OPEX Lancaster BLG’s

BLG’s stands for ‘Basic Lifestyle Guidelines’. These are the everyday tasks every person should be doing to care for themselves. These are not exclusive self-care tasks for athletes, a particular gender, adults, or any other category of humans. BLG’s are simplified principles for all people to incorporate into daily life for the intention of reaching our potential in health. In this article, I’m going to share the BLG’s with you and explain why they matter. 

Rhythm 

Our daily energy correlates with natural rhythms. Specifically, this is called the circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythm is the natural internal process regulating our sleep and wake cycles. Essentially this means we are designed to rise and move in the sunlight and  rest and sleep at night. There is some variance between people as to what is most optimal for them, but only to an extent. Some do better waking in the early AM and thus going to sleep in the early PM. Others do well with staying up a little later and rising in mid AM. But rising and working at night and sleeping during the day will never be optimal and negatively affects our bodily systems.

As a lifestyle guideline, we need to honor this cycle. That looks like waking and sleeping at the same time everyday. That looks like optimizing sleep through creating pre-sleep routines, maintaining a cool, quiet, and dark room, and limiting or eliminating sleep inhibitors near sleep time, like caffeine, bright lights, stimulating activities, and alcohol. 

Water

You need to drink water daily. You need to drink water daily. No, that’s not a typo. Yes, I wrote that twice. Drinking water is one of the simplest, and therefore often overlooked, things you can do for your health. We all intuitively know how important water is for us so I won’t go into detail here, but your daily routine needs to include drinking water.

As a lifestyle guideline, “you should consume half your body weight in ounces of water daily.” 

Movement

Humans are designed to move daily and often. But to release the pressure for those of you who are thinking “I don’t have time to go to the gym everyday”, you can relax. That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that you need to move everyday and this can look like a gazillion things. Going for a walk, playing catch, climbing at a playground with your kids, stretching, running, sports, lawn games, building something, doing yard work, etc. The list can go on and on for ways that you can move. It doesn’t have to be a full “workout” (Remember, these are basic lifestyle guidelines, not training protocols for achieving X or Y)

As a lifestyle guideline, “movement facilitates blood flow and recovery; get moving everyday!”

Digestion

Improving digestion doesn’t just mean consuming probiotics and getting more fiber (although both can be beneficial for health). It takes time and focus to improve digestion. It looks like chewing your food 30 times for each bite you take. It looks like sitting down away from a screen, having a conversation with a friend, being in a relaxing environment, taking your time, and enjoying your food. Digestion is a 36-44 hour investment. Be mindful of how you’re eating.

As a basic lifestyle guideline, “digestion takes focus. Sit down, chew your food, enjoy your food, and set your phone aside and have a conversation.”

Balance

Maybe you perceive time as being limited and your obligations are overwhelming; there are a million things that you need or want to do during the day and only 24 hours to get them done. Applying organization of your prioritizes and subsequent daily tasks, will help to ease your sense of pressure, and that may give your a new value of keeping BLG’s in place. Create boundaries for work and play; too much of either will likely take you away from your goals. 

As a basic lifestyle guideline, “there are 24 hours in a day; apply work and rest in balance.”

Purpose

‘Know your why’. This is probably a statement you’ve heard before. You don’t need some existential answer describing your ‘why’, but you do need some guiding light to drive your actions. Without that orientation to purpose, you can easily feel like you’re constantly chasing your tail, unfocused mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. 

As a basic lifestyle guideline, “You will die one day; let purpose drive your action.”

Own The Basics

BLG’s are the foundation for living a healthy life. Conversely, neglect of any one of these guidelines, will result in low resilience and diminished capacity at any give stage in life. “Own The Basics.” is one of our mantras at OPEX Lancaster. To own your BLG’s is to own the basics, which gives you a foundation for a resilient life experience. 

If you need support in transitioning the BLG’s into your lifestyle, our coaches want to work with you. We will assess, educate, instruct, and encourage you as you build a robust and resilient foundation of healthy living. 

Click the link below to get in touch with OPEX Lancaster, and learn more about how you can be supported by a coach.

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