During a global health crisis, there is nothing more important than physical, mental, and emotional well-being. You must take excellent care of yourself so that you can be of assistance to others. Although your default reaction during times of high stress may be to reach for convenience foods full of fat, sodium, and sugar, better options are awaiting you. You can be a glowing example of good health by simply changing the way you view and prepare food.

How You Can Prioritize Good Health Despite Navigating a Crisis

Prioritizing self-care during times of uncertainty can help you prevent a significant illness from occurring. In addition to following the CDC’s guidelines for handwashing and social distancing, you can also slowly build new habits into your daily routine. By focusing on all aspects of health, physical, emotional, mental, financial, social, and spiritual, you’re able to take good care of yourself inside and outside.

Here are some tips for being healthy while being at home:

• Get a good night’s rest. Although each person has their sleep habits and needs, it’s safe to say that no less than six hours of sleep each night is needed for you to stay healthy. Some people need a full eight hours, and others may require ten hours. Whatever the case may be for you, shutting down your digital devices and climbing into a climate-controlled, dark room can help you get the shut-eye you need.
• Consume unprocessed whole foods often. Fresh fruit and vegetables are vital because of the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients they provide. Eat them in their raw state as often as you can for the most benefit. Cooking fruit and veggies can lower their nutritional value by destroying essential enzymes.
• Stay hydrated. Make sure to get your fill of cleansing H2O. Not only is it good for the body, but it also helps improve cognition. You think more clearly when you’re hydrated. Invest in water filtration devices for the home and refillable water bottles.
• Take up meditation. Give yourself the gift of five to ten minutes a day to breathe deeply and clear your mind of racing thoughts. Sit in silence and pay close attention to what your body tells you. If there is something that hurts or feels ‘off,’ try to find the root cause of it.
• Keep moving your body. Even if you’re sheltering in place, you can still go outdoors with your kids or pets. Spend time in the garden together. Soak up the sun. Enlist the help of your partner to complete an outdoor DIY project.
• Journal to work through your thoughts. You need to be able to have a safe place to explore your feelings. Journaling provides you with a portable and affordable way to be more introspective. You can write down the things that you’re experiencing or even set goals for yourself on the pages in the book.

Choosing one of the suggestions off the list and building a routine around it ensures that it will stick. Research has proven that it takes nearly 30 days for new habits to become regular activities you engage in daily. If something suggested doesn’t work for you, find a way to tweak its instructions or to ‘hack’ it in a way that feels better to you.

Your Good Health is an Asset for Everyone

Make good health a priority while being at home. In addition to washing your hands often, eating nourishing foods, staying hydrated, getting enough sleep, spending time outdoors in the sunshine, and moving your body helps. Also, finding productive ways to deal with stress is imperative, considering the world is going through some really rough stuff at the moment. Your emotional health is as important as your physical health during the COVID-19 outbreak.