How to “Snack”
Is life too busy to fit in all the healthy things you want to do? - try snacking!
It’s summer, things can get a little hectic, schedules are different, there are vacations, school is out and it seems like there is less time to take care of yourself. Or do you have the mindset, it’s summer, it’s time to take a break from things? Whatever is causing you to think that you have to give up your healthy habits or you don’t have time to start them, think snacks!
The formal definition of a snack is a small amount of food eaten between meals. According to this article in the Washington Post.
An exercise snack is a brief snippet of exercise, usually lasting a minute or two, and indulged in often during the day. It represents “a feasible, well-tolerated, and time-efficient approach” to working out, according to a 2022 review of exercise-snacking research
I love the concept of a healthy snack being a small amount of something ingested that is good for your health, mind, body and spirit. We digest everything. We digest our food of course but, we also digest feelings and what we see and hear in our environments. “If I don’t have time to do it fully, I am not going to do it at all” - this is the mindset that uncover regularly with my clients. We work on changing the story to something like, “Any dose of healthy habits is good for me” or “I can modify my habits and still get the healthy benefit from them”. This can be applied to all pillars of healthy Ayurveda living: meditation, movement, nutrition emotional support, self-care, and sleep.
And most of the time, the snack doesn’t have to be additive to your day, it’s something you can do while you are doing something else. For example, most people make coffee or tea or in my case, warm lemon water in the morning. It takes about 2 minutes. Instead of scrolling on your phone or answering emails, sit on a chair, close your eyes, and meditate for 2 minutes.
Here’s a starter list of snacks, read through them, and start with one today. All of these snacks, help your mind, body, and spirit in some way. Then add one every day or every other day.
Meditate/breathwork when commuting on public transportation, train, plane, or bus
Repeat your mantra in the morning when brushing your teeth
Give silent blessings to everyone when in a group setting (meeting, exercise class)
Use maple syrup instead of sugar or artificial sweetener in your coffee or tea
When driving, engage your 5 senses - what do you see, hear, smell, taste, touch
When putting on your shoes in the morning - do the old man test
Change water to cold for the last 2 minutes of your shower
Do oil pulling in the shower
Stand up and/or do squats for one minute when working at a desk
While watching TV in the evening, ask yourself what is sore and achy. Roll around on a ball on that point for 10 minutes.
Dance while cooking dinner
Do breathwork while doing laundry