Guest post by Jennifer McGregor
Image via Pexels
When considering ways to improve your overall health, it’s important to think about wellness in a holistic way; both your mental and physical health are important to address for overall well-being. Practicing self-care is a daily requirement for the best results—here are some strategies to get you started.
Head-to-toe wellness
Improving your physical health is a multifaceted process; diet and exercise are certainly important, but getting enough sleep is also vital.
Diet can be a tricky aspect of wellness, as our varied body chemistries means there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Rather, it’s a process of trial and error to determine foods that agree with your constitution and make you feel most energized. That said, there are some guiding principles to keep in mind, such as avoiding processed foods. Preparing home-cooked meals from scratch is a good first step to eating well. Aim to include as many whole, plant-based foods as possible, incorporating grains and green veggies into your diet.
Along with a healthy diet, you’ll need to adopt a regular exercise routine. If you’re resistant to working out, consider trying activity-based exercises. Taking up sports such as soccer or volleyball can be a great way to get exercise that doesn’t feel like work. Or, if high-impact activities aren’t right for you, consider doing yoga at home, which will benefit not only your physical self, but has positive mental health benefits as well.
One positive side-effect of a healthy diet and regular exercise is that you’ll likely start sleeping better. Sleep is crucial for cell repair. Sleep deprivation can lead to mental fogginess and irritability. Your body won’t recover as fully from workouts, and stress is likely to increase. Be sure to get at least eight hours of sleep every night for optimal recovery and to boost your immune system.
It’s also a good idea to focus on your hygiene and skincare practices. By improving your beauty routine, you’ll soon find your skin and hair will become healthier. Drink plenty of water as you incorporate a new routine; it will help your body remove toxins and leave you glowing from head to toe.
Mental health practices
For optimal health, it’s important to remember the mind-body connection: our mental health suffers when we ignore our physical wellness, and vice versa. By adopting the physical health strategies above, your mental health will start to improve. However, there are mental health practices you can adopt to help foster overall wellness. Meditation is an excellent practice to incorporate into your daily routine. Not only does it help clear your mind, it also contributes to happiness.
Clearing negative energy
Even the most balanced individuals aren’t immune to negativity. We’re all subject to our emotions at times, and this can be exacerbated by relationship conflict or bad energy in your home.
If your family consistently experiences complaining, arguing, or overly critical behavior, it’s possible that your home has some lingering negative energy. Luckily, there are easy ways to clear bad energy from a home and let in some fresh air.
Once you’ve determined that there’s negativity in the air, take some steps to clear it. The first thing you should do is open the windows: fresh air is healing and can instantly alleviate tension. It’s also a good idea to clean your home, using a naturopathic remedy made from lemons, vinegar, and sea salt.
You may even want to try smudging your home, which is a Native American method for clearing negative energy. Smudging is the process of burning sage in various parts of your home, and it’s believed to cleanse and purify both the physical and spiritual, and can help remove negative energy.
Improving your health requires a holistic approach. From diet and exercise to sleep and mental health care, you’ll need to adopt new routines to find real results. Eat well-balanced meals and start exercising regularly for physical health, and consider meditating daily to improve mental health. Clear negative energy in your home to help alleviate household tensions, and remember to get plenty of sleep so your body and mind can recover from daily stresses.