6 Easy Tricks to Feel Better Than Ever This Spring + Why You Should Let Color Be Your Guide
Outsmart health bothers with these cheerful hue-based strategies!
With spring’s warmer weather weather and sunnier days, it’s natural to want to get out and make the most of what the season has to offer. But sometimes, lack of sleep, achy joints and other health bothers get in the way. Not to worry! We’ve gathered easy research-backed natural solutions for common springtime ailments. The surprising twist? You can let color be your guide to feeling your absolute best. Read on for the spring color cures that can help you feel energized, happier and more.
1. Boost willpower with a blue view
When you want to eat (and truly enjoy!) healthy fare, but your brain is pestering you to nosh junk food, instead, step outside and stare up at the beautiful blue sky. British investigators say this panoramic view quickly tamps down the number one cause of not-so-great food choices — high blood levels of stress hormones — calming cravings and heightening appetite control in as little as two minutes. Battling cravings on a cloudy day? Spending a few minutes gazing at a nearby creek, pond or even cool blue pool could give you the same impressive appetite-control boost.
Related: Yes, You Can Quiet Food Noise — MD’s 3-Step Plan Works Naturally to End Overeating
2. Get deeper sleep with a glimpse of green
The evenings are brighter and the sun is setting later — and that can make it hard to unwind and drift off at bedtime. The good news: Spending 30 minutes three times weekly strolling along a tree-lined road, or through a lush, green forest or your favorite park, could help you fall asleep faster and sleep up to two hours longer each night, Hungarian research suggests. That’s because green scenes activate a branch of nerves (the parasympathetic nervous system) that maximizes sleep quality by relaxing muscles, calming brain waves, slowing heart rate and lowering blood pressure.
Related: This ‘Music’ Switches Your Brain Into Deep Sleep Mode Automatically, Say Sleep Docs
3. Fire up focus with a purple sniff
If you’ve planned a fun, productive day, but you’re feeling way too foggy or scattered to actually enjoy it, breathing in the rich, floral aroma of hyacinth flowers (or hyacinth essential oil) could sharpen your focus, concentration and recall in two minutes. More good news: Research out of the University of Alabama suggests enjoying this intoxicating scent a few times daily could help you stay sharp all season long. Experts say the aromatic oils released by hyacinth flowers energize a brain region (the frontal lobe) that helps you stay clear-headed, organized and on-task.
Related: 6 Delicious Brain Boosters That’ll Sharpen Your Focus
4. Boost happiness by digging in the brown dirt
It’s not just you — 80% of us would love to feel calmer, more contented and cheerier on go-go-go days. And grabbing your gardening trowel can help! That’s the word from scientists out of the University of Colorado, Boulder, who say regular exposure to dirt heightens happiness more quickly and more effectively than prescription antidepressants. The reason? Soil is chock full of gentle probiotic bacteria (Mycobacterium vaccae), and when you inhale these health-boosters, they activate brain cells, microglia, that steady moods and restore cheer.
Related: Research: Curiosity Is the Secret to All-Day Happiness — Here’s How to Unleash Yours
5. Ease aches with orange-scented soaks
More time outdoors and active can make muscle and joint pain flare. Thankfully, scientists reporting in the journal Antioxidants say breathing in the sweet-tart aroma of oranges can ease achiness in one minute. And pairing this lovely scent with a couple of weekly soaks can halve your risk of any spring pain flares. Warm baths relax spasming muscles and boost healing blood flow to damaged tissues, while aromatic compounds in oranges raise pain threshold and calm overactive pain nerves. Try adding a few drops of orange oil to your bath, lighting an orange-scented candle or using an orange-scented body wash when you scrub up.
Related: Sore, Creaky Knees? These Stretches for Knee Pain Ease Discomfort and Improve Mobility
6. Prevent UTIs with a red sip
Your risk of a fun-sapping urinary tract infection rises steadily as the weather warms and you perspire more, since even brief bouts of dehydration encourage bacterial growth in the bladder. But sipping 36 oz. of sweet, tart hibiscus tea daily (it’s delicious iced) can prevent bladder troubles, plus trim up to three days off your recovery time if you’re uncomfortable right now, suggests a research review in the journal Cureus. Credit hibiscus compounds, tannins and terpenoids, which tamp down damaging urinary tract inflammation, plus block the growth and spread of troublesome bacteria. Click through to learn more hibiscus tea benefits.
For more easy ways to feel great, click through to these stories:
7 Best Springtime Remedies for Less Stress, Deeper Sleep, Brighter Mood & More
7 Ways to Ease Work Stress — Including the Desktop Decoration That Can Dial Down Tension Fast
Stressed? Experts Share 4 Natural Ways To Feel Calm and Worry-Free in Minutes
