How is your health associated with your mind and body?
When it comes to overall wellbeing, your mind and body should work co-operatively. In this blog, we are going to understand how your mental health and physical health impact your overall health.
Mind and Body Connection
Your mind and body connection are all about your personal thoughts, emotions, feelings, and attitude towards a particular situation. As per health care philosophy, your mind and body connection is an important aspect of holistic well-being.
How does mental health affect physical health?
It is said the way you think and feel impacts your actions and health. Poor mental health can lead to serious health complications and can affect your ability to make healthy decisions and fight off chronic diseases.
More negative thoughts may not let your brain produce healthy and happy hormones that can help your body in healing. Research has shown that your brain produces hormones based upon your thoughts. Your body needs more endorphins which are natural pain killers and help in strengthening your immune system.
The consequences of poor mental health on physical health –
How does physical health impact mental health?
Your mind and body are powerful allies. They act and react together which means the way you think and feel impacts your actions. Let us talk about stress as an example. Stress occurs because of various reasons like financial issues, relationship issues, health issues or work pressure, etc. When we are stressed which is a mental state of mind, our body feels tired and we may notice changes in our blood pressure levels, heartbeat, etc.
Likewise, if we are suffering from a health issue, it may affect our mental health. For example, if you are diagnosed with diabetes or any other health condition, you become stressed, anxious, and depressed. As a consequence, it impacts the way you may have treated the illness and have cured it for yourself.
How to take care of your mental and physical health?
You can take care of your overall well-being in the following ways:
1. Workout Regularly – Exercising daily can help you boost your mental and physical power. It helps in releasing good hormones in the body – endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin- that can ease the depression and anxiety caused due to any situation. You can practice yoga also like meditating for 30 minutes in the morning and evening also. This can help you stay calm and relax and hence improves your sleep.
2. Eat nutritional food – Your diet has a direct impact on your physical and mental health. Consuming a more processed, high-calorie, and low nutrient diet could lead to poor mental and physical health. It may give rise to anxiety and depression. In addition, skipping meals can also lead to health issues like feeling fatigued, low in energy etc. For a healthy mind and body, you should try to include fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains and healthy fats in your diet.
3. Improve sleep – The amount you sleep you take at night impacts your body the next day. For example, if you did not have a good night’s sleep last night, you may feel tired, stressed, worried, lazy, bored throughout the day. As an adult, you should take at least 7 hours of sleep per night. If you face issues in falling asleep easily, try the below mentioned steps:
- Avoid taking caffeine drinks before going to bed
- Try reading a book in bed
- Give your feet a nice massage
4. Avoid Alcohol and Smoking – Consumption of alcohol excessively and smoking cigarettes directly impact your mental health as well as physical health. Nicotine in cigarettes temporarily increases the level of happy hormones in body but when the impact is vanished, the person feels like smoking or drinking more. In the long term of life, this becomes addiction to a person and it deteriorates overall health of the consumer.
5. Mind and Body Therapies – These are the healing techniques that promote relaxation and calmness with mindfulness. Below written therapies may help:
- Acupuncture Therapy
- Meditation
- Music Therapy
- Yoga
Note – You should check with your doctor before trying any of these therapies yourself.
6. Try CBD – CBD is the short form for cannabidiol. It works in your endocannabinoid system with CB1 and CBD2 receptors. ECS acts as a bridge between mind and body. CBD intake helps in improving the bodily movement, inflammation, joint pains, emotions, mood, thoughts, immune system and related functions in the body. The benefits of CBD are not restricted to only alleviating the bad things but it is a compliment to a good life ahead being a pursuit of health and wellness.
The Bottom Line
Balancing your mental and physical health is the key to your overall wellbeing. If you are able to relax your mind, your body will start improving. It will stop producing the hormones that create stress. As a result, you return to the state of state of calm both physically and mentally.
