If you look up the word vitality in the dictionary, you’ll see the following definition: the state of being strong & active, having energy, life, vibrancy, passion and drive. Sounds like something we could all use more of in life, right?

Increasing your vitality in life may be the secret to living a more connected, successful and meaningful life. Yet how do you get there? Where do you even start? Building a life full of vitality doesn’t have to add to your stress or overwhelm, interrupt your already busy schedule, take hours out of your day or even require you to necessarily DO more!

Today, I’m sharing 5 simple, yet effective, tips that you can begin implementing into your life TODAY to increase your own vitality. Because you DO already possess the innate ability to heal yourself, you DESERVE to live a life full of vitality and you CAN start today!

Tip #1: Get grounded
We live in sunny SoCal where the vitamin D flows free and the beach is our backyard. So get outside! Take a few moments to your shoes off and place your bare feet in the grass and feel the sensations within your body: you’ll probably notice an immediate shift from stress to relaxation. This concept is called grounding and is now scientifically proven to shift your nervous system into a relaxed state simply by sharing the Earth’s energetic vibrations!

Tip #2: Move your joints
Your joints are the foundation of your entire body, where bones, muscles & tissue connect & where all movement is initiated. Your joints are what allow you to walk, run, sit, jump, bend over, stand up, lie down, get up out of bed; ANYTHING you do requires a (healthy) joint to initiate that movement. When you have healthy, strong joints, you live in less physical pain, you’re able to get out of bed in the morning with no pain or stiffness, you are able to sit at your desk all day with less discomfort. You get an almost instant boost in your physical vitality simply by improving your joint health!

Tip #3: Learn how to breathe
Have you ever watched your breath throughout the day? Most of the day, especially when you’re stressed & overwhelmed, you’ll notice that your breath is caught in your chest through short, sharp inhales & exhales. For an instant release, press the breath down into the belly, allowing only the belly to expand on an inhale and fall on your exhale. You’ll notice an instant calming effect because you’re getting more oxygen in with each breath. For a deeper experience, keep the breath in the belly and count to 3 on an inhale (belly expands) and extend to a 6 count on the exhale (belly falls). This will instantly reboot the nervous system out of fight or flight mode and into it’s resting state.

Tip #4: Relax Your Nervous System
Your nervous system is the communication highway that connects your body and mind and carries signals back and forth. Because we live in world full of stress, work, obligations, responsibilities, etc our nervous system is constantly on overdrive. In order for your body and mind to heal, the nervous system must be in a resting state (parasympathetic mode). Here are a couple simple ways to reset your nervous system: get grounded and breathe (see above examples), go for a walk & focus on the sensations within your body instead of the thoughts in your mind. Or finally, practice mindfulness throughout your day (perhaps on your walk or just sitting silently). Take a moment to simply observe the thoughts that are coming up; try not to judge them or analyze them. Instead ask yourself “are these thoughts serving me? Can they be released?” Once you step outside of your thoughts, you can then replenish your mind with spaciousness, deeper intellect, creativity and even peace.

Tip #5: Lean into your emotions
Emotions are simply energy in motion and always show up to serve a purpose. Emotions are created by thoughts and just want to be tended to and acknowledged. When an emotion gets suppressed or ignored, it gets stored in the body and at some point (whether immediately or over time) will manifest itself physically, whether through pain, tension or tight muscles, illness or simply by an overreaction. So the next time, you get a flood of feeling or sensation in your body, chest or stomach (as an emotion is coming up), I challenge you to actually lean into the emotion (instead of turning away from it). Ask the emotion why it’s there, allow it to flow through your body, observe it, make friends with it even. You may be surprised at how quickly that emotion dissipates once it’s acknowledged or even what it’s there to teach you.

Cheers to your vitality, friends!

-Elise

For more information on these vitality practices, email Elise directly at info@illuminatemovement.com or sign up for her free 5-day online course (www.illuminatemovement.com).

By Karen Vazquez, Founder of LoSoCal

Hey there LoSoCal friends and readers! Was that a fun summer or what? I have been so focused on being as healthy as I can be and I slowed down quite a bit to rest these last few months. It was fun and it was RELAXING! I know that if you live in SoCal as well, then you understand how gorgeous it was here! My summer was full of pool days under the sunny sun and I bet that many of you did the exact same thing. Ha!

During my more “active” days when I was out and about, I met so many amazing, interesting and talented people in our SoCal communities and I was able to see some long-time special friends, too. As many of our readers know, I am an Ambassador at Hera Hub Carlsbad, a shared workspace for women where I am a part of a wonderful community of women entrepreneurs. This last summer the new community director there, Tamina, connected me with a member, Elise Wark. She specializes in movement coaching. It was love at first sight. She has already touched my heart and with us having so much in common...we immediately hit it off. She also has her degree in Public Relations and she has a passion for writing. Those are two of my favorite things! After getting to know Elise better, I realized that she would be perfect to join the team I am developing with LoSoCal.

Essentially, we are a community blog and we have previously had other writers on a guest blogger basis. Another team member, Chris Morrison, has been a long time guest blogger with me for three years and he is in a leadership role as the lead ambassador of LoSoCal. I have had MANY guest bloggers over the last four years. It’s been a very fun and interesting journey to work with other writers like myself.

Elise will be a bit different since she will be with us long-term instead of coming on as a visiting guest blogger. She hopes to share some of her health and wellness lifestyle tips and knowledge!

I wanted her to offer a little greeting and information about herself to let the readers of LoSoCal know who the new "Health and Wellness Expert" will be on our site. So, here we go. What's up Elise?

Thanks Elise! Welcome to the LoSoCal family!

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