Health inside and out
Your health is your greatest wealth. So what are the things you can do to look after yourself inside and out? Firstly, it’s important to take care of your psychological health as this is the pillar of which everything else stands. If you have good psychological health then it puts you in great stead to carry out things that are good for your overall health such as exercising.
Catch and ban negative thoughts
It can be easy to get locked into a negative cycle of thinking. This can really get in the way of the things you want to do. For example, thinking “if I go to the gym I won’t know what I’m doing and everyone will be looking at me and laughing” will likely get in the way of you actually going to the gym and then you have missed an opportunity to boost your mood with the sense of pleasure and achievement going to the gym would give you. If you notice negative thoughts try and evaluate them and question how accurate they are. Can you identify a more balanced way of looking at the situation and if so what will you do as a result.
2. Have a balance of activities in your life
Try and work towards having a balance of routine, necessary and pleasurable activities in your life. It’s easy to just focus on doing tasks in one domain e.g. necessary. This means activities that may give us a sense of pleasure are missing which can lead to low mood, if we put off routine activities then anxiety can start to build as more things pile up and we don’t know where to start.
3. Make time for sleep, movement and fuel
It’s so important to ensure you are getting enough sleep. Being well rested will give you the energy you need to carry out activities and challenge negative thoughts. If you find it hard to get to sleep have a look at your sleep hygiene, are you giving yourself enough time to wind down before bed. If you find you worry at night keep a note pad next to your bed to write them down and return to. With our busy lives it’s easy to forget to eat and drink fluids as you go through the day.