A Complete Guide to Live a Healthy Lifestyle

This detailed guide will help you to live a mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, professionally & socially healthy lifestyle.

We must focus on critical areas and work on those areas to improve the quality of our life. It is not just a single aspect, but the aggregation of all the aspects which makes a healthy lifestyle and improvement of it is a continuous process. Still, it’s completely worth it to follow it.

How to live a Mentally Healthy Lifestyle

Our mind is a primary aspect that controls our whole body; thus, it is essential to maintain mental wellbeing. Five practices mentioned below will keep your minds healthy.

Free Mind

Mind is very fickle, and that’s why it demands freedom. You can not expect your mind to stay stable all the time, so you should keep it free to explore new things. It collects the information consciously and subconsciously, so don’t restrict it. 

Neuroscience believes that relaxing your mind makes you more creative. The report states, “Scientists studying brain scans recently discovered that moments of creativity occur when the mind is at rest rather than working on something.”

Communicate

Maintain the habit of communicating with others because a healthy give and take of ideas, thoughts, feedback, and opinion help us to think beyond limits. It allows us to think from a different perspective and, at the same time, help others to do the same.

ALSO READ - 51 Easy Tips To Improve Verbal Communication

Science has proved that when the different areas of our brain are stimulated, it opens up pathways and becomes permanent over time. Thus communication helps the growth of our minds.

Learn

We live in the 21st century, which is the data age. We have to constantly learn new things and process new information. This continuous process of learning new things will keep our brain active and thus stimulate more areas in our brain. Thus, learning new things is a part of a healthy mental lifestyle.

Unlearn

As we all know, the only constant thing is to change. That’s why we have to adopt new learnings and do it. We have to erase old learnings which are no longer relevant. It might include the knowledge of using old machines. Since the machines are changing with every new invention, there is no need to remember how to operate the old machines. You will need the latest knowledge, and that’s why erasing the old knowledge is required in some cases.

This process is known as the unlearning process. According to the futurist & philosopher Alvin Toffler, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.”

Be Creative

Creativity is about coming up with something new, unique, and original. This process is challenging in itself. Everyone is creative in their own way, and if you can find your creative zone and try to be creative, then it will surely help you.

It is observed that creativity helps people to reduce their anxiety, depression, and stress. Thus, being creative keeps you healthy not only on a mental level but also on a physical level.

Physically Healthy Lifestyle

The recent Covid 19 pandemic has taught us that being physically healthy is extremely important. Let’s have a look at the factors to stay physically healthy.

Diet

We become what we eat, and that’s why having the proper diet with complete nutrition in it should be the top priority of everyone. 

The world health organization says, “Healthy diet protects you against many chronic non-communicable diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Eating a variety of foods and consuming less salt, sugars, and saturated and industrially-produced trans-fats, are essential for a healthy diet.”

Exercise

Physical activity is another crucial aspect of a healthy body. It includes regular exercise and frequent movement of the body. It helps us to avoid serious health problems like obesity that are associated with excessive amounts of body fat.

Even though exercising might not be comfortable for the first few days, it is necessary. Primarily, in a world where most of us work in a profession that doesn’t require much physical activity. You can follow your comfortable exercise or start your physical activity by walking. It is one of the most underrated forms of exercise, but it has tremendous benefits. Read How Walking Helps Your Body [to Live Longer].

Test Yourself

Our body is a biological system that works somewhat like a mechanical system. It needs regular monitoring, maintenance, and improvement. That’s why we have to do our body checkups at a particular time interval. 

It helps us detect problems in the early stages, and more options for effective treatment are available if the problem is in the early stage. However, in some cases, body checkups can adversely affect our bodies, so you should always consult the doctor before medically testing yourself.

Take Rest

We are working all day using all our organs, and it gets exhausting at the end of the day. As a result, our body needs rest to cool down and regain the energy to start working again at total capacity.

Nutritional sciences research assistant professor Dr. Erica Jansen says, “Sleep is essential to every process in the body, affecting our physical and mental functioning the next day, our ability to fight disease and develop immunity, and our metabolism and chronic disease risk.”

Take Care

The next crucial aspect of living a healthy physical lifestyle is to take proper care of our bodies. It includes regular immunizations, taking precautions against pollution, avoiding addictive substances, etc. No amount of money can bring back our body if it is out of control, and that’s what we have to prevent it from any damage.

Taking care of myself doesn’t mean ‘me first.’ It means ‘me, too.

L.R. Knost

Emotionally Healthy Lifestyle

Most people believe that a healthy lifestyle is only about maintaining good physical health but having good emotional health is also a part of it. Let’s look at the critical factors that help us have a healthy emotional lifestyle.

Self Esteem

Self-esteem is all about maintaining dignity without ego and appreciating yourself. Do not give others the right to control you. No one in this world deserves a life without self-esteem. It has nothing to do with your gender, religion, race, sexual orientation, etc. 

Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.

M. Scott Peck

Self Confidence

Self-confidence is the trust that you have in yourself. Sometimes, things might not go well, but if you believe in yourself, you can take control of the situation and make things according to your expectations. Self-confidence helps you emotionally to deal with the problems that exist only in your mind.

It is your secret weapon for you to fight your insecurities. American philosopher William James said, “Most people live in a restricted circle of potential.” Thus, it is your responsibility to rewire your brain and have self-confidence.

Be Humble

Be humble towards everything as it gives you room for growth. There is a very thick line between self-esteem and staying humble. Being humble is all about admitting that people in this world can do certain things better than you. Treating others with respect irrespective of their income level, profession, or other factors will help you stay humble. Humility teaches you to stay calm, respect others, and learn from others without hurting others.

Being humble helps you to maintain good emotional health by allowing yourself to connect with other people.

Listen to Music

Listening to music is another way to improve our mental and emotional health. The music beats directly stimulate our emotions, and a piece of calm music has the power to make us feel better and peaceful. Music therapy not only eases anxiety but also helps to improve our mood. It is also recognized as an effective and helpful professional therapy. 

A recent study showed that mothers use the benefits of the song to promote infant development. It helps infant babies to regulate their emotions. Thus, if you are inculcating music in your routine, it will benefit you to have a healthy emotional lifestyle.

Build a Connection

Feel free to connect emotionally with others. No one will stay here forever, and that’s why having bad intentions about someone will not help you do anything better. Meet new people and connect with them on an emotional level. This connection will help you to share deep emotions, and it will further make you feel better.

It is observed that emotional solid connections are linked with low anxiety and depression. Further, it helps in higher self-esteem, greater empathy, and more trusting and cooperative relationships.

Spiritually Healthy Lifestyle

Spiritual health is one of the important factors because it is associated with aspects like the meaning of life, connection with other people, and inner peace. Let us look at the factors that will make your spiritual life healthy.

Pray

Praying at frequent intervals allows us to attract positive vibes. It is popular in a religious context, but even the people who don’t want to follow the religious practice can still follow it. Some people express gratitude for making their day suitable and expect a better day tomorrow in their prayers.

Prayer is not asking. It is a longing of the soul. It is daily admission of one’s weakness. It is better in prayer to have a heart without words than words without a heart.

Mahatma Gandhi

Yoga

Yoga means a set of body exercises that includes breathing patterns. It helps the external body but also helps the mind to stay calm and fresh. It is an almost 5,000 years old Indian method associated with body awareness and improvement. 

According to the research Published by Harvard Medical School, “When you do yoga, your brain cells develop new connections, and changes occur in brain struc­ture as well as function, resulting in improved cog­nitive skills, such as learning and memory. Yoga strengthens parts of the brain that play a key role in memory, attention, awareness, thought, and language.”

Thus, it directly improves your spiritual health, as spirituality is all about knowing and becoming aware of it.

Practice Gratitude

We all have some problems in our life, and no one is perfect, but if we keep focusing on the negative things, those things can constantly stop us from achieving something big. 

On the other hand, when you look at positive things, you attract positive things, and it helps you to grow further. Practicing gratitude is one of the ways to appreciate all the positive people, events, places, things, and thoughts that are making your life better. You can maintain a journal or even take the time to appreciate the things you are grateful for; it works like magic.

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.

Epicurus

Meditate

Meditation is one of the best ways to know yourself and observe the smallest detail. Regular meditation practice helps you improve focus and build a clear perspective about life. If you are willing to live a spiritually healthy lifestyle, then meditation should be in your routine as it improves mindfulness. 

There are many meditation practices, and you can go with your comfortable method of practicing meditation. Most people start meditation with guided meditation, with all the instructions explained step by step.

The study of Icenik – Ardana on The Impact of Meditation on Spiritual Well-Being proved that meditation influences the quality improvement of spiritual wellbeing.

Share Positivity

Another way to build a spiritually healthy lifestyle is to inculcate positivity in your life by sharing it with others. The law of karma states that the more you give to others, the more comes back in greater volume. If you share the positivity with others, it will return to make your life positive.

You can do it by appreciating the good deed of others, making others feel special, etc. Life is too short to spend time on negativity, so it is vital to focus on positive things.

Success is not how high you have climbed, but how you make a positive difference to the world.

Roy T. Bennett

Professionally Healthy Lifestyle

Apart from other factors, living a professionally healthy lifestyle is also essential. Our work fills a large part of our life, so our responsibility is to keep it best and healthy.

Be Replaceable

Some people believe that they should be someone that no one can replace. However, there is a fundamental flaw in this mindset. It restricts professional growth, so helping your juniors learn more things and promoting them is necessary. If you are irreplaceable, then your chances of getting promoted get reduced.

You should try to leave your comfort zone, and that’s how you will grow professionally. You will have to face new challenges, which is essential, so be someone who can be replaced. Help others to take your place by sharing your knowledge and experience.

Communicate

Communication is essential not only in personal life but also in professional life. Good communication can save hundreds of events of misunderstandings, and it will help you to put your thoughts on the table. It will save a massive time for everyone, so regular and proper communication is necessary for a healthy professional lifestyle.

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Avoid Negative Politics

Being diplomatic sometimes helps to avoid awkward situations. However, do not be a part of negative politics. It will not only affect the performance of others but also can severely impact your productivity. Using your power of authority to fulfill your personal agenda will not take you anywhere. 

If you are not in a position to help someone, then doing nothing is the second best thing to do in such a case. Do not allow negativity to be a part of your life.

Work-life Balance

We are living in a world where managing the thin line between professional and personal life is getting complicated. That’s why managing work-life balance is necessary. The best way to do it is by managing your time and prioritizing the task.

It is a good thing to give your best in your professional work but not get exhausted as it can negatively impact your personal life.

“Work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. The other four balls—family, health, friends, and integrity—are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably scuffed, nicked, perhaps even shattered.” – Gary Keller

Upgrade

Previously the speed of workflow transformation was slow, so the skills and knowledge gained in student life were enough to sustain throughout the professional career. However, the situation has completely changed now. Whatever you learned today might become obsolete tomorrow, so constantly upgrading yourself is necessary. 

Upgrading your knowledge, skills, and experience will help you to deal with the rapid pace of change. It is said that the people who change before the change succeeds; those who change along with the change survive, and those who change after the change suffer.

That’s why it is necessary to have a long vision and start adopting the skills and knowledge that will be future-proof. You have to upgrade yourself To stay relevant in Industry 4.0. This will keep your professional life healthy.

Socially Healthy Lifestyle

After exploring all other aspects of health, it is also important to consider our social health. According to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, “Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual.”

This is the reason we should also pay attention to our social health.

Be a Responsible Citizen

Being a responsible citizen is a way to serve society by following all the responsibilities as a citizen. When asking for our rights, we must not forget our responsibilities. Voting to choose the right leaders in democracy, following laws and regulations, and maintaining hygiene are great ways to be a responsible citizen.

Be Kind to Others

Everyone is looking for love and respect in society. It’s our responsibility to be kind to others and give due respect to everyone. The social fabric of society is built on core values, and it must include mutual respect for everyone and happiness. 

A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees.

Amelia Earhart

Give Back to the Society

We will not take anything to the grave, so it is essential to give back to society whenever possible. It is not only the money that is required to be donated; you can also donate your time, knowledge, and skills. 

Giving back to society strengthens your core values and helps spread the impact where it matters.

What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us; what we have done for others, and the world remains and is immortal.

Albert Pike

Final Thoughts

It is essential to live a healthy lifestyle, but it is not always limited to physical fitness. We must consider all the factors such as mental, emotional, professional, social, and physical health.

The points we have seen so far will help you live a healthy lifestyle in all areas of life, and I hope you will find this helpful guide. Please feel free to share this article with your circle and help them to live a healthy lifestyle. Also, I would like to hear your thoughts about it and don’t hesitate to add more value by commenting below.

Featured Photo by Maria Lupan