Our mental and physical health is vital to a long and happy existence. So why do we find ourselves often neglecting this aspect of our life in favour of instant gratification?
It does not have to be a stressful and hard process to keep our minds and body in check. Adding simple, short, and fun activities to our everyday life is enough to significantly change our mood and fitness levels.Â
Choose to better yourself in small ways and provide yourself with the life you deserve.Â
1. Gardening
Gardening can be done across all land sizes, and the same methods can be used inside your house or room (taking care of plants).Â
Planting, watering, trimming, and harvesting are all aspects of gardening that provide you with a calming feeling. This calming feeling will translate into your everyday life, helping you re-centre and work on your mindfulness.
Seeing your flowers, vegetables, or fruits grow will give you a huge sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. This will motivate you in other aspects of your life.Â
If you are gardening outdoors, the fresh air and sunlight will lift your mood. Often when people take their gardening seriously, they will draw out designs and make efficient plans for their gardens. This not only develops your organisation but also keeps your mind focused on one thing.
This allows all other stressful, upsetting, or annoying thoughts to be pushed to the background, giving you a pocket of peace each day. Therefore, reducing any feelings of anxiety and depression feelings, symptoms, and effects.
Aside from benefiting your mind, gardening is also super valuable for improving your body’s health. As you can imagine, gardening will increase your daily movement, which in turn can strengthen your body and improve flexibility.
You will find the muscles in your arms and back will become stronger, along with greater strength in your hands. You might find spending time gardening daily will help you lose a pound or two and feel your absolute best.
2. Open Water Swimming
Open water swimming will typically take place in uncomfortably cold water. This is great news for your body and mind as it packs tons of benefits.Â
Entering cold water will send your body into a shocked and stressed state. This is why you should always ensure you are close to safety until you have adjusted to the temperature. However, aside from ensuring you are close to safety, this process of shock is a good thing.
Essentially, once experienced over and over again, your body will become better at handling this feeling. This, in turn, means your body becomes better at handling shocking or stressful situations in daily life outside of the water.Â
Open water is packed full of new textures, new smells, and new sites, which gives your mind plenty of things to focus on. You might find yourself forgetting the long to-do list you had in your mind because you are that relaxed and at ease.
Water makes you feel lightweight and airy, which is great for elevating any anxiety and stress that you are carrying.Â
Swimming around in open water will improve your core muscles and strengthen your shoulders, arms, legs, and back muscles. You will find your overall endurance and speed will significantly improve.
Once you leave the water, it can feel like you are walking on clouds for the rest of the day due to the pure relaxation and fun you feel when swimming in open water. There is no better way to feel refreshed while working on improving both your mind and body.
If you try this activity, ensure you are a confident swimmer and choose a suitable tow float, wetsuit, swimming goggles, and cap. Find a safe location, and make sure to do plenty of research on open water swimming before taking the jump.
3. Dancing
When we dance to great music and have fun, our body releases positive endorphins. These endorphins block out any negative, anxiety fuelled thoughts and let us indulge in relaxation and excitement.Â
You can attend dance classes or even move the furniture so you can dance in the comfort of your home. Put on dance tutorials or even just your favourite music and get grooving. Taking the extra step includes having or buying a Nintendo Wii and playing Just Dance. The game will critique your dancing skills, and when you play with friends, it will add a sense of competition.
Dancing is never boring, and adding an hour of dance to your evening instead of the gym could provide you with equal fat-burning qualities with less frustration.
The act of dancing can improve your mental health as it allows you to not take yourself seriously and just let everything go. There is no space for bad thoughts when you are busy dancing and singing.Â
After a dancing session, you will be on a high, and this will result in less time to dwell on anxious thoughts. Once you have experienced this excitement and adrenaline, you will likely continue this routine. This will consequently improve your physical health and also have a positive effect on your mental health.
Collins Nwokolo is a human physiologist, writer and health enthusiast. He loves writing helpful articles on health and fitness, which he enjoys sharing with everyone.
