As the warm summer days turn into cold and dark evenings the mood often follows the change in weather. For many people the winter months are associated with depression and often sprits are lowered due to the bitter cold days and shorten of daylight hours.
The winter can be as uplifting and cozy as a warm summer breeze and with some simple steps you can avoid the winter blues and simply utilize the winter to improve your overall wellness and joy for life.
Feeling good is all about you and as with so many things in life feeling good is the essential for wellbeing. When you feel good you simply can conquer the world.
Nurture both your mind and body is the first step in enhancing your wellness for a total wellbeing.
Keeping an active and a healthy life style with exercise can benefit the mind as well as the body. Having a peaceful mind can often reduce stress and support the acceptance of those things in life in which you cannot change. It is a well-known fact that many people get stressed if there is no time to pause and enjoy the moment. It is essential that you dedicate some “me-time” for yourself every day weather it is to read a book, listen to music, jogging or simply just do nothing – all and everything without feeling guilty about it.
The essence of the word “nurture” is to give tender care, protection, helping it to grow, thrive, develop and be successful and that is all and everything you deserve to do for yourself.
Wellness comes from within. The feeling of feeling great is not something you can apply to your skin. Your will need to nurture your inner system with nutrition rich food as well as feeding your body with what it requires to maintain vital functions. There is no doubt that there are many opinions on how and what we should eat in order to live longer and become healthy, but what does it actually means to be healthy? Most people would properly state they are healthy when they are not sick, but being healthy is when the body can heal itself to an internal completeness or perfection as when things were in balance. When things are in harmony or in balance, an internal resilience, natural restoring process occurs from within and with good health the body will by own ability restore these disturbances and return to balance.
Eating healthy helps to protect your immune system, which is for many people challenging with today’s busy life style, but nevertheless it is the key to enhance your wellbeing and avoid the wintertime blues and the common cold and flu. Adding nutritional supplements can also help boost the immune system and create an easier way to get through the cold and dark winter months.
Vitamin A, C, E and minerals as zinc and selenium is the base vitamins and mineral for immune system support. Vitamin C enhances white blood cell and fight viruses and is specially needed during times of stress. Vitamin A and Zinc helps speed tissue heeling and mucous membranes that get inflamed with a cold. When blood levels of zinc are low, a number of our immune-protecting mechanisms are inhibited. Taking supplemental zinc can help you maintain a healthy immune system. Vitamin E and Selenium improve antibody production and cell membrane integrity. Many vitamins and minerals can be taken as a supplement.
Despite it is winter get your fruits and vegetables daily. It is the basic thing for a better health and even though you can get most vitamins and minerals via supplements, it most be noted that your primary intake should come from your food intake. A healthy diet includes adding vegetables and fruit every day to your diet. Vegetables like broccoli, green beans, leafy greens, zucchini, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, and tomatoes are low in calories and high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals. Many studies have shown that eating plenty of vegetables is extremely healthy and you should therefore aim to eat about 3 to 5 servings every day. Fruit is also a good source of fiber, vitamins, and minerals and your aim should be about 2 to 3 servings of fruit each day.
Many herbs are available on the market but some of the most common winter herbs are Echinacea and Goldenseal, which you can purchase in most health and herbs shops.
The herb Echinacea/Goldenseal is a supplement used to enhance the immune system. Taken at the first sign of winter Echinacea/Goldenseal provides immune support by helping the body maintain a healthy state. Echinacea/Goldenseal combination provides immune enhancing and cold fighting nutrients. Echinacea is one of the most popular herbal supplements during the flu season and has been shown to stimulate and support the growth of key immune system cells to defend the body against upper respiratory infections. Goldenseal has been used traditionally to relieve respiratory discomfort and to stimulate the immune system. Together these are used in combination to help shorten the duration of colds and flu.
Echinacea should not be taken continuously for more than eight weeks without a two-week rest period, and is not recommended for those who are on medications that affect liver function.
Sunshine is delicious and rain is refreshing. Wind braces us up high and snow is exhilarating. So there is really no such thing as bad weather – only different kinds of good weather. Enjoy the seasons and embrace the world.