Simple Ways to Better Your Mental Health
I hope everyone has been enjoying their week thus far! With the school year underway and the month of September soaring by, a topic I have been hearing a lot about is our mental health. With this time of year, it is easy to get overwhelmed or feel stressed with all the projects to come as the year continues.
Often times with this stress, I find that people turn to things like a yoga class, a spa day, or even a day off of work or school as a remedy to their declining mental health. A “mental health day” my mother would call it when she would let us skip a day of school and spend the day how we chose to with who we chose to. My brother and I enjoyed those mental health days, but now in retrospect, that is all they were: a day or a moment away from the stress of our everyday life. And while days off, or yoga classes allow us to escape temporarily, the stressors we tried to heal our minds from remain and pick up right where they left off the next day when we are back in the office or the classroom. As much as I love a restorative yoga class or a day where my work takes a back seat, it hardly has long lasting effects on our mental health.
Spa days and days away from the office aside (which I do enjoy from time to time as well), one of the best ways I have found to help better my mental health is such a simple method. It’s such an easy and therapeutic way to better your mental health, but its simplicity allows for it be overlooked oftentimes. I’ve discovered that one of the easiest and most rewarding ways to better your own mental health is to share kindness and good energy with others and the universe. Most times we expect this kindness ourselves, hoping it finds us in due time, instead of practicing that love and sharing that energy with others. I am a firm believer in the idea that the kindness and the energy you put out their to others is the same energy and love that you will receive as well. By focusing on exuding kindness to others, kindness and good things will find you. Below, I have included a few ways to get started with sharing kindness and bettering your mental health in such a simple way!
Practice telling somebody close to you “I love you” or “I appreciate you”
Telling somebody close to you how you feel about them with sincere intent and purpose will allow them to feel appreciated and gracious. In turn, it will fill your own heart up with feelings of love and gratitude as well!
Write words of kindness or encouragement on the restaurant check
Next time you and your friends eat out at a restaurant, write a few kind words or some words of encouragement when signing the check. It could be as simple as “You got this!” or “Have a great shift!”, but those words will travel a long way. Knowing you have made someone else’s day can in turn make yours as well.
Ask a family member, a roommate, or a colleague “Is there anything I can do to help you?”
Asking somebody close to you this question will let them know you are thinking of them, filling them up with appreciation and gratitude. Even if they do not need anything, just your offer will make you both feel happy and gracious!
Donate to a cause close to your heart
Donating to a meaningful cause will certainly help others, but it will help make yourself feel better as well knowing that you are helping make a difference in somebody else’s life. Even if it is a small donation of just $5, those $5 can go a very long way.
