Are you looking for new ways to look after your mental and physical health? Maybe you’ve tried some of these practices before, and they didn’t work for you the first time around. It is never too late to adjust your mental and physical health. Here is a look into six different ways you can maintain a healthy mental and physical lifestyle.
1. Keeping Up With All the Doctors
In the book, The Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff discusses an area of Chinese medicine where they say, “One disease, long life; no disease, short life.” It is believed that if you are aware of your illness, then you are more likely to take the proper steps in maintaining your health. Rather than being unaware of illnesses, then you may believe you can live however you please.
Be sure to visit your doctor annually for checkups to preserve a healthy connection with your physical health. Being aware of what is going on with your body could be stressful, but in the long run, it could help prolong your life.
This includes your vision as well. Learn about the use of an ophthalmoscope, a tool used during eye exams. This is how your eye doctor discovers common eye diseases like cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, and glaucoma. It’s best to visit the eye doctor every two years.
2. Exercise at Least Five Times a Week
Maintaining a healthy relationship with exercise can be a pain, especially in the colder months when sometimes all you want to do is stay on the couch under a nice warm blanket. But you can’t deny how wonderful it feels to be in a thriving exercise routine.
Figure out your target heart rate, which is based on your sex and age, and work your way up to keep it there for 30 minutes, five times a week. Raising your heart rate promotes blood flow which can help improve your mental wellbeing.
3. Maintaining Stress
Getting caught up in everyday life is easy to do. Figuring out when you need to take a step back and manage the stress of everyday life can be quite difficult. There are some simple techniques to keep yourself in check.
- Do your best to keep a positive attitude. When you release the negative, you make room for the positive.
- Practice breathing techniques. There are simple apps to help you with these exercises.
- Develop into meditation and yoga. These are two extraordinary ways to practice mindfulness in your daily life.
4. Looking After Your Mental Health
Sometimes help needs to be sought on a deeper level than self-help mechanisms.
Talk with someone you can trust. Having people you can lean on during the darker times in life is a vital part of your mental health. Everyone needs someone to depend on from time to time.
Always know it’s okay to ask for professional help such as talk therapy. Being able to vocalize your feelings and emotions to a professional may help you realize you are not alone. There are many people in this world going through the same thing as you. Remember, it’s essential to look after your mental health.
5. Creating a Healthy Diet
Create a healthy relationship with healthy foods. What you eat can make all the difference. It really does matter what you put into your body.
Practice mindful eating, and be fully aware of what you are eating. As fun as it sounds, eat the rainbow. Incorporating colorful vegetables into your diet will add to the vitamins you put into your body. And be sure to drink plenty of water. Drinking water washes out unwanted toxins.
Don’t beat yourself up if you have a bad food day. You are only human, and you can only do so much.
6. Get a Good Night’s Rest
The required amount of sleep is between seven and nine hours. You may fall below or above the spectrum. Find out what your perfect sleep number is, and get as close to it as you can. If it’s next to impossible to do, then consider 20-minute power naps throughout the day. Power naps may boost your mental health and productivity.
Author: Mandy Kloppers
Mandy is a qualified therapist who treats depression, anxiety, OCD, PTSD, trauma, and many other types of mental health issues. She provides online therapy around the world for those needing support and also provides relationship counselling.
