How healthy would you like to be in the coming year? Here are some ideas.
Become a McDougaller
If you don't already, eat a plant-based diet with no added oils. Begin with Dr. McDougall's 10 Day Free Program. It was easier than I thought it would be and I've been mostly eating this way for almost three months.
Meditate
The effects of meditation can change the way you think and feel for the better. There are many websites and books in the library to learn how to meditate. I started with a book recommended by a friend, 8 Minute Meditation by Victor Davich. It's an 8 week program with a different theme for each week. Each meditation lasts only 8 minutes so it's very easy to start.
Practice yoga
I love yoga. It combines meditation with movement. I've begun to make this more of a daily practice. When I miss a day, I feel it. I recommend the Iyengar method as the instructors are all consistently trained well. Iyengar yoga uses props to safely help and show how the asanas should be done.
Take Feldenkrais classes
I haven't taken a Feldrenkrais class in over a year but I still remember the movement. The Feldenkrais method is based on small movements to reconnect or remind the mind and body how to move better. Norman Doidge - psychiatrist, psychoanalyst, and author of the bestselling The Brain That Changes Itself and The Brain's Way of Healing - features the Feldenkrais method in two of the eight chapters of his book, The Brain's Way of Healing. Visit PubMed to read some of the Feldenkrais studies. Use the Feldenkrais website to find a practiioner near you.
Dance
I think we'd have world peace if everybody danced. No training is necessary, just dance.
Spend time with friends
Studies of areas where the population lives longer than 100 years show that one of their characteristics is socializing with friends. Other traits include a mostly plant-based diet and natural movement. A recent review of predictors of loneliness in the older population concludes that the effort to better map what impacts loneliness should be viewed as a public health priority. Need a way to be more social? Try Meetup or take classes at a dance or yoga studio.
Plan for (an early) retirement
Money is math and what better way to use it than to plan for retirement or even an early one. Mr. Money Mustache shows you how. He and his wife retired at the age of 30.