As part of the National Blog Posting Month Challenge (NaBloPoMo) that I’ve undertaken this month, I thought I’d dedicate Sunday’s to something a bit different and do some lifestyle posts. Today I’d like to share four things that improve my well-being. I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting and working on myself this past year. Through this I’ve been able to isolate four things that boost my overall happiness and health.
Yoga
I had been doing yoga sporadically for about two years but over the last year I have adopted it as part of my regular routine. For the most part, I’ve been pretty good about going two times a week (excluding the summer as somehow those sunny days create a giant roadblock to the gym, who knew?!). My favourite type of yoga class is hot vinyasa. In a vinyasa class movement is coordinated with your breath to flow from one pose to the next. It’s a bit more of a challenging yoga class which I love and the hot environment makes it even more enjoyable. I always feel so refreshed and recharged afterwards. Not that these items are in any particular order, but I truly believe that regular yoga has been the biggest catalyst to improve my well-being this year.
Reading
Reading has always been a huge passion of mine, if you couldn’t tell from my monthly Love of Reading series. I love escaping into a good book, particularly after a stressful day. I’ve been trying to dedicate more time to reading instead of being on my phone or computer and I feel like it has been really good for me. In particular, I’ve been trying to read before bed instead of on my phone cruising social media. This also has been improving my quality of sleep too!
Walking
Going for a walk is part of my daily routine. This is something I do at least twice a day on work days as I take walks during my breaks with my lovely co-workers. Being able to step away from whatever I’ve been doing and either have a chat, or simply enjoy the scenery is so refreshing. I truly believe it is good for the soul. When I return to whatever I had been doing, or I move onto my next task I feel more awake and clearer than I had been prior to my walk. It doesn’t hurt that I work close to the Marina Park in Thunder Bay so the scenery is just amazing.
Music
Music has always been another important part of my life. I honestly believe that for me, music is similar to scent. Just a few notes of a song can bring me back to a particular time of my life. Usually a time in my life where I listened to that particular song a lot. Music has taken me on so many journeys that I have to include it on this list of things that improve my well-being.
Yoga, reading, walking and music have all been so instrumental in my journey to improve my well-being. I’ve actually found that I’ve been sick way less than usual this year! What do you do to improve your well-being? Let me know in the comments down below!
xoxo,
Robyn
Lipstick on the Lake 
I want to try that yoga! I think they have classes at the gym I go to but i’ve been so nervous to go because I’m soooo out of shape lol! I’ve been feeling the need to do more things that focus on myself lately as well. These are all great ideas 🙂 I hope you’re starting to feel better!! xo
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Where do you go? I go to Movati and I really enjoy the yoga classes there 🙂
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I have a membership to Movati too! I’ve had it for about 2 years now and I think I’ve stepped into the gym maybe 3 times….I’ve been so bad about it but I want to start going now that summer is over. Both my sister and my sister in law go to that yoga class there as well and they both said it’s really great!
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Let me know if you start going, I’ll keep my eye out for you! I usually go to the all levels hot class on Mondays, and then I usually try to do hot vinyasa on Saturday’s. I’ve been too sick to go this week though but once I’m all better I’ll be back 😁
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Great post! Self care is something I struggle with, I find it hard to sit still for too long. I think that’s why I can’t get into Yoga, I find it so boring. I know how good it is for your mind and body though so I need to keep trying it.
I walk with Maggie at least twice a day and I find that super beneficial. One of the biggest things I’ve learned this year was I need to scale back on my phone usage (specifically social media) I was really bad this year, despite having a goal to be on it less. Being on Twitter all the time increased my anxiety in a major way, particularly with all the things that happened this year. I took a break and scaled back how often I’m on it and it helped a lot.
I love reading but I cannot read a good book before I go to bed – I get too into it and I don’t want to put it down so I end up staying up late to read. Counterproductive! 🙂
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I think you need to try some different yoga classes! The two types I frequent at my gym keep me moving the whole time! There’s relaxation at the beginning and end but in the middle it can actually get pretty intense with flows and lunges.
And yes totally hear you on the reading before bed paradox! I’ve been sucked into that rabbit hole before. Usually it’s only if I’m reasonably close to the end of a book so I’ll stay up to finish it haha
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I did some yoga classes over the summer. I wish I stuck to it as life got busier again, because I came out those classes with a much calmer, positive outlook on life!
Great post by the way ☺️
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