10 Simple Ways to Look After Your Mental Health
- Sadie Stringer
- May 14, 2018
- 5 min read
This week is Mental Health Awareness Week here in the UK. This week is being organised by the Mental Health Foundation and this years focus is on ‘Stress – are we coping?’.
So what I thought I would do is put together some quick Stress Busting tips and give you some useful idea’s of how you can look after your mental health.
Drink sensibly.
Ok. The sun has come out and the lure of the beer garden is strong! Which is fine, get outside, enjoy the sun, but don’t be tempted to drink more than you should! The amount of alcohol we drink is measured in units – this way of measuring alcohol was bought in back in 1987 to help us keep track of how much we are drinking. According to the NHS website, ‘Units are a simple way of expressing the quantity of pure alcohol in a drink.
One unit equals 10ml or 8g of pure alcohol, which is around the amount of alcohol the average adult can process in an hour. Men and women are advised not to drink more than 14 units a week, on a regular basis, which equates to 6 pints of average strength beer or 10 small glasses of low-strength wine.'
So enjoy a drink, by all means, but just enjoy them in moderation! And perhaps sip on a glass of water whilst enjoying your glass of wine to dilute the alcohol down even more (and reduce the likelihood of a hangover!).
Accept who you are.
Stop comparing yourself to others. Stop putting yourself down. You are you, unique, beautiful, amazing you. You are individual and are not cut from a mould. So don’t try to be like someone else. As long as you are doing what you think is right, morally, then you are on the right path to happiness. If you are going to use someone else as a guide, take everything with a pinch of salt. Don’t put pressure on yourself. Just be you. Eat well, exercise, work hard, make time for you, love, laugh, cry, be honest, kind.
Just follow your truth and live every day to its fullest – you are an incredible human being.
Take a break.
Whether it’s 15 minutes away from your computer screen, some time away from revision or perhaps a holiday or a child-free night away. Just take some time out. Take a break.
Use this time to recharge your batteries and reconnect with yourself, a loved one or your family. Perhaps ban electronics during this time so that you can really live in the moment and focus on the now.
Your body and mind will thank you for it!
Keep active.
You don’t need to run everyday, or sign up for the marathon, just move! Little and often. All you need to do is raise your blood pressure slightly and move that beautiful body of yours to feel the benefit instantly! Maybe a journey you’d usually do in the car can be walked… if you’re alone, listen to some music, up the tempo and get that blood pumpin’. Maybe you could swap out the way you get to work to walking? Enjoy the lighter, warmer mornings by walking to walk, school or college.
Anything active you do is better than nothing. Just getting up and about, you’re already lapping that guy on the sofa!
Activity and exercise raises the endorphin release in your body and contributes towards an elevated mood! So enjoy the great outdoors and take in some deep breaths whilst you’re there.
Ask for help.
Too many of us these days struggle under the pressure of work, home life, school life and don’t ask for help. We feel we should be able to cope and put ourselves under immense, unrealistic pressures. Now is the time to stop. It is not a weakness asking for help, infact it’s quite the other! Think how good the person you are asking will feel when you ask for a hand with something? It’s a compliment to be asked!
So stop taking the weight of the world on your shoulders, open up and ask for help!
Keep in touch.
With mobile phones and social media playing a huge part in how we communicate nowadays, we are becoming a little lazy when it comes to keeping in touch. Take some time once a week or even once a month as your ‘Keep in Touch’ day – get in touch with family or friends you haven’t spoken to for a while – pick up the phone, don’t text or email, they’ll be delighted to hear your voice! Or pop in and see a friend or relative and have a cuppa!
There’s always time for a cuppa…
Eat well.
Now, without sounding cliché, we all know how beneficial a good diet is for us so I am not going to lecture you. But just try and eat well. The obvious stuff. Plenty of fresh fruit and veg. Variety. Colour. Not too much processed food. Not too much sugar. Just be sensible and mindful of what you are consuming. Think of your body like a car – how you care for it and what you put in it has a direct impact on its output – so just be sensible and enjoy food. I find making a meal plan for the week helps – then you know what to buy on the weekly food shop, are not tempted to get takeaway and can ensure that you are eating a well-rounded, balanced diet – give it a go!
Talk about your feelings.
This is a little overlap with #5. Try to open up and talk to people about your feelings, good or bad. Find someone you can trust and who you know will listen and not judge. Let that person be your confidant that you can confide in and turn to when you need to – and be the same to them, in return. It has been in the media a lot lately how people tend to suffer in silence and not talk about their feelings, especially men. Which is so sad. Maybe they think it isn’t macho to speak about their feelings? Which is really sad as I find nothing more attractive than when my husband opens up to me and tells me when he is feeling bad – we hug, we talk it through and we feel closer for talking and he feels better for sharing. I know it’s not easy for some people to do that, that is why there are services such as The Samaritans. You can pick up the phone, talk to a complete stranger – no judgement, they don’t know you. Just to share your problem is a problem halved. Think about it.
Take up a hobby.
You may not feel that you are ‘good at’ anything – but how do you think these pro’s get good at something? They practice! Have a think if there is a hobby you have always wanted to do, or enjoyed when you were younger and haven’t done for years and take it up again! Don’t make excuses, make time for it! Your mental and physical health is worth that investment in time! Maybe tennis, golf, yoga, kayaking! It doesn’t matter! Grant yourself the time to go out and enjoy something for you!
Care for others
We are all busy people. I get that. But make sure you are taking time out of your lives to ‘care for others’ too. It is a very important part of our lives. Building friendships and relationships with others is important. It may also put some things in perspective, when you start to look around you and divert your attention to someone else, who may need your love and support.
"Most of all just make the most of every day. Be thankful for what you have been given – life is a gift! Take time to enjoy the beauty around you, the unconditional love of family, nature, the seasons, our beautiful world. Just step outside yourself for a moment and breath."
Namaste x
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