Bad habits could have harmful effects on one's life. For one, it can increase your risk of developing both poor emotional and physical health. Also, it may lead to stressful situations that interrupt one's normal daily life and delay or prevent you from attaining your life goals.
Some people find it hard to break the bad habits that cause them stressors. However, it wouldn't be impossible without consistent effort to change one's lifestyle and routine, support, and discipline. Besides, no one wants to be stuck living a life full of stressors triggering them every day.
Thus, if you're finding ways how you could reduce stress, here are five stress-busting habits you could do to improve your mental and physical health:
Stay Away And Know Your Triggers
When someone is put in a situation that overwhelms them, it may cause stress to them. Although every person may have different kinds of things that trigger them, it's important that you know what your triggers are so you know how you can address them.
Some common stress triggers that lead to a decline in mental and physical wellness are too much pressure, lack of finances, unemployment, discrimination, worrying, and even the kind of food a person eats.
For instance, if you know that a certain food could trigger an allergic reaction, it's best not to eat that kind of food as it may affect your physical health. For gym rats, if you are taking supplements to help build bigger and stronger muscles but are lactose intolerant, find alternatives like shifting to whey isolate that wouldn't put your body into a stressful situation. That said, knowing what your triggers are could help you live a better life.
Add Humor To Your Life
Adding humor into your life could help improve your mental and physical health. Laughing helps trigger the release of endorphins, a feel-good chemical that promotes pleasure, and decreases the release of stress hormones called cortisol.
Also, laughing is good for heart health too. When a person laughs, their heart rate increases and people usually take deep breaths when laughing. With that, there will be an improvement in vascular function since more oxygenated blood will circulate in the body. Don't belittle what laughter can do in improving one's physical and mental health, as it could also improve the quality of your life.
Connect and Engage With Others
Many people tend to isolate themselves when faced with a stressful situation. Typically, they think it's better to be left alone, even if it's evident that they need help. This kind of habit could negatively impact not only the mental health of a person but also their relationships with others.
If you think isolating yourself is already affecting your mental wellness, try to reach out to some of your trusted friends or family. Instead of dealing with your problems alone, try to make social connections because, who knows, maybe you just needed someone who would listen.
Also, socializing with others could be a great form of stress reliever. You also learn from other people's experiences and expand your network. Your peers and loved ones could provide you with the support you need to help ease your struggles in life.
Additionally, try participating in various outreach programs or volunteering projects in your local area. Through this, you could learn from the people you will meet and help others. But, if you don't have anyone to reach out to, don't hesitate to contact some mental health professionals in your area for help.
Exercise
Exercise is the perfect choice if you're looking for an effective way to improve your physical and mental health. Not allocating time for exercise may put one at risk for obesity and other health conditions. Also, lack of exercise may affect one's mental health as they feel stagnant in one area, and lack of physical activity may give rise to a depressed mood and unstable emotional health.
Remember that you don't have to do long hours of workouts every day. Even a simple thirty-minute walk in the park is already a great start. What matters is you allot time in the day to sweat all the toxins inside your body. You could even invite your friends so that you feel more motivated to do exercise routines.
Get Enough Sleep
There could be various reasons why people don't get enough sleep at night. For one, it could be because they have too much workload and deadlines to meet. While some don't get enough sleep because of unhealthy habits like consuming too much time playing video games, watching too many Netflix marathons, using social media applications, and so much more, it starts to affect one's health and mood.
Remember that the quality of sleep a person gets could affect how productive they would be within the day. Not to mention, it could also affect their energy levels, mood, appetite, and more. Try to ditch your practice of not prioritizing sleep over unhealthy habits. Plan a better-sleeping routine and limit your screen time before sleeping to get better at night.
Final Thoughts
Everybody could develop bad habits in their lives. But what's important is that you take action to improve them. That said, learning ways that work for you is a great step to improving your physical and mental health. However, if you need help improving your life and breaking bad habits, don't hesitate to contact licensed professionals in your area, like Psychologists, counselors, or doctors, for help.
