Five Tips for Summer Wellness

Getting out in the sun can certainly help our overall mood, especially with sunshine’s ability to provide us with necessary vitamin D. With warmer weather, it is also overall easier to exercise, by ourselves or in groups. If summer doesn’t instantly translate to sun and fun for you, though, there could be numerous factors, and it’s possible that working on a wellness routine might work for you. It’s a way of establishing new habits that will last you far past the summer, as well. Here are five wellness tips that can help you enjoy the summer.

Natural Sunscreen

While you should always protect yourself with sunscreen to avoid things like sunburns or long term problems like skin cancer, there are some natural ways to provide yourself with additional protection, as well. Vegetables with vitamins E and C in them can combine to help protect your skin from UV rays. Veggies with antioxidants are also helpful. Also, finding foods with Omega-3s can help with inflammation.

Fewer Screens

It’s no secret that we’re faced with screens every day – you’re looking at one now, even. Cutting down on TV time at least, but screen time overall, is a good way of staying active and being less sedentary, over all. Additionally, it is said that the blue light radiated from many screens has the unfortunate side effect of tricking your brain into thinking it is still daylight out, which can affect your sleep patterns.

Hydration is Key

Hydration helps you feel awake, keeps you going, allows you to heal and is a good way to stave off some ill health effects. This is important year-round, but when it’s hot out, it becomes increasingly easy to suffer heatstroke or heat exhaustion, and staying hydrated can help. Be sure to drink more water, the more you’re in the sun.

Rest Up

It seems counterintuitive, especially in the summer, but think of how nice it can be to take a nap on a nice summer’s day. Just preferably don’t take a nap in the sun, so you don’t get burned. Just as living a sedentary lifestyle can have adverse effects on your health, so can not getting enough rest. It’s important to learn to relax and take those opportunities to do so when they come.

Self-Care

Maybe it’s a warm bath. Maybe it’s therapy. Maybe it’s taking time out to read more, or meditate, or even have a snack you’ve been missing. Doing little things for your health are important, but they have to make you better overall, and you deserve to feel good while doing it. Taking care of who you are psychologically is the most important.

Summary

Sometimes wellness advice comes loaded with a lot of “avoid this” and “do more this” language, but the most important of these tips is self-care, because that’s what all of these really add up to. Wellness is a way of thinking about yourself internally and externally, without feeling selfish about it. There’s nothing selfish in wellness, so if you find even the smallest inkling to give yourself a new healthy habit, give it a try.