For most people, a “healthy life” means balancing physical and mental health or working well together. In many cases, physical and mental health are inextricably linked, with changes in one (good or bad) directly affecting the other. Therefore, here are some tips that include suggestions for a physically and mentally “healthy life.”
Eat More Fruits and Veggies
If you’re ready to make some changes to your diet, it makes sense to start with a few simple steps:
- Eat more fruits and vegetables. While the recommended daily intake for an adult is five servings of fruits and vegetables, this number may leave you with too much variety. Rather than getting bored with the same foods day after day, try creating new combinations that include different fruit and vegetable types (e.g., applesauce and broccoli) or a mixture of both (e.g., apple juice mixed with broccoli salad). You can also try healthy green smoothies!
- Eat less processed foods. Processed food has been made more convenient than natural food in order to achieve higher profits at minimal costs; as a result, it usually has fewer nutrients, is high in fat, sugar, refined carbohydrates, and salt, and has very low fiber content. By contrast, compared to processed food, natural food usually provides more nutrients, more fiber, less sugar and salt, plus other important chemicals like phytochemicals which have health benefits when consumed in moderation.
Meditate
Meditating is an activity that benefits everyone, but it can be difficult to incorporate into your daily routine. As you practice meditation and become more familiar with its benefits, you may find yourself feeling excited to dig into your first practice session, taking advantage of the more focused mind it promises. But what if you find yourself stuck in a rut with no motivation?
Here are some tips that can help get you started:
Start small. When you’re new to the concept of meditation, it’s hard to imagine where to start. A good rule of thumb is that if you can’t finish a single track on an album or play through all four minutes of Blackbird by Pearl Jam (a song about meditation), one minute per day for the next 20 years probably isn’t going to cut it! Try just focusing on one breath at a time when starting out—it might seem boring at first, but eventually, it’ll become second nature and really help calm your mind and body after a long day.
Start small with meditations from simple breathing exercises like mindful breathing or simply focusing on your thoughts going by in your head, like swishing water around in a cup. Eventually, try advanced forms such as guided meditations or going deeper into things like mindfulness and gratitude or even visualizations or daily rituals related to diet and exercise or anything else that’s important for you personally—don’t be afraid of trying new things!
Don’t forget about friends who could use some extra support too! One easy way suggested for practicing meditation together as friends are singing musical responses while meditating
In Closing
Although there are many other behaviors that may impede an otherwise healthy lifestyle, introducing the ones mentioned here will help you to focus on the two main pillars. Restore balance in your life between mental and physical well-being and live prosperously!
