Mindful drinking or drinking alcohol-free is one aspect of living a healthy and mindful lifestyle. Another very important aspect is getting and staying active. There is so much evidence that regular exercise is incredibly good for your mental well-being and your physical health. And what better time to get active than in “Active April”?

What Is Active April?

Active April, or Active for April is a campaign organised by many different health organisations. Its aim is to try and reduce severe and chronic illness and promote a healthy lifestyle. Many organisations use April as the month to try and help people take steps towards a healthier, more active lifestyle.

Just a few of the organisations that run an Active April campaigns include Action for Happiness, Bowel Cancer UK and Carers First UK. Connecting with any of these organisations can be a great place to start for someone trying to get active.

How Can You Get Active?

If you lead a lifestyle that doesn’t include all too much exercise it can be intimidating to start exercising. But there is plenty of help out there. Here are some ways to get active and embrace a healthy lifestyle today!

1. Join in an Active April Challenge

If you struggle to find the motivation to exercise, signing up for an Active April challenge is a great place to start. This can bring external motivation and a community of people. Having a community is a great way to stay motivated and enjoy exercise.

2. Use The NHS Couch To 5K App

The NHS has created an app and a programme, especially for people who are not used to exercise. This is the Couch to 5K app. Its aim is to help people with zero experience, go from hanging about on the couch to running 5 kilometres.

You can listen to or follow this programme online. It helps you to gradually increase your running intensity. The aim is to follow a specific programme and run three times a week. The programme begins with very short, slow sprints and long walking rests in between, and ends up with a full 5K run.

This can be a great tool for people just getting started with an active lifestyle. It provides a clear and manageable goal with a very doable trajectory to get there.

3. Try A 30 Day Yoga Journey

If running is not your idea of fun, a 30-day Yoga journey could be the ideal way to incorporate movement into your healthy lifestyle. Youtube is filled with free 30-day yoga journeys, or there is any number of apps providing 30-day Yoga programmes.

When we think about Yoga we often think about perfectly trim women wearing yoga pants and holding ridiculously contorted stretches. But do not be afraid, the most important thing about yoga is coming to the yoga mat and acknowledging where your body is. And the best thing about following an at-home yoga practice is that you can be completely naked whilst doing Yoga and no one else will even know!

4. Start Walking Or Cycling To Work 

One way to incorporate more movement in your lifestyle is to start walking or cycling to work if you can. This makes creating a new habit slightly easier because travelling to work is something you already do. So simply change your method of transport and you will be easily adding in exercise.

Other side effects of this can be arriving to work in a more relaxed state of mind, and getting time to clear your head from work on the way home. That way you can have a clearer divide between your work and home life, and ideally therefore, a better balance between work and play.

5. Find An Exercise Buddy 

Sometimes the best motivation to get active is just some good old-fashioned company! Find yourself a gym buddy or an exercise buddy and then you can have a proper gossip whilst you exercise, enjoy some friendly competition and get help staying motivated even when you don’t feel like being active.

Not all exercise has to be running or yoga, so find the sport and exercise that you are your buddy enjoy, be that skateboarding or swimming, squash or badminton. And if one buddy is not enough you could even consider joining a sports team or a running club. That way you can integrate your social life and your active lifestyle.

6. Reduce Your Alcohol Consumption 

Alcohol can be one of the top factors that stop you from getting up in the morning and getting active. Even if you only had a beer or two the night before it can still be hard to get out of bed the next day and feel like exercising. So one way to successfully start exercising more regularly can be reducing your alcohol consumption, or cutting it out altogether.

Reducing your alcohol intake can give you a clearer mind, and a lot more energy, making it much easier to get active and embrace a healthy lifestyle.

Embrace A Healthy Lifestyle With JOMO

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