How You Can Sustain Overall Wellness This Year
Now that a new year is here, it’s time to make some positive changes to help you improve your overall wellness. While it doesn’t have to be a resolution, these changes can keep you feeling better. Read on for some tips on improving your wellness and sustaining it all year.
One common “cure” can backfire and should be used with caution. To be well, you need to be careful about medication.
The problem with medication
Prescription drugs certainly have their place in modern medicine. Where would you be without ibuprofen or antacids? But as ULifeline explains, there are many ways you can misuse prescriptions and end up hurting yourself. Taking the wrong pill or too many of them can lead to accidents or health problems. Some people never discover they are allergic to certain drugs until they are prescribed.
Even if you use as directed, some medication can cause addiction and adverse side effects. Sometimes you have to take additional medication just to control the side effects of your primary medication. Sites including AncientWellnessHerbs.com provide advice on why all-natural herbal supplements can often replace the need for certain prescriptions and avoid the nasty side effects altogether.
Again, not all prescriptions are bad for you. Many are necessary. But if you can avoid artificial medications by sticking with natural ones, it makes sense to do so.
Improving your wellness
Besides, there are many other ways to improve your overall wellness other than medication. Wellness Mama has a great list of such methods, including focusing on getting enough sleep. Rest is crucial to your physical and mental health, and a lack of sleep has been linked to obesity, depression, stress and immune system problems. In other words, getting enough sleep can really help you.
You should also spend some time exercising, especially outdoors. Studies suggest that you can suffer by spending too much time away from nature. Go for a hike in the woods, play some outdoor sports or just swim a few laps in the pool. Exercise is great for burning calories, improving cardiovascular health and improving your self-esteem.
Although they might not sound like exercise, DrugRehab.org highlights why swimming, yoga, and meditation can improve your wellness. These low impact activities calm the mind and lead to an inner peace where you don’t need external gratification from food, alcohol, and drugs. In fact, that’s why people in addiction recovery who exercise show signs of improving their mental and physical health.
Sustaining healthy changes
As with many new year changes, it’s easy to start feeling motivated to get enough sleep and exercise. It’s harder to sustain these changes throughout the year. That’s why the Allegheny College recommends several strategies to stay motivated.
To start, it helps to set a moderately difficult goal and a reward for reaching it. Don’t set some tiny objective like doing a few sit-ups each day, but don’t go overboard and plan on losing 80 pounds in a few months. By keeping the goal within reach, you keep yourself motivated. Adding in a reward makes that goal even more attractive.
You also need to practice saying “no” to temptations. You will face people and events that can throw you off the track to wellness. Instead of hoping you know what to say, you increase your chances of avoiding temptation by literally practicing how you will decline an invitation.
An alternative solution
While lab-created pharmaceuticals can actually make your body weaker, there are natural solutions that can help you live life to the fullest. The Wellness & Shape dietary supplement by Ancient Wellness combines five time-tested ingredients that have been proven to boost health and wellness from the inside out. It's all natural without any additives. Ancient Wellness Herbs’ blend of cassia seeds assist with bowel blockages and blood pressure; rosebud improves circulation and stimulates digestion; poria promotes urination and strengthens the stomach and spleen; jujube nourishes the blood; and licorice offers a host of antiviral, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory benefits. Together, these herbs work together to give the body what it needs to detox naturally, without causing damage to Qi, the energy source of the body.
Keeping well through the year
It’s inevitable that you’ll face setbacks in your wellness journey. But there are ways to sustain your overall wellness. Be careful with prescription medication and opt for natural alternatives when possible. Get plenty of sleep, exercise regularly, and set realistic goals to stay motivated. Wellness doesn’t happen overnight, but it’s definitely something you can achieve and keep throughout the year.