7 ways to Stay Healthy and Stay Happy

Everyone wants to stay healthy and stay happy but our life’s reality contrasts with our expectations. With each passing day, all the stay healthy wishes seem to be drifting away. 

If you find yourself in this fix, then you are not alone because millions are on the same boat as you. But a choice - making a lifestyle change can transform the reality and your life! 

A few behavioral and habit changes are all that you need. Right from doctors to wellness experts, everyone advocates incorporating lifestyle changes to living a better life. The secret to staying healthy is not a secret - it’s a simple lifestyle change.

If staying healthy and happy is so easy, then why haven’t you started yet?

That’s because you are still waiting for that perfect day - when you will have less work, fewer responsibilities and become totally free. However, that is never going to happen because new things keep coming our way. 

But change the activities and the way you do them, and see for yourself how your life becomes better. Sleeping on time, eating the right type of food and talking to positive people - there are so many things that can make you feel happier in life. But where do you start?

In this blog, we share 7 Stay Happy and Stay Healthy Tips that you can start right from today!

1) Eating Healthy and Timely

In ancient India, people used to say, “Your mind is like the food you eat.” If you observe you will realize that the kind of food you eat influences the state of your mind. If we eat wholesome foods like fruits, cereals and vegetables, we feel more fresh and energetic. Likewise, eating too much spicy and fried food makes us restless. This doesn’t mean you should eat only veggies and completely discard Fries or Pasta. If you love Pasta or Samosa eat them but start eating them in moderation. Don’t make them your staple! 

Eating wholesome foods provides the nutrients our body needs. Lack of well-balanced food leads to nutrient deficiency and diseases. Along with eating the right type of food, we should follow a diet schedule - eating at specific time intervals every day. This ensures we don’t leave our bodies hungry for long. 

Tip 1: Make healthy food your staple diet and eat junk in moderation

2) Get Adequate Sleep

Sleep naturally heals the body and rejuvenates it for the upcoming day. Adequate sleep also reduces chances of weight gain, heart disease and improves your mood. An average person needs between 7 to 8 hours of shut-eye sleep a day. Shut-eye sleep means uninterrupted sleep. Waking up in the middle of the night to check your phone, eating junk food or talking late in the night doesn’t count as shut-eye sleep.

Daily exercises, meditating, turning off the lights before sleeping and switching your phone off are some things that can improve your sleep. Listening to soft instrumental music like flute, not drinking caffeine or alcohol 5 to 6 hours before sleep makes your sleep better.

You can also do Yoga Nidra - a deep relaxation technique just before going to sleep. The technique is effortless and gives instant relaxation to your entire body. You can do Yoga Nidra at any time of the day, to get instant relaxation. 

A sound sleep will let you stay healthy and energized throughout the day.

Tip 2: Switch off your phone and lights 1 hour before going to sleep. 

3) Exercise Daily

A few minutes of exercise every day releases the feel good hormones - endorphins. But there are several many more benefits of exercise - 

• Manages blood sugar, insulin, 
• Reduces the risk of heart diseases, cancer, 
• Improves sleep 

Exercise gives more oxygen and nutrients to our tissues improving our endurance and efficiency. People who exercise daily naturally become more healthy and happy.

Start with 10-minutes of jogging, Yoga or gym. If not these, then any form of physical activity is good - dancing, sports, running or jumping. Gradually increase your exercise routine to 30 minutes and even more if you want. If one go is too much, you can break it down into shorter 10 minutes sessions throughout the day. You’ll see an improvement in your health and happiness within a few weeks.

Tip 3: Start with a 10-minute simple exercise routine and then gradually increase it.

4) Meditate Daily

Every day we accumulate so many impressions, experiences and thoughts. Sitting down and consciously pausing all the activity - physical and mental for a few minutes brings greater clarity, focus and most importantly - deep rest. 

Meditation is like giving a bath to your mind - making it feel fresh and vibrant! 

Thousands of researches validate how meditation reduces stress, anxiety, improves emotional health, enhances focus, and elevates pain. 

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar - the Meditation Guru says, “Meditation is the wonderful art of doing nothing!”

To get started you can play soft music, do a guided meditation or just observe the noises around you. Initially some may feel resistance because their bodies are not used to sitting still but eventually you will find deep comfort and happiness in meditation. 

If you are serious about meditation, we recommend learning the Sahaj Samadhi Meditation technique. This is a simple and effortless meditation technique to begin your journey.

Tip 4: Meditate after doing exercise/Yoga, that will make your meditations deeper. 

5) Spend Time with Positive People 

Jim Rohn says, “You are the average of five people you spend most of the time with.” 

All of us have experienced this. We tend to get influenced by the people who are around us. If you hang out with a group who complains, has low energy, and is directionless in life, soon you will become like them. If you are with people who are positive in life, who exercise regularly and are cautious about their health, you will start having similar interests. Spending time with positive people will make you happy.

No wonder people say - “Happiness is Contagious.”

Tip 5: Call/Meet a friend or mentor whom you feel positive around this weekend.

6) Limit Social Media Exposure 

Everything on social media appears so fancy and one may develop this attitude that they lack the kind of appearance, lifestyle or relationships others have. Research shows that heavy social media usage can lead to anxiety, depression, delayed sleep, a feeling of loneliness, memory loss and even self-harm.

The solution is in limiting the time you spend on social media. Some ways to develop a stay healthy social media usage plan are disabling social media notifications, limiting logging in or deleting social media apps, and turning the phone off at certain time intervals.

Tip 6: Monitor how much time you spend scrolling on Social Media. Set yourself a target to reduce this by 50% over the next 7 days. 

7) Quit Bad Habits

Smoking, drinking alcohol or consuming drugs have serious health complications. What may start as a ‘try,’ soon turns into a habit and people become dependent on the substance. Not only does it affect them physically, but also influences their mental health.

To quit bad habits, first read about the harmful effects it has on your health. Many are still not aware of the ills of consuming these substances. The consequences are so deadly, that merely reading about them will convince a sane person to quit. 

Then move on to reducing your consumption of the substance. Be gradual in your approach and let your body get acquainted with the change. Along with it, start engaging in some form of creativity- singing, dancing, art or writing. Whenever the temptation to consume cigarettes, alcohol or drugs arises, just divert yourself into creativity. 

If you still find it difficult to quit bad habits, incorporate Ayurveda into your lifestyle. Several individuals have come to us with their addiction problems and Ayurveda has done wonders for them. Ayurveda balances the different elements in our body that ultimately result in overall physical and mental well-being.

Tip 7: Take a 7-day challenge to stay away from your addiction and break the cycle! 

Staying healthy and staying happy should not be a wish anymore, it should be YOU. At Actvebody, we are helping people make conscious lifestyle changes that improve their inner and outer well-being. Our blogs are a small step in this direction. 

Stay tuned to find more such valuable reads and make all your stay healthy and happy wishes come true!