Wellness Tips For Emotional and Spiritual Well-being

Part of a healthy lifestyle is nurturing your emotional and spiritual well-being. The following tips are simple practices you can incorporate into your day-to-day routine. Pick one or two to start.

Experiment with different practices until you find the ones that are best for you. They will soon become a regular part of your daily life.

Emotional Well-being

• Spend time in nature - a walk in the park, moments in your garden.
• Remember to play - whatever play is for you.
• Ask for help and be willing to accept help. Allow others to support you.
• Spend time alone. This can be a quiet walk in nature, reading a favorite book or surrounded by music.
• Keep a journal. It can be a dumping ground for your worries, keeping track of daily activities, insights from your meditations, expressing gratitude, or all of the above.
• Walk outside. Consider the quote from Soren Kirkegaard: "Above all, do not lose your desire to walk: every day I walk myself into a state of well-being...I've walked myself into my best thoughts and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it..."
• Treat yourself to a nap. It's one of life's pleasures and 20 minutes often does the trick.
• Be kind - to yourself and others.
• Explore your creativity - in whatever way inspires you.
• Nurture your relationships - with friends, family and yourself.
• Sleep 7 - 9 hours each night - determine what is best for you.

Spiritual

• Take a few minutes to breathe deeply and slowly. This can be part of your morning or evening ritual, or done over a quiet cup of tea or coffee.
• Meditate - even 15 minutes of meditation can make a difference. Focus on your breath and let go of stray thoughts.
• Spend time in nature.
• Add music to your life - listen, sing, dance. Music can lift your spirits or calm your nerves, get you up jumping or help you relax. Decide what you need in the moment.
• Count your blessings. Express appreciation and gratitude for the simple everyday things, as well as the momentous ones.

You may have noticed that there are overlaps in the emotional and spiritual practices. Combining practices is a way around the "I don't have time" excuse.

I combine exercising and nurturing my emotional and spiritual well-being by walking outside, in nature, by myself. Think of it as a new slant on multi-tasking.

Wellness Tips to support your emotional and spiritual well-being are just one piece of the health puzzle. Check out the Health Tips on nutrition and exercise.