Paying Attention to Your Mind and Body: 3 Ways You Can Live a Healthier Life
The last couple of years have been rough on the world. We’ve gone through worldwide shutdowns, quarantines, mask mandates, and a host of other stressors that have all made life just a little less fun lately.
But dealing with stress is actually much easier when you’re living a healthy life. And if the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that our mental and physical health are much more important that we might realize.
You might have noticed that whenever you begin to feel ill, you get subtle signs from your body that tell you that something isn’t right. And if you’re attuned and attentive to your mind and body, these signs are easier to detect.
This is why forging a sound mind-body connection is a great practice to living a healthier life. And in the following article we’ll explore a few ways you can live healthier today.
Use All-Natural Products
The products we consume and use on our bodies can affect our hormones, and this affects the way we feel. As such, it’s good to know what’s in these products before you start rubbing them all over yourself.
Anything that you put on your body has the potential of finding its way into your body. And this is common with products such as lotions, powders, sunscreens and a variety of hygiene products.
For example, many lotions, shampoos and conditioners contain parabens. And recent studies have suggested that these are linked to hormonal dysfunction, breast cancer, and problems with reproductive health.
In addition, talcum powder has been linked to ovarian cancer in some studies. And this is largely due to the natural talc which can contain asbestos that’s used in some body powders.
At the end of the day, it’s a best practice to use all natural products, so that you know exactly what you’re putting on your body.
Reconnect with Nature
We humans are just as much a part of the natural world as anything else on this planet. And even though we try to separate ourselves from nature in many ways, the natural world offers us a world of benefits related to physical and mental health.
Simply by being outdoors we get immediate benefits from our natural environment. The sun provides us with essential vitamin D. Trees and vegetation offer an oxygen-rich environment which is essential for life and for feeling revitalized and refreshed.
Additionally, being around moving water such as a river, a waterfall, bubbling brooks, or streams can have an amazing effect on our physiology. With the surge of negative ions caused by moving water, these particles have a calming effect on the mind, allow for better concentration and focus, and are known to help alleviate stress.
Getting outdoors and walking barefoot in the grass might just be the best way to begin connecting with nature. And you can do this pretty much anywhere.
Be Grateful
Not everything in life is colored brightly with unicorns and rainbows. But regardless of what’s going on in your life, taking the time to be grateful for what you have can work wonders for your mental and emotional well-being.
We often get caught up in the material aspects of life. But if there’s any lesson to be learned on this journey, it’s that nothing we buy or want is going to change how we feel about life. In fact, it’s our life experience that shapes us, not the material items that we strive to attain.
Being grateful for the basic things in life is the perfect starting point. You can say a prayer and thank God, meditate on your blessings, or thank the universe for your health, or even for your life.
Just remember, no matter what you believe, being truly grateful is the beginning of living a healthy and compassionate life, and one that lends itself to even greater blessings.
We all need to pay attention to our mental and physical well-being. And when our bodies start to give us signs, we should heed the warnings and adopt practices that are beneficial instead of harmful.
