Long-term habits like eating healthily, keeping an eye on your weight, exercising often, taking care of your mental health, and scheduling regular checkups with the doctor form the basis of a healthy lifestyle. However, even little daily progress toward these objectives may make a big difference. You may assist your continuing health journey by following these behaviors. Try to incorporate them as much as you can into your everyday life, even if you may find it impossible to follow them constantly.
1. Stretch in the morning.
Stretching before getting out of bed helps to set the tone for the day by waking the body, enhancing circulation, and encouraging relaxation. Put the blankets aside and flex and release your lower limbs many times while remaining in bed. Raise your legs into the air while bending your knees. Rotate your feet side to side and flex them up and down while keeping your legs up. After then, carefully gaze left and then right while sitting up. Repeatedly roll your shoulders. Repeatedly open and shut your hands and flex your wrists up and down.
2. Drink plenty of water.
Among other health advantages, adequate hydration promotes energy, enhances cognitive function, and aids with digestion. Drink a glass of water with each meal and a large drink when you wake up.
3. Floss
Daily flossing is part of maintaining excellent dental health, but be careful you do it correctly. To get to the rear teeth, start by wrapping the floss around your middle fingers. Next, construct a C shape with the floss by looping it around one side of a tooth. Move it up and down the tooth many times, starting at the gum line. Avoid using a sawing motion while moving the floss back and forth. The friction might irritate the gums, and you fail to clean the whole tooth.) Continue on the other side of the tooth, followed by the remaining teeth.
4. Put on some sunblock.
The greatest barrier against UV radiation that damage skin is sunscreen. Use a moisturizer that includes sunscreen with an SPF (sun protection factor) of at least 30 after cleansing your face in the morning. Or mix a standard moisturizer with sunscreen in equal amounts. Cover your whole face, neck, ears, and any bald or thinning areas of your head with one or two nickel-sized dollops.
5. Go crazy
Choose unsalted nuts and seeds, such as cashews, peanuts, walnuts, and almonds, if you feel the need for a snack. They help stave off cravings for overly processed meals and are packed with healthy nutrients. Limit your intake of nuts to a palm-sized serving since they are heavy in calories.
6. Sleep
A tired body may be rejuvenated and cognitive performance may be enhanced by afternoon naps. According to a General Psychiatry research that was posted online on January 25, 2021, nappers outperformed non-nappers on cognitive tests. The most beneficial naps, according to the researchers, were shorter and less frequent, lasting less than 30 minutes and occurring no more than four times a week. To avoid oversleeping, plan your naps during the early afternoon and set a timer.
7. Make some movements
Intersperse periods of sitting with brief movements. Instead of strolling across a room, for instance, dance. Your abdominal muscles are activated when you suck in your lower belly for 30 seconds while brushing your teeth. Perform ten push-ups or air squats (either on the floor or on the kitchen counter). Every time you get up, make it a habit to stand up "twice"—that is, to rise up, sit back down, and then stand up again.
8. Breathe
By slowing down your breathing rate and making you take deep, complete breaths, alternate-nostril breathing—which involves breathing through one nostril at a time—is thought to help lower stress. Close one nostril with your finger or thumb, then gently inhale and exhale through the open nose. Repeat the breathing pattern after five to ten breaths, then swap and seal the other nostril. As an alternative, try closing one nostril while breathing through the other, shifting your thumb or finger position, and then exhaling through the closed nose. After that, take a breath through that nostril, shut it, and release it through the other. Spend a few minutes moving back and forth in this manner.
9. Take pleasure in a pastime
According to a research published online by Nature Medicine on September 11, 2023, engaging in a pastime may improve one's general happiness and health. Creativity, self-expression, sensory engagement, relaxation, and cognitive stimulation are all a part of hobbies. A project kit that teaches you a skill, such as gardening, model building, wood carving, or the production of jewelry, soap, beer, or spicy sauce, is a great way to start a new pastime. The kits include all the supplies you need to get started as well as instructions. Kits may be found online by searching for "how-to kits" or "project kits" in a search engine, or in nearby bookshops or hobby shops.
10. Be gregarious
In addition to preventing loneliness, social contacts help guard against depression and cognitive impairment. Try to participate in some kind of social interaction each day, such as talking to a neighbor, sending an email, or making a phone call. Another option is to start your own social pod, which is a small, close-knit group that you frequently engage with, such as when you get together for coffee or talk on a Zoom call. Talking to a grocery store clerk or striking up a discussion with a stranger on the street are examples of informal talks that might be beneficial.
Tove Svendson 
Long-term habits like eating healthily, keeping an eye on your weight, exercising often, taking care of your mental health, and scheduling regular checkups with the doctor form the basis of a healthy lifestyle. However, even little daily progress toward these objectives may make a big difference. You may assist your continuing health journey by following these behaviors. Try to incorporate them as much as you can into your everyday life, even if you may find it impossible to follow them constantly.
1. Stretch in the morning.
Stretching before getting out of bed helps to set the tone for the day by waking the body, enhancing circulation, and encouraging relaxation. Put the blankets aside and flex and release your lower limbs many times while remaining in bed. Raise your legs into the air while bending your knees. Rotate your feet side to side and flex them up and down while keeping your legs up. After then, carefully gaze left and then right while sitting up. Repeatedly roll your shoulders. Repeatedly open and shut your hands and flex your wrists up and down.
2. Drink plenty of water.
Among other health advantages, adequate hydration promotes energy, enhances cognitive function, and aids with digestion. Drink a glass of water with each meal and a large drink when you wake up.
3. Floss
Daily flossing is part of maintaining excellent dental health, but be careful you do it correctly. To get to the rear teeth, start by wrapping the floss around your middle fingers. Next, construct a C shape with the floss by looping it around one side of a tooth. Move it up and down the tooth many times, starting at the gum line. Avoid using a sawing motion while moving the floss back and forth. The friction might irritate the gums, and you fail to clean the whole tooth.) Continue on the other side of the tooth, followed by the remaining teeth.
4. Put on some sunblock.
The greatest barrier against UV radiation that damage skin is sunscreen. Use a moisturizer that includes sunscreen with an SPF (sun protection factor) of at least 30 after cleansing your face in the morning. Or mix a standard moisturizer with sunscreen in equal amounts. Cover your whole face, neck, ears, and any bald or thinning areas of your head with one or two nickel-sized dollops.
5. Go crazy
Choose unsalted nuts and seeds, such as cashews, peanuts, walnuts, and almonds, if you feel the need for a snack. They help stave off cravings for overly processed meals and are packed with healthy nutrients. Limit your intake of nuts to a palm-sized serving since they are heavy in calories.
6. Sleep
A tired body may be rejuvenated and cognitive performance may be enhanced by afternoon naps. According to a General Psychiatry research that was posted online on January 25, 2021, nappers outperformed non-nappers on cognitive tests. The most beneficial naps, according to the researchers, were shorter and less frequent, lasting less than 30 minutes and occurring no more than four times a week. To avoid oversleeping, plan your naps during the early afternoon and set a timer.
7. Make some movements
Intersperse periods of sitting with brief movements. Instead of strolling across a room, for instance, dance. Your abdominal muscles are activated when you suck in your lower belly for 30 seconds while brushing your teeth. Perform ten push-ups or air squats (either on the floor or on the kitchen counter). Every time you get up, make it a habit to stand up "twice"—that is, to rise up, sit back down, and then stand up again.
8. Breathe
By slowing down your breathing rate and making you take deep, complete breaths, alternate-nostril breathing—which involves breathing through one nostril at a time—is thought to help lower stress. Close one nostril with your finger or thumb, then gently inhale and exhale through the open nose. Repeat the breathing pattern after five to ten breaths, then swap and seal the other nostril. As an alternative, try closing one nostril while breathing through the other, shifting your thumb or finger position, and then exhaling through the closed nose. After that, take a breath through that nostril, shut it, and release it through the other. Spend a few minutes moving back and forth in this manner.
9. Take pleasure in a pastime
According to a research published online by Nature Medicine on September 11, 2023, engaging in a pastime may improve one's general happiness and health. Creativity, self-expression, sensory engagement, relaxation, and cognitive stimulation are all a part of hobbies. A project kit that teaches you a skill, such as gardening, model building, wood carving, or the production of jewelry, soap, beer, or spicy sauce, is a great way to start a new pastime. The kits include all the supplies you need to get started as well as instructions. Kits may be found online by searching for "how-to kits" or "project kits" in a search engine, or in nearby bookshops or hobby shops.
10. Be gregarious
In addition to preventing loneliness, social contacts help guard against depression and cognitive impairment. Try to participate in some kind of social interaction each day, such as talking to a neighbor, sending an email, or making a phone call. Another option is to start your own social pod, which is a small, close-knit group that you frequently engage with, such as when you get together for coffee or talk on a Zoom call. Talking to a grocery store clerk or striking up a discussion with a stranger on the street are examples of informal talks that might be beneficial.