When you have a bad day, you might find that you want to grab a drink or eat something unhealthy. But these are not healthy habits to have. A good option is to indulge in self care activities, which can make you feel better and will be good for you at the same time.

Watch Something Funny

Don’t underestimate the power of laughing! If you are having a terrible day, find a way to watch TV or a movie that makes you laugh. Avoid action, drama, and other genres that might make you feel miserable by the end. Binge watch your favorite comedy on Netflix, or turn on the TV to try something new. Laughing is extremely healing and can quickly change your mood even after the very worst of days.

Get Out of the House

Some people prefer staying inside and watching Netflix for self care, while others already spend a lot of time indoors. If this is you, then getting out to socialize and meet up with friends might be a better option. When you find yourself doing nothing but working and going home, you may simply need another outlet. Try meeting co-workers for drinks after work or calling up a sister or cousin to have a girl’s night out. Get a little bit out of your comfort zone and it can be very good for you.

Spend More Time with Friends and Family

As mentioned briefly in the previous section, spending more time with your loved ones can be great for self care. Many people think being alone is the only way to take care of themselves and relieve stress, but sometimes the best thing for you is being around others. Think about your daily lifestyle and what tends to stress you out. You might find that you feel worse when you are constantly alone, but your mood seems to lift on happy hour night or when visiting your best friend. This is a good sign that what you really need is to get out and spend more time with others.

Take a Bubble Bath

As long as you have the bath supplies, this isn’t going to cost you a dime. Draw yourself a hot bath and pour in some bubbles, essential oils, or baths alts. Soak in the tub with some music playing or just sit in silence. Music is a good distraction if you have kids in the house that you want to tune out for the time being. Lock the door so you have no distractions and let the dogs out so they don’t bother you either. Remember not to bring your cell phone in the bathroom with you!

Try Meditation

Many people also like to give meditation a try when they want to practice self care without spending a lot of money. This is something else that can be free or possibly cost a small amount of money, depending on your method. For example, if you want to purchase a meditation CD to follow along to, naturally you will be spending a small amount of money. However, for the most part, this is minimal and a one-time cost. 

Meditation involves breathing exercises and sitting in a quiet space alone while you relax your mind. You want to try to think about as little as possible, using imagery to think of something that brings you peace and happiness, scripture verses instead of using this time to think about what is causing you stress in the first place. It does take a little practice, but once you get the hang of it, you will realize just how beneficial it can be.

Go for a Walk

Walking is probably one of the best exercises you can do for self care. It is easy to do with a lot of flexibility, doesn’t cost anything, and can be done alone or with others. If you have dogs, you can take them for a walk around the neighborhood or go hiking. You can walk alone during your morning break at work to de-stress, or walk in the evenings with your kids for some family time. Walking alone also helps you to really focus your thoughts and provide much needed private time.

 It is often easier to just focus all your time and attention on one area of your life, but even though that one area is often the most efficient, it leaves out so many other pillars of life and happiness in your life, creating an imbalance. But don’t worry – balance is always possible when you set your priorities, know what would bring you the most happiness, and how your mind and body can work together for optimal health and longevity.

 All it really takes for a properly balanced healthy lifestyle that makes you feel happy, joyful, healthy, and productive, is to add some simple daily habits to your routine. This is a simple change you can make in your life, and it is one you can go about gradually so you don’t feel intimidated by too many changes all at once. 

Here are some very simple habits you can add to your routine that help you live a balanced healthy lifestyle:

 Drink your water 

Drinking enough water is very important. If you struggle to drink enough water, here are some tips to make sure you are staying hydrated: 

Flavor your water

 You don’t have to drink only plain water to get the effects of being more hydrated. Feel free to flavor your water by infusing it with fruit and herbs, using water flavor enhancers, or even drinking flavored sparkling water. 

Read: Benefits Of Infused Water

Use a fun cup 

 Water bottles have come a long way! There are hundreds of varieties, including different materials, colors, sizes, patterns, and so much more. You can even get a water bottle with motivational sayings for each water milestone you reach during the day. 

Add water to your habit tracker 

 You might enjoy the water, but you just don’t think you drink enough. This is where tracking your water comes in handy! If you don’t have a water bottle that shows you how many ounces you have had during the day, the next best thing is to either use a water tracking app on your phone or just track with a printed water tracker. 

Eat water-dense foods

 You can also eat more foods that contain a high amount of water, such as lettuce, watermelon, cucumber, tomatoes, zucchini, celery, and apples. 

Move your body

 If you want to be happier and healthier, you need to move your body. Remember this doesn’t have to be with a structured workout plan unless that is within your own personal goals. 

But if you just want to exercise to boost your mood and improve your overall wellness, then any form of movement will work great. Here are some ideas: 

• Go for a short walk every morning or evening 

• Spend some time at the beach or lake 

• Have a living room dance party 

• Take a fun dance or fitness class 

• Try tai chi or martial arts 

• Join a friend at your local gym 

• Do indoor rock climbing 

• Find a local trampoline park 

• Start stretching every day

 As you can see, there are many ways to get some exercise in without feeling like you’re doing “fitness”. Some people have physique goals or really enjoy fitness, and that’s amazing! But even if you don’t, you can still move your body and get all the same health and happiness benefits. 

Read: How To Stay Motivated To Work Out

Take your vitamins 

While it is best to get your vitamins and minerals from natural food sources, that isn’t always possible. At the very least, you can take a multivitamin every day to get more nutrients into your body. But if you have a diet that restricts certain foods, such as not getting a lot of iron or zinc while on a vegetarian diet, consider adding these supplements. 

This is another good reason to visit your doctor for bloodwork to figure out what supplements you might need.

Read: Basic Health Screening Tests For Adults

Get some sunshine 

Oh, that beautiful vitamin D! It does miracles or at least feels like it. Why do people feel so much happier and more energetic in the summertime? For many people, it is because of all that wonderful, healing sunshine. The sun’s UV rays emit vitamin D, which you can get naturally absorbed into your body simply by being out in the sun. But if you live in a cold climate, you don’t get it for a good amount of the year. This is when taking a vitamin D supplement might be needed. 

Write in your journal

 Journaling is a wonderful activity to add to your daily routine if you want to focus on a balance between health and happiness. It not only helps with your emotional and mental health, but you can often use it to track habits related to your physical health as well.

Read for fun 

While it is great to read for personal development or learn new things with books and courses, don’t forget about reading just for fun. Whether it is a genre or just an author you really enjoy, get into the habit of reading on a regular basis when it is just for you and nothing else. 

Do something creative

 Let’s get one thing clear: you don’t have to be artistic to be creative. Even if you weren’t born naturally artistic (most people aren’t), you can still be creative. Think of any activity or hobby in your life that uses the creative part of your brain, such as making or playing music, writing, drawing, painting, creating things with your hands, assembling things, or really anything you can think of that you enjoy. 

Take care of plants

 Plants are so amazing for your overall wellness, including your mental health and mood. Just having plants or flowers in your home can improve your oxygen and help with so many physical ailments. They also tend to give you more energy, boost your mood naturally, and even reduce anxiety. 

Reassess your needs regularly 

Lastly, consider reassessing your needs as part of your self-care routine. This is a habit many people forget, as they are busy trying to be consistent with their routines and get as much done as possible. But your needs are going to change over time, so it is good to check in with yourself weekly or monthly, and consider what habits are improving your life, and which you are not seeing a positive impact from.

 Remember that your wellness and happiness journey is yours, and yours alone. It should be customized to who you are as a person, your own needs, and the goals you have. While it is great to get inspiration from others as you try to live a balanced healthy lifestyle, what works best for them might not be the best for you.

To live well is to find a balance between all the different pillars of health. It is a harmonious balance between health, productivity, mindset, and happiness, all intertwined to make up a joyful and fulfilling life. One of the best decisions you can make is to make your health and wellness a priority. 

These are some reasons why your health and wellness matter:

 It Makes You Happier

 It can often feel like you have to choose either your health and wellness goals or your happiness goals, but in many cases, focusing on one will actually help to transform the other. When you begin to take your own physical and mental health more seriously, you often have an increase in energy, your mood is better, and you feel better about yourself, which can have a snowball effect on the rest of your life. Suddenly, every aspect of your life is better, including your own feelings of joy and fulfillment. 

You Have Less Stress

 The more you focus on a healthy balance between your wellness, nutrition, exercise, and other pillars of health, the less stress you tend to experience in your life. This in turn can lead you to being happier overall. Think about how often you feel a lot of emotional stress and burden simply because of your health, energy levels, your diet, or activity. The way you feel can have a very large impact on your emotional and mental health, which in turn leads to more stress and makes it a lot harder to find gratitude in your life. By focusing more on health and wellness, you reduce your stress levels, which then encourages you to feel gratitude and really soak in all that positivity that brings you happiness.

 It Encourages Healthy Habits

 For some people, it is when they change their daily habits that they improve their health, but many people have found the opposite to be true. You might make a specific change to your lifestyle for a health-related issue you are having, which can then give you the motivation to make even more changes and start adapting your lifestyle and habits. 

 Similar to reducing stress, healthy habits often lead to more happiness and fulfillment in your life. These habits allow you to achieve a healthy balance each day, where you feel like you are getting everything done, without being overwhelmed. They can also help you see where your schedule might need to be tweaked a little. Plus, when you track your habits, you feel that sense of accomplishment every time you cross something off your list.

You Boost Your Mood

 Many of the healthy changes you make to your lifestyle will help to boost your mood. This can be something as simple as going outside in the sunshine for 10 minutes every day, which boosts your vitamin D to help you feel happier and more energized. Many habits can help to improve your mood, such as:

 • Vitamin D and sunshine 

• Eating a balanced diet with more vitamins and minerals

 • Drinking water

 • Moving your body 

• Serotonin boosts from activities you enjoy 

• Cutting back on alcohol 

It Increases Your Confidence 

Your new healthy habits can also make you feel happier by increasing your confidence. This is often related to healthy changes that might make you feel more comfortable in your body, such as eating a healthier diet, starting a workout program, or losing unwanted weight. In other people, they notice they have a boost in confidence when they start a self-care routine or another type of wellness routine, as it helps to boost their energy.

Read: Paying Attention To Your Body For Optimal Health