Mental Health and Wellness

Healthy Living – Today is excited to share information about mental health and wellness. Mental health and wellness includes emotional, psychological and social well-being. Mental health and wellness affects how we think, feel and act.  It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices.  Mental health and wellness  is important at every stage of life from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

Mental Health and wellness is so important to each of us, especially in our world today. There are many things you can do that affect your mental health and wellness.  

• Talk about your feelings.
• Drink sensibly.
• Eat nutritionally balanced meals.
• Develop good sleeping patterns.
• Accept who you are.
• Keep active. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day.
• Keep in touch with family, friends and loved ones.
• Ask for help.
• Communicate your thoughts and feelings with a close friend, mentor, family member, church or life coach.
• Avoid negative surroundings.
• Care for others.
• Take a break. 
• Practice mindfulness and gratitude.
• Surround yourself with positivity.
• Do something you are good at.
• Add a new t-shirt to your closet with a motivational/inspirational graphic.

The point is not to increase your productivity or accomplish an incredible feat. Rather, be ready to take on life by trying a few of the suggestions listed below.

• Build confidence. Build up your confidence by making a small promise to yourself and keeping it.
• Build mindfulness. Mindfulness can reduce stress, anxiety, depression, and chronic pain. Building mindfulness can be as simple as repeatedly bringing yourself back to the present throughout the day. You can also consider starting a formal meditation practice centered on mindfulness, where you focus on bringing your attention back to your breath or another anchor.
• Express gratitude. Gratitude can help lower stress, depression and anxiety. This works especially well if you write it down. Try writing down three things every night that you are grateful for. These can be tiny things, like the feeling of soft bed sheets or the warmth of a sunny day.
• Surround yourself with positivity. Limit your exposure to toxic people and things, if possible. If you use social media, make sure that it is a positive experience, and only follow people who boost your mood or add value to your life in some way.
• Set a reminder or alarm to go off on your phone with an uplifting quote. Change your computer passwords to an inspiring word. Put post-it notes up to encourage yourself.
• Challenge thoughts. Thoughts are not facts. You can challenge a thought by asking yourself two questions: “Is it true?” and “Will believing it help me become a better version of myself?” If the answer to either of these is no, ditch it, and choose to believe the alternative.
• Act the way you want to feel. We often think of our thoughts and feelings as guiding our behaviors, but the reverse can be true as well. Act the way you want to feel by forcing yourself to smile, standing up tall, and dressing in a way that makes you feel confident; you may start to feel better from the outside in.
• Do something for someone else. Give a compliment, offer to help a family member, start volunteering. Do something to broaden your perspective and focus on someone else’s needs.
• Work on forgiving yourself and acknowledging that you are doing your best at any given moment. Speak to yourself as you would a friend or loved one.

Mental health and wellness is important, and is a factor to consider as we strive to improve the quality of people’s lives.