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7 Positive Habits To Have An Incredible Day

positive dayHow many times have you woken up wondering what your day is going to be like? Given the current scenario, your thoughts are clouded with the pandemic, infections and to top it off the pending office work, assignments, presentations and meetings you probably don’t want to attend. In the turmoil of these menacing thoughts, the thing you forget to focus on the most is being positive!

All the thoughts perceived as negative spike your cortisol (the hormone that leads to bad stress) levels. If your day starts on a negative note, it is certainly guaranteed that the rest of your day is going to be the same. What you do and think during the first few hours after waking up can impact your mood, routine and productivity.

It is important that your morning routine starts on a good note. Follow these simple strategies when you wake up and you’ll be all geared to be positive and happy!

1. Rest Well To Be Positive & Happy

Sleep plays a vital role in good health and well-being throughout your life. Getting enough quality sleep at the right time can help protect your mental and physical health, quality of life, and safety. Sleep is just as important as eating and drinking water. Despite this, millions of people do not sleep enough and experience insane problems as a result.

The way you feel while you’re awake depends partly on how you have slept or what kind of sleep you have had. During sleep, your body is working to support healthy brain functions and maintain your physical health.

2. Prayer & Meditation to Facilitate Clarity and Abundance

Once you wake up after a healthy 7+ hours of sleep, prayer and meditation are crucial for orienting yourself towards positive thinking.

Nothing can be better than meditating for 10 min in a day for a healthy mind. Meditation can transform the mind. It doesn’t mean that you have to sit in a particular posture and focus on any single point. The definition of meditation is different for different people. If you ask me, meditation is the art of focusing our attention (100%) in one area.

MRI brain scans of people who meditate has shown an increase in activity around areas that control metabolism and heart rate. Some studies on Buddhist Monks have shown that meditation produces long-lasting changes in the brain activity in areas involving attention, working memory, learning, and conscious perception.

3. Sniff Your Way Awake

Most of us start our day with a morning wash which helps us open our eyes properly. Similarly, the scent you wash with can have a big effect on your mood, says Art Markman, Ph.D., the author of Smart Change. Research suggests Lavender can help you relax, mint can stimulate your brain, and citrus can reduce stress. Scrub and sniff away.

Over and above, a cold shower is more beneficial. Cold water immersion radically facilitates physical and mental wellness. Regular use of Cold water for shower provides long-lasting changes to our body’s immune, lymphatic, circulatory and digestive systems that improve our quality of life.

4. Get Up & Move More!

Exercise is extremely important for a healthy lifestyle. If you’re healthy, you can devote a 100% to any task. Kickstart your day with some good physical activity. Exercise decreases your chances of depression, anxiety and stress as it helps your body release endorphins which are good for you!

5. Take 2 Mins to Thank Someone

There is no harm in thanking someone for their presence in your life. People are magnets. When you’re grateful for what you have, you will attract more positivity and good. Gratitude is contagious. Gratitude may be the most important key to success. It has been called the mother of all virtues. Begin your day by putting yourself in a position of gratitude, you will attract the best that the world has to offer.

6. Listen to Something Uplifting

Everyone loves music! It’s one of the best ways to boost your mood. Personally, I love listening to old Bollywood or Sufi music and whenever possible, I use an alarm that actually plays music.

Music helps you find some relief from stress and if you start your day with such a great medicine – think how the rest of your day will pan out. If you listen to inspirational/uplifting material right when you wake up, then you will eventually condition that message into your mind and connect it with waking up in the morning.

7. Lighten Up The News

I personally try to avoid news channels in the morning in order to avoid any negative content I may come across. If you start your day with negative news, you may think about it for the rest of the day. Try something more motivational or positive. If you read stories that inspire you or make you happy, you’re guaranteed to have a fabulous day. Try creating a bank of motivational videos and begin your day with them.

This has been my personal experience and it has never led me astray! Try these very simple routines and gear up for success. Most importantly, begin your day with a smile!

Hope this helps! Do share your thoughts in the comments below! For more on mental health and emotional wellness, check out Healthy Reads or get these tips directly from your coach by subscribing for personalized health coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

#BeTheForce 

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5 Life Hacks to Stay Motivated

motivatedSetting goals is easy but achieving them can be quite difficult. In between working towards your goals or giving up, the thing that keeps you going is motivation! That’s why knowing how to stay motivated is very important! Whether it is your health or career, you must focus on the long term. Here are some tips that will help you stay motivated and achieve your goals!

 1. Set SMART Goals

Try and set goals which are SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Reasonable, Tangible and Time bound). Be very clear as to what you actually want to achieve in how much time and keep your goal realistic. Try not setting larger goals in an impractical time period to be completed in as it can cause unwanted stress and demotivation. Here are more details on setting SMART Goals.

 2. Divide Goals into Smaller Parts

Try and take small steps which will facilitate fulfilling the long term goal set by you. If your smaller goals are achieved, it motivates you to move forward and accomplish the other goals which bring you closer to your main goal!

 3. Tap into People with Common Goals and Positive Attitude

When you feel demotivated or have just begun following your long term goal, try looking for people with similar goals as energy is something which is definitely transferred from one person to another. If the other person is performing well and is motivated, it motivates us as well! You can also read articles of people who have set goals and achieved them! It will motivate you.

 4. Take Responsibility

Once you have set a goal, talk to yourself every day about achieving it so oyur path isn’t hindered. It’s a little difficult to restart habits one they are left in between. Always tell yourself that it is a part of your everyday schedule and you can achieve the same. Taking responsibility gives you a sense of ownership over your health and can help you remain motivated.

5. Adopt a Positive Vocabulary

Your body listens to what you think and say. All words carry a certain amount of emotional baggage. So instead of saying or thinking of phrases such as, “I may not be able to do it”, “not sure if I can”, or “I hate and dislike doing this”, try changing your vocabulary to “Yes I can do it”, “I am trying my best” and “I love doing this!” It will help you boost your motivation levels. Keep a positive attitude, use weak words for negative feelings and strong words for positive ones. 

If you have lost motivation at some point, try to follow the above points to help you get back into the groove! It’s not about how hard you fall but how fast you stand up. Remember that nothing is impossible!

Still low on motivation? Get the right guidance and motivation directly from a GOQii Coach by subscribing for personalized coaching here: https://goqiiapp.page.link/bsr

#BeTheForce

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Shreyans Ravrani Shifts From Illness to Wellness!

Shreyans Ravrani

At the age of 38, Shreyans Ravrani led a lifestyle which wasn’t very different from the working professionals of his age group. As a Gujarati, his diet involved regular consumption of oily food and sweets, something he never realized can be detrimental to his health. He didn’t maintain portion control nor eat a balanced meal. Physical activity was almost nil and to add to it, his stress and sleep were negatively impacted due to work pressure and traveling.

He had joined GOQii in 2017 as he found the personal coaching feature appealing but did not stick to his plans or take being healthy seriously. In June 2019, Shreyans Ravrani was diagnosed with high cholesterol and fatty liver disease. He was faced with 2 options – either live with the prospect of lifelong medication or adopt a healthier lifestyle. He chose the latter and his life changed since then.

Making Positive Changes

Shreyans Ravrani realized he had to reduce his weight. He weighed 77kg with a BMI of 29. In order to get healthy, he renewed his subscription with GOQii in July 2019 and got more serious about utilizing personal coaching. He already was consulting a dietitian and he started to validate all her suggestions and inputs with his GOQii coach.

These were the changes he incorporated:

  • Took sugar and fried food off his diet
  • His breakfast included oats or idli.
  • For lunch, he reduced his chapatti intake to 3 and included lots of salad and buttermilk
  • For dinner, he mostly had soup or a light khichdi.
  • He stopped snacking on processed foods and shifted to fruits, roasted chana or makhana along with green tea.
  • He began walking for 2km every day but that wasn’t enough to burn fat. So he began running in August. Initially he felt breathless after 350m. By November, he could run 5km a day. From a strenuous activity, his running time now became his “Me-Time”.

As a Jain, he was used to fasting which helped him control his hunger pangs even as he reduced his meal portion. He says, fasting gives you mental strength and distracts you from the thought of food, which he was able to do successfully.

Levelling Up The Game!

By November 2019, Shreyans Ravrani participated in and completed his first 10k run within 65 minutes. In December 2019, he did it again but completed it in 60 minutes. He was happy that he managed to beat his previous time so quickly.

Between July – November 2019, he had reduced 14kg. Seeing this, his coach had to ask him to cut down on his running and add some strength training routine to his workout. He ensures that he completes his quota of running by spot jogging at home even during lockdown!

He regularly participates in health challenges organized by GOQii with the GOQii App from time to time including the current 30 Day Quarantine Burn Challenge.

What Does Shreyans Ravrani Have to Say About His GOQii Coach?

Shreyans is extremely thankful to his GOQii Coach for her contribution towards his transformation. He thinks the best part is that he can ask questions as and when they arise in his mind and get them answered by an expert quickly. She is also a constant motivator, following up with his habits, progress as well as guiding him in the right direction. He feels it helps when you have someone monitoring your habits and giving you timely feedback.

What Changes Does He See in Himself?

Apart from weight loss and his vitals returning to normal, he says the complete change of mindset towards health and fitness is worth it! His entire family is now more aware and diet conscious. Every member makes sure to burn off extra calories as and when they indulge.

Do you want to make a lifestyle change as well? Download the GOQii App and subscribe now.

For more inspiring user journeys, read here: https://goqii.com/blog/category/user-stories/

#BeTheForce!

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GOQii Trail Challenge Heroes: Pooja Behuria Achieves the Impossible

Pooja Behuria

Fitness is not a race and it is true that you can’t get active overnight. It is a gradual process which takes time – something which today’s erratic work hours and busy schedules don’t offer. Pooja Behuria learned about this when she decided to take the GOQii Trail Challenge in 2019. But, that wasn’t the only thing she learned. She also realized that GOQii was more than just a company or a group of individuals trying to get fit… GOQii is a family! 

Before the GOQii Trail Challenge

Like most people, the concept of fitness and a healthy lifestyle were alien to the 23-year-old Pooja Behuria from Mumbai. The banes of erratic work hours coupled with living alone in the city compelled her to live a sedentary lifestyle. But all that was about to change!  

She learned about GOQii and the Trail Challenge through Genesis-BCW, an agency associated with GOQii since the past 4 months. Since then, she has been watching LIVE videos on GOQii Play.

Pooja Behuria had never been on a trek before. When the registrations for GTC began, she thought that it seemed like an adventure – considering the terrain for the trail. What drove her to register was that she saw it as a challenge as none of her friends or colleagues believed that she would be able to complete it. In fact, they were certain she wouldn’t even reach halfway. She decided to prove them wrong!

Training and Preparation

As she had never attended an endurance trail such as GTC, she browsed through the website to gain more insight into what to expect and how to prepare herself. However, due to time constraints and partly due to her own laziness, she did not begin her preparations until 20 days before the event.

If she was going to do the trail, she had to prepare! With new motivation, she made some changes in her eating habits and began doing a little bit of exercise to prepare her body. She began including more proteins, complex carbs and most importantly, drinking more water on a daily basis which she wasn’t doing until now. Pooja began drinking coconut water and eating seeds and nuts between meals instead of junk food.

On the first day when she decided to go for a walk, she covered 20km and ended up feeling sore and tired. She couldn’t move her legs for 2 days. She then realized it was a mistake and decided to gradually increase the level to get her body conditioned. She began taking short walks and using the stairs while going to the office and back home as stair climbing is good for building endurance. She still felt she wasn’t prepared enough.

Walking the Trail and Persisting

Pooja Behuria partnered with one of her office colleagues Jisha, when she began walking on the 7th morning. She and her partner were all geared and excited when the trail was flagged off at 5:30 in the morning. They managed to reach the 1st checkpoint in just 1.5 hrs. Both seemed to think it was no big deal and they should be able to complete it easily within 9-10 hrs.

As they left the 1st checkpoint, her partner started feeling unwell. Jisha had developed a fever but still persisted and continued. By the time they reached the 3rd Checkpoint, Jisha was shivering and on the verge of passing out. Before the 3rd checkpoint, she had fallen in water which only aggravated her condition. Jisha thought it was best to give up. From there on, Pooja was by herself.

But it is the GOQii Trail Challenge and we are all a family. No one is ever alone on the trail. Another participant, Girish Narang who had been walking solo became her partner for the rest of her journey. Pooja says that if it wasn’t for her new partner, she wouldn’t have completed the trail. Girish Narang kept pushing her and motivating her to continue. She was already halfway through and giving up wouldn’t make sense – is what he kept telling her.

After every decline down a mountain, when she said she couldn’t go any further, her partner motivated her to take another step. The last 10km were the hardest where every step seemed strenuous. Her legs were giving up and the pain was unbearable. All she wanted to do was sit and not move.

After 16 long hours, when she finally saw the finish line, she was filled with mixed emotions – exhilaration, shock, awe, relief and complete joy all rolled into one! She couldn’t believe her eyes! That unexplainable feeling of achieving something she thought wasn’t possible for someone like her was unparalleled.

Now, when she looks back she’s still surprised that she didn’t give up. It has filled her with a sense of pride and confidence. The trail does change you in one of the most beautiful ways. She now believes that it is all a mind game. If you persist, you can achieve the impossible. 

She says there were participants who were twice her age and yet completed the trail in half the time she did. This hasn’t demotivated her but has only inspired her to prepare thoroughly and participate in GTC 2020. She says that though she didn’t know anybody at the trail, each and every participant she met along the way encouraged and motivated her to move ahead. It was like one big family, joining hands and motivating each other to complete the trail!

Want to know what the trail looked like? Watch the GOQii Trail Challenge 2019 Movie.

Want to share your experience at the trail. Write to us! 

We look forward to seeing you for the next GOQii Trail Challenge!

#BeTheForce 

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