8 HEALTHY LIFESTYLE Habits for Mental Wellness

Hi guys, this is Linda from Brain Education TV. If this is your first time, welcome! Please consider subscribing to our channel, like this video, and click the bell for new notifications of each new episode. In this video, I'm going to talk about eight lifestyle habits that will transform your health. We tend to think of good health as something we either have or something we're hoping to regain. But actually, good health comes from an accumulation of small little habits that make a healthy lifestyle. In other words, simply put, health is a habit. So here are eight healthy habits that you can incorporate into your daily life. Number one, don't skip breakfast. Did you know that a study done by the American Heart Association found that people who ate breakfast had lower levels of high blood pressure, heart disease, and cholesterol levels? And did you know that different organs in your body are active at different points throughout the day? And your body metabolism is also different throughout the day too. So the best timing for your body to absorb nutrients is actually earlier in the day than later. This means even if you have a really busy morning, it's very important that you prepare a nutritious meal for yourself, particularly a food that gives your body and brain energy to process throughout the day. Number two, speaking of breakfast, prepare your food mindfully. Many times, especially when we're busy, we make food in a very hurried way. We just throw things randomly together and just mix it all up and then just eat it. But the energy that you put into the food when you prepare it is very important. For example, if you're very angry and you're making food with all this angry energy that you're putting into it, the anger that's inside of you is going to be transferred into the food that you make and you're going to consume the energy in that food, which is cycling the angry energy inside. And what's worse, if you have to prepare food for other people, the angry energy that you put into the food is going to be transferred to everyone who eats that food. So a very important healthy habit is to prepare your food with mindfulness and gratitude. The energy that you put in is the energy you're going to consume and the energy that you consume is what makes up your body. So this means even if it's as simple as slicing vegetables or frying an egg or putting toast in your toaster, make every action an act of gratitude, act of mindfulness, and an act of love and that energy will transfer into the food that you prepare. Number three, don't multitask. Did you know that our brains can only focus on one thing at a time? So multitasking is actually an illusion. You can be working on multiple projects at once, but at any given time, your brain can only focus on one thing. So rather than trying to overcrowd your brain and overstress yourself out doing many things at one time, give yourself the space and the time to be present on one task, finish it, next task, finish it, so that you can do it with mindfulness rather than being scattered all over the place. You'll find that when you focus on one thing at a time and letting your mind be present on the current task, you'll waste a lot less energy and you'll come home feeling less tired. In this busy, busy world, allow yourself the luxury of slowing down. Number four, drink plenty of water. I'm sure you've heard this one before. It's not anything new, but we can't state this enough. We have to keep our bodies hydrated. All of the metabolic processes that happen in our body run on water. If we don't have enough water, our bodies can't eliminate toxins properly, which causes a whole range of health problems. Some symptoms you might be facing if you're dehydrated are kidney stones, bad digestion, headache, acne breakout, dry skin, lack of energy, and more. Since every cell in our body depends on water, having enough fluid in your body is very important for great digestion, proper circulation, and homeostasis. A good trick to figure out how much water you need to take every single day, take your body weight in pounds, divide it by half, and that's the amount of fluid ounces that your body needs. So for example, if you're 120 pounds, you divide that by half, 60, then you get 60 fluid ounces. That's the perfect amount for your body weight. Number five, keep moving. Get up off your computer seat and move your body to get your heart rate going, air in your lungs, circulation, and reduce body pain. Exercise helps blood and energy move through your muscles and joints, which can help reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease. Moving your body also boosts your mood and helps create endorphins, which are feel-good hormones. So it can be very helpful to combat anxiety and depression as well. Especially if most of your work comprises of sitting by a computer or sitting on your phone or not moving much, take at least 15 to 20 minutes throughout your day to just walk. And if you're so busy that you can't carve out 15 to 20 minutes to walk, then take a one minute break at the top of every hour. And during that one minute, move your body in a high intensity way, like you can do squats or running in place or push-ups or sit-ups, for just one minute at the top of every hour. This will help get stagnant energy up and running and moving inside of your body so that you'll feel more refreshed throughout the day and go home less tired. Number six, get a good night's sleep. Your body recharges and refreshes while you sleep. It's no surprise that we need to rest enough so that our bodies can recharge and perform optimally the next day. But going a step further than that, not only is it important to get a good night's sleep, but it's very important to sleep regularly every night. So just because you're getting seven to eight hours of sleep, it's not as efficient if you sleep at five in the morning and then wake up at noon or one o'clock. Sleeping at a regular time at night and waking up at an appropriate hour in the morning is the best practice for getting your eight hours in. Some benefits of having a regular sleep schedule are it affects your mental sharpness, energy level, and emotional well-being. And taking care of those elements will determine how the rest of your day unfolds. If you have some trouble sleeping, try doing some toe tapping exercise. I'll link a video in the description below to help you fall asleep much faster. Number seven, recharge in nature. Just like your body needs nutrients to be recharged and rejuvenated, your mind also needs to be recharged and rejuvenated through nature. Sunshine, birds, trees, clouds, flowers, grass, all of these things are gifts from nature that help our minds refresh and recharge. Many successful people like Bill Gates have a habit of going on a morning walk every single day. And these people report that they get their most creative, best ideas when they're out in nature, not bothered by honking and machinery and computers and all of this, when they can just relax and recharge and communicate with nature. A good way to relax and recharge in nature is to completely open up all of your five senses and soak it all in. Listen to the sounds of the insects, the birds, feel the breeze on your face, listen to the leaves rustling, all of these things. Feel the earth with your feet. All of these things will help you recharge and relax your mind. And especially if you're someone who's very mentally active and you have a hard time relaxing your mind, going out into nature will help you empty your brain, declutter, and de-stress. Number eight, connect with yourself. So many of us, so often, are so focused on things outside of ourselves. Taking care of our family, taking care of our co-workers, taking care of our boss, taking care of our situations. Our attentions are forever taken outside of us, where we place other people as a priority before my own health and well-being. Not to mention, our society has a very unhealthy feeling of guilt for self-care. Let me say it here loud and clear, self-care is not selfish. When we take some time to meditate every single day to see what we want, what our dreams are, what are my goals, where is my life headed, then your life will be more clear and you can live a more purposeful life. And studies show that the difference between people who feel satisfied in their lives and people who don't, the satisfied group, they have a clear purpose. And that purpose gives them reason to live and reason to move on. And the only way to find your purpose is to connect with yourself. Also, when you connect with yourself, you can see where your obstacles are. Think of creative problems to overcome your obstacles and you can also see how you can better your human relationships. Whether that be a romantic relationship, a friend relationship, a family relationship, you can see clearly how you can improve those things to make your life much better. A great practice to connect with yourself and meditate is to do positive affirmations. I made a video about positive affirmations so I'll link that video in the description below. Make sure you check it out. Or another great resource is to read the book Connect by Il Chi Lee. There you will find detailed meditations, principles, and practice of how to best connect with yourself and what you can do concretely to resolve problems and to find solutions in your life. Good physical, emotional, mental health is an ongoing practice that requires your attention every step of the way. And following these tips may be easier said than done. But if you start small and try to make these small changes every single day, you will create a healthy habit that will last you a lifetime. Do you have any personal tips that help you stay healthy? Please let me know in the comments below. I'd love to hear what your tips are. Or if you have any comments or things to add from my tips, please let me know in the comments as well. Thanks so much for tuning in guys. See you in another video. Bye!