Twenty-twenty, has been a doozy! It’s very easy to get lost in the trappings of your own mind and feel depressed. Many people have been out of work, even have been forced to work from home which is challenging for anyone at first. Below are the top 5 things you can do to improve your daily mental health.
1. Make Time For Yourself
In today’s time there is a duplicity that exists that steals your time away from you. Either you are too busy or you are just too tired. However, the best thing we can do for ourselves is be diligent in scheduling time for ourselves. This includes hobbies, leisure constructive projects, or generally anything to broaden our minds. Learn a language, play an instrument, solve puzzles, tend a garden, or generally anything that shifts your mindset to a pleasurable place.
2. Care For Your Body
This seems to go without saying and is mentioned in every article about having a healthy mind but as always needs repeating. Just remember, ‘More good NEWS”
- Nutrition – Eating healthy has an incredible effect on your mood and energy levels. Healthy gut equals a healthy mind.
- Exercise – There are countless benefits to exercise. Increasing the O2 levels in the blood and improving you overall conditioning will greatly decrease depression and improve your mood.
- Water – Drink more H2O and flush those toxins away!
- Sleep – Lack of sleep can contribute directly to depression.
3. Connect with People
When you suffer from depression, one of they symptoms is a desire to isolate. This is opposite of what you as a human require. We are social creatures by our very nature. Find and seek out people to connect with in your community. Find clubs and meetups to attend. These days, even if they are online meetings, it is very beneficial for you to keep and maintain human relationships.
4. Pay It Forward
Take time to give of yourself to others. The rewards are plentiful to your inner peace by what you give of yourself as opposed to what you may receive.
You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give”.
~Winston Churchill
5. Meditate
There is a lot to unpack on what meditation consists of, so here is the simplest breakdown that I know of. This can take a lot of forms, breathing exercise, prayer, etc.
- Find a quiet comfortable place to sit.
- Focus on slow breathing,
- As your mind drifts off to various things like, “Did I change the oil this month or last month?” or “How old is Robert Redford now?” or “What exactly happened in that last Star Wars movie, and why?” It’s OK!
- Refocus your mind back on your breathing every time.
Think of it as your assignment when you meditate is to be the Australian Shepherd of your brain and herd those thoughts on what you want it to focus on. This practice just 10 minutes a day will allow you essentially to have a lot more focus in your daily life and therefore more control over your thoughts and thus your feelings.
This is a very abbreviated list and certainly, there are many things such as the converse of this list, things to remove from your life such as drugs, alcohol, isolation, toxicity, etc. However, if you do these five things you will have a desire to retract from the negatives in your life.