12 Keys To Cultivating A Healthy And Balanced Lifestyle

What is a healthy lifestyle? Feel and be well. That is perhaps the purpose that we all pursue in one way or another every day, for which we often make small but significant transformations in our daily lives and with which we would like to stay connected despite the eagerness that sometimes seems to invade the days. But how conscious do we really assume this will be in our lives?

Each habit is born from small decisions that, repeated, are strengthened in behavior that forges a certain result. James Clear in his book  Atomic Habits insists that “the small actions that we repeat almost automatically every day” are what define and shape the people we are and will become.

For this reason, habits have the immense power to improve the individual and collective life experience, especially since none happens in isolation. They are interconnected and by feeding one you are probably feeding the other, like a chain. For example, practicing physical activity leads in many cases to eating better.

Here are 12 powerful habits to integrate into your life. So go ahead! Choose one or several habits from which you want to start taking the first steps to transform yourself and let yourself be infected by the well-being that comes from being connected to your health in an integral way. Remember: we are our habits.

How to lead a healthy lifestyle?

1. Eating Healthy

The most frequent and universal of habits, food, is a key pillar for the prevention of chronic diseases and the development of physical energy.

David L. Katz, president of the  True Health Initiative, claims that diet is the number one predictor of the state of human health.

While everybody is unique, most people benefit from a diet based on vegetables, fruits, compound carbohydrates, whole grains, nuts, and protein.

2. Practice Physical Activity

According to the WHO, physical activity not only encompasses exercise, but also other practices that involve bodily movement and are performed as part of playtime, active transportation, household chores, and recreational activities.

Find the way to move that resonates with you the most, it can be from dancing to hiking in the mountains and make sure you reserve a space for it in your days. It has been shown that doing so has physical, psychological, emotional, and social repercussions.

3. Sleep Well

Did you know that 89% of successful people sleep at least seven hours a day? During sleep, the brain recharges so that when awake it can function at full capacity. That is why it is the necessary complement for a healthy metabolism and without it, the processes of eating and physical activity do not complete their cycle in the body.

In addition, deep rest is essential for mental health. Dr. Rubin Naiman assures that it is the one that allows us tissue recovery, hormonal balance, memory consolidation, and stress management.

Poor sleep is expressed with drowsiness, fatigue, irritability, aggressive behavior, and accidents, and can be a risk factor for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes, anxiety, and depression.

4. Regulate Excesses

The Happiness Report 2020 presents evidence of how the increase in addictions is an obstacle to achieving happiness. That is why there are habits that do not consist in promoting a practice but in abstaining from it.

This is a call for moderation with those that deteriorate physical and mental health such as liquor, tobacco, gambling and cyber addiction.

5. Meditate Or Perform Mindfulness Practices

To nurture this habit, you don’t need to be an expert yogi but perceive and feel the present with all our senses. Brushing our teeth, reading in silence, drawing, knitting, breathing consciously, or eating while enjoying the smells and flavors are opportunities to live mindfully.

Did you know that doing it for 10 to 15 minutes a day can produce profound changes in the brain structure?

A Massachusetts General Hospital study of people who meditate found changes in several areas of the brain, including growth in those associated with memory, empathy, and stress regulation.

7. Work With Purpose

Through our work, we add value to society, and at the same time, we feel valued. This is directly related to the feeling of getting up every morning with determination, so finding a connection with our personal life purpose in our work leads to joy and self-realization, two decisive drivers for individual well-being that translate into collective well-being.

This concept is not limited to paid activities since it is also applied to children, plenary sessions, or people with different abilities in their daily tasks and in the search for their vocation.

9. Transport sustainably

Air quality, stagnation in the streets, and the noise of motors and whistles are factors that negatively impact both the environment and our quality of life.

Obviously, an efficient and clean transport system contributes to the mitigation of climate change and impacts the productivity of people , allowing better use of travel time and a significant reduction in stress.

10. Enjoy leisure

Leisure is the essential principle for culture, travel, and plays to be in our lives. It gives rise to the events of the enjoyment of silence, meeting, contemplation, exploration, movement, laughter, music, imagination, and creation.

Balancing the responsibilities of life with the full enjoyment of it is essential for good living!

11. Talk and share with the tribe

A recent study in the United States found that 1 in 2 adults over the age of 45 suffers from loneliness, a condition that surgeon Vivek Murthy says has the same health risks as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

For this reason, we conceive belonging to a constructive community as a habit that not only makes us participate in bonds of love, friendship, and solidarity, but also allows us to stay healthy and have a life full of meaning toward ourselves and towards others. enriching ourselves with diverse visions and powerful conversations.

12. Take care of the community and the habitat

The relationship between the place we inhabit and nature shapes our daily lives. A well-kept, harmonious environment with public, green, and accessible spaces is more likely to become a calm, safe, and healthy habitat, with dynamics of coexistence based on trust, communication, assertiveness, and co-responsibility.

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