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I talk and write a lot about the idea of health supporting-behaviors (with the understanding that health isn’t an obligation, a barometer of worthiness, and is not entirely within our control, that health-supporting behaviors have more benefit and less risk than attempting weight loss.) Still, in our diet-culture-steeped culture, when I talk to healthcare providers about this, when they think of health supporting behaviors they often only consider food and movement.
For today’s discussion, I thought it might be fun to talk about our favorite health-supporting behaviors that have nothing to do with food or movement. For me, it’s sleep. Sleep has never been a superpower of mine, I’ve had disturbed sleep on an off throughout my life and if I have too much to do, sleep is often the first thing to go. To support my health I often focus on making time and space for good sleep?
I am very headache-prone, especially when stressed/busy, and have definitely identified a strong correlation between less phone time and less headaches. So hard to achieve, of course! I’m in a super intense season of work right now and finding the phone really hard to put down but I did force myself to do it the other night for a solid two hours before bed -- and it’s the best I’ve slept all week. Ugh, okay, fine.
I think that medication adherence is a really important behavior for me. I fell into the wellness trap and developed orthorexia, believing that natural remedies and supplements were superior. :-/ As much as I despise the tactics of big pharma, they're the only reason why I'm still kickin. Having a solid routine around my medications has helped me feel a lot better and also have better feedback to my health care team if something is not working.
Definitely sunlight and going outside. During the height of the pandemic, I became a home gremlin in my one-windowed basement apartment and would do fun things like go weeks without going outside at all. Now one of my health-promoting behaviors is trying to "go out and look at a tree" as my therapist says.
I've just finished an intensive 3 day course. I'm tired - no, exhausted. My health supporting behaviour would be to learn how to say 'no', and mean it. I've negotiated a 4 day working week, but still average 5.5 days/week. Saying no, meaning no, and using that extra time to (daydreaming....) sleep, walk, do yoga, watch movies, read books, have long slow cups of tea in cafes....
I have embraced naps in the last year. I now consider it an essential part of my routine and try to have at least one each weekend. Also therapy, which I tell everyone they should have regularly, and not just when in crisis.
I am in a period of unmasking. I recently realized I'm autistic and have ADHD. I guess I'm in the deconstructing phase of letting the mask fall away and figuring out what's underneath before trying to build a life that is mentally healthy and supportive to me. I know it's a huge privilege to have the space to do that. I think part of the building back is to figure out how to use what I have to make space for other people to unmask that might not have the ability to let anything fall apart.
Definitely agreeing with sleep, but I also find that I feel much better when I take time for some creative pursuit every single day. It can be 10 minutes of knitting, or 4 hours of work on a sewing project, or anything in between, but I like how my life looks a lot better when I consistently take the time to work on making something.
This past year has found me exploring pleasure as a way of supporting my health. Thanks to a Power in Pleasure class with Dawn Serra for kick-starting that journey, following up on taking Christy Harrison's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals course (I highly recommend both!). Growing up solidly rooted in Christian purity culture, it's not something I sought or valued in the first 40 or so years of my life. It's not exactly comfortable yet, which sounds odd when one is referring to pleasure, but it's a journey that is leading me to what I consider greater health...and it's pretty fun sometimes too!
In addition, letting go of the chase after perfection is the health behavior I'm currently exploring. I can't save the planet by myself, I won't always be the highest performing employee, and sometimes I DON'T want to play a game with my nephew. It's okay to just be.
Laughter is my health promoting behavior partly because it comes naturally to me and it does have so many proven benefits. I haven't gone as far as to dive into Laughter Yoga but appreciate the concept that even if you are "fake" laughing that it still has so many positive benefits.
I participate in peer counseling almost every day - it's a way to heal from old (and new) hurts by discharging emotions through crying, laughing, yawning, shaking, sweating, etc. It definitely keeps me sane and reasonably functional in this messed up society.
I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned spending time with pets! Hanging with my cats, petting them, brushing them, talking to them (yes, I'll own it), laughing at them and my husband...it helps my mental health and, perhaps, my physical health. They also remind me to take breaks--sometime FORCE me to take breaks when they sit on my computer!
I am an artist and find doing something creative is just as important as breathing but I don't always take the time. It's funny how we know what we need, we just don't treat ourselves to it.
Sleep and rest are very important--I haven't read other comments but my fave health-supporting behavior is to know my net worth. I sleep (and rest) better when I have balanced my books and put my financial life in order. Not everyone thinks of reconciling the checkbook as self-care, but I do.
For me, taking time to tend to my mental health is key. I have PTSD and if I try to neglect my mental health, it begins to manifest in physical ways. So making time for talk therapy, journaling, and quiet time are all really important to my overall health.
Yes, I raise my hand for sleep to be ratcheted up to the top of the best mind-body-spirit care hierarchy. A flyover the world, anytime and everywhere, should find half the world not toiling but taking siestas, meditating, cuddling with family, friends, pets, the sick, scared, and anxious, in a yoga savasana pose, napping, eyes closed, or curled up on a bed or chair or floor in a car, airplane, train, cart, boat, rest stop, garden, field, under a tree, in a safe, private, cozy, comfortable, protected spot to dream, rest, sleep, and to gather and restore themselves throughout there days and lives in order to rise again/be reborn/be refreshed and go forth generous, wise, and curious.
I am on the nap-train, too! I used to think that something was wrong with me, because I wanted to nap! Then I realized it was a form of self-care. I’ve accepted the fact that as I age, my sleep is not as good as it once was and my naps ate how I adjust to that. Quick funny story – my granddaughter, and I have a joke about me belonging to the national nappers association. 🤣. My other reset is my horse time- I don’t own my own but I volunteer with a rescue that allows me to “adopt” a specific horse which means I get weekly time to spend talking to her & grooming her. My riding days are over but that brief time each week to enjoy the smell of the farm and the connection to these amazing animals keeps me sane.
Self compassion; giving myself permission and affirmation to ask for and accept help when I need it, to take the time to rest even if I don't think I've 'earned' it, to spend time being creative just because it feeds my soul, to recognize that I am disabled and that's okay, to validate that my disordered eating behaviors were and are REAL and it's healthier for me not to restrict or feel guilty about enjoying food.
I'm so hard on myself all the time that it just creates extra stress and makes life harder, so being compassionate with myself is my single biggest health-supporting behavior.
My most important health behavior is sleep also. When I was in my early twenties I was diagnosed with bipolar. Every time that I have become manic and needed hospitalized it has been after a string of just two or three days without enough or any sleep. Taking my medication consistently (and not letting doctors make changes to my medication) is the second most important health behavior. With sleep though I have to not let myself get upset about it or over focused on it which backfires. Then comes exercise, and lastly food (which is only on the list because my most important medication must be taken with a certain amount of food). In fact, with food, it is more important to ensure I'm getting enough and that I'm satisfied because diet culture and yo yo dieting has earned me a necessity for eating disorder treatment (another important health behavior).
I’ve also struggled with sleep. I’ve tried so many insomnia treatments, but nothing really helps. (I can stay awake on the highest doses of sedatives.) I can usually get enough sleep to get through life, but not enough to really rest.
I think what I’m missing is REST. Good sleep and days off. I never have free time, I feel like I’m just moving from one survival task to another. I rarely get downtime, and when I do, it’s less about fun or rest and relaxation than it is about overcoming fatigue so I can go back to my survival tasks. Even if I stop to do something like comment here, or spend an hour on crochet after dinner, these still feel like survival— I’m here because I need to constantly be prepared to fight for my survival in healthcare settings, and I started learn crochet because I have so much nervous energy inside that I’m going to explode if I can’t DO something with my hands that’s different from staring at a screen all day.
I long for several days in a row of actual rest and recuperation. Not a precious weekend where I spend all my energy catching up on the tasks that ensure my survival (laundry, cleaning, cooking, sleeping off the exhaustion and fatigue), but multiple days of truly recharging my emotional batteries, resting my body and my brain, and exploring hobbies and creative pursuits I’ve never been able to do.
Sleep and rest are so underrated and I wish health professionals would recognise how important they are. I'm chronically ill so regular rest and sleep throughout the day is essential for me.
I do not have a cell phone......and , until this very moment, I had not even realised what a health supporting behaviour it is ! No desire to be connected to the world at every moment, too cheap and fearful of it taking over my life - these are my reasons for opting out as it were. But YES !!! Not having one keeps me sane, calm, free of the constant demands (99% of which can wait or are useless) for my time, attention and energy. This - and cats, of course - is my health supporting behaviour.
Sex. It’s something that’s super pleasurable, I’m totally in the moment and have no other thoughts and often no thoughts and at the same time I feel deeply connected to and enjoy my body. It’s important to me to make time for this type of intimacy and it both energizes and relaxes me physically and emotionally.
Oh my gosh, yes to sleep! I try really hard to hold myself to a bedtime at night because I know not enough sleep will significantly impact how I feel the next day. I often feel resistance to honoring this bedtime because there is part of me that really wants to stay up with my partner, who is more of a night owl, but then I will ultimately just fall asleep on the couch, need to transfer to bed at some point and then have a super disrupted night of sleep. Also *trying* to hold boundaries around ending my workday when it feels like there is always something more I could or "should" be doing.
Rest has been a focus for me lately since I was trying to balance 2 jobs that I both really enjoyed. However, making the decision to quit one and focus more on rest has been so good for me. This is an incredibly privileged thing I was able to do
A couple of things. I blog and I write letters. It helps me to put things in perspective. The other thing - I try to follow my beloved Grandma's advice - get out and blow the stink off of you - I joined a singing group; I try to schedule in time with family.
Someone mentioned the church they grew up in. I grew up not celebrating much, so making a point to celebrate holidays and birthdays is very important to me. What a dour religion that was! (JWs--IYKYK)
This was a lot harder for me to brainstorm than I thought it would be! Anyone else have that experience?
My psychiatrist ends all of our med check-in appointments with "remember mindfulness, sunshine, and community!" All important reminders! For me, avoiding community is a telltale sign of me being ill. Social support is an enormous part of individual health. My health outcomes are greatly improved when I spend quality time with my friends and family-- the empathetic, supportive ones ;)
Routines also help me keep my health in check. My current examples are playing the same podcast with a cup of tea to start out mornings, and sitting in the backyard with my dog out at the end of the work day.
Other things that have greatly benefited my loved ones are quitting smoking & moderating drinking. I'm extremely proud of them for making those difficult lifestyle changes!
As someone who has flexibility with my schedule, that has often led to me overworking and lacking consistency in my work schedule. This past year I've worked to set limits on my schedule (i.e. I don't want to start work at 7:45 am on a Monday. I don't want to schedule meetings back to back for more than 3 hours in a row) and it's had a tremendous impact on my stress levels and ability to be present and feel contentment.
I wish medical professionals would more directly address stress and do regular assessments around stress levels. That said, I think they would be pretty useless at actual treating stress, but it is baffling to me that this isn't addressed more robustly by medical professionals when we have ample scientific evidence of its importance in people's health outcomes. One of the more recent ways I have been addressing stress in my own life is listening to recordings of Tibetan singing bowls being played in "sound baths". Obviously, there are also may other activities folks can use for de-stressing. I just wish healthcare practitioners asked about and recorded the time people spend doing stress-relieving activities in the same way they record how often we exercise and what our weight changes are.
Regular daily meditation has reduced my stress levels, and helped me cope better with some serious life troubles over the past few years. It also boosts my creativity, connects me to my intuition, and makes me less reactive.
The second behaviour is a boundary I've placed around talking about difficult/stressful topics - I don't start these conversations with friends/family after 6pm. I realised that the underlying stress they stoked up interfered greatly with my sleep that night, and like so many other people in this thread, sleeping well and enough is one of my top health actions.
I go on retreat twice a year for a week each, somewhere in the woods, with the same group of 23 people. Have been doing this for over 20 years.
And I go to our neighborhood gym 2-3 days a week. I don't do machines, but we have an instructor-led outdoor circuit training that is different each time, a combination of different strength exercises and cardio, and often also lots of fun. It's taught in small groups of max 8 people, and it's almost a social event, although physically exhausting, even though only 1/2 hour long. I find that when I regularly train my muscles, I have less pain in knees and shoulders, and also that I can sleep better when I regularly do power exercise. Oh, and I love biking and don't have a car, I bike to work and run all my errands on bike too.
Reading or absorbing something that isn't work-related every day. Even if it's only 10 minutes of a podcast or a new album or half a chapter of a Fun Book. There is a lot of (not entirely inappropriate) pressure to stay UpToDate in medicine and it's easy to fall into the sense that you are always behind; there are always more journals, more articles, more studies, more podcasts to absorb and learn from. Designating protected "not working" time is critical, especially when my working time can creep from my phone into the rest of my life without me noticing.
When stressed I try to clear my mind and focus on the here and now, especially with my 4 year old--smelling the roses if you will. The house doesn’t have to be tidy all the time. I don’t have to wear the perfect outfit. We can just be comfortable and enjoy the mundane moments together. Nothing else matters
This is such a great question, Ragen! Weekly therapy. Daily meds and regular check-ups with my PCP. Dance parties with my toddler. Weekly phone calls with a dear friend.
Sleep, mindfulness practice, and breathing! Those are all really critical for me. I joke that I'm like a toddler if my sleep schedule gets off: I am cranky and prone to tantrums!
Coming back to comment after a very busy few months dealing with health issues, I am reminded of my best therapy technique. When overwhelmed, exhausted, or just feeling down, I stretch out on my bed and just breathe, noticing my chest and abdomen gently rising and falling. Breathing in and out is made even better with a friendly cat on my chest 😽who just wants to breathe in and out with me.
I am very headache-prone, especially when stressed/busy, and have definitely identified a strong correlation between less phone time and less headaches. So hard to achieve, of course! I’m in a super intense season of work right now and finding the phone really hard to put down but I did force myself to do it the other night for a solid two hours before bed -- and it’s the best I’ve slept all week. Ugh, okay, fine.
I think that medication adherence is a really important behavior for me. I fell into the wellness trap and developed orthorexia, believing that natural remedies and supplements were superior. :-/ As much as I despise the tactics of big pharma, they're the only reason why I'm still kickin. Having a solid routine around my medications has helped me feel a lot better and also have better feedback to my health care team if something is not working.
Definitely sunlight and going outside. During the height of the pandemic, I became a home gremlin in my one-windowed basement apartment and would do fun things like go weeks without going outside at all. Now one of my health-promoting behaviors is trying to "go out and look at a tree" as my therapist says.
I've just finished an intensive 3 day course. I'm tired - no, exhausted. My health supporting behaviour would be to learn how to say 'no', and mean it. I've negotiated a 4 day working week, but still average 5.5 days/week. Saying no, meaning no, and using that extra time to (daydreaming....) sleep, walk, do yoga, watch movies, read books, have long slow cups of tea in cafes....
I have embraced naps in the last year. I now consider it an essential part of my routine and try to have at least one each weekend. Also therapy, which I tell everyone they should have regularly, and not just when in crisis.
I am in a period of unmasking. I recently realized I'm autistic and have ADHD. I guess I'm in the deconstructing phase of letting the mask fall away and figuring out what's underneath before trying to build a life that is mentally healthy and supportive to me. I know it's a huge privilege to have the space to do that. I think part of the building back is to figure out how to use what I have to make space for other people to unmask that might not have the ability to let anything fall apart.
Definitely agreeing with sleep, but I also find that I feel much better when I take time for some creative pursuit every single day. It can be 10 minutes of knitting, or 4 hours of work on a sewing project, or anything in between, but I like how my life looks a lot better when I consistently take the time to work on making something.
This past year has found me exploring pleasure as a way of supporting my health. Thanks to a Power in Pleasure class with Dawn Serra for kick-starting that journey, following up on taking Christy Harrison's Intuitive Eating Fundamentals course (I highly recommend both!). Growing up solidly rooted in Christian purity culture, it's not something I sought or valued in the first 40 or so years of my life. It's not exactly comfortable yet, which sounds odd when one is referring to pleasure, but it's a journey that is leading me to what I consider greater health...and it's pretty fun sometimes too!
I am seconding sleep.
In addition, letting go of the chase after perfection is the health behavior I'm currently exploring. I can't save the planet by myself, I won't always be the highest performing employee, and sometimes I DON'T want to play a game with my nephew. It's okay to just be.
Laughter is my health promoting behavior partly because it comes naturally to me and it does have so many proven benefits. I haven't gone as far as to dive into Laughter Yoga but appreciate the concept that even if you are "fake" laughing that it still has so many positive benefits.
I participate in peer counseling almost every day - it's a way to heal from old (and new) hurts by discharging emotions through crying, laughing, yawning, shaking, sweating, etc. It definitely keeps me sane and reasonably functional in this messed up society.
I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned spending time with pets! Hanging with my cats, petting them, brushing them, talking to them (yes, I'll own it), laughing at them and my husband...it helps my mental health and, perhaps, my physical health. They also remind me to take breaks--sometime FORCE me to take breaks when they sit on my computer!
My health is markedly better when I connect with good people. Also cats.
I am an artist and find doing something creative is just as important as breathing but I don't always take the time. It's funny how we know what we need, we just don't treat ourselves to it.
Sleep and rest are very important--I haven't read other comments but my fave health-supporting behavior is to know my net worth. I sleep (and rest) better when I have balanced my books and put my financial life in order. Not everyone thinks of reconciling the checkbook as self-care, but I do.
For me, taking time to tend to my mental health is key. I have PTSD and if I try to neglect my mental health, it begins to manifest in physical ways. So making time for talk therapy, journaling, and quiet time are all really important to my overall health.
Yes, I raise my hand for sleep to be ratcheted up to the top of the best mind-body-spirit care hierarchy. A flyover the world, anytime and everywhere, should find half the world not toiling but taking siestas, meditating, cuddling with family, friends, pets, the sick, scared, and anxious, in a yoga savasana pose, napping, eyes closed, or curled up on a bed or chair or floor in a car, airplane, train, cart, boat, rest stop, garden, field, under a tree, in a safe, private, cozy, comfortable, protected spot to dream, rest, sleep, and to gather and restore themselves throughout there days and lives in order to rise again/be reborn/be refreshed and go forth generous, wise, and curious.
I am on the nap-train, too! I used to think that something was wrong with me, because I wanted to nap! Then I realized it was a form of self-care. I’ve accepted the fact that as I age, my sleep is not as good as it once was and my naps ate how I adjust to that. Quick funny story – my granddaughter, and I have a joke about me belonging to the national nappers association. 🤣. My other reset is my horse time- I don’t own my own but I volunteer with a rescue that allows me to “adopt” a specific horse which means I get weekly time to spend talking to her & grooming her. My riding days are over but that brief time each week to enjoy the smell of the farm and the connection to these amazing animals keeps me sane.
Self compassion; giving myself permission and affirmation to ask for and accept help when I need it, to take the time to rest even if I don't think I've 'earned' it, to spend time being creative just because it feeds my soul, to recognize that I am disabled and that's okay, to validate that my disordered eating behaviors were and are REAL and it's healthier for me not to restrict or feel guilty about enjoying food.
I'm so hard on myself all the time that it just creates extra stress and makes life harder, so being compassionate with myself is my single biggest health-supporting behavior.
My most important health behavior is sleep also. When I was in my early twenties I was diagnosed with bipolar. Every time that I have become manic and needed hospitalized it has been after a string of just two or three days without enough or any sleep. Taking my medication consistently (and not letting doctors make changes to my medication) is the second most important health behavior. With sleep though I have to not let myself get upset about it or over focused on it which backfires. Then comes exercise, and lastly food (which is only on the list because my most important medication must be taken with a certain amount of food). In fact, with food, it is more important to ensure I'm getting enough and that I'm satisfied because diet culture and yo yo dieting has earned me a necessity for eating disorder treatment (another important health behavior).
Sleep and rest, two separate things.
I’ve also struggled with sleep. I’ve tried so many insomnia treatments, but nothing really helps. (I can stay awake on the highest doses of sedatives.) I can usually get enough sleep to get through life, but not enough to really rest.
I think what I’m missing is REST. Good sleep and days off. I never have free time, I feel like I’m just moving from one survival task to another. I rarely get downtime, and when I do, it’s less about fun or rest and relaxation than it is about overcoming fatigue so I can go back to my survival tasks. Even if I stop to do something like comment here, or spend an hour on crochet after dinner, these still feel like survival— I’m here because I need to constantly be prepared to fight for my survival in healthcare settings, and I started learn crochet because I have so much nervous energy inside that I’m going to explode if I can’t DO something with my hands that’s different from staring at a screen all day.
I long for several days in a row of actual rest and recuperation. Not a precious weekend where I spend all my energy catching up on the tasks that ensure my survival (laundry, cleaning, cooking, sleeping off the exhaustion and fatigue), but multiple days of truly recharging my emotional batteries, resting my body and my brain, and exploring hobbies and creative pursuits I’ve never been able to do.
Sleep and rest are so underrated and I wish health professionals would recognise how important they are. I'm chronically ill so regular rest and sleep throughout the day is essential for me.
I do not have a cell phone......and , until this very moment, I had not even realised what a health supporting behaviour it is ! No desire to be connected to the world at every moment, too cheap and fearful of it taking over my life - these are my reasons for opting out as it were. But YES !!! Not having one keeps me sane, calm, free of the constant demands (99% of which can wait or are useless) for my time, attention and energy. This - and cats, of course - is my health supporting behaviour.
Looking through print photos from decades ago
Napping, especially when using an eye pillow to help rest my eyes along with my whole body
Listening to a podcast
Stargazing
Reading one of many favorite poems
Making a collage (love to cut and paste!)
Creating homemade cards for friends
Unraveling the vines on one of my plants
Engaging with a young child or toddler, or snuggling up with a baby
Hearing or sharing a joke
Sex. It’s something that’s super pleasurable, I’m totally in the moment and have no other thoughts and often no thoughts and at the same time I feel deeply connected to and enjoy my body. It’s important to me to make time for this type of intimacy and it both energizes and relaxes me physically and emotionally.
Oh my gosh, yes to sleep! I try really hard to hold myself to a bedtime at night because I know not enough sleep will significantly impact how I feel the next day. I often feel resistance to honoring this bedtime because there is part of me that really wants to stay up with my partner, who is more of a night owl, but then I will ultimately just fall asleep on the couch, need to transfer to bed at some point and then have a super disrupted night of sleep. Also *trying* to hold boundaries around ending my workday when it feels like there is always something more I could or "should" be doing.
Rest has been a focus for me lately since I was trying to balance 2 jobs that I both really enjoyed. However, making the decision to quit one and focus more on rest has been so good for me. This is an incredibly privileged thing I was able to do
Taking phone breaks had been helpful for my physically and mentally
A couple of things. I blog and I write letters. It helps me to put things in perspective. The other thing - I try to follow my beloved Grandma's advice - get out and blow the stink off of you - I joined a singing group; I try to schedule in time with family.
Someone mentioned the church they grew up in. I grew up not celebrating much, so making a point to celebrate holidays and birthdays is very important to me. What a dour religion that was! (JWs--IYKYK)
I am enjoying letting go of "being busy" and being rushed by adrenaline all the time. Relaxation.
This was a lot harder for me to brainstorm than I thought it would be! Anyone else have that experience?
My psychiatrist ends all of our med check-in appointments with "remember mindfulness, sunshine, and community!" All important reminders! For me, avoiding community is a telltale sign of me being ill. Social support is an enormous part of individual health. My health outcomes are greatly improved when I spend quality time with my friends and family-- the empathetic, supportive ones ;)
Routines also help me keep my health in check. My current examples are playing the same podcast with a cup of tea to start out mornings, and sitting in the backyard with my dog out at the end of the work day.
Other things that have greatly benefited my loved ones are quitting smoking & moderating drinking. I'm extremely proud of them for making those difficult lifestyle changes!
As someone who has flexibility with my schedule, that has often led to me overworking and lacking consistency in my work schedule. This past year I've worked to set limits on my schedule (i.e. I don't want to start work at 7:45 am on a Monday. I don't want to schedule meetings back to back for more than 3 hours in a row) and it's had a tremendous impact on my stress levels and ability to be present and feel contentment.
I wish medical professionals would more directly address stress and do regular assessments around stress levels. That said, I think they would be pretty useless at actual treating stress, but it is baffling to me that this isn't addressed more robustly by medical professionals when we have ample scientific evidence of its importance in people's health outcomes. One of the more recent ways I have been addressing stress in my own life is listening to recordings of Tibetan singing bowls being played in "sound baths". Obviously, there are also may other activities folks can use for de-stressing. I just wish healthcare practitioners asked about and recorded the time people spend doing stress-relieving activities in the same way they record how often we exercise and what our weight changes are.
Regular daily meditation has reduced my stress levels, and helped me cope better with some serious life troubles over the past few years. It also boosts my creativity, connects me to my intuition, and makes me less reactive.
The second behaviour is a boundary I've placed around talking about difficult/stressful topics - I don't start these conversations with friends/family after 6pm. I realised that the underlying stress they stoked up interfered greatly with my sleep that night, and like so many other people in this thread, sleeping well and enough is one of my top health actions.
Laughing! Gotta do it everyday!
I go on retreat twice a year for a week each, somewhere in the woods, with the same group of 23 people. Have been doing this for over 20 years.
And I go to our neighborhood gym 2-3 days a week. I don't do machines, but we have an instructor-led outdoor circuit training that is different each time, a combination of different strength exercises and cardio, and often also lots of fun. It's taught in small groups of max 8 people, and it's almost a social event, although physically exhausting, even though only 1/2 hour long. I find that when I regularly train my muscles, I have less pain in knees and shoulders, and also that I can sleep better when I regularly do power exercise. Oh, and I love biking and don't have a car, I bike to work and run all my errands on bike too.
Reading or absorbing something that isn't work-related every day. Even if it's only 10 minutes of a podcast or a new album or half a chapter of a Fun Book. There is a lot of (not entirely inappropriate) pressure to stay UpToDate in medicine and it's easy to fall into the sense that you are always behind; there are always more journals, more articles, more studies, more podcasts to absorb and learn from. Designating protected "not working" time is critical, especially when my working time can creep from my phone into the rest of my life without me noticing.
When stressed I try to clear my mind and focus on the here and now, especially with my 4 year old--smelling the roses if you will. The house doesn’t have to be tidy all the time. I don’t have to wear the perfect outfit. We can just be comfortable and enjoy the mundane moments together. Nothing else matters
Spending time in nature. It both grounds and uplifts me--and fills me with awe.
This is such a great question, Ragen! Weekly therapy. Daily meds and regular check-ups with my PCP. Dance parties with my toddler. Weekly phone calls with a dear friend.
Sleep, mindfulness practice, and breathing! Those are all really critical for me. I joke that I'm like a toddler if my sleep schedule gets off: I am cranky and prone to tantrums!
Coming back to comment after a very busy few months dealing with health issues, I am reminded of my best therapy technique. When overwhelmed, exhausted, or just feeling down, I stretch out on my bed and just breathe, noticing my chest and abdomen gently rising and falling. Breathing in and out is made even better with a friendly cat on my chest 😽who just wants to breathe in and out with me.