To know how to live our healthiest and happiest lives at the moment, it can be a good idea to look to our past. Human evolution has shown us there is a link between our physical health and our mental health, or psychological well-being. So for those kinds of clues that are going to help us to live our best lives, then we should look for the wisdom that was in our ancestry and how people have done things before.
Modern living, though, is doing things that are causing our bodies and our minds to want to shut off, which is where things differ from the past. We have such a rapid changes and enhancements in technology that we can often feel so busy, and suffer from something in our minds called ‘future shock.’ Having too much change in too short of a time can be this future shock, and being able to deal with it all will really help. So if you are feeling a little future shocked, then here are some strategies to help you to be able to cope.
- Moving Daily
Making sure that you are able to exercise and get out and about at least once each day, and for at least twenty minutes at a time is going to really help your body and mind to be able to cope. Physically you can feel more energised and stronger when you exercise. And mentally, you can feel happier and less stressed when you exercise, so there are benefits all round.
- Intellectual Curiosity
Using our minds, and really using them to think about things and plan things, even asking yourselves questions or doing little quizzes can be a great thing to do to keep your mind healthy and active. In fact, many dementia services will talk about the importance of keeping your mind active each day, whether it is discussing politics with someone or doing a crossword puzzle. It can help you to explore new ideas and spend time having some focused thoughts.
- Encourage Creativity
Being able to challenge your mind to be able to connect unrelated ideas together, or doing something that allows you to use areas of your brain that won’t be used in your day job, for example, can be a great way to spend time. It can give joy and pleasure, as well as helping to relieve stress. So have a think when the last time you did something that was creative. I don’t think we as adults do it enough.
- Unity
Even if you enjoy your own company and like to be by yourself from time to time, some kind of social network is a must for some social support. Being able to spend time together with like-minded people, and those that you enjoy being around is much needed for our health. It can be good to talk, as they say, and that is going to be much more likely when you have a group of people around you that you can talk to and get inspired by.
- Spiritual Connectedness
This doesn’t have to be anything like a religion, unless that is something that you believe in. But being able to identify a source of power or inspiration that is bigger than you, can be just what you need to have a healthy mind. It could be that you just seek out motivational messages or quotes or practice mindfulness or yoga, to allow yourself just to ‘be.’ So find something that works for you, and it can make a whole lot of difference.
- Balance
Getting in the habit of creating balance in your life is really important. From the balance of the calories that you take in versus the calories that you burn off, to taking step to reduce your carbon footprint, it is all good. When you feel more balances, you will feel happier and healthier and your mind is likely to be in a much better place.
- Simplicity
Creating a habit of simplicity, and being able to embrace the freedom that does come with needing less, or wanting less, can be so refreshing. So think about simplifying things in your life. It can be stressful if you feel there are so many things that you need to be doing or need to have. But really, there can be somethings that can be cut out of your life in order to live in a simpler way.
As you can see, small changes can make a big difference, so it is so important to make some changes if you’re feeling a bit off-balance, to make sure that you’ll be able to live a happier and healthier life.
