“A life without health is like a river without water.”
Don’t worry about the limitations to how fit and healthy you can be, as health is wealth that should not be underestimated. So, you can always do better and better in terms of health. But to enhance your vitality, remember that the good news is the little things that calculate.
You understand the depth of vitality when you see someone like the 75-year-old person who swims 2 miles a day or even the inspired florist whose passion for flowers has you buying them by the dozen. People who have good vitality always go with that special something, and they always stand out from the rest of us. A vital person is said to have an energetic, enthusiastic, spontaneous nature and live with some purpose and excitement. This person possesses a positive mentality as well as a supportive, helpful attitude towards others.
The Concept Of Vitality
The concept of vitality is international, but it is expressed differently depending on the culture. In the Western countries, vitality refers to a strong supply of physical form of energy, but in the Eastern countries, the Chinese call it “chi,” and healers in India call it “Prana.” It generally refers to an inexpressible life force whose currents cover and sustain both the physical and non-physical aspects of every living thing.
Vitality derives from the Latin word vita, meaning life, and describes a state of aliveness that is much more than just a feeling of being just “alive.” Vitality can be defined as a life force or energy that we need for living.
It is like a battery which, while charged, gives an adequate amount of energy to enjoy life fully. Vital people can also be as curious, playful, and active with learning new things and exploring. It is also positively related to your general health and happiness.
Dimensions Of Vitality
Vitality consists of the physical, social, emotional, and spiritual aspects of your multidimensional life. It paves the way to positive aging and a long lifespan for everyone who wants to stay physically and mentally fit. To maintain your vitality, you need to take good care of each dimension. Physical health is not enough to support vitality when your mental health is weak.
- Physical Vitality: You can keep on making choices every day about your physical health. Sometimes your preferences are not the healthiest. Physical vitality is all about a healthy physical body, moving correctly, and exercising about physical fitness.
- Emotional Vitality: Emotional vitality is the ability to deal with your own emotions. It is impossible to change the situation very often, but you can change your feelings and thoughts by knowing how to control them.
- Social Form Of Vitality: Social vitality is all about your ability to develop and maintain healthy relations and attitudes towards others.
- Spiritual Vitality: Spiritual vitality depends on how you perceive the world, others, self, how you relate to others and self, and the goal or purpose in life.
Tips To Enhance Your Vitality
1. Nutrition Tips
Keep a one-week food diary to make sure you are hitting all your nutrient goals. Every week, try out a new seasonal vegetable you have never tried before.
Improve your vegetables and fruits intake daily by including three servings of fruits and four veggies every day. Check labels if you are buying frozen ones to make sure there is no added salt, sweeteners, etc. Try to maintain your daily calorie requirement. The process is simple.
To find out your calorie requirement try the formulae below:
- Men: BMR = 10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) – 5 x age (years) + 5
- Women: BMR = 10 x weight (kg) + 6.25 x height (cm) – 5 x age (years) – 161
Let’s find out your total daily calorie needs by multiplying your BMR by the activity factor, which as follows:
- Sedentary (little or no exercise): Calorie = BMR x 1.2
- Lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week): Calorie= BMR x 1.375
- Moderately active: Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
- Very active (hard exercise): Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
- For tough exercise/sports and a physical job: Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9
- Regular exercise and a complete diet are the two milestones of a healthy life.
2. Sleep Tips
Try to make your body wind down at night by keeping your daily deadlines for your final stimulant of the day—last coffee, laptop close, final phone screen scroll. Manage your sleeping environment by keeping your room tidy, temperate, and free of blue light that’s emitted from electronic devices.
Try practicing meditation before sleep daily and learn the art of taking deep breaths by inhaling via nose and exhaling via the mouth, and holding 10 secs in between. Try to have a minimum of 7 to 8 hours of good quality of sleep a day. Set a weekday bedtime that’s appropriate for your nature and your household.
It’s difficult to feel enthusiastic when our body lacks sleep. Sleep disorders are a natural barrier to well-being and to the ability to function well. Make sure to get plenty of good quality sleep. Maintaining sleep consistency is essential. Sleep at the same time and try getting up at the same time the next day daily.
3. Hydration Tips
Make sure to drink at least eight water glasses a day by drinking water early morning empty stomach after getting up, then before each meal, and before and after a workout. Try sipping lemon water or detoxified fruit-infused water daily throughout the day. Motivate yourself very much to drink more water by investing in multiple cool-looking bottles that you get attracted to.
4. General Wellness Tips
Fresh air, adequate sunshine, and green space all help with mental wellness. Try to take time outside every day, or you can practice the art of forest bathing or bathing in nature.
Do warm-ups and stretches at your desk or chair during your workday to increase the blood circulation to your brain. Try to make the divine pranayama or meditation a part of your daily routine.
Once or twice a week, try reading a good book or article or novel instead of watching TV or playing video games.
