Your New Year’s resolution may have been something along the lines of “losing weight” or “getting healthy.”
But you don’t just want that to be a week or two bouts of exercise at the beginning of the new year. And it’s not all about slimming down, either.
You want a healthy body that you feel comfortable in, but you want more than that. You’re serious about improving your life for the better, and not just when it comes to a number on the scale.
If this sounds like you, then consider a different approach to health, a wellness approach. Incorporating wellness exercises into your daily routine can change your life for the better for your physical health, emotional health, spiritual health, and more.
Workplace wellness is on the rise, but how do you lead a wellness lifestyle when you work from homemade laxative? Check out these simple ways to make wellness a part of your life on your own.
Get Screened Regularly
One of the biggest steps workplaces are taking with wellness is to offer free screenings for common ailments, such as high blood pressure, to their employees. The idea is that taking these preventative measures will keep the employees healthier in the long run, and some companies even offer incentives for employees who remain on a healthy scale.
But what do you do when you work from home, are self-employed, and don’t have someone telling you when and where to get screened? Take initiative yourself.
Yes, it can be hard to find the time to go to the doctor or even to remember to schedule an appointment, but preventative measures can pay off in reduced healthcare costs and a better quality of living.
Chances are that you can find free health screening events in your own community, too, so you don’t have to spend any extra money to keep an eye on your health. CVS Pharmacies across the nation, for instance, offer free health screening events to test your blood pressure, BMI, cholesterol, and more.
Set Aside 10 Minutes Per Day
One aspect of wellness is spiritual wellness. This focuses on your values and beliefs that give you purpose in life. You don’t necessarily have to be religious to practice spiritual wellness as long as you understand your spiritual side.
Even if it’s only for 10 minutes per day, you can practice spiritual wellness in countless ways. Just a few exercises that help you become more spiritual well include:
- Praying
- Doing meditation or yoga
- Engaging in a relaxing activity, even if it’s just a bubble bath
- Taking a few minutes to reflect on your actions and how they align with your values
Start with just 10 minutes each day with one of these activities to help you relax and reflect on your life. You’ll start to notice that a sense of tranquility and meaning becomes a part of you when you do so.
Stand Up
Seriously. That’s all you have to do. If you’re hunched over at your computer all day, you can still focus on your physical wellness by getting out of your chair every so often. Gretchen Reynolds, author of “The First 20 Minutes: Surprising Science Reveals How We Can Exercise Better, Train Smarter, Live Longer” says that simply moving does a lot to improve your health.
Few ideas to get you started
- Make it a point to get out of your chair every 20 minutes and walk around for a moment or do a couple of jumping jacks.
- Whenever you get a phone call, stand up and pace around your home office instead of sitting at your desk.
- Schedule a 15-minute walking break into your work schedule. Use this break to get a bit of exercise and a breath of fresh air.
If you want to take a 5-minute break every hour to get up and move, consider a single cleaning task, such as starting a load of laundry, as this will help improve your environmental wellness, too, and boost your mood and wellbeing.
Call Up a Friend
Another aspect of wellness is social wellness in which we establish and nourish social connections that build us up. When you work from home, keeping those connections in tact is tough since you’re in solitude most of the day.
But even when you work from home, you should be giving yourself breaks throughout the day—even if it’s just a lunch break. Use this time to take 10 minutes or so to chat with a friend or family member. You can double up this call with emotional wellness by expressing your feelings and talking through your stress. You can also stand during your phone call to enjoy the physical benefits of it all.
The neat thing about all these tips is that they can be used together so that you don’t have to think about it too much or make a huge effort to change your lifestyle. Start with one suggestion at a time until it becomes a habit, and then move onto a different area of wellness to improve your life even when you work from home. The science shows that if you just do anything, even stand in place 20 minutes, you will be healthier,” she tells New York Times.