How to Self-Care This Winter
With the dangers that can accompany high blood pressure, like kidney failure, stroke and heart disease, this month is an important time to reflect on your well-being and look after your health. While high blood pressure can be caused by unavoidable things like genetics or other illnesses, other common contributors like high stress and poor diet can be managed, and sometimes avoided, with self-care.
Self-care’s relaxing and meditative qualities can lower your blood pressure, ease your stress and ultimately improve your sense of well-being. At Sunlighten, we work to encourage others to lead healthier, happier lives, so we fully support the self-care movement. We’ve created the below list of suggestions to try out in order to boost your health.
Eat more greens
Not only do leafy greens give you more energy to do fun activities, they also help boost levels of dopamine, the happy hormone. Dopamine releases feelings of pleasure and can be a valuable tool in fighting stress. In fact, a recent study found that people who ate more vegetables felt calmer and happier throughout the day which can lower blood pressure and improve mental health. Spinach and kale are great choices, but any veggies will do the trick.
Get more sleep
Sleep can significantly decrease cortisol levels and blood pressure by regulating your systems and balancing hormone levels. The average adult should be getting around eight hours a night, so make sure you’re scheduling time to get the rest your brain needs. Make sure you’re not skimping when it comes to creating a relaxing bedroom environment. A soothing sound machine or cozy Casper bedding can go a long way in helping you get good-quality sleep and improve your health.
Meditate
Soothing breath-focused activities like meditation have been shown to lower stress levels by widening blood vessels and improving blood flow. It can also help you relax by refocusing the mind and unwinding. Try to ease yourself into the process in order to get used to the rhythm and best practices. A simple commitment to 10-15 minutes every day can help you move into better health. An excellent meditation resource is Ziva Medication, an online guide to practicing meditation to reduce stress and accomplish more.
Take some “me time”
While it may sound frivolous, spending time solely enjoying yourself can actually improve your health. Time spent doing your favorite relaxing activity or treating yourself can improve your overall attitude and mental wellbeing. While going to the spa or reading a good book are great ways to de-stress, our Sunlighten infrared therapy offers an alternative, natural way to lower blood pressure and stress. The sauna’s ability to induce sweat increases blood flow and helps control blood pressure, thus protecting the heart and boosting overall health.
We hope you’ll consider taking each of these tips and molding them to best suit your life and individual needs. There is no perfect way to practice self-care, just do what makes you feel best!
You can find the original article HERE.
Freshlife would like to thank Sunlighten for the use of this article.