Four healthy ways to increase your control of life.

Learn how to develop a healthy need for control.

Start by taking a test to determine whether or not your need for control is in the healthy range. Understandig your level of contrl is important because the way we respond when we don’t get what we want or how we want to experience something effects the way we feel about life.

According to the book Eat, Move, Sleep the effect of focusing on your physical health is greater than the sum of the parts. The better we feel inside, the better we’ll feel about what’s happening in our environment.

Four healthy habit to adjust how you feel about things beyond your control

1/ Name the feeling

Whenever a event happens that sparks an emotion, name how it makes you feel in the moment. Like “wow that makes me feel angry” or “that makes me feel really jealous”. Whatever the emotion is in that moment, naming it can help defuse your feelings so that you have a healthier response to the event.

2/ Eat better

We’ve all heard that we need to eat less sugar and refined carbohydrates. It’s hard but the timing couldn’t be better. Summer is a great time to make your diet a priority because fresh produce is so plentiful and relatively inexpensive. Get creative with your greens and grains, enjoy more fruit and berries and try some new plant-based recipes.

3/ Move more

Movement is more than just your daily exercise routine. Everything you do counts in your daily step count such as steps to and from work or activities, steps taken to clean your home, or the steps taken during playtime like gardening, golfing, swimming and shopping. Tracking your steps might not only help you move more, it might also help you lose weight. A recent Harvard study is reporting weightloss results when a fitness tracker is worn by participants.

4/ Sleep more

Sleep often gets sacrificed when we’re really busy and/or stressed out but going without good quality sleep is really hard on your mind and body. Natural sleep remedies may not be as effective as sleep aides but they are better for your health in the long term. Try a taking a warm bath before bed, drinking herb teas, lowering the temperature in your bedroom and adding a white noise machine. Good sleep hygiene habits like developing a sleeping routine, limiting caffeine and alcohol and limiting blue light from screens and devices also help.