A Guide to taking care of your Mind Body & Soul

How do you feel today? Are you tired? Stressed? Anxious?

When we take a moment to really think about how we feel, it can bring up a lot of physical, mental and emotional experiences. However, tuning in to these feelings can actually be good for us, as the process itself can help to reconnect our mind, body and soul.

The reality is that we can often find that mind body soul become clogged with the strains of daily life, making it easy to bottle up emotions, become more sedentary and consume unbalanced diets, all of which can make the feelings we experience even worse. Which is why it is important to take a holistic approach to looking at how we feel on the inside as well as the outside before finding ways to apply a little self care each day to help us feel better.

In this article, we explain what the connection can be between mind body soul before looking at some of the best ways in which we can take better care of ourselves on a daily basis.

The connection between mind, body and soul

You might not think that there is much of a connection between your mind, your body and your soul, but you would be surprised. Have you ever felt physically sick with worry about something? Do you get butterflies in your tummy when you are nervous? Have you ever tingled with excitement? These are all signs that your mind, body and soul are working together and having an impact on one another.

Even issues which are normally considered to be mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression have physical side effects, and their treatment often involves looking a diet, activity and mindfulness.

Which is why the issue of self-care has become so important in recent years. We often spend our lives putting the needs of others first and neglecting ourselves, but by taking the time to look after our whole selves, we can be stronger, happier and better for everyone else too. So, what do we need to think about?

Mindfulness and meditation

Mindfulness is a practice of making us more aware of where we are and what we’re doing, and it is recommended in order to help us understand our emotions, create a sense of calm and cope with thoughts and emotions that are negative or challenging. It can sometimes be difficult to know how to get started when it comes to using mindfulness on a regular basis, but once you get used to it, the process can quickly become second nature. It can be something as simple as taking the time to notice the way the air feels around you, or different sensory experiences as well as watching your thoughts so that worries do not take over and fill up the space in your head. As stopping and simply being more aware of your thoughts can feel a little odd for some, it can help to practice this whilst doing an activity such as yoga, tai-chi or colouring.

Meditation employs similar skills to mindfulness and uses mental and physical techniques which aim to clear the mind, helping you to relax and reduce stress and anxiety. It can use processes such as self-scanning, focusing on breathing and contemplation, to help put you in touch with your ability to channel feelings and create a sense of relaxation.

As both of these techniques require quiet and calm, as well as the need to actually stop for a moment, it can seem as though it is tricky to fit meditation into our normally busy daily routines. However, it can be something that you do as you work your way through the day. Taking the time to observe your surroundings whilst you are outside on the school run or walking the dog does not require any extra time but can immediately take you into a more mindful state. It is also possible to be mindful by focusing on the task at hand instead of juggling several things at once. This can be done at work, whilst eating a meal or reading a bedtime story to the kids.

Healthy body healthy mind

We understand that what we eat can fuel our body, so why would it not do the same for our mind and our soul? Having the right balance of food in our diets can not only keep our bodies healthy but also boost our mood and help our minds to be sharper. This means that it is important to nourish your body in the right way to give it the energy it needs for physical activity as well as productivity and creativity..

One of the best ways to do this is to think about the balance of food on your average meal plate. Ideally, half of it should have non-starch vegetables, a quarter should be filled with whole grain carbohydrates and the final quarter with protein. The fibre found in this sort of meal takes longer to be digested by your gut ensuring a longer, steadier release of carbohydrates into the bloodstream, whilst lean protein can help to keep you feeling full and reduce the chances of you reaching for snacks later on.

Protein has been found to contain an amino acid which can help to regulate the mood whilst being properly hydrated aids our ability to concentrate. B vitamins such as B12 and B9 can help to produce serotonin and dopamine, which are known as the happy hormones that can boost our mood and are typically found in things such as seafood, fortified cereal and broccoli.

This all helps to keep our gut healthy, which can be important for a number of different reasons. This is because many digestive conditions, such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) have been found to have a link with both anxiety and depression. This means that the gut-brain axis can be very important, and so a healthy gut can help to achieve a healthy mindset.

Physical activity

Exercise and other forms of physical activity are well known for having a number of different benefits. Regular aerobic exercise has been found to benefit the gut microbiome and can provide us with a more diverse set of gut bacteria, which is generally considered to be healthier.

Physical activity is also known to be a factor when it comes to supporting mental health as it can stimulate neural growth, reduce inflammation and promote a sense of calm. It is often incorporated with mindfulness to create an all-round sense of well-being.

Exercise is something that can often fall by the wayside when we are busy, but there are ways that we can squeeze it into our daily routines, even if we don’t have time to go for a run or pay a visit to the gym. Simple activities such as walking the kids to school, cycling to work or even taking the stairs instead of the lift can all play their part. Even at work, using standing desks, walking to a colleague’s desk instead of emailing them or going for a quick walk at lunchtime can all become healthy habits to adopt.

We can often be guilty of treating our mental health, physical health and emotional wellbeing as separate things, but once we think of them as a whole, it can be much easier to find solutions which help all aspects of our health and wellness.