Day: October 7, 2017

Does A Healthy Body Really Equals A Healthy Mind?

There’s a common saying that having a healthy body means having a healthy mind, and while some people believe this, others aren’t so sure. Is mental and physical health that closely linked or is it just a myth? Well, that depends on who you ask, but there is a lot of evidence that suggests that our physical health has a huge impact on our mental health and vice versa.

The ancient Greeks, one of the most advanced civilizations during their time, understood the importance of taking care of your mental health as well as your physical health, which could be why their civilization thrived. ‘Sound mind in a sound body’ was the credo of their civilization, and it worked wonders. It’s clear that in the past a healthy body equalled a healthy mind, but what about today?

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It’s time to explore whether, in modern day life, a healthy body equals a healthy mind. For everything that you need to know, read on.

Regular exercise reduces stress

It’s no secret that exercise is good for our bodies, but what about our minds. Various studies have shown that regular exercise can help to relieve stress because working out acts as an outlet for stress and worry. While activities like running, cycling and swimming can be great stress relievers, meditation-based exercise can also work wonders. Take pilates and yoga, for instance, these two activities are made to reduce stress while toning and conditioning the body and its muscles. It’s amazing how you can put on some yoga clothes, grab a mat, and begin to practice this ancient form of exercise, and instantly start to feel happier and less stressed. A bonus of which is that the less stressed you are, the less likely you are to fall foul of anxiety or depression.

Being healthy boosts self-esteem

Did you know that it is scientifically proven that being healthy boosts self-esteem? When you are regularly active and take steps to feed your body with healthy foods, you feel better for it, which then helps to boost your confidence. Being healthy can help to foster your sense of self-worth and boost your strength and power. By meeting your health and fitness goals, you will begin to feel better about your appearance.

People who are more active, sleep better

Obviously, the more active you are, the better you sleep. But what you may not know is that a lack of sleep is linked to many mental health problems, such as depression, post-natal psychosis and post-natal depression, and anxiety. By regulating your sleep patterns, you can help to ensure that you get plenty of sleep, and thus you are mentally healthier. Referring to your physical health, when you don’t get enough sleep, your body sufferers as a result, with your immune system being impacted the most.

So there you have it, a healthy body does equal a healthy mind, or at least in most instances, it does. Admittedly, there is no way to completely prevent mental health problems from occurring. However, that being said, if your body is healthy, then the chances of developing mental health problems is much lower.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Why Fall Is The Perfect Time To Try Something New

It can be all too easy to start feeling blue around this time of year. The skies are getting a little darker, the days are getting a little colder and everywhere you look people seem just a little grumpier and more ill tempered. This is a shame because there’s a lot to love about the autumnal season. The reddish brown leaves of the trees, the slight mist that pervades in the air, the slightly smoky scent carried on the breeze. It’s a beautiful time of year! The trouble is that when the sun starts to retreat behind the clouds and the nights grow longer most of us find ourselves starting to feel down through no fault of our own. Fear not, however, you can mitigate the effects of these seasonal blues by shaking things up and trying new things.

Going back to school

It’s this time of year when kids and college students are going back to school which lends the season a certain frisson of excitement and opportunity. Just because your school or college days are behind you, doesn’t mean that you can’t energize yourself by trying something new. As we get older we tend to fall into the same habits and behavioral patterns and our brains go on autopilot as it’s not required to make new neural pathways. That’s why the days seem to last forever when we’re young and months go by in the blink of an eye when we get older, it’s because back then our brains were making new pathways all the time and we felt stimulated and excited. No matter how old we get, fall always seems like the start of the new year so now’s the time to reignite those feelings again.

Image by Pixabay

Change your eating and drinking habits

Even if you enjoy a healthy, balanced diet now is the perfect time to open yourself up to new culinary experiences. If you only ever drink white wine, try red. If you only ever drink vodka try whiskey, which can be an intimidating drink but there are plenty of more accessible starter whiskeys. Check out this Kikori review for a great example. The food we eat is a great way of understanding the various cultures of the world so trying a new cuisine is a great way of broadening your cultural horizons (without having to read subtitles). If you’ve always likes your food on the bland side, open yourself up to trying Indian, Thai or Malaysian foods. While these richly flavored foods utilize a broad palettes of spices to create dynamic and interesting flavors there are often plenty of accessible dishes to ease new diners into the flavors.

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Take a class

If you were a drama queen at school, join a local amateur dramatics society or (better yet) get yourself an agent and try and get some paid acting work in your free time. Or, why not learn a new craft. Most community centres and colleges offer classes in all kinds of arts, music and dance as well as sports. These are great ways of keeping in shape (why wait till new year?) while teaching new new skills and introducing you to a whole new circle of friends.

 

 

 

 

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