Health and Wellness (A Comprehensive Guide)

Health and wellness go hand in hand with insurance. It is absolutely imperative that a person keep his health and wellness paramount even after taking out a health or life insurance policy. Taking out an insurance policy is not a protection against poor health. An insurance policy can cover the losses caused by hospitalizations, personal liability, and more. It is designed to provide relief to people if the object of insurance is covered by an insurance company.

That being said, prevention is always better than cure. An ideal scenario would be that a person is protected under the protective umbrella of insurance, but it never rains. In other words, a person has an insurance policy but never has to use it. This is the ideal scenario.

How do we ensure that this ideal scenario manifests itself for us? Well, it’s rather simple: take care of your health and wellness. You will learn about:

• How do we take care of our health?
• What is preventive health care?
• Improve mental and emotional well-being
• Healthy lifestyle habits
• Holistic wellness approaches
• Maintaining work-life balance

How do we take care of our health?

We need to take care of our health by having a holistic approach to it. Factors affecting a person’s health are multi-fold, and one needs to be cognizant of all of them to ensure a healthy and energetic life. So, what do we mean by having a holistic approach to health? Well, a holistic approach to health means taking into account a variety of factors that affect our health and wellbeing. The most important factors include:

• Getting good quality sleep: A research study titled “Sleep and Immune Function,” conducted by researchers in Germany over the course of 15 years, has highlighted the direct positive relationship that sleep has with a person’s immunity.
• Staying active: A research study titled “Health Benefits of Physical Activity: The Evidence” has categorically stated that physical inactivity heightens the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, it is imperative that you incorporate at least a 15-minute daily routine that makes you sweat.
• Prioritizing metal and emotional health: Multiple research studies conducted by the Department of Public Health at the University of Oxford has come to the conclusion that physical disease may result from emotional distress. Therefore, prioritizing the improvement of your emotional and mental state can radically change your health and wellbeing.
• Eating high-quality food: The body should be treated as a temple, and like how only good-quality food is offered in temples as offerings, the body should also be nourished with high-quality and organic foods. Foods that are ultra-processed, high in processed sugar, and high in carbohydrates should be switched for protein- and fat-rich organic foods. A research study titled “A high-protein diet for reducing body fat” by researchers highlights the role of protein-rich foods for weight management and reduction.
• Good-quality water: Our body is made up of more than 60% water. Therefore, it is absolutely crucial that we take in the highest quality water possible and increase the nourishment of our body. The best kind of water that a person can intake is naturally alkaline mineral water. This type of water is directly sourced from glaciers, underground aquifers, or springs and contains minerals and electrolytes that contribute to its alkaline nature. This kind of water is almost free from any harmful chemicals that are introduced to treat and process it.

What is preventive health care?

Preventive health care involves incorporating an activity or a set of activities that increase the health and wellness of a person. Including these healthy habits reduces the likelihood of a person developing health complications later in life. A person should live by the tenet, “Prevention is better than cure.”

Preventive healthcare is more about your attitude and outlook towards health and wellness. A person needs to look at health and wellness in a different light. They need to be more broad and holistic in their outlook on health. Preventive healthcare is basically a type of healthcare that ensures that other types of more invasive healthcare are kept at bay. Remember, staying insured and ready is good, but never needing that insurance is even better.

Here is a list of preventive healthcare routines you can incorporate into your life:

• Routine check-ups: It is rather wise to get yourself checked up by a medical professional once a year, even if you are feeling well. He may give you a list of tests to find out if there are any underlying issues simmering within. Identifying such issues can lead to prompt and swift action that can be taken to eliminate them before they become a concern.
• Mental health assessment: You don’t need to go to a psychologist or a physiatrist every time you feel low, but it is generally a good idea to talk to someone about your mental health and feelings and let them know about your current state. Further, it is also important that you spend some time alone and try to deduce where such feelings are coming from and attempt to cure yourself from the source rather than just masking the symptoms.
• Lifestyle modification: We’re human beings and are prone to certain adverse lifestyle choices. That doesn’t mean we can curb or even eliminate them. Some notable lifestyle modification programmes may include smoking cessation, weight management, sugar reduction programs, food management, and more.

Improve Mental and emotional well-being

As mentioned earlier, keeping your mental and emotional health in tip-top shape will lead to better overall health. How can we increase our mental and emotional health? Here are the top 5 ways to improve your mental and emotional health:

• Practice mindfulness: Yoga can be a fantastic way of improving your mindfulness and staying in the moment. Remember, when you stay in the moment, you forget about the stressors and tensions of life. This results in healing.
• Engage in self-care: Along with practising yoga, you can also practise additional meditation and breathing techniques like Anulom Vilom, Anapana, and Kapalbhati Pranayama. This keeps your stress levels in check.
• Be assertive: Being assertive is a life skill you must master. It is clinically proven that people who are less assertive end up doing things that they do not want, resulting in latent resentment within them. This latent resentment may lead to a negative outlook on life, thereby affecting a person’s health and wellness. Therefore, it is important that you learn the skill of saying no.
• Eat healthy: Eating healthy shouldn’t be a week-long or even a month-long exercise. It needs to be a life choice. A person who wants to eat healthy needs to ensure that he sticks to a diet plan. But how does a person stick to a diet plan? Well, you can stick to a diet plan by being smart about it. Eat foods that are enjoyable. Healthy foods don’t have to be boring; they can be tasty as well. Find a balance.
• Engage in physical activities: There is a direct relationship between staying active and improving your cardiovascular health, as mentioned before. But the benefits of staying active don’t just end there. Leading an active life leads to hormone regulation, improved blood flow, improved neurological function, improved confidence, improved mood, and much more.

Healthy lifestyle habits

Mentioned below are some healthy lifestyle habits that you can incorporate into your daily life to improve the quality of your health and wellness:

• Sleep management: In a research study titled “The Extraordinary Importance of Sleep” by Susan L. Worley, it was mentioned that there is a profound impact of sleep on the attention, cognition, and mood of a person. Aim to get 7-8 hours of high-quality sleep every night. Further, you need to prepare your sleep environment in such a way that you get the maximum amount of deep sleep possible. Ways of doing that include reducing the light exposure in the room, reducing the sound exposure, and keeping the room cool.
• Avoid or limit smoking: It is no secret that alcohol and smoking are detrimental to health. Aim to reduce your exposure to alcohol and smoking or, at the very least, eliminate these habits entirely gradually.
• Hit the gym: A research study titled “Long-term members’ use of fitness centres: a qualitative study” highlights the correlation between health and wellness and regular use of the gymnasium.
• Eat healthy: Limit your consumption of ultra-processed foods like packaged foods and meats. Prioritise the consumption of organic foods and meats. Organic foods are not only free from dangerous chemicals and pesticides; they also generally deliver higher levels of nutrition to the body.
• Visit nature: As per a study titled “Associations between Nature Exposure and Health: A Review of the Evidence”, researchers stated that there was a positive correlation between nature exposure and cognitive function, mood, anxiety, stress, blood pressure, immunity, and more.

Holistic Wellness Approaches

Mentioned below are some holistic wellness approaches that you can introduce into your daily life to improve the quality of your health and wellness:

• Practise yoga: The practise of yoga is thousands of years old and has been fine-tuned and perfected across thousands of years by the advanced yogis of ancient India. These yogis were in tune with the functioning of nature and the functioning of the human body, thereby understanding the relationship between nature and the body. Learn these ancient techniques of health and wellness from a yoga guru and take your health to another level.
• Acupressure: Acupressure originated in ancient China and works by stimulating certain parts of the body to improve wellness. It is based on the concept of unblocking energy pathways within the body. Once these energy pathways are unblocked, a person should generally function optimally.
• Ayurveda: The health knowledge of ancient yogis, saints, and ancient scientists of India is compressed into the field of Ayurveda. The term “Ayurveda” comes from the Sanskrit words “ayur” (which means life) and “veda” (which means science). Thus, Ayurveda can be termed the “science of life.” Learn about the foundations of Ayurveda and see how you can incorporate its principles into your life.
• Aromatherapy: Aromatherapy is based on the concept of improving health, wellness, and vitality by inhaling plant extracts. Some of the most popular plans for aromatherapy include lavender, rosemary, thyme, basil, mint, chamomile, and more.
• Nature therapy: Nature therapy includes visiting natural reserves, greenery, and forests. You can incorporate long walks, horticulture, wilderness therapy, and more to increase your wellness through nature therapy.
• Sound therapy: Sound therapy uses sounds and their associated vibrations to promote health, wellness, and healing in an individual. Sound therapists may also use a variety of musical instruments to promote healing.
• Holistic Nutrition: Holistic nutrition is practised by keeping in mind that the foods that you eat are not just a source of energy; they go way beyond that. Some of the most important principles of holistic nutrition include nutrient balance, mindful eating, gut health, whole foods, and more.

Maintaining work-life balance

People in the metro cities are getting less and less time to develop their mental, spiritual, physiological, and emotional health. This trend is poised to only increase in the future. Knowing this, one needs to be extra cognizant of maintaining a work-life balance that ensures that a person’s equilibrium is maintained. Mentioned below are some of the most important ways to maintain a work-life balance.

• Effective delegation: You do not need to do all of the work yourself. Effective delegation ensures that you are only focused on the important tasks that move the needle, and the other mundane tasks can be delegated to someone else. This will give you more time to focus on your health and wellness.
• Effective planning: A person needs to make a clear plan in order to prioritise his time. Plan out your day in order to get the most work done in the least amount of time.
• Assertiveness: Again, being assertive will help you set boundaries at work, which will in turn ensure that you only get the work you signed up for. You can also discuss flexible work arrangements with your seniors if that is an option.