9 Surprising Benefits of Wellness

Men's wellness can sometimes be victim to unjustified stigma, especially for something that can be such a positive influence on the lives of so many men if they embrace it. Contrary to any ill-informed and negative connotations, wellness isn't just about meditating at surmise, bathing in Icelandic lagoons and skipping round the house whilst wafting incense around everywhere. Wellness is actually about making the lifestyle choices to encourage a more successful existence (for more on what wellness is, check out our post on what is wellness and why is it important). To help you consider men's wellness as something you should embrace, here are 9 surprising benefits of wellness that you should know:

9 Benefits of Wellness for Men

1. Better sex life

I thought it best to start off with something that will definitely grab your attention. Yes it is indeed likely that improved wellness can lead to a better sex life for you. Now just to be clear, wellness isn't a magic wand that makes you irresistible to women (although you could argue that it can increase your attractiveness), you will still need banter to attract new sexual partners and to be nice to your wife or girlfriend to be allowed access. However, if you imagine for a moment that your physical, mental and emotional wellness is at an optimum, perhaps you can start to appreciate how wellness can benefit your sex life.

Firstly, unless you are Will from the Inbetweeners, sex requires a reasonable amount strength and endurance, particularly if you want to be more adventurous than standard missionary. If you are taking your wellness seriously then you will be getting regular exercise and following a nutritionally balanced diet so congratulations, you are possibly able to pull off the snake and other more acrobatically demanding sexual positions.

Aside from the physical advantages, enhanced wellness is likely to make you feel more sexy internally and you will be glowing with the genuine self-confidence that most women tend to find attractive. You will also have reduced your chances of erectile dysfunction as your healthy blood pressure and circulation negate the problems that can cause this unwanted ailment. Good work!

 

2. Lower Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a substance that is actually present in all the cells in your body and you need it to live, but as you might already be aware there is both good cholesterol (high-density lipoproteins) and bad cholesterol (low-density lipoproteins).

High levels of bad cholesterol can significantly increase your risks of heart disease or heart-attacks, but the good news is that if you are effectively focusing on your wellness then you have much less to worry about. You are on top of your diet so your intake of bad cholesterol is mitigated and you are taking in the right balance of nutrients to counter any negatives. You are also physically active enough that you have a healthy weight and BMI, you don't smoke and you moderate your alcohol intake. This all applies to you right?

 

3. More energy

Having the right amount of energy will help you be able to live the type of life you want, and as you might have guessed, your wellness can help. Exercise and diet once again play important roles in you feeling up for the demands of the day, but your mind will also be free of some of the challenges that can weigh you down if you let them. Imagine how much more energy you would have by feeling content with your emotions, your financial management, spirituality and the future of your career. Surprised that all these topics can fall into wellness? Then read our post on the 8 dimensions of wellness so you are more informed.

 

4. Increased metal strength

Emotional wellness plays an important role here. Your mental strength and clarity is significantly influenced by how you manage and maintain your mind. If you learn to embrace the concepts of wellness then you are more likely to prioritize your self-care, allow sufficient time for relaxation in a way that works for you and supplement your lifestyle with effective techniques to manage the stress that life throws at us every day. Does this sound like something that would be beneficial for you? Perhaps you are starting to appreciate why wellness is important.

 

5. More productivity at work

Ever wondered why so many employers are embracing wellness initiatives for their staff? In fact, if you google various iterations of wellness you will see that many of the results focus on wellness in the workplace. Well the reason for this is that there is evidence to suggest that an effective wellness program can:

• Reduce levels of sickness
• Boost employee engagement
• Increase morale in the workplace
• Improve collaboration
• Reduce resistance to change
• Boost productivity
• Decrease depression
• Elevate the culture

If you consider the investment that many companies are making in terms of taking care of employees' wellness, it should reinforce the benefits of wellness from another perspective. Most companies don't do this out of the goodness of their hearts, they are investing with confidence that they will get a return on their investment, which is yet more evidence of the good that wellness can do.

 

6. Reduce health risks

Given what has been discussed so far, this benefit shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. As wellness tends to be a more holistic approach to your physical, mental and emotional health, if you are practicing wellness effectively then the chances are you are significantly reducing the plethora of risks to your health. Not only that, but you are also reducing the risks on multiple fronts and from a balanced, lifestyle approach. This is something that a healthy diet and exercise can't necessarily achieve on their own.

 

7. Slows down aging

This one may come as a surprise as it covers both physical and mental aging. The physical focuses of wellness, namely exercise and diet, help improve your blood flow and circulation to your skin and in doing so encourages the skin to stay looking younger for longer. Learning the right resistance exercises and techniques can also help to tone your skin and increase the muscle mass directly below it, making it look smoother and firmer.

Now to the mental side. Optimized wellness and exercise can help protect the brain from age related impairments including cognitive decline and dementia. This information on the Harvard Medical School website shows how many of the areas that the 8 dimensions of wellness cover can help maintain your brain capability. These areas include sleep (coming up next on our list in this post), exercise, diet, social wellness and mental stimulation.

 

8. Better Quality Sleep

Exercise has always been linked to better sleep, although the exact reasons why still have an air of ambiguity and may be something we never fully understand. However, a more rounded wellness approach can take things even further by:

• Giving you a healthy routine to help you feel ready to sleep at night
• Helping you understand the importance of relaxation and stress reduction
• Reducing the risk of health problems that can help prevent good sleep
• Managing your caffeine and alcohol intake more effectively

There is also evidence to suggest that the timing of some of your activities is an important factor in helping you fall asleep and stay asleep. Physical exercise may be better in the morning for instance (for awesome morning routine tips read 5 morning routine tips for success) and relaxation close to your target sleep time. You may need to experiment a little so you can understand what style of timing works best for you and your body.

 

9. Increased Brain Power

We have already discussed how a strong wellness game can protect your brain, but more than that, it can evidently give its productivity a boost. An Australian-led study showed how effective aerobic activity can actually improve brain power and memory, even as we age. The evidence pointed to an increase in the size of the left region of the hippocampus as well as a chemical called brain-derived neurotrophic factor mitigating age-related decline.

Also, many forms of intellectual wellness help to keep the mind sufficiently stimulated. In doing so they challenge the muscles of the brain in a different way to physical exercise, creating a sense of synergy to your mind's development. Never forget that your brain is also a muscle that needs to be exercised regularly in order to stay performing at its best.

 

And so as we come to the conclusion of this post, I hope that if you were previously unconvinced then you have at least started to appreciate why wellness is important and how the benefits of wellness have the potential to add significant value to your life. Join the conversation on wellness; leave comments with your feedback, opinions and suggestions on this topic.