Transform Your Life: Daily Habits for Better Health and Well-Being with the English Sisters

Ready to transform your life with the power of daily habits? Discover how small, consistent actions can lead to significant improvements in your physical and mental well-being. In this episode of "Get Real With the English Sisters," we unravel the secret to lasting change by sharing personal stories and practical tips. Learn how simple routines like daily stretches for sciatica or ensuring regular hydration can become powerful tools for better health. We don't shy away from the challenges, but we also offer realistic solutions, like sneaking extra steps into your day, to make maintaining these routines easier.

Uncover the magic of morning rituals like drinking lemon water, and how this small act can detoxify your liver and keep you hydrated. We discuss the hurdles of forming new habits and how they can seamlessly fit into family life, balancing acts of kindness with fostering independence. Finally, we touch on the essence of daily self-care routines, transforming tasks like removing makeup or brushing teeth into moments of joy. Join the English Sisters on this inspiring journey towards well-being, and don't forget to share your own routines with us—we're building a community of support and inspiration!

Hypnotherapy coaching sessions can help if you are struggling with anxiety.  Please email us at englishsisters@gmail.com if you would like help with an issue, mentioning this episode of our podcast for a special discounted rate. We work with clients worldwide over Zoom or Skype. Buy our Book Stress Free in Three Minutes available on Amazon and Kindle, to help support our work. Thank you!

Love and smiles from The English Sisters.

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Chapters

• 0:00 The Power of Daily Habits
• 12:20 Benefits of Daily Healthy Habits
• 24:53 Daily Self-Care Routine Simplified

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Do you believe that the secret to well-being is in your daily habits or in something that's sort of larger, so in something that you do once in a while? I think it's more in the daily habits. Definitely so do I, and that's what we're going to be talking about in this week's episode of Get Real With the English Sisters. Come join us on Instagram, on our social media, twitter, wherever you get yours, and do come and say hi, because it really does make a difference. It really really does. And also vote for us in the Women in Podcasting Awards, which we're so happy to be part of. Yeah, and the link will be up when it's time. It's going to be on August the 1st, so we look forward to you voting for us.

Speaker 1: 0:55

Daily Habits Right? Yeah, daily Habits is it? I know why was that sigh? Because they take effort. That's where the sigh came from.

Speaker 1: 1:05

Yes, because it's if you really want to change something in your life. It's not going to happen by doing it once, once a week. No, it's like you really want to get fit and you just decide to go to the gym once. We all know that once. Okay, it's a start, but really, you know, ideally you'd be wanting to exercise like three times a week At least, at least. And then, you know, some people just say no, let's just make it a daily habit. A daily habit's much better. There you go A daily walk, a daily little gym thing, whatever you want to do. You know, even at home, a gym thing shows how much I'm into it. No, do you know why? Because I actually do do my stretches every day. Now that's very good.

Speaker 1: 1:52

Yeah, because I had this horrible shiitake pain sciatica, yeah, say in english, and it was going all the way down my leg and it was really bothering me. And then I found this YouTube video yeah, and it really helped me. It does, doesn't it? It really did help me. And you know, the trainer kept on repeating. You have to repeat this. It's not just going to go away, but there is life after sciatica and if you do these exercises exercises you can get better instead of just popping a pill. Yeah, and I couldn't pop a pill anyway, because at the moment, you know, I, you know I'm not supposed to be taking all these pills. Well, I mean, they're not good for anyone, but at this particular moment in my life, no, no way, no way to painkillers. So I thought I'm gonna have to do something and it just and I've realized and it has changed it stopped hurting. It's got to be about consistency every day. It's consistency. Yes, I did the same exercise that you recommend. They didn't help you, no, but I don't know. I was just lucky. I think you were lucky.

Speaker 1: 3:01

I think if you are going to follow youtube video, whatever, just make sure the trainer says it themselves, but make sure you don't get into further pain. No, obviously it was my. I think it was a hamstring thing they're called, which is really weird. But yeah, there's these hamstrings in, uh, in your legs that are tight, that are tight. Yeah, just wondering why the ham a bit creepy, really, because it's a ham that we eat. Oh my god, yeah, okay, no, I don't think it comes. Don't focus on the words. It's not from that, it is from that. It's a hamstring. I bet you that's why it's called that. Anyway, it doesn't matter it. They, they're tight. So when they get tight, you need to loosen them, otherwise apparently, you get this horrible sciatica pain, which is the truth. I could barely walk sometimes.

Speaker 1: 3:50

You need to exercise your body daily, yeah, and so the whole thing is that you need to do daily habits. It's like drinking water. Yeah, all right, you start drinking lots of water one day and then the next day you just start drinking your wish. You hadn't said that. Why water? Because you're suddenly thirsty? Yeah, I know you've really obsessed with it, but it's the same. Yeah, oh god, now you have to get a glass of water. I'll get one after. Yeah, all right, um, but yes, it's the same thing, isn't it? You know you, you're gonna start. Okay, I want to hydrate more. Yeah, you can't drink a liter of water, whatever. They recommend two liters. You can't drink that one day and think, oh yeah, I'm done for the week. Exactly, it has to be every day. It's daily changing and the hydration, exactly, and I mean, and that is for your physical body, your mental body and your mental well-being is just the same, isn't it? So the secret to change is in your daily habits. Yes, so it's important that every day, you become used to doing these things every day, well, like for your own well-being.

Speaker 1: 5:01

You put, put, you, prioritize yourself in some way, and I think that the thing, the thing, the tricky thing about that for some people, is that it does take a lot of discipline, doesn't it? Yes, it does, and a lot of planning and there's a lot of excuses to be made, saying I don't have time, it's all right for you, I don't have time to exercise every day, I don't have time for this, I'm busy, I've got four kids on your way to work. You can walk instead of getting a bath, can't you? Yes, you get. The truth is, there is always something you can manage to fit in. Somehow. You can if you want to do more steps because you know you're supposed to be doing 8 000 or whatever a day, or whatever you know you can, there's a way you can fit it in, even if it's just moving fast around your you know the house, going outside, walking like what you say walking to to get something. You can get them in if it's, if it becomes your priority. But yeah, that's where it can be tricky because you, you the excuses well, I think people make excuses well because you believe that it's not really going to make a big difference to you. But the truth is that these little habits that you install in your every day end up making a huge change because, say for you, if you're, if you're thinking now, say about starting some kind of exercise routine and you think, okay, I'm going to walk. I'm going to walk to work instead of, or walk half the way to work, if you can. Instead of taking, you know, a bus and a tube or whatever two methods of transport, you're going to take one and then walk the rest of the way. Yeah, yeah, like what my daughter does. And in the end, over a year, you're going to feel so much fitter than when you first started. When you look back, you're going to be much healthier and fitter than you were before. Well, it's going to provide you great benefit.

Speaker 1: 6:52

Yes, you have to think that if you've got like if you open up a tap of water and only one drop of water comes out, but if you leave a jug under that tap and you go away after two or three, four hours, you'll notice the jug is going to start filling up. Yeah, that's a good point, and you will get quite a lot of water from that. You can get water from it. So you know, you've got to think that's the same. This is what daily habits are like they're going to be. You're going to have a compound, don't they? Yes, you.

Speaker 1: 7:19

Daily habits are like they're gonna be. You're gonna have a compound, don't they? Yes, you're gonna have a full drug and you're gonna have a really good thing out of doing something daily. You will have produce, you will have benefits. You want to save up for something. You put money away daily.

Speaker 1: 7:40

Definitely, financial hygiene yes, I don't know what it's called, but no, it's not. But anyway, it's a bit like a sort of a thing that you do every day, isn't it? And you take care of it. You look after your finances in a good, organic way. Yes, that's going to be helpful to you daily. Then you're going to have a good. Yeah, and sometimes it's the opposite. You might want to if you're, if you're used to like popping online and having a daily shopping addiction. Oh, yes, you can avoid that, avoid that habit and, yes, and that will compound, and at the end of the year you'll feel a lot lighter and freer. My goodness, me definitely.

Speaker 1: 8:27

And these are subtle things that can happen, like they like occur at a certain time of the day when you like have that free moment, you think, oh, let me do some browsing. Yeah, and it's always at the same time. It is, at the same time, aware of yourself, of what you do. It's always at the same time. That's why it's a habit and a lot of the times it's even in the same place in your home, like you might have a certain chair, or you might upstairs when you go to bed, or in your bedroom, wherever you have. You might have a certain moment of time where you do that. It's incredible how habituary we are in our habits and how our brains work to make to sort of. It's like the pavlov's dog yes, yes, it just goes off, it fires off.

Speaker 1: 9:14

At that moment you go into a certain area in your space, your living space, and you'll think, oh, and you just think it's random that you pick up your phone and you start browsing. It's not random, it's all programmed into part of your daily habits and so in a lot of ways, you're going to have to deprogram yourself, catch yourself and think, oh, this is when this happens. You know, this is danger, danger. Hop on the bus. You just say, oh, actually, no, I'm going to walk straight past the bus stop today, yes, and walk to the next bus stop, yeah, and that is going to enable me to get that amount of exercise in those steps that I need for my wellbeing, cause we do need to to walk, we need to walk, we need to walk more as people. You know it's really healthy for us and we need to talk more as well.

Speaker 1: 10:08

So if you, if, like if you're in the habit of always looking at your phone all the time for instance, my daughter was telling me she was at a conference and she said she found it really hard to network because most people were just looking at their phones all the time and and it's it's so hard to you know, to come out of. Come out of that like addiction to your phone if you're, if you're not aware of it. So just become aware of your daily habits. When you're, like, waiting somewhere, do you instantly take your phone out, or can you say, okay, today I'm going to change this habit and I'm not going to take the phone out of my bag or whatever to have a look at it on my pocket.

Speaker 1: 10:49

Yeah, try and communicate more with the world around you. Yeah, that's a good one, actually, because that's just part of your daily routine. If you just do that at one point in your day, you don't have to do it all day, but just at one point it. You know you could, you could make connections that you wouldn't have made otherwise. You're right, yeah, it's just so part of a habit, you know.

Speaker 1: 11:14

I just think that if morning, you go to the coffee shop, you sit down, you order your coffee and then you just get your phone out, yeah, and there's so many people buzzing around you and most of the time if you're in one area they're always the same people but you don't actually even just look up and say, oh hi, what happened today? Oh yeah, oh, it's hot today, whatever's happening. But you get to know them more, don't you Come on A little bit more? And it you come on a little bit more and it's important, you know that is really important for your well-being to just there are studies that have proven this to just say hello to the postman or say hello to your barista and have even a very small conversation, but share, you know you share a smile is all part of that's going to be very helpful to how you feel at the end of the day. It can help a lot with your anxiety as well. Just to change the few daily habits that you have and make them more like, more in your favor, make them more productive for you, more helpful for you, absolutely. I mean.

Speaker 1: 12:20

I've started my daily habit now of drinking this um water with lemon in it every morning. It took a bit of effort at first, because I know you've been doing that for years, like lemon water, and it's like tepid. Is that even a word? Tepid? Yes, okay, all right, I thought where was that come? It's another one that comes from the lantern, right, okay, yes, and I thought where's that word come from? I mean, brains are funny, aren't they? Yeah, and I was drinking it. But you know, the first day it's delicious, isn't it? Well, I didn't like it at first because I wasn't used to it. Now I can drink up to you know this, like 500 ml. So it's all you know.

Speaker 1: 13:09

Half, no, half a lemon. I put half a lemon in my morning water. Now, whole half gosh. It's rather strong, doesn't it like? Get your tea? Doesn't it hurt them a bit? Not if it's in a, in a large mug. You just gulp it down.

Speaker 1: 13:23

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I drink it quickly, yeah, yeah, well, yeah, I think that's the secret drinking it quickly. I mean, I actually like it. I want to drink it quickly, I like it, you like it. Yeah, I'm thirsty in the morning. Yeah, no, I'm thirsty in the morning as well, but I would just drink a normal, regular glass of water. No, you drink cold water, it's just cold water. Yeah, they've said there's many benefits to warm water. Really, yeah, it's actually really great detox for your liver. It's the same temperature as your body, isn't it?

Speaker 1: 13:52

And the lemon in it, yeah, and and so that's become part of a daily habit now and I just automatically. It's great, because once it becomes a habit, then your brain is like programmed but you're always buying lemons now, aren't you? I'm always buying lemons. I wish I had a lemon tree. No, because the problem is it's not just you that's taking it on, it's the whole family.

Speaker 1: 14:11

Well, I've certainly passed it on to my husband. Yeah, I mean, I'm trying. I've only got one son living, because if mine, I'm the only one, oh, I make sure he gets a whole, you know massive glass of it as well. So we both have it. Yeah, so in the end. And then, plus, it's lemon water. But you have to make his lemon. I don't have to In no, any way. If I don't make it, he's just not bothered. But if you make it for yourself, can't you just make it for yourself and him make his? Of course I can. It's an act of kindness that I just I'm prepared.

Speaker 1: 14:44

You always seem to be adding more onto your own load here. No, it's not that much of a load, it's a daily habit. If you watch us on youtube, you're because like cringing, it's not no, because it's uh. Yeah, I know, but it's hard to work if you have to do two instead of one. I just get out quietly, I go into.

Speaker 1: 15:05

Well, yeah, because your husband just doesn't want this lemon water, does he? He would never drink it for the life of him but, like I, I know that it's really it's going to be really good for him, because I know that he suffers from high blood pressure. Yeah, and obviously it would be good if he could take it on board this morning. He had he could make it for you would be nice. Yes, it would be nice. Yeah, he's made my breakfast for years. Yeah, so, and that was lovely as well. Yes, that would be nice and I could ask him for it and he would yeah. Yeah, I'll ask him tomorrow. I go, you make the lemon water. I mean, it's not a big deal, I just put the kettle on. Yeah, but it's an extra thing. It's an extra thing.

Speaker 1: 15:43

You don't realize how much burden we add to our own lives by, you know, thinking it's an act of kindness. It is an act of kindness, but why do we always have to be the kind ones? Because he does lots of acts of kindness for me in other ways, in other ways, but in some ways it's important for them to also do act, to take responsibility for their own health. Oh, absolutely, you're making it for him all the time. Will he make it when you're not there? I bet you he wouldn't. No, I don't think he would, he just have not.

Speaker 1: 16:13

Whereas if he creates a habit of making it for himself and for you, then even when you're not there that morning, if you lie in or whatever, he'll probably still make his lemon water. Well, actually, the other day I saw he did get that big glass out, because I've actually got these special glasses for because they're really big. I mean it's half a liter. I just have a mug in the morning. I don't have all this exaggeration, oh, no, but I think you know in the day I prepare lemon water in a, in a, in a, yeah, anyway, yeah, this is just like so that he can get started with the 500 ml of water, more really for him than for me, because I drink loads of it anyway. Yeah, but since he had this high blood pressure and it was really scary because I had to take him to the emergency, so I was really scared by that, yeah, so that's why I make a special effort to help him as well. But yes, you're definitely right, this morning I didn't prepare it and I saw he drank it on his own. So you didn't prepare? No, I didn't.

Speaker 1: 17:14

Did he make it for you? Because he rushed off, because he had this dream about me and he hated it. He was really jealous in his dream, so I didn't. And he was like angry and I thought what's wrong? He goes. I had a bad dream. And then I go, what was it? Something to do? Yes, you were in it. You went off on your own instead of staying with me. So it was a dream that he had. You know, sometimes dreams seem to be really realistic, don't they? Well, when you have a dream, you can wake up and feel quite anxious, a lot of emotions. So, anyway, it went off. But I saw he had it. So there you go. But he didn't make it for you. No, he did not, he was in a rush. Yeah, all right, I'll make a point of it tomorrow. Tomorrow I'll say you make it. Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 1: 18:05

We can get into daily habits where we're just getting used to making things for ourselves as well, like the other day one, quite a while ago now, my husband made himself eggs, because sometimes at lunch, if we're working from home, we at different times and and I thought, oh, you could have asked me if I wanted some. I would have wanted some. And so now whenever he's making something, he he'll say do you want something? Yes, and that's nice too. Yes, because a lot of the time I feel that we women we're always asking, especially when it comes to food and things, if someone else wants it. We have this nurturing aspect to ourselves. Definitely. Well, I do, yeah, but it's also nice to get spoiled, absolutely Spoiled. Nice to get spoiled, absolutely spoiled. I'm just saying we spoil them all the time. Exactly, yes, but when they make it for you, it's really lovely, it is lovely. Yes, yeah, you're right, yeah, very lovely.

Speaker 1: 18:52

Yeah, it's like empty out, emptying the dishwasher out in the morning. Well, that's a daily habit you do every morning. When you come home from work, you've got a lovely empty dishwasher. These are little things that do facilitate making your lunch for yourself. If you don't always want to eat out at work, you know you're making sure you want to eat something healthy. That entails preparation. You have to prepare your little salad or prepare something that you want that's going to be healthy to take to work. That's also like it can be part of a daily habit. That's going to make small changes. It won't make a dramatic change in how you feel, not the next day, but you'll soon have better, you'll have healthier you'll have. You probably won't have a gastric reflux, especially over one month or over two weeks.

Speaker 1: 19:40

You will notice the difference if you start eating a healthy meal for lunch instead of just going to get a pizza or something really fast food all the time, which is what happens, because you get hungry, you're busy, you just grab the first thing, right, yeah, yeah. Well, you might have prepared yourself a really nice healthy lunch for yourself. Well, if you can, you do it. But that also takes daily organization. It means you're gonna have to go and buy groceries. It means you're gonna have to have a container to put the groceries you know to prepare. It entails preparation, you know, even if it's just boiled eggs or some chicken salad, whatever it is. It entails some kind of preparation and prepping it.

Speaker 1: 20:26

I think you can make that preparation though part of your mindful habits. Yes, yes, you can, absolutely you can make it. Instead of having it like a sigh and feeling that it's a heavy going thing, you can think you can be proud, yes, and yes, I did it myself, and you will feel better. Yes, and you'll probably lose weight as well, because you'll be, you know, healthier, you'll have a more balanced weight and you'll you know you, you just feel better, generally, hmm, so, yeah, and you'll probably feel like more, um, you'll have more energy, won't you? Because you'll be eating, uh, things that are actually being actually chosen by you, and you feel, you know it's, it's a good feeling, I think, to know when you're taking care of yourself. Yeah, you probably save a lot of money as well, because it's a very definitely, definitely, yes, absolutely so, yes, so it's like everything, but it's, it's the secret of the daily habits.

Speaker 1: 21:28

It's a daily habit, isn't it? There's so many little daily habits that you can get into, like making the bed as well. Yeah, tidy room, making the bed, putting on, you know, making your laundry, getting your laundry done. So afterwards you've got something nice to wear the next day, all these little things that you do, that are all daily little habits and that the daily little habits make you into the person that you are, because at the end of it, like after you've been doing it for a year or two, you'll be completely changed. So now just become part of you. If you want to see change in yourself, if you're not satisfied with the way you are now and you want to see change for the better in yourself, you just have to start implementing these daily habits. That will, that will accumulate and compound over time and you'll start seeing results quite quickly.

Speaker 1: 22:27

Really, after a couple of months, you'll probably notice a huge difference, and the same goes for your mental awareness. I mean, obviously, if you're going to be taking care of your physical body and your environment, what you eat, what you you know how much water you're drinking to be taking care of your physical body and your environment, what you eat, what you know how much water you're drinking, etc. But also the thoughts that you're thinking come on, let's face it, they're a great part of your mental. You know well-being, aren't they? Well, yeah, and if you're thinking about implementing all these habits during the day that are helpful to you won't have much time to think negatively. That is also true because you're involved in looking after yourself and that's already great part that. That can help with feeling down and blue. You know you can get a lot better, that is true, so you'll be. Just. It's like it's a win-win time, yes, to start thinking that you're no good and you're. You know these thoughts that can come up in our minds that can make us feel down, these unhelpful thoughts, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 23:28

So what daily habits are you going to implement to see the change that you want to see in yourself over the next few months? I'm going to think about that Because it doesn't just have to be. You know in the new year that we have to think these things. We can do it anytime we want, anytime. There's no start or end day. No, exactly. Every day is a good day to start and if you forget to do it one day, you know, don't beat yourself up, just get do it the next day. Oh yeah, absolutely yeah. There's always going to be one or two days where you can't follow through on something. Yeah, absolutely yes, and it doesn't matter.

Speaker 1: 24:08

We have a skincare daily habit that we've had ever since we've been like 13, that we, every single day. We never come rain or shine, no, no, yes, it's always. Take the makeup off and then moisturizer, yeah, the moisturizer. That is never, you're right. No, ever since we started wearing makeup, I think I've never, I don't know once in my life I've ever gone to bed without unless I should go to bed, yeah, a day that I didn't wear makeup still, wash my face, probably, and moisturized the half dead. Oh, come on, we're not talking about half dead situations. We're talking about daily, normal life. Normal life is every day. I've done, even when I used to work at, you know, the night shifts, because I was flying and I, when I was an airhouse, this I was still okay.

Speaker 1: 24:53

When you're working, you've got your makeup on and everything and normal, but then whenever I would get to the place, it would always be remove it, you know. Wash the face yeah, it's the same especially your teeth. It becomes, in the end, it just becomes automatic. It becomes something that you need to do, yes, and you want to do it. So that's really what you want your daily routine and your daily change to become something that you feel like you want to do and you don't even think twice about doing it. It just becomes automatic, becomes a pleasurable moment, yes, a moment for yourself, self-care yeah, absolutely so. Let us know what you think and you can send us a text with what you, what you're gonna do. Yeah, we might give us some ideas too. Yes, implement them. We will take them aboard. We will absolutely lots of love and smiles from the english sisters. And do tell a friend about this podcast if you think they'll like it. Bye.