6 Simple Life Hacks To Achieve Mind and Body Balance

Today, everyone wants to achieve that mind and body balance that could put physical and mental issues at bay. This is where we tend to falter.

As we consult experts, meet counselors, nutritionists, friends and read blogs or videos about ways to improve our mental and physical health, we stumble upon so many things. Those things tend to leave us confused.

Recently, on World Hearts Day, I stumbled upon this data from World Health Organization (WHO):

About 17.9 million people per year die from cardiovascular diseases. That’s equivalent to 31% of all global deaths. The main causes of these diseases include tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthy diet, and the wrong use of alcohol. Heart diseases are caused due to several factors, but primary factors are an unhealthy body and stress.

Now, you would say that you don’t have enough time for your body and stress is a routine in this modern era. So, here are 6 very simple hacks to balance both your mind and body to lead a healthy life.

Exercise

This piece of advice is overrated. Why?

We have made too much fuss on exercise as it is just a simple hack and not so much of a big deal. Why I am saying this? It is because I have seen people join gyms, Zumba studios, and yoga sessions. They try too hard and end up quitting.

According to Bodybuilding’s study, on an average, people who have set fitness resolutions say they have given up on them four times in the past. The most common stumbling blocks include:

• 42% found it too hard to follow a workout routine
• 38% said it’s hard to get back on track after falling out of the routine
• 36% have no time

From personal experience of over 2 years of going to the gym and doing yoga and Zumba sessions, here is my take on exercising:

• Keep your goals simple and don’t go all guns from the first day.
• Don’t stress out on achievements from your exercise. Remember, you are to exercise for a healthy body and not for some celebrity body.
• Keep rest days to avoid working out too much. 
• Celebrate small successes in your physical transformation.
• Don’t give up on failures.
• Work out, eat healthy, and sleep better.
• Avoid cell phones while you work out.
• If you are motivated by music to work out, use airplane mode and prefer pre-downloaded stuff.
• Also remember, exercise improves blood flow towards your whole body, including the brain to enhance your mental health and keep you happier.

Eat healthy food

I am not asking you to stop eating your favorite foods or go on a dieting spree. I believe, one should never torture one’s body with hunger marathons!

Let me put it in simple terms:

Change your favorite foods with healthy foods. Find alternatives with almost the same taste and more benefits. There are lots of dieting methods around, like alternate day fasting, intermediate fasting, keto diet, vegan diet, etc.

But, frankly, it’s all about calorie count and nothing else.

Some of my suggestions are:

• Eat in small portions if possible.
• Reduce sugar intake to as minimal as possible.
• Try healthy alternatives. Choose gluten-free brown bread over regular bread or switch to boiled stuff over deep-fried.
• For gym-goers, rely more on natural proteins and less on your protein shakes.

See Also: The 11 Most Important Rules For Healthy Eating

Take time off

Take time off from your routine and try something new. For example, take your weekends seriously and turn them into adventures that will boost your mental health. Go solo or on a family trip.

Be sure to avoid any contact with your regular monotonous affairs to have that solace you seek for. Best ideas are:

• Try adventure sports, but don’t compromise safety.
• Challenge yourself to a dare.
• Learn a new thing. You can continue this for a few weekends.
• Once you master that skill, choose a different one to learn.

Celebrate yourself

Don’t stress out on celebration planning, but celebrate each moment in your life. Festivals are always there to meet people and have happy moments. Leave your stress and any other issue for those few days and immerse yourself into that festival with friends and family. You will find that you were missing so many things each year.

• Try to celebrate the achievements of yours and of the people you care about.
• Celebrate break-ups, failures, and losses even more. This will help you move on, quickly!
• Keep distance from people who never expect you to achieve.

Establish a morning routine

Keep your morning routine healthy and happy. There are some simple steps to do that.

You can pick a simple mobile application to help you with this routine. Developers today are building applications for health-related aspects like sleep cycles, food diets, and workout trackers. This routine will also require you to have a sleeping routine to be followed.

So here are the golden rules of a good morning routine:

• Try to wake up early. If you wake up early, you will have more time to do important things.
• Have an exercise routine. Optimize your morning time by inducing an exercise session. It can be home workouts, yoga sessions or as common as a morning walk.
• Be sure to keep your morning exercise routine in nature’s lap. It is always great to have some fresh oxygen in your lungs.
• Be early at your workplace. Your morning routine can help you avoid traffic hassles, start work early, and more time for higher productivity.
• Avoid digital gadgets including smartphones an hour before sleep and try reading a book since you need to sleep early to wake up early.

Find stress busters

Well, different people have different stress busters. Some like music while some would play games or watch TV.

But, no. Social media can’t be a stress buster if you are too sensitive about your social media image. So, I would recommend to avoid social media as a stress buster.

What you can do is:

• Keep a specific time in a day as your time.
• You can do whatever you like to bust your stress.
• Don’t choose an activity that can lead to higher anxiety levels.

See Also: Getaway From Stress: 7 Reasons Why You Should Travel

Wrapping It Up

We live in a world where time is the biggest currency and you are on the shortfall. So, use it wisely and stay happy at whatever you do! If you are not happy in doing whatever you are doing, ditch it and find the one that makes you happy.

If an exercise routine is not making you happy or your career makes you feel regretful, ditch them and move on. You will always find people who will encourage you, love you and care about you. So, leave naysayers and negative people in your life.

Remember, the more happy and healthy you are, the more you are worth it for your company or the people around you. There are no shortcuts to success, but there are some simple hacks to help you achieve mind and body balance.