After experiencing the pandemic, many people have experienced heightened amounts of anxiety and depression. Social interactions were limited. People were spending less time socializing, exercising, or being active and more time at home. This took a toll physically and emotionally on our society. Fortunately, people flexed their creative muscles and experimented with different wellness practices that became part of their routines. Improving your well-being takes time, effort, and consistency. Many of us experienced how quickly we can become unhealthy, both physically and emotionally, during tough times when the world is locked down.
Today, we reveal 7 proven tips that will help you improve your well-being and enhance how you feel each day moving forward.
See a Holistic Chiropractor
Holistic chiropractors help people experience pain relief from physical injuries and also overcome emotional trauma. John Amaral is an example of a chiropractor that helps people heal physically and emotionally. Through gentle touches, Dr. John helps people unwind stored tension in their muscles and joints. This type of chiropractic care is especially effective after turbulent emotional times like the pandemic. It helps people recover from physical injury while also helping them work through emotional stress and anxiety. People are beginning to prioritize holistic treatments like this more to help them improve their well-being.
Exercise Regularly
Exercising is key to keeping your physical body in shape. It not only helps you become stronger, but it also helps you prevent future injuries. The stronger your muscles and joints are, the less likely that random injuries are to occur. How else can exercising regularly affect your well-being? If you’ve ever heard of runner’s high, then you know that running and exercising can release surges of dopamine throughout the brain. This is directly linked to how we feel emotionally throughout the day. By forming a consistent exercise routine, you empower your body to feel stronger and your soul to feel happy.
Diet
“Garbage in, garbage out.” Having a good diet is extremely vital to improving your well-being on multiple levels. For example, if you eat large amounts of refined sugars, that can take a toll on your body over time. Younger kids that are extremely active with high metabolisms can get away with this more often than adults can. Your diet can also affect how you feel emotionally. As you diet and become more in shape, your confidence and self-esteem can increase. Also, if you’re eating heavy, greasy foods consistently, that can make you feel sluggish and unmotivated to do things throughout the day.
Get High-quality Sleep
Sleeping is incredibly important to your overall well-being. If you are not logging high-quality, consistent hours of sleep, it can begin to affect your body physically as well as your mood. When your body is resting, it has the opportunity to rebuild and replenish. Without this, your body can get pushed to its limits. Over time, this can make your body more vulnerable to potential injuries. Your mood can also be negatively affected by a poor night’s sleep. Focusing for long periods of time becomes extremely taxing on the brain, which can cause irritability.
During cognitively challenging workdays, we need all the energy that we can get. Without good quality sleep, hard days become much harder. Consistency is key to logging high-quality sleep. It’s important to give back to yourself and your body by allowing enough hours to get a proper night of sleep. Do you budget 8 hours but still don’t feel like you’re getting great sleep? Consider investing in a high-quality mattress and/or pillow. These are both items that you rest on every single night for multiple hours. It’s crucial to have a high-quality sleeping set up to help you feel rested and refreshed each morning that you wake up.
Spend Time Outdoors
Spending time outside is one of the most effective ways to clear your mind and destress. Following the pandemic, people have prioritized outside space much more than previously. Countless people fled major cities in search of a new home with land, trees, and nature. If you’re going to be stuck somewhere, it might as well be somewhere scenic and beautiful.
You can spend time outdoors doing a variety of things that can improve your overall well-being. For example, many people go on walks in the mornings to start their day. This allows them to break up the monotony of the workday by experiencing nature while also getting a light exercise in. Walking throughout nature is very beneficial for your brain and mental health. Going on a walk through the forest helps to clear the mind while stimulating different parts of the brain that otherwise don’t become very active during an average workday.
Journal
Emotions are typically better out than in. Holding things inside for extended periods of time can cause negative thoughts to spiral into anxiety and depression. Journaling is an effective wellness practice that helps people fully express certain thoughts or emotions that would otherwise become stuck and fester over time. When you write in a journal, there is zero judgment. It is an open and safe space for you to express all that you desire.
Oftentimes, when people journal, they aren’t even aware of certain emotions that they are keeping bottled inside themselves. Emotions and thoughts begin to flow onto the paper, enabling you to get out anything that you need to. If you’re unsure about what to write, try adding some structure to your journaling. Certain people enjoy writing about things they are grateful for. Others prefer to write out goals for the day in the mornings or reflect on their day at night. Regardless of your preferred format, journaling is a highly effective way to boost your well-being and express yourself fully.
Meditation
Meditating can be done by yourself at home or with a group. There are many different types of meditation that you can try out, all depending on your preference. Certain ones involve a mantra that you repeat to yourself in your head while sitting quietly. Others involve different breathing exercises that are incorporated into the meditation session. Whichever type you decide to try, meditating is a great way to calm down your nervous system and clear your mind. Oftentimes, people feel very refreshed and grounded after meditating.
If you’re struggling to find time to meditate, try squeezing it in first thing in the mornings. Wake up a few minutes earlier than usual before your texts and emails begin flooding your brain space. Give this time back to yourself as self-care to help you start the day feeling grounded and relaxed. If you have a busy work week approaching that you presume will be stressful, schedule time to meditate when you can. This is a powerful and holistic way to relax your mind and break up the busyness of the workweek.
