We often hear the terms health and wellness used as one, cohesive phrase, but is health different than wellness? Do we understand what each means and can one be healthy but not well? Wellness is the act of practicing healthy habits on a daily basis to attain better physical and mental health outcomes. Wellness goes beyond just surviving, but also thriving. Whether you’re looking to improve your wellness or unsure where to start, these small, yet important decisions are sure to positively impact your overall wellbeing.
Self-Care
Getting Regular Exercise
It comes as no surprise that regular exercise is good for your health. The physical benefits are well-known, but what of the mental benefits? Consistent exercise improves your mood. Physical activity stimulates numerous brain chemicals, including endorphins, which are known to trigger a positive feeling in both mind and body. Aerobic exercise is also known to protect and sharpen cognitive abilities. In other words, exercising plays a significant role in improving learning, memory, and overall wellness.
Eating Healthy
Similar to exercise, nutrition plays a crucial role in both your physical and mental state. Having a balanced diet can drastically improve your sense of wellbeing, so be aware of what you’re consuming. For starters, eat regularly to prevent your blood sugar from dropping and leaving you feeling fatigued. Also, stay hydrated. Not getting enough water can negatively impact your mood, energy level, and your ability to concentrate.
Making Sleep a Priority
Far too often we find ourselves scrolling through social feeds late at night delaying our sleep. We think we can power through the next day, but the truth is there’s many negative consequences to these actions. Sleep is every bit as important to our overall health as nutrition or exercise. Neglecting sleep contributes to physical complications such as a weakened immune system or high blood pressure,and also potential mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. By prioritizing your sleep, your overall wellness will be primed and ready to go.
Staying Connected
Connecting with your friends and family is a great way to maintain wellness. Each person has unique social needs, so making time in your schedule is necessary to creating an optimal social life and balancing wellness. Simply taking ten minutes out of your day to call someone you’re close with is a fantastic way to connect and catch up with those who matter the most to you. Putting a little time and energy into building and maintaining relationships does wonders for your wellbeing.
Stress Management
Although everyone experiences stress in avariety of ways, not everybody knows how to manage that stress. It’s essential to find ways to effectively manage stress as it has a cumulative effect on your wellbeing. Before you take the reigns to managing your stress, you must first know how to identify it. Some of the more common signs and symptoms of stress include:
• Depression or anxiety
• Trouble sleeping
• Inability to concentrate
Some things in life you simply have no control over, so you just have to let life take its course. It’s not worth your time or energy to stress over these things you cannot impact, so try to let go of this worry and put your energy into something positive to avoid negatively affecting your wellness. The key is finding what positive outlet is most effective for you.
Promoting Healthy Routines
By nature, humans are creatures of habit. Whether these habits are positive or negative, they develop over time and significantly impact our wellness. Shifting a bad habit into a healthy routine can be difficult and doesn’t occur overnight. You must be willing to step out of your comfort zone to try something new. Take some time to explore and see what interests you! One healthy routine that offers countless benefits for your wellness is meditation. Some great aspects of meditation are that it’s simple, inexpensive, and convenient. In fact, you can practice meditation just about anywhere. Whether you’re on a break at work or at home, just ten minutes a day will do wonders for your wellness. While meditating, focus your attention to remove any negative thoughts that crowd your mind. The result is a sense of calm, peace, and balance that improves your overall wellbeing.
Healthy Habits
Beyond regular exercise and eating healthy, there’s many other healthy habits that also offer countless benefits to your overall wellness. These can come in the form of a new hobby or interest, you just have to find something that matches your personality. Productive hobbies can keep the pressures of everyday life off your mind as you pursue your interests. We spend a lot of our time indoors both at home or at work, so getting outdoors is another excellent way to unwind and boost your wellbeing. A daily stroll through the neighborhood on foot or by bicycle, or a trip to the local park may help you finda hidden love for nature. Even simple daily habits such as taking your vitamins or practicing proper hygiene have a positive impact on your overall wellness. Incorporate self-care and stress management tactics into your daily routine to achieve your best level of wellness. Start small to make these efforts become new healthy habits on your path to better physical and mental health, and overall wellbeing.
