In this article, we’ll explore the relationship between a healthy body, healthy mind. We’ll also learn how many people fail to recognize the strong relationship between our bodies and our mind.
When we are not adequately taking care of our bodies and our physical health, our mental health will begin to deteriorate as well. Full health requires a balance of mental and physical health to keep us in our best shape and support us in feeling our best.
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Table of Contents
How Physical Health Impacts Self-Worth?
Self-Worth and body image go hand in hand. When we have a low sense of self-worth, we tend to stop taking care of our bodies. Soon, they get out of shape, may become plagued with illness and chronic pain, and would otherwise no longer serve us well.
Alternatively, if we lead a stressful life that prevents us from having the time to take proper care of our bodies, we begin to get out of shape and may also feel the effects of our stress as it stirs illness within the body. As a result, we become embarrassed, and we begin to experience a lowered sense of self-worth.
Our bodies, simply put, are a major part of us. They are a large piece of our identity, and they play a massive role in who we perceive ourselves to be. When we are not taking care of our bodies, we are directly telling our minds that we do not feel worthy of our time and attention.
Instead, we feel that other things are more important. This lowers our self-worth, and it also begins to stimulate sensations of shame, guilt, and disappointment in ourselves. This further damages our self-esteem and self-confidence.
Another way that our physique impacts our mental health is in how we are affected by the biology of the body. An unhealthy body generally has imbalanced hormones and struggles to perform basic tasks. It results in our body producing more cortisol, the stress hormone. This is meant to kick us into gear to give us the energy needed to take better care of ourselves, but if we ignore the signs, we simply end up in a chronic state of stress.
As a result, our mental health begins to suffer as well. This stress can create even lower self-worth and self-esteem in people. The following three ways are excellent practices you can begin using right away to start balancing your body out once again and ensure that your healthy body can support your mental health.
1. Healthy Body, Healthy Mind Tip #1: Taking Better Care of Your Diet
Better health overall always starts in the gut. Your gut health is directly responsible for nearly every else in your body, from balanced hormones to proper organ function. When you are taking good care of your healthy body, healthy mind, and gut health, taking care of everything else becomes significantly easier.
So how do you do that?
Proper gut health starts with a nutritious diet that is rich in everything you need to not only survive but also thrive. Eating a diet rich in color and with adequate proteins, fatty acids, and other important nutrients can support you in having stronger health in general. This means that you will begin to experience greater self-worth and greater self-esteem!
While supplements can be a beneficial way of getting important nutrients into your body, the best way to go about it is to eat a diet that is rich in what your body needs. Supplements do not tend to be broken down and absorbed by the body as easily, resulting in you simply passing many of the nutrients via urine or stool.
If you do choose to use supplements in addition to a healthier diet, it is important to choose organic, high-quality supplements that will deliver the best impact on your body. You should also adjust your diet to increase your levels of healthy nutrients and vitamins.
Some things that you should begin adding to your diet to improve your overall health, specifically your mental health, include things like chia seeds, salmon, spinach, and eggs which are all rich in omega fatty acids. These acids are excellent for your brain health.
Other foods include berries, nuts (especially Brazil nuts), oysters, yogurt, liver, and broccoli. These all contain high levels of vitamins like vitamins C, D, and B, protein, calcium, and other minerals. You can further increase your nutrient intake by choosing organic, pesticide-free food.
In addition to what you are eating, you should also pay attention to what you are drinking to maintain a healthy body, healthy mind. You want to ensure that you are staying well-hydrated by drinking plenty of water throughout the day. You should avoid drinking excess alcohol or consuming too much caffeine.
Keeping these two levels to a minimum will ensure that your body is functioning optimally and that it has the best chance of digesting and absorbing all of the healthy nutrients you are feeding it.
Another great way to enjoy more fluids throughout the day is to make homemade juices from organic fruits and vegetables. A good, high-quality, fresh-squeezed juice is a great way to add more nutrients to your diet while keeping you hydrated.
2. Healthy Body, Healthy Mind Tip #2: Exercising More Frequently
Exercising is an important part of our lives that many of us tend to overlook to maintain a healthy body, healthy mind. When we do not exercise adequately, we begin to experience the side effects of this behavior both physically and mentally. Physically, we struggle to do things that may have been easy for us at one point. Perhaps we may feel like we are not on par with our peers.
It can be more of a challenge to carry things, enjoy doing activities with loved ones, or otherwise stay active and involved in others’ lives when we are struggling with ill health due to lack of exercise. Low stamina and increased instances of chronic pain are just two of the many things that people with a poor exercise routine face.
Increasing your daily exercise and staying on track with a routine are great ways to increase your physical and mental health and for maintaining a healthy relationship between a healthy body, healthy mind. Physically, it relieves stress from your body and helps you get back in shape.
As a result, your hormone levels balance out, and you begin to feel better. Your body and brain function optimally, your stress levels drop, your strong emotions dissipate positively, and your capacity to face things in your day-to-day life increases.
Mentally, your health improves because you feel better for taking care of yourself. Feelings of guilt and shame around having an unhealthy body begin to dissipate, and you feel more confident in your ability to live the best quality of life possible.
You also begin to feel sensations of pride and courage, knowing that you were able to accomplish something that previously may have felt daunting, challenging, or even outright impossible. These feelings of accomplishment and this sense of pride support you in feeling a greater sense of mental health overall.
Exercising does not need to be an extensive, hard-core workout that consumes all of your time. Instead, going for a brisk walk each day, spending a few minutes at the gym, or even doing a home workout routine in your living room are all great choices.
If you are unable to work out due to a physical disability or pre-existing health condition, consider communicating with your doctor to see what forms of exercise you may be able to engage in that will support you in feeling better. In many cases, there may be smaller and lower impact things you can do such as yoga or light stretching.
The key here is not to outdo yourself or compete with anyone unless that is what you are interested in. The key, instead, is to support yourself in achieving your own best health possible. As a result, you will begin to feel significantly better both physically and mentally.
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3. Healthy Body, Healthy Mind Tip #3: Receiving Adequate Rest
In addition to eating right and getting enough exercise, you also need to make sure that you are getting a night of consistent, high-quality sleep to maintain a good balance between a healthy body, healthy mind. Rest is a highly underrated part of our daily lives, and it is typically the first to be impacted when we are feeling stressed out or unwell.
We begin to find ourselves sleeping less, feeling more restless when we sleep, or otherwise not feeling fully rested when we wake. As a result, we are exhausted, and our ability to function effectively throughout the day is further impacted. Soon, we skip exercising because we are too tired which as a result, negatively impacts the healthy balance between a healthy body, healthy mind.
Then, we begin to continue skipping it because skipping becomes a habit. Before we know it, we are also skipping eating or eating healthy meals because we are feeling too tired to prepare them. The spiral continues until we are in a rut, feeling as though we are at our worst with a poor exercise habit, an unhealthy diet, and an even worse sleeping pattern.
Instead of letting yourself get caught in this spiral that is all too familiar for most, you can choose to pay attention to your rest and ensure that you are getting adequate sleep.
Whenever you sense that you are not feeling rested enough or you are feeling too tired to do things, instead of breaking your daily routine, seek to add some extra opportunities to catch up on rest throughout the day.
Take it easy by letting go of unnecessary tasks temporarily as you catch up on sleep. Go to bed a bit earlier and ensure that you practice a positive bedtime routine that will support you in having a positive sleep. Using things like chamomile, lavender, and other natural sleep aids can help you resume restful sleep.
You can also lower the lights in your house about an hour before bedtime, turn off screens, and prepare yourself for a good night’s rest. It is important that, unless mandatory, you refrain from using any chemical sleep aids.
Supplements and medicines can inhibit the body’s natural ability to sleep, resulting in you not being able to sleep on your own without their support. Furthermore, they can prevent you from having a truly restful sleep by manufacturing one for you.
As a result, you may not feel fully rested in the morning despite having slept a long night. You may also begin to notice other unwanted symptoms that make resting and living a normal daily life a challenge.
Always do your best to go natural without using any supplements or medications when it comes to sleep. If you must, consult your physician and choose the least invasive temporary method possible to ensure that it does not have a long-term impact on your sleep health.
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