Eleven Ways to Support Your Health and Well-Being
What are Some Things to Support Your Health and Improve Your Quality of Life?
Do you ever feel like your life or health are out of balance? Sometimes we are so busy it's hard to tell exactly where the changes may need to occur. There are many ways in which we can begin to make subtle changes that can improve our health and well-being to bring back balance.
Firstly, be your own advocate. It is important to believe that what you know and feel about yourself to be true. If you are being told "there is nothing medically wrong" but you know in your gut something is going on, continue to pursue other medical opinions. Unfortunately, there is a lot modern medicine still cannot pinpoint, diagnose, or treat. With obscure disorders, diseases, and symptoms modern medicine becomes a process of elimination by ruling out other things that can be tested for easier. So don't give up.
Firstly, be your own advocate. It is important to believe that what you know and feel about yourself to be true. If you are being told "there is nothing medically wrong" but you know in your gut something is going on, continue to pursue other medical opinions. Unfortunately, there is a lot modern medicine still cannot pinpoint, diagnose, or treat. With obscure disorders, diseases, and symptoms modern medicine becomes a process of elimination by ruling out other things that can be tested for easier. So don't give up.
Secondly, health and well being is all about balance. Balance is not always easy to achieve, but it can be done starting with the basics. There are several life areas that when out of balance can lead to a multitude of problems physically, spiritually, and emotionally. It is when these are out of balance that we begin to see dis-ease in our lives, in our body's, or in our relationships. By learning to balance these life areas in ways that is best for yourself, then your body, mind and spirit can begin to repair what has been troubling you.
While it is tough and there is no quick fix, it is important to begin to have ownership over how we choose to live going forward. Getting a diagnosis, procedures, medications for what ails us can decrease the amount of suffering, but without taking ownership over imbalances, the problems will likely continue to persist or reappear as another problem. So where do we start? Sometimes it is helpful to look at each life area and identify what is working or going well, and what is not as ideal as you would like. Then you can see a clearer path where balancing should be emphasized.
I know this all sounds very vague and abstract, as well as sometimes painfully obvious. Most of us know which life areas are not serving us well. But finding how to improve it can be a challenge. Let me elaborate a little on the key life areas.
1) Diet/Nutrition: Most of us already know that our diet may not be serving us well. It is important to not punish yourself, feel bad or guilty for having been continuing a diet that is not as ideal as we would like. It can have a more positive impact if you are able to add in foods you know serve you better nutritionally, and emotionally. While you add in more of these foods, the foods that aren't serving us well will not have as much room to fit in.
Keeping a food diary can be helpful too. By tracking what you eat, with any undesirable symptoms like irritable bowel, headaches, joint pain etc. can give you leverage as to why you won't want to continue consuming these foods. When it is clear which foods are causing you trouble, you will realize that the risks of these symptoms are not worth the previous pleasure associated with eating them.
Keeping a food diary can be helpful too. By tracking what you eat, with any undesirable symptoms like irritable bowel, headaches, joint pain etc. can give you leverage as to why you won't want to continue consuming these foods. When it is clear which foods are causing you trouble, you will realize that the risks of these symptoms are not worth the previous pleasure associated with eating them.
2) Sleep: Not getting adequate sleep, from how long you are sleeping to the quality of sleep has great effects on your ability to do all sorts of things. When your body is in a restful sleep it allows your body and mind to rest and repair. If your sleep is cut short, is of poor quality due to waking frequently, not having a comfortable temperature or bed to sleep in, or an inability to fall asleep, you will wake feeling exhausted. You will have trouble concentrating throughout the day, have lower stamina to meet the challenges of your day, decreased ability to handle stressful situations, make poor decisions, decreased will power, decreased work efficiency, and worst of all a depleted immune system which decreases your ability to fight of viruses and other causes of inflammation in the body. All of these impact your over all health and well-being.
Finding out ways to improve your quality and quantity of sleep can have a huge impact on everything else balancing better in your life. Sometimes, making sure to not eat at least 3 hours prior to sleeping can help. This decreases heartburn and acid indigestion that can occur during the night. Also, turning out the lights an hour before you would like to sleep helps train our bodies into sleep mode. Avoiding electronics one hour before we sleep, and especially in the bedroom can improve our ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. Keeping the room temperature cooler at night even just a few degrees also improves the quality of sleep.
Finding out ways to improve your quality and quantity of sleep can have a huge impact on everything else balancing better in your life. Sometimes, making sure to not eat at least 3 hours prior to sleeping can help. This decreases heartburn and acid indigestion that can occur during the night. Also, turning out the lights an hour before you would like to sleep helps train our bodies into sleep mode. Avoiding electronics one hour before we sleep, and especially in the bedroom can improve our ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. Keeping the room temperature cooler at night even just a few degrees also improves the quality of sleep.
3) Work/Career: It's not to hard to figure out that if we are unhappy in our work or career it has a major impact on everything. The increased stress of a work environment that makes us unhappy may impact how we treat our loved ones at the end of the day. This can also feed poor choices of the foods/drinks we consume. Being unhappy or stressed at work can increase alcohol consumption to "relax" at the end of the day, which can cause other health and/or relationship problems. This can also further impact how well we are able to sleep, going over the things we dread in our work day, and thoughts of not wanting to work the next day will also decrease the quality of sleep.
If changing careers or jobs is not currently an option, trying to look for the positive things that do make you happy, or make your work day easier. This can begin to have a great impact on the amount of stress we feel related to work. Making sure to take advantage of vacation time can also help eliminate work stress and help you have a more positive outlook on your work day when you return. If we try to look for things that are going well, or acknowledging co-workers that positively impact our day, the negative things slowly become less prominent.
If changing careers or jobs is not currently an option, trying to look for the positive things that do make you happy, or make your work day easier. This can begin to have a great impact on the amount of stress we feel related to work. Making sure to take advantage of vacation time can also help eliminate work stress and help you have a more positive outlook on your work day when you return. If we try to look for things that are going well, or acknowledging co-workers that positively impact our day, the negative things slowly become less prominent.
4) Physical Activity: So much goes on in daily life with our schedules it can be near impossible to make sure we are staying physically active enough. Of course the general recommendation is for 15 - 30 minutes of exercise on 5 or more days of the week. The old adage "use it or lose it" can be very much true. Many diseases or disorders only benefit and improve from continued exercise, from arthritis to Fibromyalgia. Keep in mind the physical activity doesn't have to be grueling or difficult.
Make adding more physical activities something fun that adds more joy into your day. When it doesn't seem like work or just another thing to tick off of your to-do list, the impact of the added exercise will have added benefit. Take your kids to the park and toss around a ball for a while. If you have a dog start a routine walk, take a different path that usual, make it a different exploration everyday. Whatever activity you choose you can start slow or for 5-10 minutes and work your way up to 30 minutes.
Make adding more physical activities something fun that adds more joy into your day. When it doesn't seem like work or just another thing to tick off of your to-do list, the impact of the added exercise will have added benefit. Take your kids to the park and toss around a ball for a while. If you have a dog start a routine walk, take a different path that usual, make it a different exploration everyday. Whatever activity you choose you can start slow or for 5-10 minutes and work your way up to 30 minutes.
5) Social/Relationships: Sometimes it gets so easy to get caught up in the daily grind of work, chores, making dinner etc. it is easy to forget to pay attention to how close we are with our most precious relationships, our spouses, our family, and friends. Taking some time to catch up, spend some time laughing and having fun, remembering why we love these people in our lives. How long has it been since you told someone you love what you love about them? Have you told anyone how much you enjoy their company? Have you been able to maintain a closeness with your siblings and where you all feel able to discuss anything and support each other?
One way to improve relationships is to make sure to be present when you are with them. Turn off the TV, or computer, put away the phone. Giving your attention to your loved one, in an undistracted manner can really show them how important they are to you. For some family or friends finding time to spend more regularly together maybe just whats needed. Even if it is just a nice walk together, or a short phone call to catch up. Just letting them know you are thinking of them, and appreciate their presence in your life will continue to nurture your relationship.
One way to improve relationships is to make sure to be present when you are with them. Turn off the TV, or computer, put away the phone. Giving your attention to your loved one, in an undistracted manner can really show them how important they are to you. For some family or friends finding time to spend more regularly together maybe just whats needed. Even if it is just a nice walk together, or a short phone call to catch up. Just letting them know you are thinking of them, and appreciate their presence in your life will continue to nurture your relationship.
6) Education/Enrichment: This is an area that can be easily over looked for a source of satisfaction and joy in our lives. Finding something new to learn about can be very rewarding. Learning helps to keep our minds fresh and young, and has been shown to decrease the risk of developing Alzheimer's. You can choose to find something in your career to advance in, or learn something completely unrelated that you have always wanted to learn.
When choosing something to learn about, you can choose from as little as reading a book on a new or interesting subject, joining a book group and sharing the experience with others, to joining a course or masterclass. There are so many ways to build continuing education into your life it is almost endless. There is such great satisfaction to completing a book, a course, obtaining a certificate or advancing your degree. No matter what you choose it will enrich your life, as well as others around you because it will bring new information to you that can allow for you to see or respond to life events in a different way.
When choosing something to learn about, you can choose from as little as reading a book on a new or interesting subject, joining a book group and sharing the experience with others, to joining a course or masterclass. There are so many ways to build continuing education into your life it is almost endless. There is such great satisfaction to completing a book, a course, obtaining a certificate or advancing your degree. No matter what you choose it will enrich your life, as well as others around you because it will bring new information to you that can allow for you to see or respond to life events in a different way.
7) Joy/Laughter/Fun: Finding laughter and joy throughout your day can make all of the difference! Did you ever notice how different you felt on a day when maybe things were looking gloomy or weren't going quite right, and then something unexpected made you laugh or gave you a moment of joy? How quickly your mood lifted, and changed the rest of your outlook?
There are many ways in which we can invite more joy and fun into our lives. From simply enjoying a short comedy show at the end of the day, to doing something you really enjoy with your loved ones. Spending time with pets can bring lots of joy and fun into your life. Finding something to laugh about every day can be very therapeutic, everyone has always said "laughter is the best medicine." Life is all about living it, finding the joy in where we are in every moment of the day. Worrying about the future or the past doesn't change either. So when you are having a difficult day pause, take a few deep breaths, and find something to be joyful about, read a funny story, watch a funny show, or tell some jokes with your friends and loved ones. Just have fun!
There are many ways in which we can invite more joy and fun into our lives. From simply enjoying a short comedy show at the end of the day, to doing something you really enjoy with your loved ones. Spending time with pets can bring lots of joy and fun into your life. Finding something to laugh about every day can be very therapeutic, everyone has always said "laughter is the best medicine." Life is all about living it, finding the joy in where we are in every moment of the day. Worrying about the future or the past doesn't change either. So when you are having a difficult day pause, take a few deep breaths, and find something to be joyful about, read a funny story, watch a funny show, or tell some jokes with your friends and loved ones. Just have fun!
8) Creativity: This one can really get lost in our busy hectic schedules. You don't need to be an artistic person to make sure to get some creativity in your life. By being creative we can feed an outlet of fun, silliness, relaxation, calmness. Creativity can come from actually creating something, or even just enjoying something that is creative in itself.
If you are not very artistic (one thing that I am not) you can feed your creative outlet by exploring coloring, or paint by numbers, building something from a kit. There is always a sense of enjoyment and completion when you finish a project or puzzle. You can explore creativity through learning an instrument, or relearning one you used to know. Creativity can come from dancing to music even. Just letting yourself flow with the music. There a lots of ways to be creative, have fun and explore some ideas!
If you are not very artistic (one thing that I am not) you can feed your creative outlet by exploring coloring, or paint by numbers, building something from a kit. There is always a sense of enjoyment and completion when you finish a project or puzzle. You can explore creativity through learning an instrument, or relearning one you used to know. Creativity can come from dancing to music even. Just letting yourself flow with the music. There a lots of ways to be creative, have fun and explore some ideas!
9) Spiritual/Religion: Being spiritual or religious is also something that is important to include into your life for good balance. You don't have to be religious to be spiritual and vice-versa. It is whatever you want it to be for yourself. It can be a way to celebrate and investigate the essence of who you are to yourself, to those you love, to who you are in the world and universe. Some people that don't identify with either being spiritual or part of a particular religion can feel very isolated, or separated from all that is around us. Maybe for some, that is okay, and they are happy with that. But for others, we may feel lost, lonely, or even part of something bigger, but aren't sure just what that is.
Finding ways to include spiritual or religious things in our life doesn't have to be life altering or all consuming. It can come from just learning more about our universe and mankind. You can read about different religions, attend different kinds of churches. There is no right or wrong way to be spiritual or religious. Just go with your gut feelings on what is important to you on the subject and see where it takes you.
Finding ways to include spiritual or religious things in our life doesn't have to be life altering or all consuming. It can come from just learning more about our universe and mankind. You can read about different religions, attend different kinds of churches. There is no right or wrong way to be spiritual or religious. Just go with your gut feelings on what is important to you on the subject and see where it takes you.
10) Finances: When this area of our lives are out of balance it can really cause great stress in so many other areas of our lives, our jobs, our relationships, and our ability to participate in other life areas. It is important for our financial flow to be supportive to our lifestyle and needs. One of the most important starting points on finances is figuring out where you are now. Take an inventory of your earnings, your assets and expenses, how well do they balance?
Building yourself financial goals is a good way to create a positive financial flow. When you own where you are now financially, you can better visualize where you want to be in the future. Then you can begin to set up small achievable goals to get to your bigger goals (set short-term and long-term goals). Start by cutting out unneeded expenses, then paying down debt by making a debt repayment plan. This can help you see that getting yourself on track is possible. Slowly but surely you will start to feel less stress around your finances and hope for your financial future.
Building yourself financial goals is a good way to create a positive financial flow. When you own where you are now financially, you can better visualize where you want to be in the future. Then you can begin to set up small achievable goals to get to your bigger goals (set short-term and long-term goals). Start by cutting out unneeded expenses, then paying down debt by making a debt repayment plan. This can help you see that getting yourself on track is possible. Slowly but surely you will start to feel less stress around your finances and hope for your financial future.
11) Environment: This is an area that can sometimes be thought of last, but has a great impact on our daily life. Environment can be anything from where we physically live, to the elements that surround us, to the relationships that interact in our environment. Any of these things influence how much we are able to thrive in our surroundings. Many people have to take into account certain toxins they are exposed to in their environment that affect their health, like being exposed to smoke and fumes for example. For others environmental factors might be that they don't even have adequate housing at all. How organized or cluttered our environment is can also affect our well-being in many ways, too much clutter can be overwhelming, and decrease our ability to cope well.
It is recommended to have your home environment as pleasing to you as possible. This could be minimalist where there is only essential items and furniture to create a calming uncluttered environment. It could also be having your environment reflect the things you love most dearly, things that remind you of your family, or of your most prized collections. The important thing is that your environment be a place that helps you find a way to relax at the end of the day, not cause you more stress.
It is recommended to have your home environment as pleasing to you as possible. This could be minimalist where there is only essential items and furniture to create a calming uncluttered environment. It could also be having your environment reflect the things you love most dearly, things that remind you of your family, or of your most prized collections. The important thing is that your environment be a place that helps you find a way to relax at the end of the day, not cause you more stress.
Where to start?
When looking at each life area you should already have a good sense of the ones that feel out of balance to you. You should be able to discern which area feels the most important to adjust first. Then don't get too overwhelmed. Just start out small with a little change in that area and see how it feels. Depending on how big the changes are that you will be making will help drive if you are working on more than one area at a time. Some of the changes can overlap and affect more than one area even. The more things come into balance, the more joy you should have every day, and the less you should be experiencing discomfort, dis-ease, depression, and unhappiness. Life is a constant balancing act, there will always be ups and downs, surprises good and bad. But tweaking things we have some control over can help us find more joy and happiness every day.
Please share any thoughts, insights, or ideas you have for ways to create more balance in your life!
Take care and enjoy the Fresh new Spring,
🙏
Tina
Interested in working one on one with me as your health coach?
Please contact me for a Free Health History Consult.
Tina Gates is a Registered Nurse and Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach as well as Board Certified Meditation Specialist Level I. Tina practices a holistic approach to health and wellness, which means that she looks at how all areas of your life are connected. Does stress at your job or in your relationship(s) cause you to overeat? Does lack of sleep or low energy prevent you from exercising? As you work with Tina, you will look at how all parts of your life affect your health as a whole.
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