Habits That Are Sabotaging Your Holistic Health
We all try to maintain a healthy lifestyle as best we can in our often hectic lives. Many of us also strive for a holistic health lifestyle to nurture and improve our overall wellness and wellbeing. But in today’s fast-paced, technology-dependent world, maintaining holistic health is actually more complex than ever.
While we have access to a fantastic range of health resources, some habits stemming from our current lifestyles are detrimental to our physical, mental, and even spiritual wellbeing.
Here are 6 of these habits that you may be engaging in without realizing how negatively they can impact your health:
- Scrolling through social media
We do it often, we do it aimlessly, and we do it compulsively. Even when we’re working, we can’t resist taking a peek to see what’s new. This is probably the worst habit of our digital age. Contrary to what we think, it’s far from benign and harmless.
Aimlessly scrolling through social media, YouTube, and surfing the web are activities that highly stimulate the brain – but not in a good way. While our brains like to be stimulated and challenged, there’s often nothing significant for them to process in these activities.
The result is that your brain will become overtaxed, stressed, and fatigued. You’ll experience energy crashes and mental blocks, and you’ll lose your ability to focus. It will also take time for your stress levels to return to normal, which takes a toll on many of your bodily functions.
- Dwelling on negative situations
We tend to rehash negative situations, blame ourselves, or blame others, which can flood our minds with toxic emotions. The result is a dramatic spike in our stress levels. This, in turn, causes various hormones to go berserk, causing extreme mental distress.
If you recognize this habit in yourself, you may also recognize its impact on your health. It’s likely that you suffer from a lot of colds and flu and take longer to recover from illness. You may be experiencing memory lapses and mental blocks. You probably have trouble sleeping and concentrating during the day. It’s also likely that you often feel fatigued and demotivated.
You must find quick closure for stressful situations and avoid dwelling on them. Reflect on what happened and why, the lessons learned, and make the intention to prevent similar situations in the future – then, move on!
- Going to bed angry
This habit is another example of allowing toxic emotions to continue boiling inside of you. Going to bed angry is like trying to fall asleep with a ticking time bomb in your head.
Naturally, it’ll be impossible to sleep soundly and restfully because your anger will be like a nagging thorn that disrupts your usual sleep pattern. And since sleep is the essence of holistic health, no further explanation is required.
Always release your anger before going to bed, either through face-to-face resolution, meditation, or a relaxing, creative activity.
- Watching TV or using the computer before bedtime
Blue light emitted by digital screens is another Brain Stimulator that makes it difficult for your brain to unwind and for you to fall asleep. Exposure to blue light in the evening also disrupts your body’s natural inner clock. This inner clock, also known as the circadian rhythm, regulates the body’s sleep-wake cycle. It’s what helps you feel drowsy at bedtime and prepares your body for a restful night’s sleep.
Avoid digital screens for at least 2 hours before bedtime and reap the rewards of health-boosting, quality sleep.
- Not eating a proper breakfast.
Another harmful habit that you may have developed as a result of your typically rushed mornings. You either skip breakfast altogether or grab something on the go and eat it mindlessly.
Studies indicate that breakfast could well be the most important meal of the day. It fuels your body for the day ahead, keeps up your stamina and mental sharpness, and even helps you eat less at other meals.
Always kick-start your day with a proper, old-fashioned big breakfast. You’ll immediately notice an improvement in your energy and mental clarity.