A lot of people that approach a topic such as health, mainly talk about eating a healthy diet and working out but leave everything else aside. In my opinion, the mental components are so underrated although I believe that they belong to the main influences when it comes to being healthy.

I just came home from another trip to Morocco this week and I realized once again what positive effects trips like this one have on my health. Everytime I’m travelling, I feel better than when I’m at home although my diet may not be as healthy as at home or I may not work out as much. On this last trip, I ate almost nothing but bread and cookies on my first two days (later my diet got way better, haha) and already felt so good anyway. During the whole last two weeks I felt as fit and healthy as I haven’t felt in a long time although I sometimes only had about 5-6h of sleep. Even my digestion was on point although my whole daily routine got messed up. I went to Morocco mainly for surfing and of course, I often felt exhausted from all the surfing, the heat and having a sunburn but apart from that I felt healthy, happy and full of life.

So, what do I believe, is the reason for this? There are actually more reasons than just one and I think that they apply to a lot of people and their state of health:

With surfing and travelling I did something that I’m truly passionate about and that brings me so much joy. I did what I loved every day. At the moment I’m still in a job that does not fulfill me like this, so every day I get up without being excited for my day and without enjoying what I do. For me there is no doubt, that forcing yourself to do something you don’t want to do can have a serious negative impact on your whole body.

I saw so many new places and met so many new people. All of this took away my concentration from my own body or possible negative thoughts and feelings. With all these distractions and enjoying life, I didn’t have the time to worry too much if I felt a little unwell and so this feeling disappeared by its own again as I didn’t focus on it. If you start worrying quickly when something feels not right with your body and sometimes imagine having some of the worst deceases, you will know, what I mean.

Talking about people: All of the time I was together with positive people that shared a lot of the same beliefs, values and interests I have and I had so many interesting and inspiring conversations. When you surround yourself with positive people that are positive about life and that inspire you to make more out of your own life and to believe more in yourself, you will automatically feel better than when you’re surrounded by negativity.

I didn’t think too much about the future or the past, I just lived in the moment. This is so much easier when you are travelling and get out of your comfort zone and normal routine as you need to focus on what you are doing right now and as your life is so interesting that you don’t even want to live in any other time but now. Surfing also helps a lot, I think I will write a separate article about this.

Although I didn’t keep up my normal exercise routine, I was so much more active with walking around a lot and with not sitting at a desk all day long as I do now again. This often is the case when we have time off from work or are on vacation.. well, if you’re not just resting by the pool all day, of course.

I didn’t feel stressed at all about anything and just felt so carefree. Stress definitely is one of the worst things for your health. In our everyday life we often feel it, though. I myself already got better at dealing with it but it still is there every day. As  soon as I get out of my routine and feel as if I don’t have any pressure anymore to do certain things and to do them within a certain time.

The main reason, in my opinion, is that I was just so happy during this time and I believe that being happy within automatically boosts your state of health enormously! Now I’m back to my regular way of eating and exercising but I can already feel that I don’t feel as fit and energized anymore. I’m not as motivated for my days anymore as much as I try and as much as I got better with staying motivated also in my everyday life.

So, my goal is (and yours should be, too) to create a life which allows me to do what I love all the time. Not only for my pleasure but also for my health. You can eat and exercise as exemplary as you possibly can, if you are not happy with your life and have to deal with a lot of negative psychical factors such as stress and pressure, you will never get to your ideal state of health.