How Mental and Physical Health are Connected
By Genevieve Cunningham
Staying healthy is a great goal to keep at the top of your list. Without our health, everything about our lives suffers. But what exactly does staying healthy mean? Does it mean you should maintain a good weight? Does it mean you should constantly lift weights and build big muscles? The more specific your goal, the more likely you are to reach it. If you’re looking for the most well-rounded approach, maybe it’s time to think about mental and physical health as a unit. As a team. To make a plan for keeping your body and mind healthy and strong, take a look at how mental and physical health are connected, and some tips for boosting both.
Common Links
Though you can certainly have good mental or physical health without the other, it’s more likely that they play off of each other. When mental health is poor, you just don’t have the focus or energy to put into your physical health. And when your physical health is suffering, it damages your self image, and you’re more likely to suffer from depression or anxiety. Taking care of one aspect of your health affects the other, and in this way, you can improve your health as a whole with just a few steps.
How to Improve Mental Health
If you want to start with your mental health, there are a few easy things that you can do to make it a priority. First, it’s time to get involved. Seclusion and isolation are not good for mental wellness. Find a club, meet face-to-face with friends, or join a service organization. Do what you can to stay active and involved with others. It can also help to find a hobby, something you enjoy and can pour your mind into. Other solid mental health tips include getting exercise, lowering stress regularly, and asking for professional help when you need it.
How to Improve Physical Health
Tips for staying physically healthy are probably more well known. The most obvious is to maintain a regular exercise routine. Regular exercise helps to build muscle, burn fat, and improve the function of various body systems. You should also focus on eating a healthy diet. This ensures that you get the proper nutrients to fuel both body and mind. It can also help to simply stay active. The more involved you are, the more you move, and the better overall shape your body will be on a regular basis.
Mental and physical wellness definitely depend on one another. Taking care of one often leads to taking care of the other. And the more rounded your healthcare plan, the better you’re going to feel -- mind, body, and soul. Use these little tips to get started, and enjoy better mental and physical well-being for years to come.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Happy Valley, Ore.