a scheduled break for relaxing. The beauty of mindfulness is that you don't have to stick to a structure or schedule. When you don't have it in you to do more work, stop and take time out.

A Wellness Routine Means Putting Yourself First

Never feel bad or guilty about taking a break. You need the capacity to function at your best, and that requires taking off some of the pressure. Trying to push through these moments tends to lead to burnout, something you're trying to avoid with acts of mindfulness. Putting yourself first and performing your wellness routine serves as a physical and mental reset, something that enables you to work more efficiently because you feel better overall.

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Megan Isola holds a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality and a minor in Business Marketing from Cal State University Chico. She enjoys going to concerts, trying new restaurants, and hanging out with friends.