by Kerry Taylor
This topic comes to mind as it is one of the top reasons people start their new journey with health, fitness and wellness. “I would like to have more energy to be able to…..” Quite often we look at getting more energy from caffeine or some type of energy drink that, depending on what you’re having and doing, can be a double edge sword. You get your energy, but it comes with a ton of sugar and/or calories and when you come down from your sugar or caffeine high there is a huge crash at the end. As you make adjustments in your eating and continue to train your mind and body to perform at a higher level, your overall energy will increase. That journey does take time, it’s not an instant change like people would want. Here are 6 natural, quick and easy ways to give your mind and body a quick energy boost.
Turn It Up
This is always my go-to when I need to get my energy up. You will find many articles and research that will go into what the BPMs (Beats Per Minute) should be at to get your energy up. Looking at the BPMs may be a decent suggestion for a larger group of people, but what I feel is more important is what does the music do to your soul? What makes you tap your hand, tap your feet, gets you out of your seat to move? That is different for everyone, that’s why I think looking solely at the BPMs will create a huge fail. Whatever music gets that active reaction out of you is what you go with. Go wherever you can, turn up the volume on your favorite songs, playlists or artists. That will get you going for sure. Music is the key to everything.
Get Moving
You want to start the day off on the right foot?! Fully charged?! Clear headed?! Try and move your body first thing in the morning. I’m not suggesting you have to get a heart-pounding, soul-crushing workout, unless that’s what you desire. It can be as simple as getting up and going for a walk. You will get a huge boost to get you going. When that mid day lull is about to hit, get up and start moving in some fashion to get that mind and body grooving. It will excite the mind and get you up for the second half of the day. The body was created to move, let’s move it!
Let There Be Light
Analyze your surroundings, are you in a poorly lit office or area? No windows? If so, a quick and easy fix is to change the bulbs in your office or area to supply you with brighter lights. The brighter light lets your body know or reminds your body, “Hey it’s time to stay awake, let’s go!” Even better yet, get outside in the sun rays to give you a good boost.
Stretch It Out
This falls in line with movement. As I mentioned earlier, it doesn’t have to be anything crazy. If you’re one of the many that sit at a desk all day, you know it’s the devil. Try to make it a habit to do some sort of stretch every 30 mins to 2 hours, depending on you ability to do so at work. This will definitely increase the blood flow through your body, increase your mood and energy. An added benefit to loosening up your tight muscles from sitting, is reseting and readjusting your posture that can get destroyed from sitting so much.
Cold Blast
Think of your physical reaction when you get into a cold shower or all of the sudden the water becomes freezing cold. You jump, scream and just plain freak out!! LOL!! When you start to lose some juice, go splash some cold water on your face, if you’re working from home, go take a cold shower. I guarantee you will be wide awake for a while after that shock to the system.
Drink Up
Dehydration is definitely the source of a lot of people’s low energy. Try to increase the amount of water you are already having. Water is the main ingredient that makes our bodies go. Without it we slow down and become lethargic. So drink up, make it cold fluids if you can!
If you’re that person that runs for coffee or an energy drink all the time, try one or all of these methods instead of having your 5th cup to finish the day. These are simple solutions to use to keep your energy up, keep you awake, give your mood a boost and keep you charged up through the rest of the day. Enjoy!!
Until next time continue to live a life 1 degree above the rest!!