It’s not a secret that our environments influence how we think, feel and act. The majority of people desire good health along with most people, their home is the environment they are most often surrounded by. Everyone deserves to a live happy, healthy life and can start by creating a home environment optimal for health.
If you’d like to attain happiness, contentedness or joy in your life? Are you trying to eat healthier or exercise more? Both mental and physical health are essential to your overall well-being and both are easier to achieve once you reduce stress and encourage better ways of eating at home. Taking these steps to make adjustments to your home can create an ideal environment for making healthy choices that you may carry into the other parts of your life.
Optimize Your Home for Balanced Stress-free Living
Reduce Stress and Fatigue
Stress reduction is the first step toward living a wholesome life, because stress is a large determinant of good health. Continuous or chronic stress could potentially cause muscle tension, headaches and migraines, heart problems, adrenal fatigue, nausea, overeating and it is overall draining for your levels of energy.
Once each of the controllable stressors are removed from your daily life, you can more easily take positive proactive steps toward health.
The first step to reducing stress in your life would be to decrease the clutter in your home! Scientists at Princeton discovered that clutter reduces your ability to concentrate as well as your ability to process information. Although deep-cleaning your possessions is a time-consuming first step toward health, it’s going to pay off in the long run. Take anywhere between half of a day and a day, depending on how much clutter you may have, to go through your belongings. Sort the things you don’t use into a donate or discard pile. Develop a “home” for everything you are keeping to ensure that future cleaning will be easier and much less stressful.
Another method to alleviate stress is bringing some of Mother Nature’s magic into your home. Several studies have shown that exposure to nature improves mood and reduces stress. Although looking at a painting or photograph of plant life isn’t as beneficial as a walk through the woods, art that imitates nature still has positive effects on the brain. If you would prefer actual plant life in your home as opposed to art, there are several plants that do not need sunlight or a great deal of water. There are actually quite a few plants that purify the air and require almost zero maintenance, such as spider plants and garden mums.
Another simple way to reduce stress is to invest in an oil diffuser. Essential oils such as lavender and lemon smell wonderful and lift the atmosphere of your home. While there is little scientific evidence to indicate that aromatherapy reduces stress hormone levels, a few reports have consistently shown improvement in mood. This form of stress mitigation really should be used in tandem together with the other suggestions in this article.
Fatigue is usually just as much of an obstacle to good health as stress, and often the two are related. This lingering tiredness can be caused by underlying health issues such as depression or fibromyalgia, but most people experience fatigue from daily habits and lifestyle factors. Slight changes in the lighting and temperature of your home can have a huge influence on how you feel. A recent study provided evidence that artificial or poor lighting can negatively impact cortisol levels and cause you to get sleepy earlier in the day. A home environment ideal for stable energy levels throughout the day will need to have large windows, open curtains and daylight bulbs so that your lamps can mimic daylight. Stable levels of energy during the day are heavily influenced by the temperature in your environment. Scientists at Cornell discovered that, compared to an optimal room temperature of 77 degrees Fahrenheit, workers performing in 68 degrees or below made 44% more mistakes. This is because your focus is on keeping warm and you have less energy to utilize toward your health. Keep the thermostat around 77 degrees during the day to feel like your best self.
Food and Exercise
Eating well and staying active are two of the major components of creating a healthy life. Once you have reduced the clutter and improved the temperature and lighting in your home, you will have more energy and also be in a consistently better mood. Once you feel good in your home, it is time to take the next steps to developing an environment ideal for your health.
You don’t have to go on a diet or a cleanse to enhance your health. Simple changes in your home will impact your daily habits so that eating healthier is easy. Begin with storing your large dinner plates for the occasional party. Smaller plate sizes will make portions look larger and larger plate sizes make portions look smaller, leading us to piling more food on the plate, according to scientists at Cornell. At the grocery store, purchase a select few snacks or junk food and ensure to keep this stuff at the back of the pantry. If they are out of sight and difficult to get to, you will be less likely to eat them. Whenever you do pull the snacks from the pantry, you should definitely put a proper portion size onto a plate or into a bowl. It is easy to keep eating something overly salty or sweet when you are eating directly from the container. Lastly, keep cold, filtered water ready to go in the fridge. Water affects your health down to the cellular level so it helps keep you from overeating.
Were you aware that you can squeeze exercise into your daily routine at home, only using what you already have in your home? There is often downtime while cooking meals, quite often during the wait for something to bake or boil. Utilize that ten or fifteen minutes to workout and you will enjoy your meal all the more!
Grab a dining room chair and work out your triceps with some chair dips.
Do push-ups on the kitchen counter or some walking lunges to the garbage can.
Lean up against the nearest wall and see how long you can hold a wall sit.
Put on your favorite upbeat music so it will be fun; don’t stop dancing until your food is prepared.
You don’t have to have a workout room or even a designated workout space to get your body moving. If you incorporate exercise into spaces normally designated for other activities and different parts of your daily routine, it can influence and improve those areas together with your muscular fortitude.
Solitude and Meditation
Making time for yourself may seem like a luxury in today’s go-go-go society, however it is essential for excellent health. Solitude allows your brain to disconnect from others for a while and help you get in contact with yourself. Science has demonstrated that getting comfortable with solitude can assist you develop your creative abilities, feel less self-conscious and brainstorm ideas. Set aside an area at home without electronic distractions for your creative pursuits. Purchase a comfortable chair, some paintings of nature, and other relaxing decor to inspire less stress. If you are not able to dedicate any space to your personal time, dedicate time alone in any room in your house where you can concentrate on being with yourself. Confirm consent of any shared space with your family members or roommates and make sure they know that this is your uninterrupted solo time. Then get into the creative flow of your choosing!
Your solitude space can be your space to practice meditation, as well. Meditation is a way to bring yourself to awareness of nothing but the present moment. Science has shown that this approach to dropping all active thought increases happiness as opposed to those who pursue happiness in other ways but do not meditate. The steps on the way to be with the present moment vary by practitioner, but the best basic practices are sitting up comfortably straight, relaxing your body, and breathing naturally. Whether your solitude space is its very own area or perhaps a shared space, meditation may be practiced on the floor, on a cushion, or in a chair. Pay attention to your body and relax in the way that is most comfortable for you because discomfort will distract your mind from awareness.
Onward to Happiness
It is scientifically proven that happiness and good health go hand-in-hand. More studies have shown that happiness influences health, but health also influences happiness. Your home is your safe place and most likely the place you spend most of your time. The positive changes you may make in your home that we have provided here will reflect positive adjustments to your physical health and your mood. A baseline of good physical health will create the optimal environment for happiness. In the event your living space is safe, comfortable, and positive, you will be empowered to pursue whatever brings you joy.
Need a home that provides you the ability to have a stress free area? Nick & Cindy Davis can assist you. We have helped hundreds of clients find their home here in the Tampa Bay and Surrounding Areas. When you are ready to get started, simply call us at 813-300-7116 or you can click here and we will be in touch.