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Health Psychology: Health Enhancing Behaviors, So many Great Ways to be Healthy

A health enhancing behavior is any choice, mindset, or action that enhances and improves your physical, mental, or spiritual health and well-being. Being proactive about your health is the best way to thrive and flourish. There are many great options to improve your health.

What Are Health Enhancing Behaviors?

Everyday we are confronted with thousands of decisions, some seemingly small and innocuous, like which pair or pants to put on (if any), and decisions potentially life altering, like being intimate with someone. Many decisions come and go with little thought of repercussions. Becoming aware of  how decisions influence our health, both mental and physical, is essential to thriving. 

It may seem cut-and-dry, good decisions and bad decisions, but it is far more complicated. Some decisions are obviously better for you than not. It is apparent that chain smoking cigarettes is bad for your health. However, drinking alcohol is a bit more of a gray area, a glass of red wine with some friends has some positive health benefits. Drinking a bucket of margaritas every night and driving your car, fighting a bartender, getting cirrhosis, not so positive. No one will always make the best health promoting behaviors, nor should they. Having self-awareness about health enhancing behaviors is a great place to start.

While health enhancing behaviors often refers to physical health decisions, they really expand far beyond the fundamentals of healthy diet and exercise. There are many factors that contribute to overall health and wellness and it is important to pursue the many ways to promote the subjective term of  health. Of course diet and physical activity are paramount, but there are many ways to promote overall wellness. The following is an incomplete list of health enhancing behaviors, as there are too many to specifically list. In Health Psychology, understanding the mind-body connection is critical, the mind impacts the body, the body influences the mind, a big cycle of one human with several interrelated systems.  

As a wise student once taught me, “self care is not selfish.” You have to put your oxygen mask on first or else everyone will die! A bit extreme, but a vivid analogy about the importance of taking care of yourself in order to take care of those around you. Self care (in essence a combination of maximizing health enhancing behaviors and minimizing health compromising behaviors) is the way that you treat yourself and there are many ways to be healthy.

Health Enhancing Behaviors

Examples of Health Enhancing Behaviors

Diet. Obviously the food that we ingest matters to overall health and wellness, both physically and mentally. The food we eat literally becomes our body. 90% of the serotonin, the feel good chemical essential to mental wellness, is created in your gut. If you are looking to improve your mental health, start with your diet.

  • Check this out! The Best Diet for Your Mental Health
  • Pro Tip: Eating healthy doesn’t have to be awful, there are so many fantastic healthy foods, just try lots of options and see what you enjoy.

Exercise. Again, in the arena of, Well Duh! We all know the value of physical activity and overall health. It was once said, “We don’t slow down because we get old, we get old because we slow down”. Keeping your body moving is essential to physical and mental health. It doesn’t have to be getting on the dread mill and enduring 30 minutes. Physical activity can be incredibly fun, find what you enjoy and rip away!

  • Check this out! The Mental Health Benefits of Exercise
  • Pro Tip: Exercise does not have to be just getting on the “dreadmill” and running for thirty minutes. Find activities that you enjoy and find an activity to buddy to make it more social. 
  • Sleep. This is one of the most essential components of overall health, and frequently neglected. In a culture that embraces over-working and a go-go-go mentality, adequate sleep is often what we skip. Metabolism, cognitive functioning, awareness, overall performance, and many more aspects of health are directly related to sleep. Not being able to sleep has a cyclical impact on mental health, your mental health is struggling, so you can’t sleep, then you can’t sleep and your mental health worsens. Lather, rinse, repeat. “It is now recognized that sleep problems can also contribute to the onset and worsening of different mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, and even suicidal ideation”. ~Columbia University Department of Psychiatry.   
    • Check this out! Effects of Lack of Sleep on Mental Health
    • Pro tip: Mindfulness and meditation are proven to help improve overall sleep as has diet, exercise, and positive sleep hygiene. Pick one to try and see how it helps.
  • Substance Use. While substance use can have some benefits, this depends tremendously on the substance, quantity, and other personal factors. Using responsibly and understanding the effects of that substance is paramount. There is a big difference between occasionally using alcohol, marijuana or psychedelics and railing lines of blow daily. Being aware of how specific substances impact your physical/mental health, both long and short term is crucial. Looking at how your use influences you and your specific mental health through a lens of honesty, openness to feedback, and reflection. Yes, many recreational substances are currently being used for the treatment of mental illness and to improve mental health (with great success), but this does not give everyone a license to become an at-home-pharmacist, it is far more complicated and precise than that. Psychedelics are absolutely part of the future of mental health, they require an extensive knowledge to be done so positively.
  • Relaxation/Mindfulness. Ohhhh Americans and our rush-rush go-go mindset, not just Americans, but the work driven mindset is very present here. There are so many benefits from slowing down and relaxing. OVERSIMPLIFICATION WARNING: It has been said that depression is a disorder lived in the past, anxiety a condition lived in the future. Maybe a part of the solution is being present in the here and now? Not THE solution(that does not exist in singular form), but a valuable tool to help progress.  Your mind and body are very similar, they need time to recover and reset. Mindfulness and relaxation are ways to allow your body to grow and progress. There are many chemical benefits to mindfulness, these chemical benefits trickle down to mental and physical health and influence a myriad of other functions like sleep, mental well-being, physical health, immunity, patience, and personal growth to name a few.
  • Hydration. Our body needs water, we are in fact mostly water, so replenishing your body’s water is literally fundamental to the functioning of our bodies. Dehydration is linked to depression and anxiety issues as well as increased panic attacks. Not being adequately hydrated is responsible for many other physical health issues as well. If you are trying to improve in some area of your life, HYDRATE TO DOMINATE! If you are going to a music festival, HYDRATE TO CELEBRATE!
    • Check this out! 7 Science-Based Health Benefits of Drinking Enough Water
    • Pro Tip: Drinking water is one of the easiest ways to improve health, simply drinking more water is not challenging. Have a water bottle with you, become good friends with your water bottle, decorate it, love it, have it at all times.
  • Positive Relationships. We often absorb many of the traits of the people around us. Having positive people in your life can empower, support, and encourage a person to thrive and grow. Conversely, being around negative, grumpy, toxic people can lead to falling into a negative pit of despair and joining the pity party. “You can’t change the people around you, but you can change the people around”. Yes, that is typed correctly. Don’t expect that you will change other people, often they are the way they are. BUT, you can change the people that are in your life and who you spend time with. It may not always be easy or possible to just cut a toxic person out of your life (family, colleagues, etc.) but you can set boundaries and make sure to spend time with positive folks. Isolation has been found to be as dangerous as smoking cigarettes and alcohol use in overall physical and mental health. Evidence shows it is not about the quantity of relationships you have, but more so the depth and quality of those connections.
  • Balance. Everyone is juggling many different priorities in their lives. Priorities are complicated and overwhelming. It is difficult to find a balance between all the people, obligations, needs, and desires. When we get out of balance, generally some area(s), often self-care and relationships suffer. While difficult, finding some balance is essential to our ability to thrive and grow as people. Looking at what matters in your life, the musts, needs, wants, and everything you seek is important. All people have different priorities and demands in their lives. The demands and commitments in our lives will always be changing and evolving as we do. Continue to take inventory about how much time and emotional energy and actual time you are spending in different arenas.
  • Self Awareness. Get to know you. You are literally the only person you will spend every moment of your life with. However, often we don’t really know ourselves. Too often people are not aware of how choices, mindsets, and other factors influence their mental and physical health. Cultivating self awareness is a great way to find balance, improve mental health, minimize self destructive habits and maximize health enhancing behaviors. We need to be honest, sometimes brutally honest, about ourselves. I bet you are pretty awesome, but always room to grow.
    • Check this out! Self Awareness Activity
    • Pro Tip: Self awareness is the starting point for almost all growth and change that occurs. No better place to start than with you. 
  • Mental Health care. Everyone knows about the value of their physical health care, often at the expense or overlooking their mental health. These two constructs are bi-directional (your mental health influences your physical health, and vice versa). Taking care of our mental health should be a priority, this looks different for everyone, but includes and is not limited to:
    • Counseling/Therapy
    • Journaling
    • Time alone to reset
    • Physical activity 
    • Time in nature
    • Being around friends and positive people
    • Travel
    • Yoga
    • Reflection/Mindfulness
    • Relaxation/Sleep
    • Time for hobbies or passions
    • General self care and specific individual needs
      • Check this out! 50 Ways to Improve your Mental Health
      • Check this out! 27 Scientifically Proven Benefits of Counseling
      • Pro Tip: For me, a solid yoga practice helped with my overall mental (and physical health) more than anything. Going to counseling (and yes, most counselors see a counselor) provided me a road map to growth, and then the yoga mat was my place of processing and reflection. Counseling can be expensive and inaccessible for many, yoga and self reflection can be free. Not Everyone is like Dwight Schrute (see meme below), but people sure think they are!
  • Time in Nature. Going out into nature is a new concept, for all of time we lived, worked, ate, and embraced nature. Being on a screen and indoors is a brand new concept (in the totality of humankind’s existence). Nature provides many mental, physical, and spiritual benefits. The Mother (as in Mother Nature) is a great teacher, revealer, and guide to everyone. There are many body chemistry benefits to immersing yourself in nature, the reduction of cortisol (the hormone that makes us feel depressed, anxious and stressed) and an increase in dopamine (hormone that makes us feel positive, joyful, and alive).
    • Check this out! 7 incredible benefits of being in nature
    • Pro Tip: Being in nature does not have to be climbing some big mountain or doing a triathlon. It can be as simple as sitting in some grass, being outside in fresh air. Just get outside!

The benefits of spending time in nature are numerous and significant. “I firmly believe that nature brings solace in all troubles.

~Anne Frank
  • Positive Psychology. Quite frankly, the field of psychology sucks, at least has in the past. There is significant labeling, alienating, and highly suspect practices that often did more harm than good. The field of Positive Psychology aims to break down these negative molds and create an optimistic, empowering, and growth filled sub science. Positive Psychology attempts to use natural, holistic and side effect free ways to help improve mental health, regardless of one’s starting point. It is the area of psychology that many people crave and seek as it uses tried and true methods that are utilized around the world and proven to help, without risk of adverse drawbacks. This includes things like:
    • Gratitude
    • Self Awareness
    • Positive mindsets and attitudes
    • Kindness
    • Mindfulness
    • Forgiveness
    • Physical activity
    • Human Connection
    • Creativity
    • Check this out! What Is Positive Psychology & Why Is It Important?
    • Pro Tip: You can’t always control what happens to you, but you can control how you respond.
    • Bonus Pro Tip! If you like to ski in the trees here is an analogy. You are in the trees, skiing the spaces between the trees on that sweet sweet pow pow. If you start to think, “don’t hit that tree, don’t hit that tree, don’t hit that tree.” You know exactly where you are going, right into the tree. Life is no different. If we focus on the path we don’t want to be on so much that is exactly where we will end up. This does not mean to go tips down, blindly into the trees, a recipe for disaster. Be aware of the tree, stumps, cliffs, rocks, and other obstacles. However, far more attention should be placed on the path you want to be, a respect for the one you don’t but find the powder and make that your goal.
  • Tech Boundaries. Technology, screens, social media, etc. are all here to stay, and that’s great for many positive reasons. However, these are also highly addictive and can have an adverse effect on overall mental health and physical health. Most of us will be using technology in our professional and personal lives, and that’s great. However, having limits and setting health boundaries around use is integral to this addictive and weaponized tool of technology. Start with awareness of your use and look for opportunities to keep your technology use as a positive.
  • Interests/Hobbies/Passions. Everyone should have something to nerd out on! Some passion, hobby or activity that fulfills them. Arts and crafts, games they play, music, creativity, hobbies, activities, something that brings you peace and joy. This can act as an outlet and escape from stress and enhance mental health. This is a great way to really engage your mind, connect with friends, and enjoy life! It doesn’t matter what it is, something that interests you and engages your mind is exactly what you need.
    • Check this out! Hobbies and Mental Health – How To Benefit From Free Time
    • Pro Tip: Think like the kid version of you, not scared of what others thought, willing to try new things, be creative, have fun and not be as focused on how crappy the art work you just gave your mom for mother’s day was. 
  • Live life with Purpose. As a Licensed Professional Counselor who works with people with an array folks with different mental health states (from suicidal to kicking-ass and thriving) purpose is something that comes up often. People are at their best when they have meaning and direction. This does not have to come from your job, it can be family, community, philanthropic pursuits, goal directed, anything that fulfills that deeper part of you. Understanding and finding your own purpose is a great way to enhance mental wellness and life satisfaction. Make purpose your own, don’t measure yourself by someone else’s ruler. Your purpose and fulfillment can change and shift as you grow and evolve as a person.
  • Finding spirituality. Do not confuse religion and spirituality. While for some there may be overlap, this does not have to be the case. Understanding and connecting with something bigger than you is proven to increase positive mental health. Connecting with the universe, nature, or some god(s) or other deity can be incredibly health promoting. Don’t limit what spirituality is and seek your own form of spiritual connection that fills up your soul. Religion has shown to be really beneficial to some people’s mental wellness and health, and also can create mental health issues like anxiety, depression, and stress for others. Finding the right practice, beliefs, community, and system for you as an individual is key to setting yourself up for success when it comes to religion. Spirituality is a far broader construct than religion. Keep investigating spirituality and the role it plays in your life and allow it evolve as you do.
    • Check this out! Science of Spirituality (+16 Ways to Become More Spiritual)
    • Pro tip: Spirituality is one the most personal intimate pursuits, find what works for you and lean into that. For me, I believe there is something far greater than me, she/he/it has no name but exists. The connection is best when in nature, dancing at Phish concerts, connecting with others, and when I am in need of a lift. It is a personal, intimate and fluid relationship with this larger universe.

Avoidance of health compromising behaviors is another really important pursuit, to be discussed at a later time. But focusing far more on the decisions you want to make is a great place to start! There are so many great ways to enhance your health! Keep looking at your overall health and wellness, recognize that both are fluid and you are in control of yourself and your choices. Don’t get bogged down feeling like you need to make a million changes. Just focus on the next right decision and build on that!

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