Wellness is a concept we often find ourselves coming back to in our ongoing efforts to help people get healthy in the most natural way possible. Wellness to us means a state of physical, mental good health, which helps open the opportunity for people to pursue good health in other ways, whether they be holistic, spiritual, or just doing better in their daily routine.
Identifying, achieving and maintaining a state of wellness is in our opinion a process of maintenance on your body and the things that go into it, such as good healthy food and supplements, as well as the conditions you keep it in, i.e. the physical steps you take to stay feeling well, such as exercise, walks outside, gardening, meditation.
It’s a big umbrella for a lot of good things, and CBD can absolutely complement and contribute to the process of wellness, especially when people enjoy it as part of a balanced and comprehensive healthy lifestyle as discussed above.
Physical Steps to Wellness
The most obvious steps towards maintaining your wellness physically are exercise and time spent outdoors, (lock down permitting). Not only do both help your body bolster itself by absorbing sunlight for vitamin D and burning off excess fat through exercise, but also these activities release endorphins and other beneficial ‘I’m having a good day’ chemicals into your bloodstream, improving mental health as well.
We’ve regularly covered the relationship between CBD and exercise, and how using the supplement can reduce feelings of discomfort in the ‘warm-down’ stage for those who regularly push their bodies to the limit. However, this doesn’t mean it’s just for top athletes. There are still plenty of people who can enjoy CBD after bike rides or long walks up steep terrain – exercising recreationally is equally as important as doing it in a way designed to push yourself.
Your breathing ability also effects your overall wellness. Getting fit and staying healthy are all bound up with us gulping down air, and one of the most important parts of physical wellness is helping the lungs and airway, as well as the heart, do their job more efficiently and under less stress. Breathing is also a path to reducing stress in meditation and is one of the easiest ways to help keep us calm.
Food and Diet For Wellness
The next aspect of wellness we’ll cover is the things you put into your body – your diet and the supplements you might use to accompany it. As per most guidelines of course that diet must incorporate the concept of balance – not too much of one thing or another. A lot of wellness advice trends towards saying ‘absolutely do not’ have certain things, but in truth life doesn’t have to be that complicated. Having a little bit of whatever you fancy works great and the best possible way to enjoy life is to never overindulge. Having ‘everything in moderation’ is probably the biggest cliché out there, but it’s a cliché because it just works. Keeping your diet balanced also means you can enjoy certain indulgences as well – such as firm favourites like chocolate and wine, but just remember you should keep moderation in mind with the treats too.
Healthy eating is also a great way to incorporate CBD into your diet, especially if you enjoy foods that can have oil drizzled over them or blended into them. We’ve often pointed out that fresh salads with CBD oil dressing are not a bad way to go – a tuna niçoise with CBD oil for example isn’t just tasty but contains a multitude of good things when you consider the tuna flakes, boiled egg and fresh salad vegetables. For sporty on the go types who enjoy smoothies, getting your CBD oil into a fruit-based concoction also makes it all a bit more portable.
There are many great steps you can take to expand your wellness through your diet, it really does not stop at just moderation and a bit of CBD. Cod liver oils and turmeric and even Vitamin D supplements are hugely popular and beneficial. People are (1) considering Vitamin D supplements even more right now due to the stay at home orders and lockdown, as they’re now not being exposed to sunlight from staying inside. In particular a very highly demanded form is Vitamin D3 – the exact vitamin produced by the skin.
Wellness and Self-Improvement
A less considered aspect of our overall wellness is the wellness in the mind, which is arguably intimately connected with the body, but separated enough to be worth speaking about. The brain works (roughly) in tandem with the body and often our anxieties and frustrations have a physical measurable effect, so this is why we often talk about activities such as meditation, seeking calm moments between periods of stress and looking inward, when we talk about wellness.
Your mood is often not just about your diet, your exercise routine, and the way you live your life – there are myriad of factors such as the daily stresses of work, travel and how much sleep you’re getting – in fact we’ve recently done a great article on (2) CBD and sleep to check out. Your body reacts often to the things that worry and upset you, and wellbeing is influenced by this more than we think.
When people speak about ‘mindfulness’ one of the things they most likely point to is simply ‘being mindful of the sources of the way you feel’. Instead of feeling abstract waves of emotion and swirling around on the currents of what your mood is saying, mindfulness is an attempt to understand why those currents are happening to you. This is often the first step into bringing your anxiety under control.
A lot of people have also spoken on the efficacy of CBD for feelings of anxiety too and there are a few preliminary studies which have started to support this hypothesis. Until further studies are undertaken it could work alongside but not replace therapy, or even simply being mindful of the causes of your stress and aiming to reduce them, particularly if your anxiety is severe are routes to consider. As always, see your GP for advice or if you have any concerns.
How Can I Restore Wellness Right Now?
Many of us see the process of wellness as something that requires mountains of effort and patience and rigid structured plans in order to achieve, along with a huge serving of willpower. But it’s never as complicated as this. In truth, we can start feeling better whenever we want, and it’s as simple as:
- Start your day with a balanced breakfast muesli – a great opportunity to incorporate CBD oil as well as a healthy energy boost.
- Make sure to take 20 minutes of light exercise daily, even if you already go to the gym.
- Spend time outside – it’s tricky right now but you are allowed out for a solo walk!
- Get a full range of vitamins from fruit, vegetables, and supplements if you need to.
- Think about where your emotional changes come from, and why things make you feel the way they do.
- Get into green spaces, quiet spaces, and search for small moments of calm in among the busy parts of your day.
- Sleep properly, often, and at the right time.
Discover the CBD world of restoration
References
(1) BBC – Coronavirus: Should I start taking vitamin D?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-52371688
(2) Goodbody Wellness – CBD to aid a better night’s sleep
https://www.goodbodywellness.co.uk/discovery/cbd-to-aid-a-better-nights-sleep/
