Recovery and treatment can feel like an uphill battle because there are many things out of our control that impact our movement forward.

Things like our environment, the doctor’s we put our trust in, medications we take, our biochemistry, the family of origin which we grew up, the support system that’s around us, or the trauma we’ve experienced greatly impact our mental wellbeing. While all of these things are outside our control, there are a number of things that we do have control over. Amidst all of the variables that are outside of our control it is imperative that we take ownership over the five most important things that we can control.

The serenity prayer that is oftentimes used within the 12 step program states: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference, just for today.”

One of the most important parts of the serenity prayer is to “accept the things I cannot change.” If we focus on the things that we cannot change, such as the items in the list above, it can lead to frustration, irritation, disheartening, and sometimes hopelessness. Therefore, my hope in creating this list is to allow our focus to be on the items that we can control and influence, and to remind us that these items are in fact only in our control not anyone else’s. No one will check us on these if we are doing them or not, but in fact they are our responsible to maintain and attend to. These 5 things are also not a miracle drug that cures all, but they are practices that we are responsible for maintaining and can have huge life altering change.

Exercise

The most impactful thing you can do for your overall health is to exercise. In fact, research continues to show that the emotional and psychological benefits received from exercise outweigh the physical benefits. We learn from physics that a body at rest wants to stay at rest. If we aren’t moving our body, our person stays at rest. How long do we exercise then you might ask? 15, 30, 45-60 minutes? The answer is however much it takes for us to get up and do it. If 15 minutes is all we can do, then 15 minutes exercising is more impactful than 0. Ideally, the American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week. Break that down to 7 days and it’s about 20-30 minutes per day.

Diet

What we put into our bodies impacts our physical, emotional, and spiritual body. Not only what we put into our bodies, but when, where, who we are with when we eat, how much of something are we eating. Around 90% of the body’s serotonin is produced in the digestive track. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter affects our mood and that our antidepressants most often try and target and effect levels of. What we put in our bodies can greatly impact us and our wellbeing.

Sleep

Sleep is pivotal to our holistic health because when we sleep our brain is processing the information from the day. It’s rejuvenating to our brain, our body, and gives us energy to tackle the items for the next day. Similar to diet and exercise, it’s not just sleep but the practices around sleep. How is our sleep hygiene? Things like our rhythms before bed such as turning screens off 30 minutes before sleep, going through a consistent routine to prepare our brain for sleep, the time we start trying to go to sleep, the amount of sleep we allow ourselves to get. All of these variables can be important to fine tune to help control how sleep happens. If you don’t have a healthy sleep routine, I recommend putting one together.

Mindfulness

The practice of mindfulness or prayer is to help ground ourselves from the day to day responsibilities and center ourself in the moment. Whichever of these practices hits best for you, to access our “higher self” is healthy and helping our nervous system slow down and catch up with our bodies in a busy day. Whether it’s breathing techniques, grounding techniques, mindful meditation, prayer, it is a practice worth engaging in.

Get Outside

Our western world lives most days inside. Whether it’s our car, our home, or our office space, we stay inside more often than not. Vitamin D deficiency continues to be on the rise, in part due to this. It can greatly impact mood disorders and other physical symptoms. Getting outside actually encompasses some of the other items on this list and can be done in tandem with them; a healthy practice for our mind and our body.

READ MORE: Self Care: Soak Up the Sun

This list of 5 things may not surprise you, and some of them you may be like “that’s it?” I’ve heard these things before.” We have heard them before, time after time, because they are of vital importance. These are 5 things that greatly impact our holistic health that no one else but you can control. It is our responsibility to be engaging in these activities alongside our therapy, our medication, our support systems as well. I encourage you to take ownership over these 5 areas, and if you have trouble doing so to find a counselor or registered dietician who can help walk through creating structure around these areas with you.

Here at Atlanta Wellness Collective, we want to help. For support, contact us or request an appointment online.

This blog post was written by Jonathan Smith.

Disclaimer: This blog is not intended to substitute professional therapeutic advice. Talk with your healthcare provider about your health concerns and before starting or stopping therapies. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct professional advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.

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