It seems that health insurance and health care have become more confusing and uncertain than ever before.  While you may have limited control over the health insurance and health care systems, there are many things that you can easily do for yourself, on a day to day basis, to decrease your risk of illness and in turn, save health care dollars now and in the future.

7 easy steps to improve your health and decrease the risk of illness in the future include:

1. Listen – Awareness is perhaps the first and most important step in caring for your health. Take time daily to check in with and listen to your body and mind. If things seem off to you, take steps to get them back on track!
2. Maintain an active lifestyle – Move frequently in various ways, and get outdoors as often as possible! Find activities that make you feel great and that you look forward to doing.
3. Watch what you eat – Your daily nutrition can hugely impact your long-term health. Eat to nourish your body so it can function at its highest level!
4. Manage your stress – Stress can affect your physical and mental health. While all stress cannot be avoided, you can take steps to limit it and to better cope with the stress that you cannot avoid.
5. Sleep – Make sure that you are getting adequate sleep. Sleep disruptions can have serious long-term effects on your health and can zap you of energy. If you are having trouble sleeping, work with an expert to find ways to improve your sleep.
6. Know when to see your health care provider – You are the expert on your unique body and mind, and your health care provider is the expert on disease prevention and management. See your health care provider for regular checkups, and when things don’t seem right, you can work together as a team to nip any potential problems in the bud!
7. Enjoy! – Life enjoyment (Santosha) is perhaps one of the most overlooked and essential steps in maintaining a feeling of health and well-being. Taking a moment to acknowledge all the good in your life and exercise your gratitude muscles can decrease stress and encourage you to take better care of yourself each and every day!

Despite all of your best intentions and actions, there are times when you will need to access health care, and it’s nice to know what options there are to spend (or save) your health care dollars! Even Keel Movement can accept Health Savings Account (HSA) cards and Flexible Spending Account (FSA) cards for Physical Therapy services. Also, some programs now allow you to use your FSA & HSA dollars for Yoga, Yoga Therapy, and Massage. You should check with your program for coverage.

By Katey Hawes, feature image licensed from Shutterstock.