It is a great time of year for new beginnings

About this time of year, families around the world pick up on Nature’s cue and use this season to clean up, spruce up, de-clutter and get ready for springtime. But your body can benefit from some spring cleaning as well – what are some ways to tune up your body?

If you’ve put on a little extra weight during the colder months, you may want to rethink your diet, concentrating on fresh, wholesome foods, especially high water content foods like fruits and vegetables. Eating foods with water in them helps to flush out your system, and the fiber in fruits and veggies also helps your body to get rid of waste in your gut, left over from processing your food.

And while we’re talking about water, you’ll need to drink a substantial amount of water to help clean out your body – most experts recommend about one ounce for every two pounds of body weight. In other words, if you weigh 130 pounds, you need to drink 65 ounces of water, or about eight 8-ounce glasses each day, and if you weigh 190 pounds, you need to drink about 95 ounces per day, or about twelve 8-ounce glasses. If you’re too toxic or overweight, you may need a natural cleanse, as well.

Part of cleaning yourself out is getting yourself moving, with some form of exercise – match your exercise with your condition, and aim at your preferred objective, like weight reduction, personal training or participation in a sport or hobby. Get your body into motion – it improves your blood flow, carries toxins away, and increases your breathing capacity. If you work up a sweat – it purges junk out of your system, and leaves you feeling lighter.

Breathing exercises are also invaluable for cleaning out your body – try this simple pattern, which will both relax you and energize you: breathe in for a count of three, hold for a count of twelve, and breathe out for a count of six — repeat ten times, and see how clean and vibrant you feel.

And finally, visit your doctor of chiropractic, to tune up your body so it can get the most out of these other health habits. A brain and nerve system that can regulate and heal your body effectively is the best health asset of all. And, you can ask for some advice on these and other important lifestyle decisions.

Developing a good health routine is important year-round, but especially now — Nature is waking up, and you can wake yourself up too.