What’s health and wellness, and why is it vital for women over 50? Health and wellness is important because the older we get, the less time we have to make the most of our lives. Thomas Dreier once said; “If we are ever to enjoy life, now is the time, not tomorrow or next year.” This statement is spot on!
Our health and overall well-being are the most important aspects of our lives and become more important as we age. A healthy person is free from pain and is able to participate in all of life’s joyous events. Whereas people who are in poor health suffer from pain and tend to miss out on many of life’s important moments!
Wellness on the other hand, refers to quality of life and how to achieve the best life possible. The health of your body, mind and soul contribute to your overall well-being and your ability to remain independent as you age. Women need to know that the best way to attain better physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health is to practice healthy habits on a daily basis!
What’s Health And Wellness
Your health and wellness give you the ability to live a harmonious, joyous and rewarding life. To improve your health and wellness you need to take into consideration 9 aspects of your life. These aspects include:
- Physical: Looking after your body with nutritious foods and regular exercise.
- Mental: Thinking and talking about the positive things in life as this adds to your enjoyment of life.
- Emotional: Keeping your problems in perspective as this helps you to easily bounce back from any setbacks.
- Financial: Budgeting and making regular savings will ensure your present and future financial security.
- Social: Interacting in a positive way with others improves confidence and helps you develop rewarding family, work-based, or intimate relationships.
- Intellectual: Expanding your horizons by improving your education, creative abilities, knowledge, skills and life experience enhances your life.
- Recreational: Leisure time helps improve physical, mental, emotional, and intellectual health.
- Spiritual: Searching for a deeper meaning to life or developing a relationship with God helps you to find purpose, and enjoy inner peace.
- Environmental: A good, safe and nurturing environment helps reduce the risk of developing health issues and mental illnesses like anxiety and depression.
Your daily actions, habits and behaviors affect your body, emotions and the state of your mind. As such, none of the above aspects should be ignored or neglected as they combine together to affect your overall wellness! They help you master your life, manifest your dreams, enjoy inner peace and give you a sense of self-worth.
However, while all 9 aspects are important, their value will vary from one individual to another. The best way to achieve optimal health and wellness is to consider the importance of each aspect. You’ll then be able to make the right choices for yourself and improve your life now and into the future!
Good Health Vs Bad Health
Good health is determined by the lack of physical and mental illness, disease, medical conditions, or infirmity. Regular exercise such as brisk walking and proper nutrition are two important factors that can help prevent a variety of ailments and many health issues.
Bad health affects both your physical body, your mental and emotional health. Poor physical and mental health results in physical pain, disease, cancers, heart disease, hypertension, and depression. These illnesses can reduce your capacity to move freely, to live the life you want, or to think in a positive way.
The good news is that poor health can be prevented from occurring in the first place by optimizing your wellness aspects. Whilst this can be challenging at times, it’s important to take action to reduce worry, anxiety and stress in your life.
You can do this by being kind to yourself by hanging out with people that care about you. But most importantly you need to take care of yourself through proper nutrition and daily exercise. When you feel good about yourself, your happiness levels increase!
Negative Thoughts
Mental and emotional wellness are intertwined and are influenced by what you usually think about. If you normally experience positive thoughts and attitudes, then your mental health will be positive.
Women need to know that the biggest stumbling block to health and wellness are negative thoughts! If you generally think in a negative way, then your overall health and wellness will suffer.
Negative thoughts and attitudes lead to feelings of hopelessness and low self-esteem. They can result in chronic stress which in turn can cause health issues such as ulcers, hypertension, cancers, heart problems, anxiety, depression and unhappiness.
Many things can trigger negative thoughts. These include stress, anxiety, lack of sleep, being overweight, hunger and exhaustion. To overcome poor mental and emotional health, try to be aware of factors or situations that trigger negative thoughts.
One way to do this is by keeping a journal of your triggers and negative thoughts. When you notice any negative statements, change these to positive or neutral statements.
Your journal will also help you identify specific situations that contribute to negative thoughts. Once negative triggers or situations are identified, you can then effectively prevent them from reoccurring in the future.
When you feel stressed, anxious, or have negative thoughts, put a stop to them by taking positive actions:
- Say “Stop!” and think of something else
- Distract yourself by focusing on a task
- Take some slow deep breathes
- Focus on problem-solving
- Challenge all negative thoughts
- Do something that makes you smile or laugh
- Eat healthy foods because sugary foods can increase anxiety
- Exercise, play, have fun
- Be more open-minded
- Forgive yourself and those you love
- Be grateful for what you have
- Get enough sleep
- Know that things will get better
- Live in the now, let go of the past and keep moving forward
What’s Health And Wellness Regarding Positive Thoughts
Your health and wellness reflect how much you value and care about yourself. It’s very difficult to look after yourself properly if you constantly have negative thoughts. Positive thoughts can help you to:
- Be yourself
- Heal yourself
- Be strong
- Love yourself
- Bring peace and balance
- Be powerful
- Respect yourself
- Be happy
The good news is that you can combat negative thoughts with positive thoughts. Dalai Lama a Tibetan monk once stated “Just one small positive thought in the morning can change your whole day.” This statement is so true and if you suffer from depression, it’s certainly worth a try.
One way to help you stay positive and feel good at any age is to create a file of positive or inspiring phrases. The phases must be ones that you can relate to. Every morning or whenever you feel down, read these to yourself out loud. The more you hear good, positive and inspiring phrases, the easier it will be to change your way of thinking from negative to positive.
The key to believing in your positive thoughts is to take responsibility for yourself, your thoughts and your actions. This is because you’re the only person who has control over the things that you say to yourself!
When you commit and dedicate yourself to gaining control of your thoughts, you’ll soon become the master of your thoughts. You’ll then be able to cope effectively with life and be able to build satisfying relationships with others.
When you take responsibility for yourself you can make yourself a better person. As a result you’ll wake up with the confidence and determination to make the best of each day. Because when you change your thoughts, you’ll change your life!
Summing Up: What’s Health And Wellness For Women Over 50?
What’s health and wellness, and why is it important for women over 50? Your present and future health and wellness are dependent on the choices that you make each and every day.
It’s imperative to look after your body, mind and soul. Your health and wellness can be improved by eating good healthy foods, being physically active and getting enough sleep. You can further enrich your life by enjoying nature, your community and your environment.
Wellness is a lifestyle that is dynamic and changes with every stage of your life. Enhance your life by managing your financial resources and living within your means. And remember to treat yourself and others with respect and kindness.
To become the best person you can be, you need to expand your horizons. This can be done by improving your education, skills or knowledge. You can also enrich your life by improving your relationship with others or with God. A happy and rewarding life reduces stress which increases your contentment and your ability to live a full and happy life!
Life is short, and becomes shorter with every passing day! With this in mind, NOW is the time to work towards achieving a full, harmonious and joyous life by improving your health and wellness. Because the better, healthier and stress-free your lifestyle is, the better your life will be!
