Maintaining good relationships with people around takes you a long way to keep up a good mental health.
Stress is an integral part of us & believe it or not, its not going anywhere. More than the stress, our reaction or our way of handling stress is what can create more stress. So if you do not want to feel stressed then learn to calm down & handle the mind.
Feeling low, anxious, or struggling to keep attention are some symptoms that you are stressed. But now-a – days, even without these symptoms, it’s important for each one of us, to take care of our mental health.
Also, good psychological well-being will automatically help in reducing many other physical health problems as well.
- Creating a positive outlook – The most important and first rule- Accept that you have some anxiety or stress. Not all our thoughts or behavioural patterns are always positive. There may be some which are not helping us in a good way. So identifying them is very important. If you feel, overwhelmed or incapable of handling certain situations its better to accept it. Say it out loud either to yourself, (you can pen down your thoughts) or to someone and it will help you think about things differently.
- Connect with people- Maintaining good relationships with people around takes you a long way to keep up a good mental health. Eating meals together with family or office colleagues, calling those long lost school or college mates, staying connected via Skype or other means of communication is also helpful in long distance, making time for helping or supporting someone in need.. These are ways which will help you develop a sense of belonging and self worth. It also gives you an opportunity to share your experiences and take positive feedbacks.
- Get good sleep – You may be wondering, how does sleep have a connection with good mental health?? A good quality sleep makes a big difference in how we feel mentally and physically. Sleep helps in maintaining good cognitive skills like your memory, attention and learning. So sleep deprivation causes a reverse effect and makes it difficult for us to cope with the simplest of stressors in our day to day life. Avoid too much of screen time at least 1 hour before bedtime. Avoid any kind of alcoholic or caffeinated beverages. Having any milky preparations or herbal teas are good to go. Creating a sleep timetable (same time sleep and wake up) also improves quality of sleep.
- Learn new skills or pursue your hobbies / interests – Our day to day activities has made it almost impossible for us to go in flashback and relive our favourite hobbies or pastimes. We do not even give a thought to learning something new. Going back to the canvas, playing that favorite musical instrument of yours, reading your fictional novels, OR even learning some new language, or culinary skills helps in boosting your self confidence and raising your self-esteem.
- Mindfulness and & Meditation- Very easy to say, but difficult done. Yet one of the most effective ways to keep us calm and composed. Mindfulness is nothing, but training ourself to be aware of our surroundings and living in the present. A very practice of reverse counting (going from 100 – 1 in any stressful or adverse condition) gives you some time to rethink on the current situation and helps in changing our reaction towards it. Chanting religious hymns, chanting OM with deep breaths, just practicing deep breathing (long inhales and exhales – 5 times, twice in the day) are some simple to do methods of meditation. Meditation can also be practiced in the guided way. (Guided meditation videos)
- Living a healthy and active life – Keep yourself physically active, take some sunlight daily, eat well balanced meals, quit smoking and alcohol. All of these changes will help you look and feel good about yourself.
- Last but not the least- Say ‘NO’. Always learn to set some boundaries for yourself. Understand when you have to put your foot down and say a stern NO to any situation or person. You have to be under constant obligations to please everyone around you. So that small negative word, will actually bring in some positive energy within you if something / someone is ruining your mental peace.
So the Rules are simple. Just like you make small amendments in your lifestyle for keeping up with a good physical health, you have to add few behavioral changes in your lifestyle, to maintain your sanity or have a good mental health.
