5 Things You Can Do Right Now to Get a Healthier Mind and Body

Our modern lives are often busy, stressful and full of distraction. We often forget to stop and take a breath. Work, friends, and even recreational activities demand our time and energy. It’s important to remember where our priorities are, and what life is really about.

Stop and ask yourself if you’re content. Life is stressful and it takes self discipline along with good habits to find daily satisfaction and contentment. This article will highlight some helpful habits you can begin today to get you back on track and help you find contentment and health.

1. Exercise Daily

Take 20 minutes each day to exercise. Even if you can find some time during lunch for a brisk walk outdoors, or wake up early to do some crunches, these habits will help your health and wellness. When you exercise, not only do you build muscle and more stamina, but your body also releases endorphins, the “happy chemical” in our brains.

Studies have shown that it doesn’t require becoming a professional athlete to get the highest level of happiness and benefits for health. Quite the opposite actually: it’s the first 20 minutes of exercising that allows an individual to reach that happiness boost every day.

2. Foster Creativity

Challenge yourself to come up with something creative. Research shows that being creative is quite useful for our mental and physical well-being. Why? Drawing, painting and molding objects from clay helps express experiences that can’t be put into words. This is also a great way to help maintain and reconstruct a positive identity. Writing is a good way to help you narrate an event and explain how it affected you, which can help you manage emotions and deal with the event, whether positive or negative.

Research has also shown that writing things down can help with learning and memorization. Music is also a great way to help different areas of our brains to communicate with each other. So whatever creative route you choose, whether music, writing or a form of art, start forming a habit of expressing yourself and you’ll find not only an improvement in positive identity, but an overall better feeling about yourself.

3. Find a Spiritual Connection

Identify a source of inspiration that is bigger than you. There is a powerful connection between mental and physical health through which emotional, spiritual and behavioral factors can directly affect your health. Negative emotions like anxiety can trigger increased stress hormones, which may suppress the immune system and affect your health. The same applies to positive emotions like kind and inspiring thoughts and emotions, which can help your cells function. Because of this, the way your think and feel affects your health and well-being. If you can find a spiritual connection to a higher power or a meditation practice, it can help your body manage emotional responses and create an environment that supports good health.

4. Get the Clutter Out

It’s a good feeling to want and need less. Clutter can affect our well-being and physical health. Clutter makes it difficult to navigate through your home or any area and get things done. It can also cause more unnecessary stress in your life, which also affects your health. It can ruin your focus and concentration, drawing attention away from what’s important, and it’s a  nagging reminder that your work is never done. It’s fine to have a little chaos, but life is about balance. Finding your balance is the key. Clean up your cluttered spaces, rid yourself of unnecessary possessions and organize the rest. You’ll find yourself more relaxed, more focused and overall less stressed with a space that’s clean and organized.

5. Step away from Technology

The internet and social media have completely changed the way we live, work and communicate. Studies have shown that young people who heavily use technology have a higher risk of sleep disturbance and mental health issues. Set aside time away from your social media and devices to meditate, interact with people one-on-one and explore places around you. Unplugging doesn’t mean disconnecting, but research has shown that stepping away from your social media helps remove feelings of jealousy, envy and loneliness. You may also discover how addicted you might be to technology when you take it away for a time. Balance is important. If you can’t be without it, it might be time to find a better way to control it.