It may seem that focusing on mental health is the new thing, but it’s something that has risen to the surface with the onset of the global pandemic. People worldwide are struggling, and you must take personal stock of your mental health. How are you handling things? Here are five ways to boost your mental health daily.
Practice Gratitude
Although it’s not always easy, practicing gratitude daily can improve your mental and physical health. Gratitude helps you recognize the positive things in your life and see a situation differently. Start by writing or thinking of three different things that you’re grateful for, and see where that takes you.
Build a Wellness Routine
When we take care of our physical bodies, we boost our mental health. A healthy body makes for a healthy mind. Hormonal imbalances can cause mental health issues like depression and anxiety due to a lack of physical care. When you do things like exercise, you boost the positive hormones in the brain to make you feel better. Here are more ways to build a wellness routine:
- Get enough sleep
- Eat Healthy
- Stay Hydrated
Build Social Bonds
Social isolation and loneliness are linked to depression and poorer health. It’s crucial to build and support your relationships with your friends and family to help you feel good about yourself. Although it’s hard to make new friends as an adult, here are some helpful tips for developing new friendships.
- Go to an activity you like to do to find likeminded people
- Go to a community event and extend an invite to people you connect with
- Join a professional or community organization
- Attend a family or school reunion to reconnect with people
- Keep in touch with the people already in your life
Develop Relaxation Techniques
Having stress in our lives is impossible to avoid, but it’s all about how you deal with it that makes or breaks you. Learning how to manage stress will improve your mental health. Besides yoga, here are other helpful techniques that you can do quickly in a stressful moment.
- Visualization– Form mental images to go to a calm and relaxing place. Close your eyes and sit in a quiet spot to go to a peaceful place.
- Mindfulness– Sit quietly and bring your mind to the present moment. Breathe and recenter your thoughts in a stressful situation.
- Breathing exercises – Take long and slow deep breaths from your belly. This will slow your heartrate and distract your mind from negative thoughts. This can be used in conjunction with mindfulness.
- Progressive relaxation– Slowly tense and relax different muscle groups. Tense for 5 seconds and relax for 30 seconds. This helps to make you aware of physical manifestations of stress.
Write in a Journal
According to the American Psychiatric Association, journaling helps gain insight into your feelings and emotions, therefore managing stress. If you feel upset about an issue in your life, write it down to help you gain perspective and determine how to respond to the situation appropriately. Instead of saying something you do not mean out of anger, take time to pause and process. This can make all the difference in your mental health and emotional responses.
Beyond journaling during stressful times, daily writing helps you identify self-improvement goals and view the progress you’ve made in other areas. Try setting aside 20 minutes a day to write and reflect on your day. This can be combined with daily gratitude.
The Takeaway
These are just some daily steps that you can take to improve your mental health. Putting yourself first is something you should never feel bad about. If you are practicing everything you can and still feel mentally unwell, it is essential to seek a professional to guide you through treatment for a better mind-body connection.
