Health is the greatest wealth, yet you tend not to think about it until you lose it. Among other things, this Covid 19 season has left everyone with a renewed appreciation for health. Pandemic or not, self-care is a gift that you can give yourself every day. In this article, we discuss some often overlooked practices that keep your body and mind in top shape.
Table of Contents
Go Outside
In this era of working from home, many people spend days at a time without going past their front door. Yet there’s so much to benefit from just stepping out. Walkout and catch new sights and sounds. When your brain is all clogged up, such an outdoor break clears your mind and gets your creative juices flowing again. Whether you choose to walk, jog, cycle or run, you’ll be throwing in some exercise so you can keep fit.
Meditate
You may have come across tons of guides on how to meditate, but meditation really is nothing complicated. When you meditate, you lock out all the distractions and simply breathe. Listen to your breathing. Live in the moment. Some refer to this as mindfulness, which is the ability to live in the moment, without being bothered by the past or worried about the future. Doing this calms the mind and reduces stress.
Unwind daily
Every day comes with its own challenges. With time, the strain affects your body and mind and results in stress. How do you keep this stress from building up? You unwind every day. Find something pleasant and relaxing to do every day. It could be dancing, meditating, reading, watching a movie, a bubble bath, or anything else that tickles your fancy. Just 30 minutes of such an activity and you have your feel-good hormones on high, and you can retire to bed calm and relaxed.
Acts of kindness
Every once in a while, take attention off yourself and focus on another person who’s in need. Seek to understand their problem. Give what you can, whether in cash or in-kind and mobilize others to do the same.
Putting a smile on somebody’s face has a boomerang effect on you. You, too, will be happy that you made someone else’s burden easier and gave them hope. Actively look for opportunities to be of help to someone and see how much it lifts your mood each time.
Plan
Even with the highest level of self-care, there’s always the possibility of developing a health condition. While you can’t prevent this, it helps to be ready. Health insurance comes in handy, to ensure you don’t have to dig into your pocket at every doctor’s visit.
Remember to make comparisons of different insurance providers so you can see which policy best suits your needs. In comparing Aetna vs United Healthcare, for instance, check for the terms and conditions to see which gives better value for money. Planning ahead gives you peace of mind. Even as you do the above to preserve your health, you know that should you fall sick, you’ll be well taken care of.
Conclusion
This list is by no means comprehensive of all the ways in which you can take care of your body and mind. It, however, contains the essential pointers that you can build on. You’ll be in that one body your entire life; anything that can make that stay a little more comfortable is worth doing. In a world where the cost of healthcare is going up by the day, staying healthy saves you a whole lot of money.
