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Health & Science

Tool kits can help you start the journey to wellness

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March 25, 2018 at 7:00 a.m. EDT
Young woman doing yoga twisting mat indoors near window (iStock) (dima_sidelnikov/Getty Images/iStockphoto)

What’s wellness?

Sure, it involves your physical form and your ability to deal with disease and other challenges.

But wellness also has a lot to do with how you approach the world. Your relationships, your physical surroundings and your habits all affect your body and mind.

Your Healthiest Self, a set of tool kits from the National Institutes of Health, was designed to help you improve your well-being. Available free on the NIH website, the tool kits tackle five topics: your surroundings, your feelings, your body, your relationships and your disease defense.

Each kit contains strategies for improving your health. Fun illustrations help bring to life such common challenges as dealing with germs, bonding with your kids and staying safe during hot and cold weather.

As you flip each virtual card, you’ll find easy-to-implement tips to help you create healthy habits. There are links to more in-depth information, too.

Some of the cards tackle the expected, such as ways to get screened for common diseases. But you might be surprised by tips that cover, for example, how to care for yourself if you’re a caregiver or how to hold on to positive emotions.

Wellness is complex — but Your Healthiest Self offers tips that can put it within reach.

Some simple ways to make your life better

You’re middle-aged — this is the perfect time to work on staying healthy