The wellness industry is thriving. You can easily spend over a thousand dollars each month on gym memberships, fitness classes, supplements, infusions, spa treatments, and more. If you have the money to invest, and these things benefit you, that’s great, but money shouldn’t be a barrier to good health. Everybody deserves to feel amazing. We all deserve to have a body and brain that works for us. Fortunately, you don’t have to spend money to improve your health. Start with these twenty things you can do to improve your health for free.
Achieving a Healthier Body
Your body is an amazing machine that does so much. Love it the way it is, but also treat it the way it deserves. Take these ten action steps to boost your physical well-being.
1. Take a Walk
One of the most impactful things you can do for your health is to walk more often. Walking increases endurance, strengthens muscle and bones, improves cardiovascular health, and can boost the immune system. If weight loss is part of your health goals, walking is a great place to start.
If you walk outdoors, there are even more benefits. When you walk in nature, you improve your body’s circadian rhythms. Also, walking on hills and other changing terrain allows you to engage muscles you might not otherwise.
Let’s not forget about the social/emotional benefits of walking with a companion. Whether it’s an old friend or someone you’ve met on lesbian dating sites, you can improve your mental health when you walk with a partner. You might also notice a boost in your motivation when you share your walks with somebody else.
2. Do Breathwork
Breathwork may seem like the newest wellness trend, but it has a long history. The practice of using breathing techniques for physical health originates in yoga. There’s research being done, but doing breathwork may lead to reduced inflammation, improved mood, and improving blood PH.
You can also use breathing techniques to regulate your central nervous system in times of stress. Controlled, deep breathing can minimize the impacts of the short, rapid breaths we tend to take when we are under distress. This allows more oxygen to enter your bloodstream helping reduce that fight or flight response while also reducing nausea and other symptoms.
3. Get Hydrated
This is old-fashioned advice, but it’s as true as ever. Your body can’t function correctly if it isn’t properly hydrated. So, fill up that water bottle.
What should you drink? Pretty much anything you like that aligns with your health goals. Water is wonderful. Tea is great. Sports drinks are fine too. Want to reduce calories, look for low or zero sugar options.
4. Enjoy Your Meals
Take time to savor your meals. Enjoy what you eat. Eat slowly, and give your body time to digest. Rushing through your meals can cause indigestion. It also lowers your satiety level. That means your mind might perceive you didn’t get enough, which can lead to overeating later.
Life happens, and it isn’t always possible to sit and relax through every meal. Still, when you are able to:
- Turn off the television and silence your phone
- Eat with people you care about
- Sit at a table
- Avoid mindless eating when you can
- Don’t eat in the car
5. Take a Cold Shower
Like breathwork, cold therapy is trending. If you’ve wanted to try that, but hate the idea of jumping into an ice bath, here’s some good news. You can get some of the benefits by taking a cold shower.
When you hop into a cold shower you can boost your immunity, improve your circulation, and reduce soreness and inflammation. Also, you don’t need to endure 20 minutes of icy water. Simply switching from your usual warm shower to a cold one for a couple of minutes can help.
Cold showers may not be safe or healthy if you have certain conditions. If you have heart issues, Reynaud’s syndrome, or other problems – better skip this one or at least ask your doctor.
6. Do Body Weight Exercises
You can increase your strength, lose fat, and improve your definition without joining a gym. You don’t need a weight set at home either. Your own body provides all the resistance you need.
Body weight exercises use the weight of your body as resistance to help you build strength and endurance.
These exercises include:
- Pushups
- Squats
- Jumping jacks
- Planks
- Lunges
- Pull ups
- Wall sits
- Box jumps
- Burpees
7. Improve Your Sleep Hygiene
Sleep hygiene is a combination of your sleep environment and your behaviors around sleep. When you improve your sleep hygiene, you improve your health.
Start with your sleep environment. Sleep in a dark room. Turn off TV and other electronics. Consider lowering your thermostat. Next, work on your habits. Try getting offline thirty minutes before you go to bed. Avoid alcohol before sleeping. Try meditating before bed. If you can’t fall asleep, don’t toss and turn. Instead, get up and move around a bit. Finally, avoid using your bed and bedroom for activities other than sleep.
8. Stretch
Take a stretch break to improve flexibility and enjoy other health benefits. When you incorporate stretching into your routine, you reduce your risk of injuries, increase blood flow, and improve your range of motion. You may notice less muscle soreness and stiffness too.
9. Take a Stand
So many of us have jobs that involve sitting for long periods of time each day. That’s more unhealthy than we realize. Prolonged sitting increases your risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Simply standing up more often can improve things immensely. That’s because sitting disengages your major muscle groups. As a result, those muscles don’t use much sugar – leading to a risk of diabetes.
If you are able to stand, do so frequently. It’s a small thing to do, but the outcomes could extend your life.
10. Get Outside
Get outside to enjoy a full range of health benefits. Spending time outdoors can expose your body to more vitamin D. You may experience reduced levels of the stress hormone, cortisol. Also, being in natural lighting can help reset your body’s natural rhythms.
There’s more. People who spend time outdoors, especially in green spaces experience better moods. When you go outside, you may also experience greater motivation to be physically active.
Good Health Should Never Depend on Your Finances
Don’t allow financial limitations to dictate your health. Every person deserves to feel good. Apply a few of these free suggestions to your life to enjoy meaningful health benefits.