Building a healthy and balanced body, mind, and soul before traveling increases your stamina to do more and travel longer, as well as decreases your likelihood to get sick. From my experience I’ve found an accelerated way to reset your system and learn healthy new habits is by completing a 30-day wellness program. Not only does it take your brain around 30 days to form a new habit, this time period also gives your body and mind time to process and remove toxins.

After waking up this morning with major camps caused from gluten in the pasta I ate last night, I decided I’ve had enough of feeling of like crap and I choose to feel good again. Of my main goals in life is to create balance and health in my body, mind and soul through positive life habits, choices, thoughts and association. I know from the past a structured plan and being accountable works for me to achieve this, which a wellness program is based off.

I’ve completed various cleanses and wellness programs in the past and decided with my 11 years experience in varied meditation techniques, background as personal trainer, triathlete and yoga teacher, and studies in nutrition and Ayurveda, that this time I’ll create my own wellness program.

DIYBooks

The inspiration behind it

Two years ago just before heading to Hawaii for a month, I completed a 30-day wellness challenge created by my holistic chiropractor in Vancouver. Based on a 20/20/20 minute time principle of meditation, movement, and journaling, combined with a light cleanse. This program kick-started my journey and exploration into an organic, vegan, and mostly raw diet and changed the way I ate in Hawaii. It also showed me personally the mind and soul benefits a daily meditation practice and journaling can bring such as:

  • increased mental clarity
  • reduced stress
  • more focus and direction in life
  • tools to cope with stressful life situations
  • greater sense of purpose
  • ability to process and let go of past traumas and patterns
  • reduction or elimination of activities and association that no longer serve you

During and after the wellness program (while sticking to the food plan) I noticed that on a physical level I:

  • felt better and more connected to my physical body
  • had clear skin (ditched the concealer)
  • gained clearer thinking
  • went back to my healthy and natural body weight
  • no longer reacted in pain to almost everything I ate (most important one to me)

The raw vegan diet itself lasted around a year before the feeling of being restricted, frustration with eating out, and the forming of a rigid thinking threw me off the path. What did last into my current lifestyle is a daily meditation practice, daily exercise, gratitude exercises, buying all organic produce, drinking a green smoothie every morning and eating mostly vegan (I was already a vegetarian for 14 years).

Doesn’t sound all that bad does it? The saying ‘you are what you eat’ certainly is true. This also applies to your thoughts. You put junk in you get junk out. You put whole and light food and thoughts in and you feel and think whole and light.

Over the past year even adding back a small amount of processed and fried vegetarian foods, wheat, gluten, corn and soy into my diet was enough to take away most of the physical benefits I gained from the wellness program. Instead it has led to sugar cravings, spotty skin, weight gain, constant stomach pain, and less energy. These toxic, low vibrational foods also form those type of thoughts and reduce mental clarity and direction.

Outline of my DIY wellness program

My 30-day wellness program on a daily basis includes:

BMS

The main goal is for my body to be physically strong again and injury free. I also want my organs and body systems to function at 100% capacity. The 20 minutes of strength training each morning will either be rehabilitation stabling exercises, core strength, yoga, stretching or weights. The daily physical movement I will do includes walking, cycling, swimming, hiking, yoga or any other form of movement.

The wholesome food cleanse is a vegan diet (no meat, dairy, or eggs) removing processed and fried foods, alcohol, caffeine, sugars, corn, wheat, gluten, and soy. The supportive supplements I chose are probiotics, an omega 3,6, and 9 oil blend, greens powder, and a raw vegan protein blend from high quality brands I’m familiar with.

DIYGreens

Sunwarrior is my favorite raw vegan protein powder and HealthForce is another high quality brand for protein and greens powder.

DIYSupplments

I like Udo’s oil for the omega fatty acids blend and Garden of Life have a high quality Raw Probiotics 

For my mind, I will begin the morning with gratitude exercises and hand picked affirmations that suit my goals, with a different topic of focus each week. I’ll also focus on learning and implementing one of the Four Agreements each week. For 10 minutes a day I’ll read from a personal growth book such as the Four Agreements and journal a minimum of two pages before going to bed.

I’ll boost my existing daily Kundalini yoga mediation practice by adding another meditation technique for 10 minutes, which will change every week to tie in with the affirmations and exercises.

Tomorrow I begin my 30-day wellness program and will keep you posted each week of the challenges and changes that take place. I will also provide more details about the benefits of each major activity such as affirmation, meditation etc.

Sat Nam