How to Help Your Health

There are many ways in which you can improve your own health and help heal more quickly. Many of these are obvious (although that doesn’t make them easy), such as eating healthily (lots of vegetables, not much sugar), getting enough rest and sleep, exercise (get out for that cycle or run).

Sometimes looking at nutrition can be helpful, as you may be lacking in a vitamin or mineral and not realise it. Being low in a vitamin or mineral has its own effects, such as bad skin from too little vitamin C or nerve problems from low vitamin B. It can also prevent the body from absorbing other nutrients. For instance vitamin C helps the body absorb iron, and to absorb calcium, the body needs vitamins A and D and enough magnesium.

Meditation can help some people and I think it is worth a try. It is not for everyone and sometimes people who have had a trauma find that meditation brings it back. See how you feel about it.

One aspect of health which I feel is often overlooked is enjoyment and happiness. Doing things which bring you joy is important and will help improve your health. It may be seeing friends, going for a drink or watching a cookery programme. It may be knitting or playing computer games. If it brings you joy it is good (within reason). There is lots of information about laughter strengthening our immune system. So maybe head to a comedy night or watch a comedy. Also, being with people who love you and you love is really important.

These things are not necessarily easy to do. But it can be possible to make small changes. You may have a difficult boss or be working in a job you don’t like. Finding another job may feel impossible at the moment. But you could spend more time with friends outside of work or going for a walk in nature to help you feel better. Or make yourself some delicious food to feel nourished.

And be nice to yourself. We all make mistakes and fail at lots of things. It is the way we learn. So encourage yourself and congratulate yourself for successes and failures, for trying new things. Remind yourself that you are doing what you can right now. Remember that small changes done regularly amount to big changes over time - it is cumulative. So walking for an extra five minutes a day is an extra 35 minutes a week and two hours and 20 minutes a month. That’s quite a bit of exercise.

If you’d like more information or would like a chat about how I could help you, contact me.