Establishing positive, sustainable lifestyle habits can be challenging. Setting SMART goals, creating environments that support new behaviors, and prioritizing self-care are essential parts of creating sustainable lifestyle habits that work.
Develop the four cornerstones of wellness—nutrition, physical activity, mental well-being, and restful sleep—to increase overall life satisfaction and health outcomes.
Calm & Fit
Wellness practices such as getting enough restful sleep, eating a well-balanced diet, and engaging in regular physical exercise are fairly universally understood; however, their individual wellness journeys vary dramatically, and it’s important to set realistic expectations while breaking larger goals down into manageable chunks in order to reduce overwhelm and maintain consistency in our efforts.
As opposed to making commitments such as drinking a green smoothie every morning and meditating for one hour every day, incorporate one or two wellness practices gradually into your daily routine over time, such as taking 10 deep breaths before sleeping or walking your dog for 30 minutes each day.
Wellness should be an enjoyable journey that boosts both internal and external well-being. If it doesn’t feel fulfilling to you, reassessing your goals or finding a new wellness program might help ensure that it serves its intended purpose of helping you thrive, which is necessary for true health.
Mount Sinai provides wellness offerings to faculty and staff that help facilitate an optimal journey. For instance, Calm and Fit offers guided sessions, breathing exercises, and sleep stories to ease anxiety and stress; Pocket Yoga gives users access to different routines, practices and difficulty levels for yoga practice; both these apps offer personalized guidance from health experts. Calm is only available to UnitedHealthcare E&I fully insured members aged 13 or older who agree to the Calm Terms; members can use it at their leisure as often as desired.
Mind & Body
Wellness journeys involve altering lifestyle habits to better support health goals, such as eating a well-balanced diet, engaging in physical activities daily, and practicing self care – practices that have proven themselves over time to lead to healthier, fitter, and happier people.
Your mind and your body are intimately interlinked; what your brain thinks has an immediate effect on how your body responds. Stress about finances or work, for instance, may cause tension-filled muscles or headaches, so learning and employing stress management techniques is necessary in order to prevent mental burnout.
Cultivating mindfulness practices can enhance your overall quality of life and can include activities like yoga, meditation, acts of kindness, or journaling. Select one that speaks to you and incorporate it into your daily routine for optimal nourishment, relaxation, and support.
At the core of it all lies personalization: creating your wellness journey around what best works for you! Instead of blindly following current trends, take an honest inventory of what optimal health means to you and develop a wellness plan based on this. This could mean cutting back on toxic information intake, not succumbing to unhealthy dietary trends, or setting boundaries around social gatherings where temptation could exist for overindulgence.
Mind & Spirit
Whoever seeks holistic wellness should pay attention to how the mind, body, and spirit interact. Any time one dimension falls out of alignment, it has an impact on all three. Anxiety or stress, for instance, may manifest physically as increased heart rate or sleeplessness.
Holistic health takes a holistic approach, and emphasizing a whole-person approach is integral. The goal is to balance all aspects of oneself so they work as one cohesive whole; accepting spirituality may also help; it symbolizes your values and belief system, which help create meaning in your life.
Spiritual wellness can be achieved in numerous ways, whether that means prayer, self-reflection, volunteering, meditation, journaling, or simply spending time outdoors. Intellectual wellbeing should be prioritized if you enjoy learning new things, engaging in hobbies that challenge your brain, such as puzzles or games, and challenging your mind in general.
Take steps to improve all three elements of wellness to become the best and healthiest version of yourself. These may be small changes that fit seamlessly into everyday routines; the key is finding what works for you and making it part of your everyday rhythm – the more often you do this, the easier and healthier it will become for you!
Environment
Environmental wellness involves an individual’s connection and understanding of their surrounding environment and how it influences their mental, emotional, and physical well-being. This encompasses caring for one’s home and work environments as well as undertaking environmental sustainability initiatives like using reusable water bottles and mugs, recycling paper and plastic, composting waste materials, and decreasing energy consumption.
Sasha, as a psychiatric physician assistant, is dedicated to providing holistic and integrative psychiatric care that promotes self-worth, meaning, and fulfillment for her clients. As part of Journey’s team, she enjoys building meaningful relationships with each of them while using cognitive behavioral techniques tailored specifically for each client – offering tailored mental healthcare that fits each person.
She loves hiking, being outside, and spending quality time with family and friends. Additionally, she practices yoga as a means of relieving stress and anxiety. In her free time, she also enjoys cooking, music, and travel; learning about various cultures makes us all uniquely interesting!
FAQ’S
1. What are the key components of a sustainable wellness journey?
Setting realistic SMART goals, creating supportive environments, and prioritizing self-care.
2. How can I gradually incorporate wellness practices into my routine?
Start with small actions, like taking 10 deep breaths before sleep or walking for 30 minutes each day.
3. What is the importance of mind-body connection in wellness?
Stress or anxiety can manifest physically, so managing stress is crucial for overall health.
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