City living has plenty of advantages. There is plenty of culture, nightlife, excitement and convenience. You never have to travel too far to get what you want in an urban area. Unfortunately, city life also has its drawbacks. City-dwellers are more likely to experience stress and be affected by pollution.
These problems are becoming more important as more and more people around the globe opt to live in cities. Though it is impossible to avoid all the issues that arise, it is possible to significantly lessen the effects that city life have on your health.
Here are a few ideas for creating habits that can lead to better health and a better quality of life for city dwellers:
- Keep the air clean inside. You can’t control the traffic and other sources of pollution, but you can keep air cleaner inside your living space. Air purifiers, devices that move air through a filter, are inexpensive. Quality ones can take particles such as dust and other pollutants out of the air in your home. If you have a furnace, you can also increase air quality by regularly changing the furnace filter.
- Avoid extra chemicals in your food. You might be exposed to high levels of pollution and chemicals if you live in an urban area. It is difficult to avoid this, but you can control the amount of potentially harmful substances that you intake by choosing different foods. Certified organic foods are grown without any pesticides and therefore do not introduce any chemicals into your body. The demand for organics is growing, so you can get pretty much anything in an organic version, even at mainstream grocery stores. Some grocers, such as the Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods franchises, specialize in organic foods.
- Get your exercise outside. Many urban dwellers use health clubs or home gyms to work out. Many simply avoid exercise because of inconvenience as much as laziness. Getting outside can be good for a person’s mental health as well as physical health. It can be as easy as walking to places that you would normally drive to or take public transportation to. One of the advantages of city living is that things are generally close together. This makes it easy to combine errands or business with exercise. Walking at a decent pace for a few miles burns a respectable amount of calories.
- Stress is a major part of urban life. People can be concerned about anything from crime to traffic jams to the noisy (or nosy) neighbor. Some stress inducers are avoidable, but others are not. The best approach to the unavoidable things is to change the way that you deal with them. For example, you can give yourself things to do while stuck in traffic. Of course, you can’t sit in your car staring at a laptop or TV, but you can listen to a book on tape, catch up on the news (on the radio) or even listen to some language learning CDs. If you want to work, a voice recorder (or a cell phone with a voice recorder) can be used in place of a notebook or laptop.
- Bring the countryside to you. Sometimes, it is good to take a break from the city. A field trip to a large suburban park or to a more rural area can be a great way to de-stress on the weekend or during a short vacation. You can even bring some nature into your living space. Houseplants (preferably ones that are low maintenance) can have a positive effect, as can small container gardens placed on a window-sill or on a balcony or patio. Low-maintenance pets like fish or birds can have a similar calming effect.
About the author: Nick currently contributes to sites that deal with urban living. He recently blogged about designer eyewear.
Credits: Photo courtesy of Eric Ortner.