Mental and physical health is of the utmost importance for everyone. However, keeping your body and mind in good shape is often easier said than done. Going ahead with making positive changes can help improve your life on many levels.
Why Does Physical and Mental Health Matter?
Your mental health is important as it affects other parts of your being. For instance, depression or other mental conditions often spill over into physical conditions. You may experience frequent headaches or have problems sleeping; these are just some physical influences. Mentally, you may feel down a lot of the time and have explosive outbursts that a situation may not warrant.
Taking care of your mental health ties into improving your physical health. Likewise, keeping physically healthy also influences your mental well-being. Exercising regularly can improve your frame of mind and help you to be able to think clearly.
Combining both elements for wellness on mental and physical levels is the best way to stay in shape as a whole person.
Clean up Your Living Space
Spring cleaning is usually reserved for a certain time of the year, but you don’t have to wait for springtime to keep your home clean. Regularly cleaning your home or making time to do a good clean at least once a week (given you may be super busy with work) can help elevate your mood. A clean home creates balance, and in Feng Shui, even the littlest elements of light, ornamental pieces, and a clean space all add to balancing your life and your home.
Your home cleanout should include ridding it of clutter and unused items. Clutter can be distracting on many levels, and subconsciously, it can also reduce the ability to focus or feel secure. Making positive changes like keeping your home clean can also improve the air you breathe and overall health because it lowers germs and other microbes that may be in the air or on surfaces due to dirt
Schedule Regular Medical Appointments
Medical checks can help you discover health risks before they become a problem. For example, your dental office can assist with oral conditions and possibly help with issues causing headaches. For instance, you might be grinding your teeth more often due to high stress or anxiety. You might also be doing this due to a dental condition, but regardless of the cause, it leads to headaches and jaw pain, making you feel more miserable. Your dentist can custom make a gum guard for you to sleep in and lower the chances of headaches developing due to teeth grinding.
Seeing your physician regularly can also help as the doctor will do tests, take blood, and examine for any irregularities. Starting treatment for any health condition sooner than later will give a patient a greater chance to overcome the medical condition and, at the very best, manage these conditions while juggling life daily.
As part of making positive changes, including regular GP checkups can help you balance your mental and physical health.
Spend More Time Outside
Studies have shown that spending time outdoors in nature is exceptionally good for mental well-being and general health too. Making positive changes like incorporating outdoor activities can be part of your new resolution to wellness. You can enjoy trail walks, low-impact cycling, picnics with the kids, and lots more adventures that involve being outdoors.
You can also do yoga stretches outside on your back porch and meditate in the fresh open air. Try doing some gardening or enjoying a walk in a public garden admiring the beautiful flowers, trees, and little creatures in the surroundings. There are also plenty of water sports and activities you can enjoy, like SUP (stand-up paddling), kayaking, learning to surf, and more.
You can also start making positive changes to your outdoor spaces at home by building a porch or adding some stylish decking. Local patio contractors can help you bring your dreams of the perfect and most stunning porch to fruition at an affordable price.
In keeping with upgrades to your property that will encourage being outdoors, you may want to consider installing an asphalt driveway that is durable and easy to maintain. Plant your flower beds and make your garden pretty. You can get a variety of supplies like compost, seeds, garden tools, bonemeal, and others at your local garden center. Also, add a garden bench, swing chair, or hammock to enjoy the outdoors.
With your outside spaces looking beautiful and inviting, you’ll probably spend more time outside on your property when you’re not out exploring your other favorite places.
Get More Sunlight
Sunlight can help your body to make vitamin D, a vitamin good for bone and brain health. Vitamin D also encourages the body to absorb important minerals like magnesium, phosphate, and calcium. Spending time in the sun will also help your body produce melatonin, an essential hormone to help you fall asleep naturally. Getting fresh daylight into your home can also improve your mood, and natural light is the perfect way to do this. Window blinds can help you control how much light comes in and allows you to close it for less sharp glare.
Using a window installation company can help you fit new windows into your home. Perhaps you want larger windows or a glass wall window. You can have all this done with the help of professional contractors. The glass used as walls is reinforced to be sturdy and capable of acting as a wall without limiting the outside view as traditional brick or concrete walls do.
Add a skylight to the ceiling to get maximum light flowing in. A skylight is perfect for areas of the home that are prone to being darker and less energizing. Soak up the sun all day long and make positive changes for your mental and physical health.
Find a New Hobby
Making positive changes in your life often includes starting a new hobby. You may write off hobbies because of insufficient time, but it isn’t impossible to have a hobby and still fulfill important obligations. Hobbies are the things you love to do when you’re not engaging in work, errands, family, or other aspects of life. Hobbies can include making soap, handmade candles, crafts, art, sports, music, and lots more.
It’s a good idea to start a hobby that involves spending more time in the sun and outdoors. For instance, you can take up golf. You can get affordable golf carts for sale and bring your cart to the course without having to rent one. Other excellent hobbies include writing, reading, designing clothing, planning events, blogging, and making a bit of extra money with a side hustle like hair styling, baking, or woodwork.
Improve Your Air Quality
The air you breathe is important and can have a huge effect on your health. Moldy rooms within a property can cause respiratory conditions that can pose serious health risks as well as increase asthma symptoms for those who have this condition. Mold is also exceptionally bad for elderly persons and children; getting rid of it is a critical step to take.
Change the filters of your air conditioning system because dirty filters can cause bad air to circulate, leading to health problems. Bad air can breed germs and bacteria, so keeping the air clean and changing the AC filters are important tasks. Working with reliable AC installation companies can help ensure your AC is in good condition.
Air purifiers are also a positive way to promote better air quality. HEPA filters are common in air purifiers, and some people enjoy diffusing essential oils with antimicrobial properties to eliminate micro bacteria in the air plus create a lovely scent in the home.
If you have a heating and air conditioning system in your home, it helps with insulation and regulation of air temperatures. Heating and air conditioning services are always essential and will help improve your home and your health. Installing heating and air conditioning systems can improve the air in your home and make the environment feel more comfortable. These days, there are also smart systems that save on energy and reduce the use of water, enable you to set the temperature ahead of time, and do lots more to make life more comfortable.
Try Breathing More
Did you know that stress can lead to you taking shallower breaths, which encourages the body’s flight or flight system to activate even when it isn’t necessary? With life stressors that cause challenges, you may find yourself unknowingly taking shallow breaths, which can lead to headaches and raised cortisol and adrenaline. You need to train your body to counter shallow breaths and breathe more like a baby with deep belly breaths.
Take a few deep breaths throughout the day to help calm you down and increase hormones associated with happiness like serotonin, endorphins, and dopamine. The body can produce all necessary hormones on its own, but sometimes one’s lifestyle and experiences can prohibit sufficient hormone production.
Practice the seven-eleven breathing technique. Seven-eleven requires you to take a deep breath, and while doing so, count to seven, hold a bit, then breathe it out counting to eleven. If you cannot breathe in that long, try a three-five and count in the same manner.
Another breathing technique includes alternate nostril breathing. With this technique, you close one nostril while breathing in through the other, then breathe out the opposite nostril. Do this practice while continuing to alternate nostrils. You’ll immediately begin to feel a lot better and even lighter mentally. This practice is also used in yoga and is a helpful step before you begin meditation.
Get More Rest
Sleep is vital to our well-being, but still, many of us lack a good night’s rest each night. Making positive changes includes practicing a good sleep routine each night. Your sleep routine might include ending screen time an hour or two before you get into bed.
You may also enjoy a soothing cup of chamomile tea two hours before bed to help you relax for the rest of the evening. Take a warm bath or shower and soak up the soothing sensations on your skin, with the heat helping to melt and soothe the stress of the day away. Stay away from large meals before bed as this will make it hard for digestion and will cause you to have a restless night
While you sleep, your body repairs and rejuvenates itself, and a full night’s rest will help the body do this more effectively. Sleeping is also known to improve the immune system.
Drink More Water
Hydrating throughout the day will help promote mental focus and also help your body with its functions. Our body contains more water than it does blood, with water occupying about 60%. Water plays so many important roles. Regulating our body temperature, lubricating joints, and helping with cell manufacturing and tissue care, are just some of the factors that water is known for. You might also feel as though you’re hungry or develop a headache, which is your body’s way of telling you that you need to hydrate. Try using a water tracking app to monitor how much water you drink each day.
Eat Balanced Meals
Get a balanced diet down to help your body feel its best while getting all the nutrients, minerals, and fuel it needs naturally. A balanced diet is essential for optimal health and will help ensure your body doesn’t lack anything it needs. Reducing sugar is one important step in making positive changes to your diet because sugar in excess has many negative side effects. A common side effect is crashing at the end of the day after a sugar load during the day. Sugar also causes mood changes and agitation
Making positive changes in your life for better mental health and wellness may take time, so try to implement changes gradually. Even if you’re just getting started, don’t be afraid to go slow because every bit of progress you make can have a significant impact.