1. Add movement minutes at a time
One of the more common fitness resolutions people make is to move more. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations for physical activity suggest that adults exercise at moderate intensity for 150 minutes a week and strength-train at least twice a week. But if that sounds like a big jump from where you are in your fitness journey, start setting realistic goals with whatever feels comfortable. Try going on a 10-minute walk sometime each day or being active for 30 minutes one or two days a week to start. Once you get comfortable with your new exercise routine, you can increase with an additional 5 or 10 minutes to your existing sessions or another day to your routine.
2. Meditate for 5 minutes every day
A meditation practice has a host of health benefits, from reducing stress to winding down for bed, and is overall a great way to take a timeout for your own wellbeing. Research suggests you can experience the benefits of meditation even if you only reflect for a few minutes a day—though you’ll have to commit to the habit long-term.
We think Headspace is the best meditation app for making mindfulness a habit, thanks to its wide array of sessions, including both grounding midday classes and ultra relaxing nighttime meditations to lull you to sleep. Headspace also lets you easily adjust the length of your sessions, from 3 to 20 minutes, making it a great choice for anyone who may want to work their way up to longer meditations.
While not a meditation app, we also recommend Noom Mood for beginners wanting to learn more about mental wellness. Noom Mood works by giving users short articles to read, stress management techniques to practice, and access to a personal wellness coach to guide you through it all. Our tester learned a lot about emotional wellbeing using Noom’s psychological approach and discovered helpful de-stressing exercises.
