How do you maintain your GOOD mental health today?

How is your good mental health today?

 

Mental Health week is great to raise awareness and break down the stigmas but like everything else we have mental health for 52 weeks of the year.

When we talk about mental health, it is usually about what to do when our mental health has suffered some strain or stress. What about talking about GOOD MENTAL HEALTH?

Prevention is better than cure.

We all have mental health and the brain is like any other muscle in our body- we need to keep it fit. In fact, it is our brain that instructs the rest of our bodies, so in some ways it could be considered more important to have mental fitness first.

How do we maintain good mental health? This is different for everyone and can include the usual suspects of exercise, being outdoors or having a holiday.

Take 15 mins today to make a list of the things that are good for your mental health. Divide these into three main categories: your mind, your soul and your body. If you can step up one thing in each of these areas the overall effect on maintaining your good mental health will be a real positive. This can help build your resilience to poor mental health.
Challenge yourself a little bit, go outside of your comfort zone and you will reap the rewards of satisfaction. It can make you feel proud of yourself and good for your self-esteem.
Here are some examples of what I have done recently to maintain my good mental health
My mind: I recently went on a one-day bread making course. I think I almost enjoyed the anticipation of going as much as the course itself! I learned new skills in bread making and met some interesting people on the course as well. I bought the cook book and have tagged several pages to make some bread in the next few weeks.

My soul: I tend to beat myself up if I have not done lots of things during the day that I deem as ‘progress or useful’. The other day, although I had several ‘jobs’ to do, I decided to put them all aside and just sit in the garden with a cup of tea and potter around dead heading flowers etc. The important thing for me was that I recognised what I was doing and appreciated it for myself.

My body: I treated myself to an energy boosting smoothie (those things are expensive!!) and also went to the gym twice this week (after not going for a year!)

All these categories can also overlap and they should do. We often think physical fitness is something separate from our mental fitness but they are all interconnected

Take 15 mins today to make a list of the things that are good for your mental health and you are more likely to exercise them more often 😊.