There are several important lifestyle factors of the primal health program that we often neglect in our busy daily lives. Things such as –
Getting plenty of sleep
Making sure we to get out and play
Get plenty of sunlight and
Ensure as we get older that we continue to challenge our brain
To expand on these a little further…
Sleep is a very very important part of our lives and is often overlooked and compromised for other tasks, thinking that we can easy just get by with a little less.
I know I have certainly been guilty of this for many many years. Way back to the days when I was studying “all-nighters” were unfortunately our regular occurrence which I now understand was a very poor choice on my behalf.
It is so important for us to maintain consistent bed time and waking times, sleeping around 8 hours a night through summer and 9 to 9 1/2 hours through winter is preferred.
Also minimise the amount of artificial light and devices that we are exposed to after dark and whenever possible, take advantage of an afternoon nap on weekends to catch up when you may not have had as much sleep as you need.
Play is something that we usually only associate with our kids and is very much neglected by adults as we get older.
There is now quite a bit of scientific data that supports play throughout adulthood because of its many benefits. In his book “Play: How it shapes the brain, Opens the imagination and Invigorates the soul”, author Stuart Brown explains that a lifetime of play helps develop and maintain a “cognitively fluid mind”.
This is something that I’ve always attempted to do as I’ve got older. Get out an play whenever I can…because I love the outdoors, love riding my bike surfing running or paddling my ski.
Conventional wisdom has made us so wary of spending even small amounts of time in the sun its become a health issue.
Even short periods in the sun, not long enough to burn, provides us with optimum levels of vitamin D. Far more then we’re able to get from any food that we eat
Although we seem to be continually bombarded with more and more information data news and stuff everyday and our brains may seem to be get absolutely fried it’s important to step out of this and do something else different. To continually challenge our brain in new ways and help maintain our creative mind.
Things such as learning a musical instrument, completing puzzles, learning a new language or even oing that bicycle repair course and being able to repair your own bike are all things that challenge our minds in ways that are quite different to the day today grind that we all live
I am Rod Bucton. This is Sports Adventure
I help busy over 40 year old fathers get fit, lean, strong and get out and play.
To apply for a free coaching call visit www.sportsadventure.com.au