Caring for Your Emotional Health This 2021
This special time has made self-care a priority, and people are starting to realize how connected our body is to our lifestyle. Physical health is closely tied to emotional health, and to get the most out of your day-to-day life — you need to nourish both. Read on for tips on caring for your emotional health this year, as well as the most simple and effective ways to improve your wellbeing.
How to Care for Your Mind
Our immune system is closely linked to our nervous system, which has a sympathetic branch (fight or flight) and a parasympathetic branch (rest and digest). The following techniques for improving emotional health can help you to switch between these states more smoothly. When you’re able to exercise more control over your state of mind and feelings, your overall wellness will be easier to manage.
Get Enough Sleep
Getting the right amount of sleep is essential for your body to do all the necessary maintenance it performs overnight. Not sleeping enough is a surefire way to increase stress.
A lot of people struggle to get enough sleep. Dr. Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist from Stanford, has been doing a lot of work to teach the public how important morning light exposure is for getting tired and falling sleep. The best way to trigger the brain’s sleep/wake hormone cycle is by getting 10 minutes or so of natural light into your eyes around sunrise.
Breathe
Stress and negative emotions are a natural part of life, and the aim shouldn’t be to try and banish them from your life forever. Rather, you should focus on finding healthy ways to cope with challenging feelings or situations. Exercises, such as diaphragmatic breathing or box breathing can stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system and help you calm down during stressful times.
Explore the Natural World
One of the best ways to improve your wellbeing is getting outside in nature. Human beings are naturally hardwired to find peace while in a natural environment.
A 2015 Harvard study showed that outdoor silence and calming nature sounds can lower blood pressure and levels of a hormone called cortisol, which is partially responsible for activating the sympathetic nervous system. Even watching a video footage of nature or listening to sounds like birdsong or crashing waves can soothe the fight or flight response.
Eat Well
Eating well is another essential physical component that impacts your mental health. Highly processed food provides a lot of calories but not much in the way of vitamins and minerals. Reducing the amount of junk food and increasing how much fresh produce you eat will have an amazing effect on emotional wellbeing over time.
Find Joy in Movement
Our bodies are made to move — whether that’s running, cycling, dancing, boxing, calisthenics, gymnastics, martial arts, skateboarding or team sports. There’s a type of exercise for everyone, so find what you love and get moving. Physical activity is one of the most effective ways to cope with stress and channel emotional energy.
High Quality Care in Cibolo
One of the things that causes us anxiety these days is our overall health. It will surely give you peace of mind knowing that you have access to quality emergency care that is close to home. If you’re looking for an ER in Cibolo, look no further than the Physicians Premier Emergency Room. We’re a patient-centered emergency care provider that always goes over and above for our patients.
