The Importance Of Healthy Habits For Psychological Balance
Mental health is an aspect of our lives that does not exist only “in our heads”: it is closely linked to our way of relating to the world and to others, and also to our own body.
In other words, the mental state that we can have at a given moment is not something isolated that arises by itself in our consciousness, generating discomfort or well-being, but depends largely on how we interact with what surrounds us and with our activities. that we carry out, such as healthy routines. Therefore, in this article you will find several examples of the way in which healthy habits promote a correct psychological balance.
How do healthy habits influence our psychological balance?
These types of habits that contribute to our physical and mental health are also essential to achieve a psychological balance that allows us to live happily and at peace with ourselves.
1. Structure our daily life
Healthy habits, applied to our lifestyle on a regular basis, provide our day with structure, with regularities in our weekly schedule. Therefore, they allow us to organize and have each of our days or between weeks structured, something that helps us focus our attention on other things that are new and that they do require us to make an effort to decide what to do at a specific moment.
Knowing what activity we should carry out and what to expect each day will help us be clear about our daily planning, allowing us to focus on the important problems or needs that arise during the day without worrying about the routines that we already know work for us. And that prevents us from becoming very psychologically exhausted by always having to doubt how to use our available time.
Sleeping is one of the most important activities for any human being, since it allows us to rest during the night and recharge the energy necessary to face a new day.
Good sleep habits are based on having a fixed bedtime; thus Through the milestone, the brain becomes accustomed to progressively “turning off” at the same time of dusk or night.
Sleeping about 7 or 8 hours every night helps us prepare physically and mentally. In addition to that, it makes us less susceptible to stress, anxiety, problems concentrating and therefore prevents us from being in a very irritable state.
3. Eat well
Healthy eating habits also have an obvious direct impact on our mental health and our search for psychological balance.
Eating well makes us less likely to acquire a sedentary lifestyle (due to the lack of energy that nutritional deficits cause in the body) and that prevents us from developing psychological mood disorders.
Some of these alterations may be depressive symptoms and alterations associated with social isolation and the lack of stimuli and activities that excite us.
4. Exercise
Exercise regularly helps us disconnect from obsessions and intrusive thoughts that sometimes attack us unexpectedly and negatively affect our mental health.
The caloric consumption, sweating and release of endorphins and hormones of all kinds into the bloodstream that makes intense physical exercise possible generates a feeling of well-being once finished that contributes very positively to our mental health.
In addition to that, the relaxation and disconnection that sports activity makes possible helps us acquire other points of view on our problems and allows us to evaluate them from another perspective and without always falling into the same style of negative thinking.
As with food, good hydration habits are another of the healthiest ways to achieve balance both in the body and in our mental health. If there is a lack of water in our body, our stress levels skyrocket and our brain goes into “emergency” mode, something that has a negative impact on our emotional balance.
Scientific research has shown that maintaining optimal levels of hydration improves both a person’s physical health and good mood and prevents various psychological disorders.
6. Socialize
Human beings are social animals which means that we need the company of other people to be happy in our daily lives and develop in total normality.
Socializing helps us see things from other points of view and this allows us to have a perception of things that are richer in nuances, which helps us not always fall into very simple explanations of what happens in our lives and that can generalize to us. discomfort.
Some of the recurring ideas that we may have in our heads and that other people help us overcome may be, for example, believing that we are not worthy of achieving anything in life, blaming ourselves for everything bad that happens to us or, on the contrary, , having a too high vision of ourselves that does not correspond to reality.
7. The importance of free time
Free time is essential for anyone, since it is the period in which they can disconnect from the worries or demands of everyday life at work or at a social or family level.
Having activities that we can enjoy in our free time, such as hobbies or hobbies of all kinds, helps us fulfill ourselves as people, It allows us to both rest from day to day and regain strength for the next day of work.
Some of the favorite activities that we can practice in our free time are both sports and social, and also hobbies such as watching series, painting, reading, watching movies, playing board games or video games.
8. Intellectual activities
There are many intellectual activities that test our cognitive abilities and help us improve our mental agility, something very useful for face the demands of everyday life without stress.
The daily practice of activities such as reading, studying a language, doing Sudoku or carrying out all types of activities that require a certain intellectual effort are also among the healthy habits that can improve our mental health.
You may be interested: “The 8 superior psychological processes”
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