Are you as healthy as you could be? Unfortunately, the answer is almost certainly an emphatic “NOOOO!!!”
But I have great news: it’s not your fault and there’s plenty you can do about it.
Now, wait a minute, you might be saying, “If it’s not my fault, then how can I even do anything about it?”. Let me explain.
We modern humans have a problem; it’s called evolutionary mismatch. Basically, it means that our evolved traits (genes, behaviors, etc.) once upon a time made a lot of sense. Once upon a time, they HELPED us survive and thrive.
Unfortunately, we’re also fairly intelligent. So we’ve been able to transform our environment through technology (e.g. Agriculture, industrial revolution, electricity, internet, etc.) very quickly and those innovations have quickly outstripped many of the evolved traits that have existed for a very long time.
So that’s what I mean when I say it’s not your fault. Wait… you didn’t invent agriculture or start the industrial revolution, did you? Ok, just checking.
Now that we know what the basic problem is, we’ve got to find a solution. Today I’ll give you 3 tips I regularly give to my coaching clients on Becoming a Healthy Human.
Tip # 1: Get as Much Daylight as Possible
Modern people have tons of problems with their sleep and getting enough Vitamin D. A big part of the solution to both of these problems is getting as much daylight on your skin and your retinas as possible.
Actionable Step: Get at least 30 minutes of daylight every morning around the same time. This will help you sync in your circadian rhythm and will also help you generate Vitamin D in the summertime. If you can get more than that, get more. The more daylight you get, the better!
Tip # 2: Play Like a Kid
Human beings, particularly, adults, don’t play enough. Modern hunter gatherers play all the time and so did our ancestors. So should we. Human beings need a lot of movement and they need many different varieties of movement. They don’t need weight machines and treadmills. They also need fun and interaction with other human beings!! Remember, we’re tribal animals.
Actionable Step: Read something like Frank Forencich’s outstanding “Exuberant Animal” and learn some fun movement games to play with your spouse, friends, or kids.
Tip # 3: Get rid of Light at Night
Remember what I said about getting plenty of daylight? Well, the opposite is true at night. At night, we need to get rid of as much light as possible. Electricity has only been around a little over 100 years. It turns out that human beings don’t do very well with artificial light, particularly at night. Artificial light at night suppresses melatonin which is a really big deal because less melatonin secretion is associated with much higher rates of chronic disease.
Actionable Step: Get rid of all your screens at least an hour before bed. Put up some blackout curtains. These are great in a pinch. If you want to be more thorough like myself and my clients, get some glasses to wear at night which block out the blue light like these. You’ll look a little nerdy but you’ll live longer!
Here’s to becoming the healthiest human you can be! If you want to learn a whole lot more about becoming the healthiest version of yourself, come check out my retreat “The Wim Hof Method & Becoming Human” in May!!
