Practices That Promote Mental Wellness
In my previous article, I discussed my journey to mental wellness and a little about my disorder. In this article will discuss practices that my therapist gave me to promote mental wellness.
Many practices promote mental wellness. To make them effective, they have to be a part of your lifestyle. This includes the habits you practice daily and the activities you engage in. After reading this article, you might want to do some more research on them to decide which ones are right for you.
Develop Positive Habits
Having a positive mindset: Having a positive outlook on life can help you cope with challenges and build resilience. A positive attitude may also protect against stress, improve your mood, help you feel better physically, boost your self-esteem and confidence, and help you reach goals.
Eating healthy food: Eating healthy foods can help prevent nutrient deficiencies that contribute to depression or other mental health challenges.
Being active: Participating in physical activity not only helps your body but improves mood and relieves stress.* It can also increase self-esteem, relieve anxiety and depression, and boost general feelings of well-being.*
Getting enough sleep: Sleep is a basic human need. It's also an essential part of mental wellness. You can't function well if you're tired all the time. With enough sleep, you increase your ability to focus, concentrate, and solve problems. Kids need about nine hours of sleep every night, and adolescents need eight hours. Adults need seven-to-eight hours of sleep per night.
Avoiding alcohol and drug abuse: Avoiding alcohol and drug abuse: Alcohol and drugs can worsen the symptoms of depression and anxiety. They can also interfere with your medications. Using these substances may make you feel better in the short term. Still, they will make you feel worse overall, both physically and emotionally.
Learning stress-management techniques
Meditation: Meditation has been found to reduce anxiety and depression symptoms. Many studies demonstrate that meditation works as well as or alongside antidepressants in treating depression and anxiety symptoms. The benefits of meditation are also long-lasting. Even if someone stops meditating for an extended period, its effects continue for months or even years afterward.
Yoga: Yoga has many benefits, including promoting flexibility, strength, weight loss, and stress relief. Yoga can be practiced as often as once a day or as little as once a week, depending on your schedule and preferences. It can also be done at home with a video or DVD or in a group setting in a yoga studio or gym.
Progressive muscle relaxation: Progressive muscle relaxation involves tensing and releasing muscles in a specific order. You start with your feet and move up through your body, relaxing each area before moving on to the next one. As you complete this exercise, you let go of any tension in your body. This can help relieve anxiety and is particularly helpful at bedtime when you want to let go of the day's worries so that you can fall asleep easily. If you're not sure how to do it on your own, there are plenty of guided progressive muscle relaxation exercises available online.
Maintaining social connections: Social isolation can be extremely detrimental to mental health and vice versa; having good relationships can significantly improve mental health, including reducing stress levels. Social connections increase self-esteem and encourage people to engage in healthy behaviors that will enhance their lives and the lives of their loved ones.
These practices can be hard to incorporate into everyday life. In my case, it’s not easy to maintain a positive mindset when you are learning to adjust to living with mental illness. However, I found the motivation to implement these habits. They have been incredible tools for my recovery. Many studies have shown that they will help any person of any age or mental state.
