Whether we bump into someone while we’re out and about or a friend/family member pops up to us on instant messenger, the inevitable; ‘How are you?’ always makes its way into the conversation. Often, we respond with the classic, ‘Fine, how about you?’ because we want to be polite and not burden those close to us with our issues even if we’re dying inside.
Yet when did you last step back and reflect on your mental/physical health? We’re so used to shouldering the weight of our problems that they become second nature to us, so it can shock the system when asked how we’re doing. However, it’s crucial to consider your wellness occasionally, as this determines how you carry out daily activities, your mood, how you treat others, and much more.
The journey towards becoming happier and healthier isn’t straightforward for anyone, and at times it will feel like you’re making little progress when you want to be progressing in leaps and bounds. Not because you’re not trying hard enough but because change can take time and is sometimes better in little doses.
Therefore, it’s best to create small, achievable milestones you can accomplish daily. But how do you go about doing so? From taking pride in your physical appearance and ensuring you get the correct amount of sleep to spending more time with family/friends and getting outside more, we outline several things to include in your wellness toolkit for better mental/physical health below:
Tips for Building a Better Wellness Toolkits
1. Get Outside More
When you’re feeling low, the last thing you want to do is move; all you want to do is lie on the sofa with loads of snacks while you watch your favourite television program. However, even though it might seem like the last thing we’d want to do during these periods, getting outside and moving your body is one of the best things you can do to improve your physical/mental wellness.
Whether you walk around your local park, tend to your garden, take your dog for a walk, or participate in an outdoor activity and exercise class, spending time outside or bringing nature inside can benefit your mental and physical health in multiple ways. Some of the most notable effects it can have on the human mind and body are as follows:
- Make your mood more positive.
- Improve your physical health.
- Helps you feel more connected to nature.
- Increases your self-confidence and self-esteem.
- Helps you to unwind.
- Helps you give back to your local community and much more.
2. Get Some Shuteye
If you often catch yourself yawning throughout the day, nodding off as soon as you sit down, or struggling to keep your eyes open while watching TV – you might find that you’re not getting enough sleep per night! Aside from being one of the essential bodily functions, getting some shuteye is crucial for allowing your mind/body to reset to feel refreshed when you wake up the following day.
It also keeps you fighting fit by warding off diseases, infections, and colds so your body remains as healthy as possible. So, as you can imagine, failure to get enough rest can leave you feeling somewhat disorientated, causing your brain to flail around and impeding some of your vital senses, like the ability to focus, good qualities, process speech, and much more.
To prevent these negative feelings, you must get the recommended amount of sleep for your age group, usually seven to eight hours for any average, healthy adult. You can do this by tweaking your sleep schedule to help promote rest and let your brain know it’s time to wind down for the night.
From leaving your phone in the other room and avoiding screen time several hours before sleeping to taking a bath before bed and reading a book, there are many ways to promote restfulness before bed and use them to get a good night’s sleep!
3. Take Care Of Your Physical Appearance
One of the best ways to better your physical/mental health is by looking after your outward appearance since it can help you become more in tune with your body and ultimately lead to improved physical wellness.
From dressing up in your favourite outfits and maintaining a physical exercise routine to sticking to a skincare regime and looking after your hair, there are many ways to take care of your physical appearance that benefit your mental health simultaneously.
Including regular examinations to ensure that everything is as it should be with your body, especially with your features like eyes, teeth, nails, skin, and hair, as changes to these are the most noticeable and should be addressed as quickly as possible to ensure that they don’t worsen.
For instance, suppose that you’re noticing excess strands of hair on your pillow or patches where your hair seems thinner than usual; you could suffer from hair loss, which can get worse if medical help isn’t sought and take a toll on your mental health.
Depending on how severe your symptoms are, you might be prescribed finasteride, dutasteride, or minoxidil, which can help slow down hair loss symptoms and prevent the condition from worsening. Regardless of which hair loss treatment you require, you can find medications over the counter and online from providers like Oxford Online Pharmacy.
Whether you need to buy finasteride, get more information about the types of hair loss treatments available, or book a consultation with a medical professional, their website can help you gather any information and decide which treatment you need. Consider visiting their website to learn more and learn how their treatments could help you take better care of your physical appearance today.
4. Spend More Time With Your Friends/Family
While we all like our alone time, spending time with friends and family is vital for improving our mental/physical wellness. As we grow older and our friends branch out and do different things, we don’t notice how our nights out on the town become slowly replaced with playdates and school meetings – likewise with close family members.
Before long, your weekly phone calls to your best friend turn into Zoom calls, where you can hardly discuss anything private as you keep getting interrupted by your toddler, and slowly but surely, organising your mom life and your professional life around friendships and family events becomes as impossible as eating soup with a fork.
Although you cannot stop yourself, your friends, and your family members from getting on with their respective lives, you can prevent drifting apart from them by ensuring that you spend as much time with them as possible (while you still can – jokes!).
Fortunately, there are many ways to keep in touch with friends and family, even when kids, pets and spouses get in the way, from scheduling one night a week to doing something together like the cinema, bar-hopping, scheduling play dates together, walking your pets at the same time, asking your spouse to babysit, and much more.
By making time for friends and family, it allows you to take off the many hats you wear throughout the day and just be yourself, which enables you to reset and recharge ready for when you go back home so you can be a better partner, parent, working professional and more.
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