New Year’s resolutions are infamously short-lived, and the majority of them have something to do with self-betterment and life improvement.
However, things don’t have to be that way, and setting some more realistic goals may help you stick to them.
One such goal could be working on your health this year, and if you choose to implement these strategies and practices, your body and mind will heal in the process.
CBT-I techniques for better sleep
Insomnia is a growing issue among Americans, and most of them are desperate for a quick and easy fix that would help them fall asleep and stay that way through the night.
So far, everyone’s been relegated to using over-the-counter medicine to counteract this, but other solutions may be available.
Marri Horvat, MD, a sleep specialist, believes that cognitive behavior therapy can be equally, if not more effective in curing insomnia.
Additionally, therapy can solve insomnia that’s lasted for over 3 months, and compared to medication, this approach can address the root cause of the issue at hand.
Clean up your social media
After a 2-year-long pandemic, we’ve grown accustomed to scrolling our social media feed like there’s no tomorrow.
Unfortunately, this attachment to social media is extremely unhealthy and is inadvertently causing us to slowly become increasingly prone to avoiding social activities.
Behavioral specialist Michael Manos, Ph.D., believes it’s crucial to address this before it’s too late and we’ve had yet another bad year caused by overexposure to content online.
You should always ask yourself if the content you’re consuming is actually contributing to your skills and self-development or if it’s just background noise to keep you entertained.
If it’s nothing that helps improve your daily life, it’s probably for the best to move on and find something else.
Incidental exercise
Fitting a workout program into your tight schedule can be quite problematic, especially if you’ve got other activities to keep up with.
This is particularly true if you’ve got kids, and they’re not exactly a commitment you can set aside for later.
To solve this, people have slowly caught on to what is referred to as incidental exercise, which is basically exercising in small amounts all throughout the day.
While it does sound like a dystopian trend that we’re forced to embrace as a positive thing, it’s been found that it can be just as beneficial as a regular workout.
Additionally, it can come in many forms, as you could easily get off the bus a few stops earlier than usual and walk back home.
You could also do some minor exercises while waiting for other, longer tasks to be completed, such as cooking a meal.
While your water is boiling, you could be doing squats right there in the kitchen.
Immersive and healing sounds
It’s hard to imagine that sound can have healing properties, but the recent spike in sound therapy users does suggest there’s something more to it.
Binaural beats, spatial audio, and isochronic tones are only some of the therapies experts recommend for stimulating brain activity and helping alleviate anxiety.
In fact, clinics are creating therapeutic playlists for healing the mind, and they’re already being employed in the hospitality industry as well.
Float tank therapy
Sensory deprivation tanks have been around for ages, and while they used to be a thing only celebrities would boast about using, it’s become much more widespread in recent years.
By immersing yourself in a tank mixed with Epsom salt, your body can easily float in the tank, with your sight and hearing obscured by the lack of light and sound.
This sort of isolation therapy can have a significant impact on your mental well-being.
Studies have found that those participating in float tank therapy experience reduced stress, muscle tension, anxiety, and even depression.
All of this relief is followed by an overall improvement in one’s mood after only a single hour spent in the tank.
Of course, this therapy isn’t for the faint of heart, and floating in the water without seeing or hearing anything can be incredibly difficult for some, so make sure you’re prepared before entering.
Meditation
Finally, there’s the tried and tested meditation, a calming ritual that many have been using for years to improve their mental state.
However, meditation has been found to cure more than one’s mind, and it may actually be able to heal pain and certain physical issues.
A study published this year in the PAIN journal revealed that meditation may help reduce one’s perception of pain.
Final word
It’s never too late to update your resolutions for 2023, and if you incorporate some healing strategies into your schedule for this year, you may feel an overall improvement in your mental and physical health.
Addressing these issues is just as important as getting that promotion or working out more, perhaps even more so if you’ve been dealing with chronic issues over the years.
A healthy mind allows for a healthy body, and only once you’ve achieved this will you be able to reach your full potential.