Most people make decisions to up their life quality when the new year begins. Most of the time life gets in the way, and these new healthy habits you wanted to add to your life are either practiced for one or two weeks or they stay as aspirations. We can still look on the bright side and say you don’t have to wait for the new year to make your lifestyle a healthier one. Don’t wait for the new year to be better, start the new year as the new you. Here are 5 healthy habits you can add to your routine to up your quality of life.
Meditation
Meditation is a great way to create mindfulness and serenity in your thoughts. It allows you to take a few moments to relax, focus on your breath, and create a healthy thought process. Sometimes all we need in a day is to be alone and at peace with our thoughts. It can help us differentiate between helpful ones and destructive ones. Our minds tend to focus on the negative, it makes the body anxious which results in an overall unhealthy body. Allowing peace to your thoughts has a helpful hand in making your mental health improve.
Being alone with your thoughts may sound scary but if you know what you are doing it can free you from negative thoughts. Meditation isn’t about focusing on one moment or thought and losing yourself within it. Unlike the common misconception, meditation isn’t about emptying your brain and having no thoughts either. It is all about focusing on what is going on right now, focusing on your body, emotions, and thoughts which will result in self-discovery and relaxation.
Use social media mindfully
Social media is all fun and games until starts taking over your life. It can happen in multiple ways, you may be spending way too much time there, what you see on social media can start affecting the way you look at yourself and you could be addicted to it so much that you can’t even think of a life without it. If one or multiple of these sounds familiar maybe the habit you should integrate into your life is using social media mindfully.
Limit how much you use it
Some days you come back home, and you feel tired, so you start mindlessly scrolling. One post becomes two and you go down the rabbit hole of funny videos. The next thing you know hours have passed and you have been sitting in the same position for hours. Maybe it is time for you to limit how much you are using social media so you can have more time for both you and your loved ones.
Know that it isn’t real
Social media has become a place where people have started flaunting their picture-perfect lives and bodies. One thing you should know about social media is that nothing you see on there is real. People tend to only share the nice and happy moments of their lives but it doesn’t mean that they don’t live through the same sadness that you do. In life, there is beauty and happiness and then there are the sad and devastating moments. No one can live through life only seeing one part of it. You may feel like your life isn’t as perfect as there is but to tell you the truth, perfection isn’t real.
Another thing we must touch upon is photoshop. With easy filters and photoshop apps on the phone, it started looking like everyone on Instagram have flawless bodies and symmetric faces. Before you start comparing yourself with them, please remind yourself that nothing you see on social media is real. Focus on loving yourself even with your imperfections because they are the ones that are making you unique.
Live your life fully without your phone
Social media addiction is a real problem. You may feel the urge to constantly check on it even when you are with your friends, or you stop enjoying things because you take so much time trying to get the perfect picture. Sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself is to turn your phone off and enjoy the small things life brings you.
Establish a night routine
The things you do before going to bed can improve your quality of life significantly. So we recommend you add a night routine to your habits. This routine can look very different to each person but here are our suggestions If you don’t know where to start. First things first stop looking at screens at least half an hour before you go to sleep. This way you can improve your quality of sleep and wake up refreshed the next morning. Also, try to sleep at the same time every night, it causes your circadian rhythm to be regulated. If you try doing this you will be more energetic than ever.
You can also add a skincare routine. There are a lot of videos on it where people are doing multiple steps of skincare each night. If that sounds like something you enjoy that is great. If not don’t feel pressured to use multiple products. A good cleanser that fits your skin type and a moisturizer will do the trick.
Start keeping a journal
Most of us have kept a journal at one point in our lives, especially during childhood. What If we told you that journaling can help with self-discovery and mindfulness? It doesn’t have to be something you write everything that happened to you during that day, you can also write down your thoughts, feelings, and desires. Journaling can help you grow as a person and regulate your emotions. At the end of every day, you become a slightly different person, everything you go through changes you. So, your perspective on things that happened during that day or the previous day can change. When you write them down it also strengthens your memory.
If that doesn’t pique your interest, you can always try keeping a different journal such as a gratitude journal. A gratitude journal is you recording things you are grateful for. It can help you look at things on the bright side, give you hope and evoke positive emotions. It can be a small trick that helps you get through the day.
Self-breast check
A self-breast exam once a month could be a lifesaving habit. Self-exam is a simple way for you to detect lumps on your breast in the comfort of your own home. This way your chances of detecting breast cancer early increase but, of course, you should get regular checks at your doctor’s as well. It is your body try getting to know it for a bit. This suggestion includes men because contrary to common belief men can get breast cancer as well. If you feel lost during these exams and don’t know how to do them, you can always get help from Triwi. Triwi is a self-check cup that navigates you through the process and makes getting doctor's appointments easy.