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For many people, January is the month to evaluate our lives and make adjustments. One of the main adjustments people focus on is their health. We all have areas of our health in which we can improve. I’m starting to set the donuts aside and pick up veggies to eat.
I know, I know, I’m a wild one at the beginning of the year. LOL
If you take a holistic approach to your health instead of making an arbitrary goal of losing weight, you are more likely to be happy with your results. Taking charge of your health and crafting a healthy lifestyle can help make this a focus all year-round instead of just in January.
Here are six main areas to consider when taking charge of your health:
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Mental Health
The area of mental health has to do with the way that you think. Thinking positively can go a long way to improving your overall health. Learning new things, working towards goals, making healthy decisions, lowering stress, and taking responsibility for our actions are all ways of healthy thinking we should strive to attain.
Finding ways to help train your brain to think more positively is important. Taking classes to keep learning, starting a gratitude journal, using the stop sign method, and learning to pray or meditate are all ways that you can promote good mental health.
You may also need help with regulating hormones in your body and chemicals in your brain. Be sure to speak with a mental health professional if you have mood swings, have thoughts of harming yourself, feel hopeless more days than not, and just, well, don’t feel quite right. I wish I would have known to seek a mental health professional in my late teens and early twenties. It took me sitting up in bed laughing myself awake one night in my 30s to realize there was something just not quite right about what physiologically was going on in my head. To this day I can’t believe my husband has stayed married to me! Don’t wait around to speak with a mental health professional ASAP. (NOTE: If that person blows you off then find a medical professional that will listen to you and help. I have a friend whose doctor was a jerk and wouldn’t even listen to her. Thankfully she didn’t give up and found someone to help her.)
Photo by THE 5TH on Unsplash
Physical Health
Taking care of your body is important. Your body works hard for you, so you should learn to support it. Getting enough sleep, drinking plenty of water, eating healthy food, and moving your body regularly will all help to make it healthier.
You should also be sure to seek medical help when you need it. Talking to a doctor about health struggles can help you formulate a plan that supports your body. Remember my Vitamin D deficiency a couple years back and how I was falling asleep any time I sat down? You may need to see a doctor for a myriad of reasons like something as simple as Vitamin D deficiency to something far more serious like diabetes or heart issues. So don’t put it off!!!
You can also look into alternative health options like acupuncture, probiotics, visiting a chiropractor, and finding good rolling papers. Be sure to seek medical attention if you are needing it!
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Emotional Health
Emotional health is all about recognizing your feelings and dealing with them in a healthy way. I’ve spent most of my life watching family members (mainly guys tbh) only being able to express two feelings – being mad or being happy. Our hearts are full of so much and not being able to realize that there is more than just “happy” and “mad” is wellll just sad! Visiting a therapist or doing journaling about what you have experienced and exploring those layers of feelings instead of repressing them can help your emotional health. Spending time with and talking to a trusted friend is also a good way to deal with feelings. Your emotional health is just as important as the other 5 topics covered in this article. Emotions can drive your cortisol levels up and harm you physically, drive your mind coo coo, make you be socially withdrawn and more. Take care of your emotional heart!
Spiritual Health
Being aware of your mission in life and what you believe will help you develop good spiritual health. Having time to spend in prayer and Bible study is what I think of as my spiritual nutrition. According to HealthLine.com, “Prayer may also have similar effects on mental well-being as meditation and yoga, which spill over into physical effects.” We all have a moral code and being in tune with that and making sure our actions are in line with what we believe is essential for our health.
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Social Health
We all have social needs, even if they vary from person to person. It is important to understand what your social needs are and find people who will help you fulfill those needs. It was such a challenge in 2020 to keep up with our social health and thankfully a lot of people have adapted to how to socialize during that year. There is no doubt that social health has an impact on the health of people’s mental, emotional, and physical states. Healthy relationships are the key aspect of social health.
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Environmental Health
Taking care of the spaces around you from your cubicle at work, your home, your community, and even the environment help you have good environmental health. Have you ever watched the show Hoarders? It’s an extreme case of how environmental factors can literally and figuratively wall a person off from the world which further impacts there mental, emotional, social, and physical health.
Living in beautiful places that are crafted to mean something to you help you to feel connected and grounded in your surroundings. Your home should be a place to feel safe and unwind. If you are like I was just a few years back, you might have 3 kids that were 3.5 years old and younger being able to unwind wasn’t an option. I had to find a spot in our house I could shut myself away in for about 15 minutes a day to rejuvenate my mind and that was in a camping type chair in our closet. Yep, that’s right. My closet was my sanctuary and made me feel safe and away from all the hustle and bustle of raising little ones. It’s so important to find a little time for yourself in a peaceful place to relax each day.
Take the time to create a special place that is just yours. Maybe that’s a little space carved out of your closet. Or it could be a prayer space, a reading nook, a place to sit and drink tea outside are all ideas of sanctuaries that you can create to help your environmental health.
Nourishing your health doesn’t just mean eating good foods and exercise. There is so much more to your health than the physical aspect. Now is a great time to do a check up on all the aspects of your health and implement positive changes.
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If you are feeling down or depressed for more days than not, please seek medical attention. If you are feeling like you cannot go on, please call the suicide hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or chat here>>> https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/chat/ Or visit the suicide prevention lifeline at https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
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