Restore your energy

Some simple exercises to survive the holidays

With the holidays approaching and all the energy that often requires, I thought I’d take a look at some things we can easily do to renew the energy we expend getting ready and being “on” during this time of year. When you feel yourself winding down, try a few or all of these simple exercises:

Deep Breathing. This increases the oxygen in your bloodstream and can relax your tense muscles.  Just close your eyes and take long, slow breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth.

Just Move. Ditch the coffee and every hour or so just stop what you are doing and stretch and move your arms and take a quick, short walk.  Only sixty seconds of this every hour or so increases oxygen and can really help renew your energy. While you’re up, take a minute or two to just look out the window at the scenery and relax.

Drink Water. Dehydration, even a mild amount, slows the flow of oxygen to your body and can significantly sap your energy is subtle ways.  To fight the boredom of drinking six to eight glasses of water during the day (the basic minimum), add slices of lemon or lime or anything other fruit or vegetable you prefer.

Snack Correctly. Along with hydrating yourself, have some snacks that will boost your energy.  Keep the snacks lower than 200 calories and try some like fruit and nuts, hummus, or string cheese.

Sit up Straight. It turns out that mom and teachers were right; we do need to have correct posture.  When we sit up straight, more oxygen flows into our bodies whle slouching decreases oxygen. As we’ve already pointed out, more oxygen means more energy.

Have a Good Time. Just enjoying a good, deep laugh eases tension and increases energy.  Think of laughter as a mental, giant stretch for yourself.  When we laugh, our circulation increases, our muscles tense and relax, we breathe faster and we feel better.

There are probably any number of other things we can do to increase our energy, such as regular exercise and a balanced, healthy diet.  But these can help us throughout the day and with a relaxed body and mind, combined with more energy, we can not only survive the holidays, but really enjoy them.