100 footsteps to improved health

Take the 100 footsteps challenge! Just 100 steps three times a day can see an improvement in your digestion and overall health as a result.

Scroll for more....

What we eat and how active we are appear in almost every health related article and pamphlet we pick up. Yet most of these promote a one-size-fits-all approach for all subscribers or drastic changes to our habits with no consideration for our individual condition. One piece of knowledge that has stood the test of time - 5000 years, in fact - and is generally promoted, is that overeating is bad for us. My article on ways to avoid overeating without suffering is below in this blog.

Another concept that has become popularly adopted is the recommendation to walk 1000 steps a day. This, like many others, has been disputed, tested and, needless to say, overrated! A BBC Future article1 from 2019 discusses whether this is the right amount of steps and provides some interesting insight into this theory.

Ayurveda, on which my therapy is based, advises against both a fully sedentary lifestyle and overeating with specific advice on diet and lifestyle for general wellbeing and health. Essentially, most things in moderation is a good - and simple - first step to improved wellbeing. This applies equally to exercise in that too little and too much for your particular constitution or personal make-up can do more harm than good.

A simple habit that can help immensely without taking up hours of your time is one based on a key fundamental of Ayurveda. If you haven't taken the Introduction to Ayurveda mini-course, this principle is that digestion is vital to our overall health and wellbeing. Knowledge of the negative effects of toxins in the colon in the Western scientific community in recent years supports this principle first established an astonishing 50 centuries ago in the Vedic texts (from which Hinduism later developed).

Various ways to improve your digestive health include

• following a diet suited to your constitution or even, as a first step,
• starting to reduce your consumption of certain items
• reducing your snacks between meals (see How to Avoid Overeating)
• chewing well
• not drinking too much during or immediately after eating, and,
• walking 100 steps after each meal

Walking 100 steps after each meal causes a natural, gentle movement of the muscles of the intestinal region. When you walk mindfully, so being aware of which areas of your body are affected by the movement of your legs when walking, you will feel the motion in the various muscle groups and parts of the body. This  encourages movement throughout the lower abdomin which promotes healthy behaviours in the stages of digestion that take place here.

Simple changes, additions or reductions, that need not be overnight can make a difference to overall health and wellbeing. For improved digestion and health, committing yourself to this small change everyday is an ideal first step to improved health and everything associated with it such as maintaining a health weight, skin condition, emotional, mental and physical wellbeing.

Start walking just 100 steps after every meal every day starting from your next meal!

**Remember to comment below and tell us about your experiences.**

1 https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190723-10000-steps-a-day-the-right-amount