If you’re just joining the Bare Minimum Mondays posts, here’s the premise…
Action always gets more results than ideas. (Related to this: the thing you do is better than the thing you don’t do, progress is better than perfection, consistency, even with something small, is more effective than occasional bursts of excellence).
Every Monday, we send out things to try in four areas: movement (exercise), nutrition, sleep, and stress management. These are, without question, the four most powerful tools available for tackling a massive number of maladies. The goal isn’t for you to do all of them forever. It’s not even for you to do all of them this week. The goal is to give you enough things to try that you can find a couple that stick, and then for you to have some intentionality in each of those areas that you can stick with for the rest of your life.
Take what you need, discard the rest.
Let’s get into it.
Move
One day this week, go up and down the stairs an extra time each trip for the day. If you have to grab something from the basement, go down, come back up, and go down once more. Stair climbing improves cardiovascular fitness and leg strength in short bouts.
Eat
Include one omega-3 rich food (salmon, walnuts, flaxseed, chia) in a meal. Dietary omega-3 fatty acids improve cardiovascular and brain health.
Sleep
Use blackout curtains or a sleep mask to block nighttime light. Reducing light exposure during sleep improves melatonin regulation and sleep quality.
Manage
Spend 5 minutes practicing progressive muscle relaxation before bed. Progressive muscle relaxation reduces stress and improves sleep quality.