In today’s day, physical health isn’t the only thing that one needs to take care of when thinking about self-care. With the aftermath of a global pandemic coming close to an end being a distant reality (at least for now!), people have come to realize the importance of mental health and the impact it has on life. So here are the 7 best mental health practices that can help you become your best self!
Get inspired with mental health quotes
A great way to improve your mood and to stay motivated is to read quotes. Inspirational quotes boost your mental health and give you the push you need to keep going. It is very important to maintain a positive and motivated outlook towards things when you feel down, although sometimes this proves to be a difficult task.
Keeping yourself surrounded with fun and inspiring mental health quotes can contribute to generate a strong mindset. Don’t forget to KEEP CALM AND STAY POSITIVE! With every little thing you do, you can improve your mental health every single day!
Exercising is the best mental health booster
A study performed by the Public Health Agency of Canada in Ottawa shows, there is an association between exercising and well-being. Compared to people who exercise one time per week, people who do not practice these activities are more likely to report poor general health and dissatisfaction (Pelletier). As you can see, exercising can be one of the best mental health tips to follow. Practicing physical activities with a moderate intensity for a minimum of 15 to 30 minutes can help your mood to improve.
An article from WebMD shows that it reduces depression and anxiety symptoms by producing endorphins that trigger positive feelings and improve your perception of life.
Exercising helps your body to deal with stress, as it stimulates the production of neurohormones in charge of improving your cognition. It can improve your self-esteem, improve our concentration on day-to-day tasks and improve the quality of your sleep.
Given the various mental health benefits that exercising has, you should adopt this practice in your routine and take at least 15 minutes of your day to exercise. You’ll see how it improves your quality of life as one of the best mental health boosters it is.
Practice daily meditation
“Meditation can give you a sense of calm, peace and balance that can benefit both your emotional well-being and your overall health” (Mayo Clinic).
Nowadays that stress and anxiety are part of our daily life and that there seems to be no time, it is important to take a few minutes to connect with yourself and meditate. Studies have shown that practicing daily meditation reduces fear, anger, symptoms of anxiety and depression.
It helps you to be mindful of and present in the current moment, which is important considering that most negative feelings come from an excess of thoughts about the past or the future. By incorporating a daily meditation routine, you can learn in depth about yourself, understand where your negative feelings come from and learn to not attach to them, which will help you deal much better with negativity, stress, and anxiety.
To make meditation a daily practice, you need to feel comfortable doing it and find one type that matches your personality and needs. There are 9 popular meditation practices that you can explore to find the one that better suits you, and that helps you release tension and achieve your best mental health.
Eat, sleep, chill and repeat
Eating whole foods essential to strengthen mental health
Food and mood. What’s the connection? It’s no secret that the minute we feel stressed, anxious or depressed, we crave comfort food and head straight to the fattiest of foods that make us feel better, aka a tub of ice cream. But the majority of times these foods are high in fat, sodium, sugar, and/or carbs, which give us a false feeling of fullness because in a matter of a few hours we feel hungry again and our mood comes crashing down. This fluctuation is detrimental to our health because what we eat directly affects the way we feel.
To strengthen mental health, we need a diet that is rich in nutrients with fruits, vegetables, fish, legumes, whole grains and low-fat dairy. Eating healthy decreases our risk of depression, improves our mood, helps us think more clearly and gives us more energy. One study found that a Mediterranean diet actually reduced depression by 32%.
Sleeping is key to maintaining our best mental health
What does sleep have to do with mental health? Believe it or not, our best mental health is achieved when we get a good night’s sleep. By doing so, sufficient sleep allows the brain to process emotional information. The brain is working hard while we sleep to evaluate and remember thoughts and memories.
When we are running on empty and not getting enough sleep, our mood is influenced by our emotional reactivity. This puts us at risk of developing numerous mental health disorders including suicidal ideas or behaviors. In addition, the relationship between a lack of sleep and depression can be alarming when you realize that 4.4% of the world population suffer from depression.
Adopting a positive mindset is vital to achieving mental health clarity
When you focus on seeing the glass half-full, more good will comes to you. A positive mindset will bring about more positive outcomes. What’s equally important is having an attitude of gratitude.
According to an article by Harvard Medical School, “gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness and experiences, positive emotions, and improved health and well-being. Expressing gratitude allows us to build strong relationships and better deal with adversity” (Harvard Health Publishing) and in turn helps us achieve mental health clarity.
Practice social media detox
There comes a time in our lives, if it hasn’t happened already, when social media consumes us from the moment we wake in the morning til the moment we actually put our phone down and go to sleep. FOMO is more prevalent now than ever. What do we do? How do we handle this? By starting a social media detox in small doses, like abstaining from social media for a day as opposed to cold turkey, there’s less likelihood of missing out on anything important.
Start small and when you feel more comfortable from turning off your device for a day, try a whole weekend. The benefits of social media detox are more free time, less anxiety, better mornings and more mindfulness.
Surround yourself with a strong support system
It is highly essential for an individual to be around positive energy and have a strong support system like a reliable friend in order to achieve the best mental health state. However, It is not always mandatory to have a person to talk to you. It could be a hobby, a place or something that you enjoy. For example, your strong support system could be your workplace too! An average person spends 65% of their time working, therefore the place that your work holds in your life is bigger than you think. If you wake up every day excited to go to your office and present your creative ideas then you have the biggest blessing in the world. Make your workplace the reason why your body releases Endorphins.
Reach out to mental health services
The most common mistake you and I make while suffering from mental health issues is to keep things to ourselves. We often think that not telling anyone about how we feel will make things better, or sometimes we are concerned about what others will think about us if we share our mental health issues with them.
The first and foremost thing that you need to do today is to consult a therapist or contact a provider of mental health services. Talking to a professional will make things better. There are several mental health services available in Canada – like Mental health And Wellness service by the government of Canada.
Surrounding yourself with people who are dealing with similar issues or attending group sessions with individuals that share thoughtful advice based on their past experiences, is a great way to achieve the best mental health condition. One of the most recognized sessions for mental health awareness, Bell Let’s Talk is coming up with a new series of sessions starting from January 27, 2022.
Click here to know more about the Bell Let’sTalk initiative.
There it is! 7 of the best mental health practices for you to be able to keep your mental health at it’s best! And if you think you want to know more about mental health, then make sure to take a look at one of my blogs here.
Works Cited
Harvard Health Publishing: Harvard Medical School. “Giving Thanks Can Make You Happier.” 2021, https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/giving-thanks-can-make-you-happier. Accessed 03 November 2021.
“Meditation: A simple, fast way to reduce stress.” Mayo Clinic, 22 April 2020, https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/meditation/in-depth/meditation/art-20045858.