Bloom Where You’re Planted!
Cultivate Creative Ways to Grow your Family’s Health and Well-being
May is a beautiful month for most of the country as the spring is gradually blooming into summer, and our attention turns to longer days, leisure time, and travels. May is also National Family Wellness Month and was created to help families overcome their most significant challenges to staying healthy and connected. The goal of this month is “to provide an opportunity to reflect on family habits, lifestyles and find ways to improve mental and physical health.”
One of the best ways to stay healthy is to promote great family habits. This is the month to start some new practices that will keep everyone in your family healthy throughout the rest of the year.
By setting family goals and practicing good nutritional habits, you can make overall wellness a priority. Also, by choosing healthier lifestyle choices, you can lead to a more fulfilling life for you and your family!
Tips to Achieve Family Wellness
The following tips can assist towards keeping you and your family on the right path, all while managing and maintaining diet, fitness, and mental health:
- Healthy Food Choices: Eating a wide variety of lean proteins, fiber, complex carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables, and healthy fats like those found in raw, unsalted nuts and olive oil is encouraged for a healthy lifestyle. Keeping hydrated with lots of water is also essential. Maintaining a healthy diet from a young age can help prevent health issues such as heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, and weight-related bone and joint stress.
- Exercise: Finding the time to incorporate exercise can be channeled into infusing any sedentary family time you may already have with activities like bike riding, brisk walking or running, ice or roller skating, swimming, hiking, dancing, bowling—anything that gets you up, out of the house, and moving. Visit a new park and go on an adventure in your own neighborhood.
- Oral Health: Good oral hygiene, including regular check-ups, cleanings, frequent brushing, and flossing, is imperative in establishing a good foundation for health. The removal of plaque and prevention of cavities, gingivitis, periodontal disease, and tooth decay can impact other conditions. Poor oral hygiene has been linked to cardiovascular disease, premature birth, and more.
- Limiting Alcohol and Stopping the Use of Tobacco: Alcohol in moderation can be part of your lifestyle, but restricting alcohol consumption as much as possible – as well as eliminating the use of tobacco – is critical towards living a healthy life and establishing a model of good health that the entire family can follow.
- Mental Health: Stress and depression can be linked to physical conditions such as fatigue, severe body aches and pains, migraines, and more. Taking a little time each day to turn off devices, meditate, breathe deeply, and empty your mind can help towards lowering blood pressure and heart rate. Families who meditate together or incorporate “quiet time” report a heightened feeling of wellbeing, which can impact physical health.
- Laugh: Laughter is the best medicine and a great stress relief. So spread some joy and find something you can all laugh about.
- Be conscious: Each decision we make has ramifications and if we are aware of that at all times, chances are we’ll make better decisions about food, and life.