A vital component of our entire well-being is the state of our mental health which frequently goes undetected or unaddressed in the daily flurry which may lead to development of mental disorder. In this article, I will examine 7 simple everyday routines that can greatly help you or your loved ones improve their mental health.
Along with examining these behaviours, we’ll offer concrete suggestions for incorporating them into your everyday practice. Each piece of advice will be accompanied by a real-world case study, emphasizing the human element of improving mental health.
If you are concerned about your mental health, take a dive into this article and learn these simple and useful strategies which will help you greatly.
Here are seven ( 7 ) practical ways to help you massively in keeping your mental health in check.
- Take time to Sleep.
- Do Exercise Regularly.
- Spend Time with Nature.
- Practise Meditation.
- Practise Gratitude.
- Learn to Say No!
- Forgive Yourself!
Now let us check them one by one in deeper details.
Take Time to Sleep:
You need enough time to have PROPER sleep. Having a busy schedule can reduce your sleeping time, waking up early and sleeping late at night. This habit does not give your mind a proper time to refresh and reset. Even on weekends, establish a regular sleeping schedule and establish a restful bedtime regimen.
For example, Sarah a new mother noticed that her stress and anxiety level was increasing drastically. Her condition was further worsened by her tight schedule at work. She decided to change her sleeping time and noticed some changes which became more evident after consistently following this schedule.
Due to the benefits realized, she also decided to introduce some other practices to help her further; she adopted a calm bedtime routine, reading a book she loves for 15 minutes and doing deep breathing exercises before sleeping.
Do Exercise Regularly:
Aim to exercise for 30 minutes or more on most days. You can do this by picking pastimes you find enjoyable. Satisfactory exercise is an integral part of your mental health.
Exercise helps boost your hormones which have a huge part to play in your general wellbeing. If you are too busy with work and have no extra time to go to the gym, you can adopt easier and simpler methods of exercise.
For example, as a business executive, who struggling with stress at work. You can start to include daily walks in your schedule, which will help with your physical health and serve as a potent stress reliever. Your mental health will significantly improve as a result of the straightforward act of exercising your body by just walking to work and back home.
Spend Time with Nature:
Setting aside time for outdoor activities is a good practice that can boost your mental health and alleviate stress. People who are so busy and preoccupied with a lot of things which results in anxiety attacks and stress can adopt this method.
When your mind begins to wander take a walk, even a little walk in the park might help you connect with nature and redirect your thoughts in the right direction and channel. As you walk ensure to connect closely with nature around you, look closely at what you see around you, and appreciate its beauty. This practise will bring a form of contentment within you and become a channel for your relief.
Practice Mediation:
The practice of meditation involves taking some time to reflect constructively on your vision, mission, and life goals. People no longer take the time to seriously reflect on themselves, what they stand for, and what they want to accomplish because they are too busy with work, routines, and deadlines.
Through meditation, you may see the specifics of where you are heading and make your mission and vision a reality. Effective meditation will bring back your soul energy and jump-start your mental prowess leaving no room for anxiety and stress.
When your future end is visible, you will be motivated to reach that end. As a busy person, I occasionally suffer from anxiety and stress. I thought to include brief meditation sessions in my daily schedule, sometimes every week. These brief periods of awareness progressively allowed me to reclaim emotional equilibrium and lessen my worry. Meditation works like magic!
Practice Gratitude:
Practising meditation will awaken you to the fact that there are a lot of good things about you and in you that others are not having and are not aware of. The main cause of mental disorientation in the youthful generation is biased comparison and low self-esteem.
Comparing yourself with your friend, or your friend friends or maybe thinking how you are disadvantaged against them. Every single person is advantaged differently, recognize your advantages, build on them, and put them into relevant and helpful practice. Keeping this habit will wake you up to the enormous possibilities within your reach that you can be grateful for every day. Keep a gratitude journal and take moments to reflect on your blessings daily.
Here is a case of a retiree, who found himself dwelling on past regrets, what he did not do right, and the potentials that were never realized. By taking into account what advantages he had within himself, his life shifted positively.
Learn to Say No:
As a friend and colleague, sometimes I am overextended and stressed due to so many unnecessary preoccupations, “…..so and so help me do this or that”.
I learned to say no to additional commitments when I felt overwhelmed. This empowered me to protect my mind against so many things and allocate time for self-care. You can be busier and more welcoming than I am but you need to set boundaries and prioritize your self-care.
You don’t have to validate all the requests being made at the time your schedule is overwhelmed. Learn to say No! at the time you most need it!
Forgive Yourself:
Mistakes are part of life, every human being is a man, not an angel therefore mistakes can be made. It is okay to make a mistake but it is wrong to stay in that mistake too long. Accept the fact that it was wrong, and look for a way to take needed and necessary responsibility to ensure the mistake never happens again.
Dwelling on your past mistakes, even 20 years old mistakes is a waste of your inner strength. Worry and stress are the major wasters of human strength. Practice self-compassion and self-forgiveness, let go of guilt and resentment, give yourself a chance to advance beyond your current situation
Mental health in summary:
Continual effort and thoughtful daily routines are needed to improve mental wellness. The useful case studies that are included throughout this article demonstrate how people have successfully adopted these behaviors and reaped the rewards of increased mental health.
Keep in mind that mental health is a very personal matter and you can do it! Check our blog on depression and be on the alert