Five things you can do to keep your mental health in check

Hey everyone, welcome back for this week’s entry. This week I would like to discuss five things you can do to keep your mental health in check.

We can all so easily get caught up in the hustle and bustle of our daily lives, and unfortunately, one of the side effects of this way of living is that our health can be compromised. Although our health is very important, our mental health paves the way for all the other areas of health in our lives.

If we do not have our heads on correctly, everything else can be off-balance or out of sync.

Now, let me jump right in with one of the best ways I know how to keep things from going into overload in my head.

Journaling:

This is by far, in my personal opinion, one of the best ways to get all the crap out of your head so that you can take a step back and assess if you are in a good or bad place mentally, and then you can more effectively adjust things as needed for your balance and mental health.

An example of this is saying you are having a really bad week at work, and you have written in your journal every day and can see that with each day, your attitude or mindset is declining or becoming more negative; you then know to make plans for the weekend to decompress by doing things that make you feel good and will offset all the crap of the week so you can reset for the next week.

Staying in the right mindset helps us to handle any stresses or conflicts we face in our daily lives, and journaling is one of the most effective ways I have found to achieve that stable mental balance we all need.

Meditation or Mindfulness:

Another way to achieve that mental balance is through meditation or mindfulness. I will admit it can be tough to be mindful or in a state of meditation when you have deadlines to meet or ten people all needing something from you simultaneously. Still, if you can take just a little time out in your day to breathe and just try and quiet your mind, you will find it will help keep you in balance mentally, which will help you deal with people or stressful situations so much better. 

Rather than allow things to get overwhelming or out of control.

Being mindful is just to notice that you are going into an overwhelmed or frustrated state of mind, and knowing your limits, you make time to take a timeout and quiet your mind by breathing and refocusing your mind.

It is a very effective way to keep things in check and on track regardless of what you are doing or dealing with in your day.

 An attitude of gratitude:

Here is one of the most effective ways I have found to stay in a state of peace. If you are in a state of relaxation, it is much harder for things to affect you negatively. It is like having this protective armor that surrounds you; nothing negative can penetrate it.

To have a constant gratitude attitude, you must take the time to list ( whether in your head, in your journal, or out loud to those around you every day) at least one thing you are grateful for. (also, note that the more things you are thankful for every day, the stronger the state of peace or your protective armor will be.)

A gratitude attitude is the best way to stay positive, and staying positive is one of the best things you can do for your mental health and stability.

Staying physically healthy:

This is also an excellent way to check all areas of your health. For example, exercise improves both your physical and mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and negative moods and improving self-esteem and cognitive function. 

Exercise has also been found to lower symptoms of low self-esteem and social withdrawal.

Exercise pumps blood to the brain, which can help you to think much clearer. It also increases the size of the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memory, and the connections between the nerve cells in the brain.

If you can make the time to exercise, it is in your best interest to do so; even if all the time you can spear is fifteen minutes a day, it will still make all the difference in the world for your mental wellbeing.

Finding healthy ways to distract yourself:

Sometimes, it is hard to make the time for any of these suggestions or to do any of these methods, and you might even find it hard to take a deep breath to stay calm. However, in moments such as these, you have to remember you have a choice, you can either react and lash out, or you can become more focused on your work or on a particular activity other than the task you are working on. In addition, if you are dealing with a frustrating person, it could help distract you with something else to avoid losing your cool with them.

Distracting yourself by focusing on something else and staying productive is not one of the best ways to keep things in check. Still, it proves to be pretty effective if you are up against a wall and do not have another way to handle the situation healthily.

As I close this week, I hope I have effectively shown you five ways to help keep your mental health in check. I would encourage you to take the time to try at least one of these methods, if not all five. You will find that it will make things much easier to deal with and improve your overall perspective of life and the people surrounding you.

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Until next time, Namaste