Young adults lead busy and controlled lives. Responsibilities of college students include following rules, sometimes even working and taking care of children.
If you think about your busy life right now, you realize the stress associated with adult responsibilities can be harmful to your health.
Take a moment and think about your childhood.
Remember how you lived a carefree life as a child?
You did not have to worry about acing academics or managing your busy schedule. As a child, you played outside in the dirt and your parents reminded you when to take a bath. You never cared about your appearance and what others thought about you or your actions.
If you want to free yourself from some of the stress in your adult life and increase your health, try re-visiting some of your childish habits.
Fidgeting
Remember when you were a child and your parents told you to sit still?
It seemed like a hard thing to do as a child, but many adults have sedentary jobs that require little movement. The same applies to college students. Spending your time sitting in lectures makes your body crave movement.
One way to work movement into your daily routine is to practice the art of fidgeting. If you fidget you can burn off excess calories.
In one of Mayo Clinic’s research study, it is found that if you tap your feet, stretch your arms or make several trips to the water cooler, you can burn an extra 350 calories per day.
Any type of movement that you can work into your daily routine is good for maintaining your muscle tone and a great benefit to your health in college.
Picky Eating
Most children are picky eaters. They will choose one food on a plate to eat. They do not think about the health benefits of eating all the other foods on their plate.
Children that are picky eaters are not overweight and do not have to stick to a diet plan.
On the other hand, grownups tend to eat everything on their plates because they do not want to waste food. Also, they rely on fast food restaurants when extremely busy because it is easier to grab fast food than to prepare a meal.
College freshmen tend to gain weight during their first year, as their eating habits change.
But what if you practice picky eating to prevent the freshman 15?
Have you thought about how could increase your health in the long run?
If you are a picky eater, you will eat less food and not have to worry about weight control. If you eat at a college dining hall, eat a salad first to get your veggies into your diet. By the time you finish your salad, you will not want anything else to eat.
This is a good way to instill eating one food at a time and promote healthy eating habits.
Having Imaginary Friends
Most children create an imaginary friend as a playmate or create one to have someone they can talk to about problems.
As an adult, why not using yourself as your imaginary friend?
By talking to yourself, you can give yourself pep talks, be honest in dealing with problems, and express your feelings.
A major health benefit of having an imaginary friend is that you can mediate.
Mediation leads to lower stress, blood pressure, and overall improved mental and physical health.
So, when your roommate is not around to give you advice, turn to yourself. If you want to get things done, do it yourself.
Walking Barefoot
Do you remember the days when you liked to walk barefoot outside in the grass as a child?
You didn’t care how dirty your feet became if you did not have to feel restrained by wearing shoes.
Why not try that again? You don’t have to take it to the extremes like Mark Baumer, who walked barefoot across America, but you can enjoy occasional barefoot sessions on the grass.
There are many health benefits of walking barefoot. Your feet become strong when you walk barefoot because the tiny muscles and ankles can work more freely.
Strong feet and ankle muscles provide relief from back pain, promotes healthy posture, and leads to better sleep. With more exercise, you will experience less overall body pains and be in a better mood.
Don’t forget when you walk barefoot, you connect with the earth.
Your body can draw electrons from the earth that can boost your immunity, lower stress, and moderate body functions such as heart rate and glucose regulation. If you choose to return to the days of walking barefoot, remember to walk on grass, sand, dirt but avoid walking on concrete or other man-made materials.
Disregarding Hygiene
To improve your health, you can always try not to become so obsessed with cleanliness.
Most adults feel as if they need to take a shower daily, brush their teeth after every meal and use hand sanitizers continuously to avoid infection. However,
children often do not notice when they are dirty and must be reminded to practice daily hygiene habits. Many children are healthy even when they disregard their hygiene.
Have you ever thought that maybe your daily hygiene habits could be hurting your health?
For example, taking a bath every day could be stripping your skin of its natural oils leading to dry, itchy skin. What about brushing your teeth after every meal?
Did you know that by brushing after every meal, you could be affecting the pH level in your mouth and destroying the enamel of your teeth?
A proper pH level is necessary for maintaining teeth enamel.
And, let’s not forget about using hand sanitizers. Did you know that there could be chemicals in hand sanitizers that are harming your health? Try using traditional soap and water to clean your hands instead of sanitizers.
Nurture Your Inner Child
“Everyone is born creative; everyone is given a box of crayons in kindergarten. Then when you hit puberty they take the crayons away and replace them with dry, uninspiring books on algebra, history, etc. Being suddenly hit years later with the ‘creative bug’ is just a wee voice telling you, ‘I’d like my crayons back, please.”
― Hugh MacLeod
As you step into adulthood, your responsibilities start to build up. That often leads to stress that can impair overall health. However, there are times when it may be beneficial to revisit the childish habits of your youth to maintain your overall health.
Picky eating, fidgeting, having imaginary friends, walking barefoot, and disregarding your hygiene may be the childish behaviors you need to create a healthier you.