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There’s never a better time than now to start working on your wellness.
Not everyone handles stressful events in the same way and some are better equipped to deal with stressful situations than others.
While you can’t change many of the stressors in your life, you can change your response to these stressors. And taking care of your wellness is a key part of this.
The Benefits of Wellness
With everything happening in our current world, chances are that your routine is thrown off. And this may be contributing to increased feelings of anxiety or depression. Making efforts to do things that will increase your sense of wellbeing is critical right now as we adjust to our new normal.
Wellness and self-care increase health and wellbeing as well as decrease our cortisol and adrenaline levels, both of which are stress hormones. When our baselines stress levels are lower, we can better handle stressful events.
I like to think of wellness as putting on our oxygen mask first so that we can help others.
What is a Wellness Routine?
A wellness routine is anything that makes you feel well.
Many people include balanced meals, sleep, physical activity, and self-care as a part of their wellness routines.
The “What” really isn’t as important as the “How”- just make it your own. What you choose to do for yourself should be simple, realistic, and enjoyable. The overall goal is to feel better when you engage in these activities.
If you look up wellness routines online, you will see a vast variety of wellness routines, from dry brushing to aromatherapy baths to spa trips. But don’t worry, your routine doesn’t need to be fancy or expensive, it just needs to work for you.
Some people need more, and others do ok with less, depending on the stressors in their lives. It’s all about balance. You can’t do everything all the time. Rather than focus on all or nothing when it comes to wellness, do what you can and let the rest go. Even moderate amounts of self-care time can pay significant dividends.
Here are some things you can try:
1. Balance Your Food
Eating regular meals and at regular intervals helps to keep your body well-fed.
Underfeeding yourself increases your stress hormones and makes you feel more stressed, so it’s important to eat ENOUGH food. It is also essential to eat foods that you enjoy, including what I like to call “ fun foods” like sweets and snacks.
Practicing mindful eating can help to decrease stress and increase feelings of enjoyment with your meal.
2. Hydration
Aim to drink half of your body weight in ounces of water.
For example, if you weigh 150 pounds, divide this by two and you get 75. This is the number of ounces of water you should aim for per day. Keep in mind, that if you live in a hot and humid climate, or exercise heavily, your fluid needs increase.
3. Sleep
Most studies recommend getting 7-9 hours of sleep per day. Having a great nighttime routine and practicing good sleep hygiene can help to make sure that you are getting a good night’s rest.
Nighttime routines can include taking a bath, reading, drinking a cup of herbal tea, and meditating. What it should not include is being on a screen.
4. Physical Connection with our Bodies
Increasing our introspective awareness can help to decrease stress hormones. You can do things like mindful eating, yoga, and meditation to bring awareness back to our bodies. See our post on yoga and it’s benefits.
5. Get Regular Physical Activity
Aim for 30-60 minutes a day of moderate to vigorous physical activity.
The Department of Health and Human Services’ recommendations include 150-300 minutes per week. The benefits of regular physical activity include reduced disease risk, weight management, slow the loss of bone density, functional ability improvement, and increased longevity.
Make sure to log your activity in your Lose It! app to see if you are hitting your targets.
6. Sit Less and Move More
In addition to the physical activity requirements above, we should also work on decreasing our sedentary time.
Engaging in fun physical activity can help to increase movement and fun. Breaking up the day with short walks or exercises can help as well. Try these exercises between meetings or tv breaks.
7. Reflect Inward
Activities like meditation, prayer, and journaling can increase feelings of wellness and introspective awareness.
8. Build a Strong Personal Connection with Others
Strong personal connections decrease stress and depression, improve feelings of wellness, and improve your immune system.
One study showed that those with stronger social relationships had a 50% increased likelihood survival over those with weaker social relationships.
We improve our health behaviors and mental health when we have stronger connections with others.
