Here we define mental health as overall mental well-being. That is, a stress-free, anxiety-free, relaxed state of mind and well-being. It is not as difficult as you think. And, there are many strategies we can use for that. Here are only 10 methods selected by us.
01. Set Your Intentions for the Week
At the beginning of the week, plan your goals and intentions for the week. You can think of this as ‘7 days’ instead of a ‘week’. Then plan the work to be done in those 7 days separately. Take some time to think and be free. Make time to work on inner motives as well as outer goals.
02. Learn What Your Body Needs
Our digestive system is naturally home to millions of bacteria. It is said that there are about one hundred trillion bacteria, both good and bad. Collectively they are all called gut microbiota. As with the spinal cord, there is a constant conversation between the brain and the gut, which have amazing neurons. This relationship has a direct impact on our mental health.
Therefore, you have to take care of your gut health. Eating vegetables, grains, nuts, fruits and limiting things like alcohol can benefit our gut health.
03. Take a Warm Bath or Shower Before Bed
If you can’t sleep at night, if your body feels uncomfortable, you can take a nice hot bath before going to bed. This will reduce your fatigue to a great extent and help you get a good night’s sleep.
04. Get Creative to Boost Your Mental Health
If you feel stress, anxiety, depression, you can engage in some creative activity. Creativity contributes to the development of your mental health. Also, your creativity helps to improve your imagination. Imagination solves many of your everyday problems. You can draw pictures, create songs or compose music or engage in any other creative activity. Set aside a little time a day for it.
05. Keep Your Brain Young & Healthy
No matter how old you are in numbers, you can live young in mind. Living young in mind like this has a very good effect on your physical health, so it brings great relief to many physical diseases. To be young in mind, you must be nourished with youthful attitudes and thoughts. In other words, you need to get rid of your senile mentality.
Associating with young people will bring you youthful attitudes and re-charge your youthful energy. Tell those who are now in the youth about the heroic deeds you did in your youth, it will motivate them and take you back to your youth.
06. Be Aware of Your Thoughts
Being mindful of your thoughts also has a direct impact on mental health. Be aware of everything you do, feel, and experience. We have already written an article about conscious living and mindfulness, if you are interested in gathering more information about it, you can go through this link to read that article.
07. Practice Deep Breathing
A good deep breath can restructure your thoughts and your state of mind. When your mind is agitated, restless, close your eyes and take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Then take a deep breath and hold it for 10 -15 seconds. Then exhale slowly and take a few light breaths. Then take a deep breath again as before and let it out. Do this several times in a random manner.
Do you know that our brain consumes 20% of our body’s oxygen? Our brain is an extremely complex system involving millions of neurons. So it requires a lot of energy and consumes a lot of oxygen. There are various situations where our brain works under low oxygen levels, but it is best to provide the required amount of oxygen. It strongly affects your physical health as well as mental health and wellbeing.
08. Improve Your Nutrition
Nutrition is a biochemical and physiological process. It is a complete process which includes ingestion, absorption, assimilation, biosynthesis, catabolism and excretion. Nutrients are substances that prepare the background for our body to perform its functions properly. For example, water, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, fats etc. all belong to this.
Getting nutritious food is very important for mental as well as physical well-being. Not only does it provide the body with the necessary nutrients, but it is also important for the above-mentioned functions to occur properly.
09. Think about Happiness Differently
Happiness differs from person to person. What do you define as happiness? Some people see material things like money, cars, houses as happiness. Others see inner spiritual things like peace of mind, lack of hatred, lack of jealousy, trusting relationships as happiness. Mindfully understanding what you perceive as happiness can go a long way in maintaining your mental health.
10. Stop Overthinking and Being Oversensitive
Some people worry and think unnecessarily about certain things. It is not necessary at all. Also, it will cause you unnecessary stress. Although empathy and sensitivity are important in many situations in our lives, don’t be unnecessarily sensitive about any thing, person or event. Focus and think about anything as much as is necessary.
Being under stress due to various things can also affect your mental health. If you are suffering from mental stress, read the article we have already written called Scientific Methods to Relieve Stress.