Nourish Counseling Logo
Appointment

How Taking Care of Your Body Helps Your Overall Well-Being

We all know that eating right and exercising can help us look better.  But did you know it can benefit your mental and physical health as well?
food-beforeafter-workout1

food beforeafter workout1We all know that eating right and exercising can help us look better.  But did you know it can benefit your mental and physical health as well?  Here’s how.

Eating Right

Maintaining a proper diet can do more than make you look better. A proper diet helps fight many potential medical conditions and can improve your body’s health.  According to the Nutritionists at EatRight.org, chronic inflammation from poor diet can play a role in heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune conditions, and Alzheimer’s disease. Eating a proper diet can decrease inflammation and improve overall health.

Focus on incorporating the following into your daily diet:

  • Plenty of vegetables: include leafy greens such as kale, chard and brussels sprouts.
  • Fresh or frozen fruits: Berries and cherries pack a serious antioxidant punch.
  • Heart-healthy fats: Enjoy olive oil, avocados, nuts, seeds, and fatty fish such as salmon, sardines and halibut to name a few.
  • Add fresh herbs and spices to your meals for extra flavor and nutrient-value.

Benefits to Your Mental Health.  According to the experts at Harvard Medical School, your diet also has a direct impact on your mental health.  Eliminating processed foods and foods with sugar, and increasing foods that have probiotics, can make you feel better. Your outlook improves and you experience reduced inflammation.  Fermented foods such as sauerkraut, pickles, kimchi and miso offer probiotics.  Try eliminating food groups such as dairy and grains and add them back in, carefully gauging how you feel. 

Exercising

Physical activity can improve your overall wellness. The experts at MedicineNet explain that exercising can help fight many medical conditions. 

  • Heart disease and stroke.  Daily exercise helps strengthen your heart muscle, lowers blood pressure, and improves cholesterol levels.
  • Diabetes.  Reducing body fat can prevent or control this disease.
  • Back pain. Improved strength and flexibility can reduce back pain.
  • Osteoporosis. Routine weight-bearing exercise can improve bone density and reduce risk of bone loss.

Benefits to Your Mental Health.  Huffington Post advises that regular exercise offers numerous mental health benefits. 

  • Reduces stress. Exercise is an outlet for negative energy and can increase levels of a stress-regulating chemical, norepinephrine, in your brain. 
  • Releases feel-good chemicals. In addition to the stress-regulating chemical, your brain increases the output of your feel-good endorphins. 
  • Prevents decline.  At the age of about 45, our brains start shrinking and deteriorating.  Exercising can boost chemicals in the brain that help maintain it’s health and ability.
  • Sharpens memory.  Working out increases the production of cells in the part of your brain that is responsible for memory and learning.
  • Controls addiction.  Exercise increases the body’s output of dopamine, which can help curb cravings in recovering addicts. 

Finding a way to add a fitness regimen into your daily routine isn’t always easy. Maybe going to the gym isn’t for you.  It could be too costly or too hard to fit into your schedule.  Life Fitness suggests adding a home workout space.  It doesn’t need to be elaborate.  As little as a yoga mat and a few small dumbbells stowed in your living room will work.  If you have a spare bedroom, you can convert it with larger equipment, but you can still do a lot with a small amount of floor and a closet to store a few pieces of equipment. 

Overall Wellness. Eating right and exercising are good for your overall well-being and can improve your physical and mental health.  If you can’t get to a gym, try adding a workout area to your home. 

Taking care of your body will help you feel better on the inside and out!

Guest Author: Jennifer Scott

With SpiritFinder, Ms. Scott offers a forum where those living with anxiety and depression can discuss their experiences.

 

 

Share:

More Posts

BIO

Cameryn (Cam) received her Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Marist College. Prior to joining Nourish Your Mind, she worked in private practice, primarily serving children, teens, and their families. During this time, she developed a passion for helping clients navigate their unique challenges through the transformative power of play and expressive arts therapy. Cam believes that every individual deserves a safe, nurturing space where they can authentically express themselves. She is dedicated to empowering her clients by identifying and utilizing their inherent strengths to help them achieve their personal goals.

In her therapeutic approach, Cam integrates a holistic wellness model with strengths- and mindfulness-based methods. She employs a variety of evidence-based techniques, including DBT and Nondirective Play Therapy, and she recognizes the importance of tailoring interventions to meet the specific needs of each individual and family.

When she’s not in the office, Cam enjoys reading, traveling, weight-lifting, and immersing herself in music and films. She also values spending quality time with friends, family, and her cats.

  • Licensed Mental Health Counselor
  • Master of Arts in Mental Health Counseling, Marist College
  • Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, SUNY Geneseo
  • Member of the American Counseling Association (ACA)
  • Middletown Office
BIO

Brianna earned her Bachelor of Social Work degree from Siena College and her Master of Social Work degree from Adelphi University. Throughout her education and early career, she worked with at-risk adolescents experiencing trauma and maladaptive coping as both a clinician and crisis interventionist. She later spent several years in emergency services, specializing in trauma-informed care for adolescents and adults. Brianna has extensive experience working with individuals struggling with trauma, anxiety, depression, mood dysregulation, self-esteem, and relationship challenges.

Brianna takes a strength-based, integrative approach to therapy, empowering clients to discover their own path toward healing and self-acceptance. She believes that while we cannot change the past, we can change our relationship with it. She is passionate about helping clients develop effective coping skills, reconnect with their inner resilience, and build lives that extend beyond surviving trauma.

Brianna believes healing is not only a journey of the mind, but a whole-body experience. She is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200) and thoughtfully incorporates mind-body practices into therapy to support nervous system regulation, mindfulness, and emotional awareness. She is also certified in Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), an evidence-based trauma treatment that helps clients process distressing experiences, and Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP), offering a holistic approach for individuals seeking deeper healing from trauma, depression, anxiety, and other emotional challenges. By integrating traditional psychotherapy with somatic approaches and specialized trauma treatments, Brianna helps clients create lasting, meaningful change.

Above all, Brianna is dedicated to creating a safe, compassionate, and authentic therapeutic environment where clients feel seen, supported, and empowered to reconnect with their truest selves.

Brianna resides in Orange County with her two rescue huskies. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, spending time in nature, painting, practicing yoga, and cooking while surrounded by music, friends, and family.

  • Licensed Clinical Social Worker, State of New York
  • Master’s of Social Work, Adelphi University
  • Master’s of Social Work, Adelphi University RYT-200
  • Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) Certified, Journey Clinical
  • Accelerated Resolution Therapy Trained, Rosenzweig Center for Rapid Recovery
  • Middletown Office
BIO

Ashley received her Master’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling from SUNY New Paltz. While attending her graduate program, Ashley worked as a supervisor at a Crisis Intervention Program and interned at an Adolescent Partial Hospitalization Program, gaining valuable skills in crisis management and group therapy. Before joining Nourish Counseling, she spent several years working in a long-term outpatient care clinic specializing in children, adolescents and their families. Ashley has expertise in partnering with those suffering from depression, anxiety, trauma, family conflict, and personality disorders.

Ashley believes that each client is their own expert. She provides an integrative approach that focuses on both the thoughts and behaviors her clients may be struggling with in order to help them find balance and build resiliency. She works with clients in a person-centered and skill building approach to help determine and reach their own individual goals. Following a Dialectical Behavioral and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy approach, she encourages and supports clients to reach their full potential.

Ashley lives in Middletown, NY with her husband and a very loved dog. She enjoys family time, cooking, and trying new things whenever possible.

  • American Counseling Association
  • Middletown Office
BIO

Amanda is a Certified Clinicial Trauma Professional with a deep commitment to guiding clients through their healing and discovery. She believes that you are the expert of your own life, and she is dedicated to building a safe, collaborative space where you feel both validated and motivated for change. 

Amanda specializes in treating those with Complex Trauma, Grief and Loss, Anxiety and Depression, Chronic Illness, Infertility, Infant/Pregnancy Loss, Women’s Health and Neurodivergent Disorders. She works with individuals aged 5 and up. 

Amanda’s unique, holistic approach to psychothreapy is rooted in evidence-based practices and tailored to fit your specific clinical needs. She seamlessly integrates practices like mindfulness and meditation with powerful theraputic modalities, including Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Motivational Interviewing, and Internal Family Systems Therapy. 

After gaining experience in Baltimore – including intensive work in Residential Foster Care and as a Medical Social Worker – Amanda has been settled back in her home, the Hudson Valley. She enjoys cooking, reading and spending time with her husband and two young daughters. She has journeyed with cleints for nearly 5 years at Nourish and is now ready to partner with you!

  • Cornwall Office
  • Middletown Office