How To Pay Your Body Back™ With Me Time

Allowing your body to catch up with all you ask it to do is important!

Make sure you Pay Your Body Back™ with some Me Time!

How often do you set aside time to do something just for yourself? Daily life is busy and there is always another load of laundry waiting to be done… but, all work and no play, is dangerous for your heart and your body! If you live life on high alert – always doing and never resting the cortisol in your body rises and rises – eventually attacking your heart.

Make sure you set aside time each day to take a break and let your body catch up.
What would Me Time look like?  Check out these examples:

• Take 10 at 10:When the clock reads 10:00 a.m. — take a break and lower your stress. Do yourself and your heart a favor. Sometime during the 10:00 a.m. hour, stop what you are doing, close your eyes, and take ten deep breaths.
  • That’s it, just ten deep breaths, in and out.
  • Count to five on the way in and to ten on the way out. Focus on the sound of your breath, the feeling in your lungs, and the count.
  • This simple strategy will:
    • allow your brain to get more oxygen (you’ll feel smarter)
    • lower your blood pressure
    • allow you to disengage from what you are doing (you’ll be more focused)
    • allow your eyes to rest (and cut down on eye strain)
    • lower your heart rate
    • brighten your mood
    • make you feel better (maybe even a bit tingly)
  • This strategy is also helpful at the end of the day, to help make the transition between work and home (especially before picking up the kids) and at bed time.

• Enjoy some wine and Chocolate:
  • Take a bite of the chocolate and let it melt on your tongue, swirl in a sip of wine.
  • Let the flavors mingle and savor the taste.
  • Heave wonderful sigh – “ahhhh” to release the tension of the day and focus on what is good. Just indulge yourself – you deserve it.

• Tea at Three:
  • Make a cup of herbal tea during the 3:00 p.m. hour.
  • Hold the warm cup in your hands, breathe in the aroma, and enjoy.
  • This strategies are also helpful at the end of the day, to help make the transition between work and home (especially before picking up the kids) and at bed time.

• Watch something delightful:
  • Sit back, relax, and watch something which will make you laugh!
  • Laughter is a great way to reduce your cortisol level.
  • Watch a clever sitcom or a YouTube video – a little laughter will leave you feeling refreshed and energized, reduce your blood pressure and heart rate and could put a positive spin on your day.

• Rock out:You know the song. You know every word. You hear it and your body just starts to move.
  • Play it loud, sing along – dance around, let the joy out!
  • Use the endorphins to raise your mood and lighten your load.
  • Moving your body – being active is a great way to lower your blood pressure, improve your glucose metabolism, manage your weight – and  reduce your stress.

• Read a good book.
  • Be still and allow your body to wind down.
  • Distract your brain and allow it to calm down.

Pay Your Body Back™ with Me Time every day and it will pay you back with good health!

Check out these other Pay Your Body Back™ Strategies

Eliz Greene works busy people to improve heart health, so they can work well, feel better, and stress less.

She is a heart attack survivor and the author of the Busy Woman’s Guide to a Healthy Heart as well as 3 other books on wellness. She writes one of the top 50 health and wellness blogs and is a sought-after heart health, stress management, & wellness speaker.

If you are planning a women’s wellness program, workplace wellness program or programs for healthcare professionals check out EmbraceYourHeart.com to see if Eliz would be a good fit with your organization.