25 Ways To Improve Your Health
You are investing in yourself when you practice self care. When you prioritize your self and take care of your needs, you are nourishing your mind, body, and soul. You also improve your emotional, mental and physical health, which will inevitably lead to a happier life. If you’re not sure of where to start, don’t stress – we got you covered! We compiled 25 different activities and self-care tips that will improve your health.
1. Get active
Getting active does wonders for your physical health. We know that you know that. But, getting active does a lot of good for your mental health too! Regular exercise boosts your mood and improves your self-confidence. If you’re someone who struggles with getting a good night’s rest, increased physical activity helps you fall asleep faster and deeper.
2. Stay hydrated
Did you know that the human body is made up of 60% water? Our bodies literally depend on water in order to survive. So, keeping hydrated and drinking plenty of water each day is vastly important for our overall health. When you drink enough water, you nourish your internal organs and help them maintain their regular functions. You also flush out bacteria, and lubricate your joints!
3. Journal
Writing in a journal goes way beyond the “dear diary” trope we’re all familiar with when we were in grade school, pining after our crush and moping about unrequited love. There are actually a lot of emotional and mental health benefits to consistently journalling. It’ll help you keep track of your goals and ambitions, improve your self-awareness with your emotions, and strengthen your memory.
4. Listen to music
There’s a reason why we like to crank up our favourite tunes when we’re feeling low or when we’re studying for exams. Listening to pleasant music is an instant mood booster and helps lower your stress levels. It’s a quick and easy way to improve your emotional health!
5. Spend time outside
Do you feel more energized when you go on a hike or breathe a sigh of relief when spend time in green spaces? There’s a reason for that! Spending time outdoors nurtures your mind, body and soul, and is quick fix if you want to improve your overall health. Apparently, when you spend twenty minutes in open air, you get the same amount of energy as you would to drinking a cup of coffee. Spending time in natural sunlight, and soaking in that Vitamin D, boosts your mood and helps combat conditions like depression and osteoporosis.
6. Walk more
Walking is a simple way to improve your health. It’s already something we have to do daily anyway, so why not add more steps in? If you can walk at least 30 minutes each day, you will strengthen your bones, improve your cardiovascular health, and increase your muscle strength. It can also boost our creativity and relieve anxiety!
7. Meditate
Meditation helps you observe your thoughts and feelings, which will boost your self-awareness and gain a better sense of your self. It’s a great tool to use when you want to improve your mental and emotional health, because it helps you understand and handle your emotions in a healthy way. Meditation also helps with stress and anxiety, and improves your heart health.
8. Read more books
There are a lot of health benefits to picking up a book and reading it. When you read a compelling, I-can’t-put-this-book-down story, it eases your stress, stimulates your mind, and improves your concentration. It can also boost your critical thinking and strengthens our memory.
9. Plan your meals
When you plan your meals out for the week, you will no longer stress about what you’re going to have to eat for dinner. Meal prepping can help you eat healthier and will save you more money.
10. Practice yoga
There are a lot of mental, physical and emotional health benefits when you consistently practice yoga. Each pose has different benefits, but on the whole, yoga improves your flexibility and posture, lowers your blood pressure, and boosts your mood.
11. Adopt a morning routine
When you create a morning ritual that works well for you, you set yourself up for a more productive day. Maximizing your time first thing in the morning will set a positive impact on your mental health too. You won’t have to make game-time decisions between grabbing a cup of coffee before work or putting on makeup when you have your routine set out for you already.
12. Focus on what you’re grateful for
There are a lot of health benefits when you express gratitude for who you are thankful for and what you are thankful for. It improves your psychological health and strengthens your relationships. It can also make you more empathetic, and it can boost your self-esteem.
13. Keep good company around
When we say “good” company, we mean everyone who adds positivity to your life and make you feel happier when you’re around them. These people can also help inspire you to work hard and make better or healthier choices.
14. Try a new hobby
Trying out new hobbies is good for your mental health – it helps you manage your stress by giving you something to look forward to outside of work. They’re also a good way to make sure you’re not using your spare time as extra work time by filling that space with something meant just for you. Gotta get that healthy work-life balance!
15. Sleep well
As if we needed another reason to love sleep. There are a lot of exceptional health benefits to getting a good night’s sleep. When you sleep 7 to 8 hours a night, you improve your memory, lower your blood pressure, and boost your overall energy for your day.
16. Confront your negative thoughts
It’s easy to not acknowledge negative thoughts that creep through your mind, but leaving those unchecked will end up with them piling up and your mental health suffering. Learn to approach those negative thoughts head on instead of avoiding them. Acknowledge them, and then work on letting them go, like catch-and-release. It’s a long road, but taking a no-holds-barred approach will do more for your health than ignoring them ever will.
17. Take a technology detox
Believe it or not, but being ‘on’ all the time with technology is actually rather stressful and absolutely a detriment to your mental – and physical – health. Hunching over laptops and phones for hours on end does your back and eyes no favours. Sometimes you need you time, and spending that time off the web is a good way to unplug and not feel tempted to keep working.
18. Have a good breakfast
We know it’s tempting to skip that first meal of the day for a few extra zzz’s, but eating breakfast actually is good for your health! That burst of energy you get from your morning meal helps stop you overeating later in the day to compensate, and stops you from starting off your day feeling tired and drained – definitely not how you want to feel when at work!
19. Do one thing that makes you happy
20. Hang out with someone you love
We know this one seems pretty obvious. But, out of your day, how much time do you get to spend with people you care about? Connecting with others does wonders for your mental health. Spending time with people you love provides a whole heap of benefits – for example, having fun! The benefits don’t stop there! People who spend more time around those they care about actually live longer, so it’s great for your physical health too.
21. Use sunscreen
Adding sunscreen to your morning routine is a good way to keep your skin healthy and keep you from cooking in the hot summer heat. Not to mention it slows skin aging from harmful UV radiation, leaving you wrinkle-free for longer. Plus there’s nothing more healthy than preventing skin cancer, right?
22. Say or write down one thing you like about yourself
Believe it or not, but saying – and even writing – good things about yourself leads to an improvement in mental health. The more time you spend thinking good things about yourself, the more space it takes up in your brain, leaving less space for negative thoughts to barge on in. This is one you want to do every day to really make it stick. It’s worth the effort to elevate your self esteem and give a boost to your mental health!
23. Buy a plant
Our green buddies do wonders for our physical and mental health. Not only do they clean the air you breathe, but being around that greenery is good to reduce stress and tension in your life and just make you happier all around. Not to mention that spending time with plants can actually help improve your blood pressure and help mange your heart rate!
24. Create a self-care plan
You probably already know the horror that is burnout. Prolonged stress can lead to a state of physical and mental exhaustion that takes a toll on your health, leading to that terrible terrible state of, well, burnout. When work gets tough, self-care is something that tends to fall to the wayside, when it’s in times like this that you should make sure to make space for yourself! Besides, the more you care for yourself, the more energy you will have for the day. Take the time to identify what needs you need in your daily life — mentally, physically, and emotionally – and craft a plan to address them! And for extra health security make one for emergency situations too, for those times when a crisis pops up. After all, you don’t want to be left unprepared!
25. Declutter your room
We don’t know about you, but nothing makes our hearts beat faster than walking into a disorganized room. It’s even worse when you’re living in it. It seems easier to toss your clothes onto your desk chair, but we promise you, you’re making your life a lot more difficult when you keep your room cluttered. Clutter causes stress, and can totally mess up your focus when you’re trying to get work done. Decluttering your room will make you more efficient, and relieve your nerves!
