Not only is a clean environment good for your physical health, but research has shown that the good feelings you get from having a clean, uncluttered home reduce stress levels and ward off depression. Imagine how great you would feel if you took that same spring-cleaning approach to your body — your living, breathing home. This can be done by taking a closer look at how you fuel and move your body — and then making healthy changes to clean up those areas. Here are ten tips to help you cleanse your body.
Tag: Mental Health
Op-Ed: The Failure of the Body Positivity Movement
All over social media we have been seeing the body positivity movement in action. This movement is born from an idea that bodies of all skin colors, all shapes, and all sizes are accepted. Its purpose is to promote inclusivity in all ways and to target one of the most destructive diseases of our time: mental health, a disease that comes mainly from the toxicity of social media and its relation to unrealistic beauty standards. Or at least that’s what it claims to promote.
Competitive Spirit or Antisocial behavior: Are we failing our athletes?
At a time in which there is a selective microscope on the actions and professionalism of competitive athletes, there seems to be an emphasis on many aspects of sports conduct: Are we holding a double standard when it comes to the race of an athlete? How about when considering the gender of an athlete? Are we encouraging toxic behavior via social media?
Op-Ed: Music Is Good For Your Mental Health
Listening to music has other benefits, such as finding the words to put to what you are feeling. Sometimes it is hard for people to figure out what is going on inside of them, and music is something most people can relate to with a vast number of different genres and styles. It makes it easier to talk and figure out who you are as a person. Music can support people throughout all stages of life. It is proven that mothers that sing to their newborn babies and infants have a better relationship, and it is central to infants feeling pleasure at the beginning of their life. This attribute continues to grow with us as we get older, and music still holds beneficial capabilities. Music is an entry into another world where you might not feel as alone. It can help people connect through learning instruments or coming together to sing. Music also helps your brain build capacity and connections which helps you stay more alert and aware of your emotions.
Op-Ed: Making Playlists Every Month Boosted My Serotonin
Music has a powerful effect on our brains and has been shown to reduce anxiety and depression, stave off fatigue, improve your response to pain, and work out more effectively. That’s why you’ll see playlists tailored just for working out, meditation, or study. To put it simply – music gives your serotonin a little boost, and creating playlists makes it that much easier.
Women’s History Month: Putting Your Mental Health First
The month of March commemorates Women’s History Month, a time to honor women of the past and recognize the contributions made by women daily. Celebrating others is important, but how often do we recognize our own achievements or even check on our own well-being? During busy times like Mardi Gras season, women often lack the energy to invest in their own mental well-being. Often, women feel guilty or selfish for prioritizing themselves.
How Sad Girls Club’s Founder, Elyse Fox, is Redefining Wellness for Women of Color
Today, seven years later, the Sad Girls Club Instagram page is home to 256K followers and counting and is one of the most popular wellness platforms for women, girls, and femmes of color. Since its founding in 2017, Sad Girls Club has helped its audience access mental health resources and safe spaces, which have been especially valuable during the COVID-19 outbreak. As part of the Remedy program, Sad Girls Club gives free mental health therapy to members of their community who cannot afford it. As well as providing mental health professionals who look like them, they are also creating a platform for their communities to connect with each other. Sad Girls Club creates access for women of color in the wellness space, and Fox discusses how other platforms can do the same.
Why Engaging in Social Celebrations is Good for Mental Health
The final game of the FIFA World Cup has brought to the world’s attention the passion and fervency of the Argentinian population. The last three days of celebration all over the country, and even the world, as we’ve seen Argentinians gathering in different cities over the expanse of the seven continents, displayed on social media and on global media groups, is now forever part of our folklore.
Why Health and Nature Go Hand-In-Hand
The saying “nature heals” is actually very true. The benefits of staying close to nature are diverse. We can enjoy the positive effects of connecting to the environment at all levels of individual wellbeing. Research reveals that environments can increase or reduce our stress, which in turn impacts our bodies. What you are seeing, hearing, experiencing at any moment is changing not only your mood, but how your nervous, endocrine, and immune systems are working.
Why is On-Screen OCD Representation Still So Abysmal?
You’ve probably seen it before: a quirky TV or movie character so obsessed with tidiness, order, and perfection that other characters refer to them as being “so OCD” … and that’s the entirety of the joke. Think Monica Geller from “Friends”. While Hollywood has never been one to faithfully represent mental illnesses, its particular treatment of OCD–obsessive compulsive disorder–as a comical, cleaning-obsessed quirk has contributed to an extremely damaging stigma around the illness. This stigma not only downplays the experiences of those who struggle with this challenging disorder, but instills false ideas about what it actually means to have OCD. And while TV in particular has done a better job than in earlier decades about showing life with OCD, the road ahead to good, mainstream media representation has yet to be paved.
4 ADHD-Friendly Cleaning Hacks
For many with ADHD (hyperactive attention deficit disorder), cleaning can be more than a chore–it can feel like a downright impossible mission, with a laundry list of steps that need to be repeated day in and day out. It drains our time and energy and can thrust us into a state of indecision paralysis if we procrastinate on much-needed housekeeping: where do I even begin, and how can I make myself do it?
How Much Should you Exercise With a Sedentary Job?
If your job requires you to be sitting anywhere between 6 to 10 hours a day, this is considered a sedentary job. Too much sitting increases the risks of chronic illnesses, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and blood sugar.
The number one cause of death in the United States is heart disease. A chronic condition that can be prevented by moving your body every day. However how much time do you need to exercise and what kind of exercise should you choose to counteract the effects that too much sitting has on your body?
