Your thinking of the hierarchy of basic hygiene -> exercise -> mindfulness is exactly how I started thinking about my daily life about 3-4 months ago. I am not 100% there yet but I started by making sure by never skipping brushing even if I'm running late to work, then moved to flossing more often. Around the winter holidays I started walking more often (30+ mins), now I do it every day and then just last week I started practicing mindfulness by meditating and I saw it as the last step toward understanding my body more. Of course, I could be doing these with more rigor and more time but I think soon I'll see them as non-negotiables for everyday living. To me, it's a surprise that I went for a long time without thinking exercise is what my body needs just as much as I need calories and sleep.
> To me, it's a surprise that I went for a long time without thinking
Boy, me too!
I think most of my days fall into several categories: 1. hygiene: exercising, flossing, shaving, making my bed, eating, etc 2. spirituality: something like mindfulness, not meditation though, but rather just looking at the evening sky more often or being acutely aware of this moment and the next, of the very food I am eating, or not interpreting every experience I experience and just allowing this moment to be, etc 3. simplifying: decluttering, eliminating ideas or things that I become aware of and come across that I find aren't capital-t true or that I don't need, internally or externally 4. play: interests, going to class, studying, learning, working, hanging out with friends, sitting in traffic, paying the bills, swimming in the ocean, etc
