Things to do to improve your mental health
Have you ever wondered what healthy habits you should add to your daily life schedule? You all should give enough time and attention to your mental health, and what better way then to adopt some new, healthy habits along the way. If you keep it a habit, sooner or later, it can feel like a part of you. Stress, grief and depression are examples of poor mental health.
Here are 8 healthy habits to improve your mental well-being.
- Adopting an Upright Posture
It’s time to stretch out those muscles and stand as you mean it. The upright posture can have a positive effect, reduce fatigue and decrease self-focus and is really helpful for people who are suffering from moderate depression. Are you hunched over your computer or your phone? How’s that posture looking?
- Practice Positive Thinking
Your thoughts about yourself strongly depict how you feel. The best thing you can do is to change any negative feelings is to counter them with a positive one. You may feel I’m so dumb, I always make mistakes and I can never get it right. When you perceive yourself and your life negatively, you can end up viewing experiences in a way that confirms that notion. Instead, use such words that promote feelings of personal power and self-worth. So instead of saying, I was horrible at my English test, use kind words and self-compassion like better luck to me, I’ll study harder next time and I’ll do better.
- Take a Walk in Nature
Is there anything quite like the green grass between your toes, the blues skies above your head, the sun warming your nose? A simple walk in nature can have the ability to uplift you. Merely five minutes of contact with the natural world improves mood, self-esteem, and general emotional wellbeing. Nature contact reliably promotes both hedonic and self-transcendent emotions.
- Exercise
Exercise is not only important for our physical health but our mental wellbeing as well. If you are suffering from depression and anxiety, even just moderate exercise throughout the week can help you to alleviate it. If you are having difficulty in your sleep patterns, short bursts of exercise in the morning or afternoon can help regulate it. Moderate aerobic exercises like walking or jogging or swimming can have a tremendous effect on the way you feel mentally. All it takes is 30 minutes of exercise and see the results.
- Get Enough Sleep
Sleep and mental health are closely connected. Everyone needs eight hours of sleep at night. Take a good night’s rest and recharge your energy for the next day. Not getting eight hours of sleep every day negatively affect your mental health. Practice a few minutes of meditation, read a book, and get ready to calm your body and have a healthy sleep. Repeat these routines each night to make a routine for a solid night’s sleep.
- Keep a Gratitude Journal
Expressing gratitude can work like magic for your mental health. Gratitude has been linked to increased happiness. Write a daily gratitude list, which means every morning before that walk, write down something you’re thankful for, no matter how grand and simple. And at the end of the day, when you go to bed early for those full eight hours, write down a few more things you appreciate before you hit the sheets, hopefully with your snugly pet by your side.
- Practice Affirmations
Using affirmations on a daily basis. They will help you to counteract some of the overwhelming negativity in the world around you. Create a more optimistic outlook for yourself. You can reprogram your brain to overcome unhealthy habits and increase your productivity and control harmful emotions through the simple act of making positive statements about yourself, and to yourself. You can find many affirmations online and the most powerful are those you create by yourself. Think of an area of your life that you would like to change and then choose an achievable outcome that you want to reach. Frame your desired outcome in a short present tense statement and repeat it to yourself throughout the day.
Let me give you an example, the most powerful affirmation of all is the affirmation, “I like myself”. Because the more you like yourself, the more you like your work, the more you like your activities, the more open-minded and optimistic you are, the more you like everyone around you.
- Eat Healthy Food
Eat healthy and stay healthy is the basis to attain optimum health. Eating healthy keeps your blood sugar level stable and thus helps you to maintain your mood throughout the day. Eat three well-balanced meals and the most important one is breakfast. A good breakfast gives your body the energy to get thinking and moving. Choose good source of protein in your diet. Eliminating saturated fats and sugar from your diet will help you in getting positive mental health. Drink plenty of water and stay hydrated.