6 Habits to Improve Your Mental Health
Creating habits to improve your mental health is a great way to start off a new year.
I want to share my habits that I have been trying to build over the last few months. These habits were much needed- not only as a working mom and wife but as a blogger and content creator and having to spend so much more time on social media now.
Why is Good Mental Health Important
Our mental health is important because when left ignored or untreated, it can lead to stress, anxiety, major depression and other health conditions. It also affects our overall mood.
Habits to Help You Improve Your Mental Health
1. Set boundaries with your screen time.
The habit I’m working on is no social media after 8PM and no social media before 7AM.
The why behind that: Too much social media can cause unnecessary comparison. It can stress you out about something that is irrelevant to your real life. Also there has been times I’ve been on TikTok where I went from being happy and laughing one minute to balling my eyes out because I saw something on my For You Page and it was completely sad.
I decided that isn’t something I should be consuming before I go to bed or right when I wake either.
Here are some better suggestions on how to spend that free time:
- You can create a new daily routine such as exercise, praying, reading, journaling or working on something you’ve been longing to do.
- You can create an evening routine that consists of self care and winding down, make a healthy dinner or schedule a date or go watch a movie you’ve been wanting to see.
2. Boost Mental Health with a Good Work Out
Working out for your mental health doesn’t have to be strenuous. But not only will it improve your mood, it will improve your physical health, heart and sex drive. Working out can be walking outside in the fresh air, cardio machines, weight training, group classes or even taking your dog on an extended stroll. Get moving anywhere from 30-60 minutes per day.
3. Eat Nutritious Foods
Have you heard of brain foods? Brain foods are fresh foods such as blueberries, oily fish, avocados and broccoli (just to name a few) that have been linked to better cell function in the brain and also helping with inflammation.
Why is this important: Eating crappy and processed foods makes us feel like just that-crap, therefore leading to feelings such as feeling less than or just plain blah and not being happy with ourselves.
How can you get started eating more nutritious foods? When you grocery shop, think about all the foods on the outer aisles such as fruits, veggies and lean meats. Things like rice, whole wheat pasta (or GF pasta) and quinoa are fine but all the other stuff in the middle of the store are considered processed.
My motto is clean food equals a clearer brain.
More Daily Habits to Improve Your Mental Health
4. Get to bed on time. And get decent rest such as 7-8 hours of sleep per night.
Sleep is so important! Like really important! Especially as we get older, midnight feels like 3am, 8pm feels like 10 and don’t even get me started on daylight savings time feeling like you traveled out of country!
Getting proper sleep is one of the most important healthy habits we can adopt.
5. Do things you love (or be around people you love).
When I was at my lowest in life, I used to go to coffee shops with a book or sit at park or beach and read, relax and people watch. Though my friends weren’t always available to hangout, I would spend time on my interests which in turn improved my mental health.
If there was ever anything you wanted to do for yourself or experience in life, go do it!
6.Let go of the things that no longer serve you.
I swear you can improve mental health immediately by letting go of negative things, people, activities you truly don’t enjoy, and toxic jobs. We all thrive in positive environments!
This isn’t only limited to negativity but it also could mean something like getting rid of extra clutter around the house or adapting to a new organization system (because the old ways of doing things aren’t effective)
And it can also mean what we consume. Such as too much news, reality TV or real life gossip.
3 words- Break The Chain!
Do these habits work for people with mental health conditions?
I’m not a medical professional, I am only speaking from my experiences with anxiety and my mental health journey that has been diagnosed from a doctor.
I would like to think these tactics can help someone’s mental wellness if they have something like bipolar disorder or another mental health condition. But seek treatment if that is the case as my blog post is informational only and does not substitute the advice from a certified professional.
Why is Mental Health Important to Me
When my anxiety, insomnia and panic attacks were at their all time worse- I had to seek therapy and other measures. Then to maintain a healthy mind , I started with these daily habits. I wanted to be me again and not only for me, but for my family.
With the recent death of tWitch, I have been in shock and sadness over the past week. I’m just a fan and admirer of him and his wife over the years.
For me to grieve so much, I don’t even want to imagine what his wife, kids and friends are going through right now.
I encourage you from the bottom of my heart that if you think you need to speak to someone, please do so. For the longest time I had ignorance and thought therapy wasn’t for someone like me. My hope is that these habits and tips can give my community the knowledge and inspiration they need to live a healthy life all around.
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