Mental health is just as important as physical health, but unfortunately, it’s often overlooked. People think that if they don’t have a mental illness, then they must be fine. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Everyone should make an effort to maintain balanced mental health so that they can lead happy and fulfilling lives. And while it may seem daunting, there are quite a few simple things you can do to improve your mental health. Here are six of them:

Get Enough Sleep

Sleep is crucial for both physical and mental health. Unfortunately, many people don’t get enough of it. According to the National Sleep Foundation, adults should be getting between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per night. However, studies have shown that most people only get around 6.8 hours. There are many reasons why you might not be getting enough sleep. Maybe you have trouble falling asleep at night or you wake up frequently throughout the night. Maybe you have a very demanding job or you have young children at home. Whatever the reason, if you’re not getting enough sleep, it’s important to find a way to change that. Otherwise, you’ll likely start to experience many negative consequences, such as fatigue, irritability, anxiety, and depression.

Seek Professional Help

If you’re struggling to cope with a difficult situation or you’re just not feeling like yourself, it’s important to seek professional help. As seen at mydenvertherapy.com a therapist can help you identify and work through any underlying issues that may be contributing to your mental health problems. Therapy can also provide you with tools and strategies for managing your mental health on a day-to-day basis. If you’re not sure whether therapy is right for you, consider attending a few sessions to see if it makes a difference. There’s no shame in seeking help when you need it. Everyone goes through tough times and sometimes we all need a little extra support.

Eat A Healthy Diet

What you eat has a direct impact on your mental health. Eating unhealthy foods can lead to a decrease in energy levels, mood swings, and cognitive problems. On the other hand, eating healthy foods can , increase your energy levels, and sharpen your mind. So, if you want to maintain balanced mental health, it’s important to make sure that you’re eating a healthy diet. Make sure to include plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins in your diet. And limit your intake of processed foods, sugary drinks, and saturated fats. Not only will eating a healthy diet make you feel better mentally, but it will also improve your physical health.

Exercise Regularly

Exercise is not only good for your physical health, but it’s also good for your mental health. Studies have shown that exercise can help to improve mood, increase energy levels, and reduce stress and anxiety. So, if you want to maintain balanced mental health, make sure to get some exercise every day. It doesn’t have to be anything too strenuous. Just a moderate amount of exercise will do the trick. Take a brisk walk around the block or go for a light jog. You could even take a yoga class or go swimming. Swimming allows you to forget about any problems and just focus on the present moment, which can be very therapeutic.

Take Breaks From Technology

In today’s world, it’s hard to go anywhere without being bombarded by technology. And while technology can be helpful in many ways, it can also be detrimental to your mental health. Too much time spent on gadgets can lead to feelings of isolation, anxiety, and depression. It can also disrupt your sleep patterns and make it difficult to concentrate. If you want to maintain balanced mental health, it’s important to take breaks from technology and spend some time offline. disconnect from the internet and social media for a few hours every day. Spend time talking to people face-to-face, reading a book, or doing something else that doesn’t involve technology.

Practice Relaxation Techniques

When you’re feeling stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed, relaxation techniques can help to calm you down and improve your mood. One of the most popular relaxation techniques is deep breathing. Simply take a deep breath in through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth. Repeat this several times until you feel your body start to relax. Other relaxation techniques include progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, and mindfulness meditation. If you have never meditated before,  there are plenty of guided meditation apps that can help you get started. You just need to find a quiet place to sit or lie down and focus on your breathing.

Maintaining balanced mental health is essential for leading a happy and healthy life. If you’re feeling stressed, anxious, or down, try implementing some of the tips above, and you will soon start to feel better. Just remember that you’re not alone and some people care about you and want to help. So reach out for help when you need it and things will start to look up

Source link

The post 6 Secrets To Maintain Balanced And Good Mental Health appeared first on Heal your health yourself.

Transitioning to college can seem overwhelming, but a lot of students eventually get used to the new environment. Of course, there are a few ways you can make this transition easier and maintain your wellbeing in college. That way, you can keep your life balanced.

Taking Advantage Of Resources

There are plenty of resources out there to help you maintain your wellbeing in college. One of those is telehealth. You can communicate with healthcare professionals from the comfort of your own home or dorm room. They will have more information on how to keep yourself healthy and safe. For example, you can review a guide on how the delta variant is disrupting back-to-school plans. Knowing more about the delta variant on college campuses will help you stay healthy.

Making Time For Self Care

There are a lot of demands on your time and energy while in school, and it is easy to forget to take care of yourself. Still, no matter how busy you are, it is critical to set aside time to do something relaxing or things you like. You might enjoy watching movies, going to the spa, or taking part in a hobby. Others might enjoy exercise or taking part in mindfulness. No matter how you go about it, you can benefit from focusing on the things that are happening right now. If you are stressed or anxious, it is a good idea to practice mindfulness so you can help your body relax in these situations.

Understanding Substance Use

While in college, you might feel pressured to use alcohol and drugs, especially since many students engage in binge drinking. And marijuana use and vaping are more prevalent than ever today. It is a good idea to keep an eye on your behaviors, particularly if you choose to drink or use drugs. Understand the health risks associated with these behaviors before you choose to engage in them. It is critical to make informed decisions instead of falling prey to peer pressure. For example, even though a lot of people think marijuana is harmless and everyone is using it, there are risks associated with using the drug. It can affect your mental health. You might look for drug and alcohol-free ways of spending time with your friends.

Getting Enough Exercise

Exercise is beneficial on many levels. Many people feel happier after a good workout, and they find they sleep better after doing so. Of course, not everyone enjoys exercise or wants to make the time for it. Some students enjoy the feeling of working out and make time in their schedules to fit it in, even if they are busy. But others choose to skip the workout if they are feeling overwhelmed. If you use exercise as an outlet to release your stress, it is healthy only up to a point. You should ensure you are not doing it too much so that you lose too much weight or hurt yourself. But if you don’t enjoy it, you should incorporate it into your routine, even if it just involves a brisk walk around your school’s campus.

*collaborative post

Source link

The post How Students Can Maintain Wellbeing In College appeared first on Heal your health yourself.

While it is easy to practice away from the yoga studio, many people find it difficult to maintain a consistent home yoga practice. When life gets stressful and busy, it is one of the first things we let go of. There are many great benefits of establishing a daily yoga habit, and it’s a great way to balance out a hectic lifestyle. If you’re new to yoga, or if you’re finding it hard to commit to a daily yoga routine at home, we’ve got eight great tips to make your daily practice easier, more enjoyable, and more consistent.

Why deepen your home yoga routine?

There are several benefits of practicing yoga at home instead of a studio. It is less expensive, saves time, and is easier to fit in to a busy lifestyle. Just taking one weekly yoga class, you will feel more peaceful and at ease. A morning yoga practice will make you more positive and energised throughout the day. An evening yoga practice will help you fall asleep faster and get better sleep. An ever-growing abundance of online yoga classes makes it simple and easy to maintain a daily yoga routine in the comfort of your own home.

How to maintain your daily home yoga routine

1. Commit to a schedule
   Often, the trick to building new habits begins with setting your intention and creating clear and actionable goals. With daily yoga practice, this can mean taking a few minutes a day to meditate or write in a meditation journal. Carve a few minutes out of your day to dedicate to centering yourself and practicing a couple of simple poses or do a longer practice with your favorite yoga videos. Even if you don’t try anything strenuous that day, you’ll know you’ve spent time on it, and your mind and body will thank you. The key is to find 10-60 minutes of time several times a week to practice, and to make it a priority to do so. Ideally, try to practice yoga everyday so it’s an integrated part of your routine. The best times to fit a practice into your schedule are early morning, right after work, and before bedtime.
2. Maintain and improve your yoga space
   One of the major challenges is finding an inspiring space for yoga in your home. After you have Set up a specific space in the house for your yoga mat, you will need to maintain it as a part of your regular practice. Make a habit to always leave your yoga space neat and tidy and clean it on a regular basis. Make sure your yoga mat is wiped down or deep cleaned regularly. Improve your practice space with zen-like artwork, live plants, crystals, comfy cushions, and high-quality yoga gear.
3. Make it personal
   When you’re developing a daily yoga practice, it’s important not to put too much pressure on yourself. The point is not to get too bogged down in perfecting the movements. Yoga is a practice that is largely about your own peace of mind. So make time to check in with yourself. Personalize the movements to suit you—almost every asana has a variation or modification available to tailor it to your body’s abilities. Taking a more relaxed and individualized approach will keep you motivated to build on what you learn.
4. Master the basic poses
   It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of options and information about yoga. It helps to break things down into the basics and focus on the most important, fundamental poses and movements. More advanced poses are certainly valuable to improving and maintaining your routine, but it will be less overwhelming if you focus primarily on the basics and from there add a few interesting variations and advanced asanas to strive towards.
5. Stick with a yoga style and set sequence
   A routine doesn’t just mean doing your yoga at the same time of day, in the same space. Though these are great ways to build up a regular practice, having a few simple poses that you can always start with will signal to your body that it’s time to get started. Sun salutations are a good yoga sequence for feeling awake and energetic, ready to take on an invigorating yoga routine, or anything else the day throws at you! Sticking with a yoga style has many great benefits, and it helps keep you focused on improving your practice.
6. Explore online yoga classes
   Without the support of a yoga teacher or yoga studio, it’s tough to find the motivation and inspiration for your daily yoga routine. To keep yourself inspired and motivated, try joining an online class or yoga challenge. Try checking out YouTube videos of poses or variations you might want to try. Online yoga courses are a great option to deepen your knowledge and help you advance to the next level.
7. Challenge yourself
   While you can use social media or online classes to challenge yourself, you can also set your own goals. Challenge yourself to try new poses, increase your practice time, or to be on your yoga mat for 30 consecutive days. Share your progress and successes online and off. Don’t forget to reward yourself!
8. Deepen your knowledge
   Yoga is more than just a physical exercise, it is also a lifestyle that promotes a healthy body and mind through physical, mental, and spiritual practices. Whether you’re brand new to yoga or have been practicing for years, the more you learn about how yoga can enrich your life, the more you’ll want to deepen your yoga knowledge. As a beginner, you may spend your time learning the basics of breathing, the physical poses, and making the effort to practice. As you progress, you may be interested in learning more about yogic philosophy. There are tons of books and yoga websites you can explore to deepen your understanding and knowledge of philosophy and the deeper aspects of yoga.

Source link

The post 8 Tips to Maintain a Daily Yoga Routine at Home • Healyourhealthyourself appeared first on Heal your health yourself.

Look at what you’ve accomplished: You’ve reached your weight-loss goal and you feel like you’re ready to take on the world.

But now what?

Not to crash your party, but research has shown that only about 20 percent of overweight individuals are successful at long-term weight loss.

“Long term” is defined as losing at least 10 percent of initial body weight and maintaining that loss for at least one year.

Defense mechanisms like increased hunger, lower-energy metabolism, resorting to old habits, and day-to-day stresses seem to fight against you even more than when you were in weight-loss mode.

This is where 80 percent of those previously overweight individuals get stuck.

But luckily for you, we have 10 tips on how to ensure you beat the odds and keep that weight off without becoming a slave to the scale.

10 Tips to Keep the Weight Off

1. Eat more plants

The key here is what Dr. Barbara Rolls termed “volumetrics.” Foods with low-calorie density like fruits and veggies are naturally high in bulk, fiber, and water to help you feel full without using up much of your daily calorie target.

If you think about it, when was the last time you were able to eat more than two apples in a sitting or come close to eating a whole head of lettuce?

(Juicing doesn’t count — once you send those fruits and veggies through the juicer, all the beneficial fiber is removed.) The more of these foods you have in your meal plan, the less likely you’ll be to binge on calorie-dense treats.

2. Cook (more) at home

Hopefully, you got some practice from following the recipes in the nutrition guide that accompanied your favorite Beachbody On Demand program.

Now it’s time to take control and perhaps even kick things up a notch. With the advent of that Internet thing, you have access to loads of healthful recipes — like the ones on the Beachbody Blog and Autumn Calabrese’s cooking show, FIXATE.

So whether you consider yourself a foodie or not, seek out blogs that feature recipes that suit your taste.

When you cook at home, you control your portions, the quality of the ingredients, the cooking method, and the menu — all areas that require wise decisions when it comes to losing weight and keeping it off.

3. Consume more protein

According to a 2014 meta-analysis in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, high-protein diets and meal replacements are effective strategies to help combat weight re-gain.

Sounds similar to the nutrition strategy you used to lose weight, right? That’s why the best “diets” are really lifestyle makeovers with no end date.

Start your morning off with a balanced breakfast and a superfood nutrition shake like Shakeology, and let those healthy decisions set the tone for the rest of the day.

4. Cut back on liquid calories

What I’m referring to here are liquid calories that are void of any nutrition, such as soda, alcohol, sugar-laden lattes, and sugar-laden “fruit-flavored” juices, all of which lack the fiber and protein that help you feel full.

This trick is one of the many used by successful weight-loss maintainers in the National Weight Control Registry (NWCR), an ongoing study of adults 18 years of age and older who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for at least 1 year.

When cutting liquid calories, focus on water. If you don’t like the pure stuff, make it fancy with some fresh fruit and herbs!

5. Make your gut happy

The little bacteria that populate your intestinal tract can have a huge impact on whether or not lost pounds remain lost.

According to a study in mice in the journal Nature, overweight and obese individuals have a higher ratio of unhealthy to healthy bacteria in their guts, and that ratio can persist post-weight loss, presenting a hurdle for maintaining that loss.

To promote the growth of beneficial intestinal bacteria, stock your kitchen and pantry with foods rich in probiotics (e.g., yogurt, kefir, fermented veggies like kimchi) and prebiotics (e.g., fiber-dense fruits and veggies, which feed the good bacteria).

6. Cheat… a little

A life without chocolate, alcohol, or French fries may not be a life worth living, and lucky for us, the body is pretty forgiving when it comes to the occasional treat.

You likely won’t do much damage if you indulge your cravings once or twice a week. So listen to your body, and know that if it’s screaming for Ben & Jerry’s, you’ve got a couple free passes.

7. Continue to monitor your weight

While studies show that a daily weigh-in can help you lose weight, you can relax a bit once you’ve reached your goal.

Once a week should do the trick. That will allow you to monitor your weight and make lifestyle adjustments as necessary — and if your weight starts trending upward, you can always resume daily weigh-ins to root out the problem.

8. Move more

Source link

The post How to Maintain Weight Loss appeared first on Heal your health yourself.

Feeling tired even though you’ve spent all day at home? Don’t worry – you’re not alone. Fatigue can occur due to several reasons: a sedentary lifestyle, too much screen time, high-stress levels, poor diet, and many more. Unfortunately, these all come together during quarantine, and this can leave us feeling more sluggish than ever.

However, there are some things you can do to fix that in order to help maintain your energy levels during this quarantine period.

Tip 1 – Stay Active

Working out when you are feeling tired all the time is definitely a challenge. However, it is also one of the best things you can do for your body.

According to a study by the University of Georgia, engaging in regular, low-intensity exercise can boost your energy levels by 20 percent and decrease your fatigue by up to 65 percent. Sure, your body might not be prepared for an intense workout at the gym (which is probably closed anyway). You can, however, find plenty of light exercise routines online which you could do at home without any equipment.

Tip 2 – Eat Healthily

Reaching for some potato chips while binge-watching Netflix can be a common scenario during the quarantine. However, it’s not a good idea to make that a habit. You are what you eat, after all.

While some foods ensure stable energy levels over a longer period of time, junk food does just the opposite. Fried and fast foods tend to be high in fat and low in fiber. This slows digestion and therefore reduces the speed at which energy-boosting nutrients enter the body. Sugary snacks, on the other hand, will only give you temporary insulin and a blood sugar spike, followed by a crash.

So, say no to those potato chips and opt for a balanced diet that includes whole grains, leafy greens, seeds and nuts, and lean meats instead. They’ll fill your body up with nutrients and give you the energy you need to get through the day.

Tip 3 – Supplement Your Diet

We know that eating right isn’t always easy. This is where energy supplements can help by giving your body that extra nutritional boost you need.

One possible explanation for low energy might be that you’re lacking a specific vitamin. Although it might sound easier to go for a multivitamin, look for a single vitamin supplement to ensure that your body is getting exactly what it needs. Some vitamins and minerals that work great for fatigue are B vitamins, vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and zinc.

If you have a mild drop in your energy levels, you could go for a single-ingredient energy supplement. We recommend using adaptogenic herbs such as Ashwagandha and Maca root. These medicinal plants have been used in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine for centuries for alleviating fatigue symptoms. Alternatively, you can also try other types of energy-boosting supplements such as Ginseng or Bacopa extract.

Tip 4 – Limit Caffeine

Coffee is a quick and easy pick-me-up when you are feeling tired. However, relying on it too much as an energy booster is not the best idea. Coffee actually interrupts an important neurotransmitter called adenosine which controls our energy levels. This makes the body unable to relax and keeps us in a constant state of stress and fatigue. Furthermore, if you drink too much of it, especially at the wrong time, coffee can lead to adrenal fatigue. This is a condition where your body is unable to produce enough hormones to help you cope with stress and makes you feel even more anxious and tired.

Other potential side effects of coffee include high blood pressure and digestive issues. So, while it is okay if consumed in moderation, we shouldn’t rely too much on coffee to boost our energy. Try to limit yourself to 1-2 cups at maximum.

Tip 5 – Stay Hydrated

The reason for your fatigue could be as simple as not drinking enough water. About 50% to 60% of your body weight is made up of water. However, you are constantly losing water through urine, sweat, and even breathing. When you don’t have enough fluids in your body, this can make you feel tired.

Don’t wait until you feel thirsty – make sure you drink water regularly throughout the day, at least 8 cups per day.

Conclusion

Step by step, you can change your lifestyle to help your body feel more energized in these difficult times. Once you start implementing those tips, you’ll surely notice a positive change very soon.

Stay safe and take care of your body!

*collaborative post

Source link

The post How to Maintain Your Energy Levels During Quarantine appeared first on Heal your health yourself.