Switching off the television

Remember the old TV test card which signalled the end of television programming for the day, around midnight? Perhaps it was helping us live a healthier life. Watching blue light-emitting phones, tablets and televisions late into the night can play havoc with our sleep schedules and, in turn, our health. According to the Sleep Foundation, blue light is a portion of the visible light spectrum that can affect our alertness, hormone production and sleep cycles. Poor sleep has been linked to weight gain and an increased risk of cardiovascular illnesses and Alzheimers and dementia.

Journalling has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years thanks to several studies linking the practice to better mental health, including lower anxiety levels and less repetitive thoughts. Dr Elena Touroni is a consultant psychologist and co-founder of The Chelsea Psychology Clinic. She says: Journalling can be a way of pausing and reflecting on whats going on for us on a daily basis. It can help us better observe our experience, identify and process different feelings and more generally build up the part of ourselves that is able to see from the observers perspective. This can have a very positive effect on our mental wellbeing.

The pandemic and our increasing amount of time spent online has meant that were missing out on the in-person communication that comes from seeing people as we used to. Connection tends to be stronger when we see people face-to-face, says Dr Touroni. Its difficult for online connection to work on that same level. There are many things you miss out on when you dont have that level of contact with another person. Indeed, it has been clinically proven that people who socialise report higher levels of happiness, while the Global Council on Brain Health says that maintaining relationships with friends and family and taking part in social activities helps us stay mentally sharp as we age.

Forget Deliveroo and ready meals, preparing and cooking your meals has a huge array of benefits, from mental health improvements such as expanding creativity, building confidence and creating self-esteem to the physical ones. Youre in charge of how much salt, sugar and fat goes into your meal. There is a body of research which supports the benefits of cooking from scratch, says nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert, with one study suggesting that people who ate home-cooked meals more than five times a week were 28 per cent less likely to be overweight compared with people who did this less than three times per week.

Instead of an online shop or a click-and-collect supermarket order, shop locally. Not only does this directly financially help your community, but it also helps the environment and ones own physical health. Part of my approach is activity by stealth, with activity that fits seamlessly into everyday life, says Sarah Bolitho, a personal development coach. Walking to the local shops is an example, visiting the library for research instead of searching on the internet, cleaning the house to upbeat music, keeping baby change items in a different room or floor to increase incidental activity, even a five-minute dance after meals (particularly if a walk is not possible).

Get out the mop and bucket. A 2021 study by the University of Singapore found that doing a combination of light and heavy housework everything from washing up to cleaning the windows and scrubbing the floor is associated with sharper mental abilities and better physical capabilities in the over-65s. There are also links to better physical health, with participants also reporting better balance and co-ordination.

Remember when Sundays really were a day of rest, everything closed and Sunday lunch was sacrosanct? Well, there was a lot to be said for an old-fashioned Sunday. Not only is a bit old-school pre-screen boredom good for creativity, encouraging more imaginative ways of thinking, says research, an old-fashioned Sunday lunch offers numerous benefits too. A meal together is a good opportunity to connect with the important people around you, says clinical psychologist Marta Jendrzejewska. When were at a table together, without a TV or mobile devices, you can share experiences and the children have a time when they are getting positive attention and interacting with their family. Her stance is supported by research from the University of Oxford, which shows the more often we eat together, the more likely we are to feel happy and satisfied with our lives.

Original post:
The eight old-fashioned habits that could benefit our health - The Telegraph