4 Ways Everyone Can Enjoy Life More
| 2 min read
Your mental health influences how you think, feel and behave on a daily basis. It also affects your ability to cope with stress, overcome challenges, build relationships and recover from life’s setbacks and hardships. Just as it requires effort to build and maintain physical health, so it is with mental health.
Whether you’re looking to manage symptoms of a mental illness, have more control over your emotions or simply feel more positive and energetic, here are four ways you can help make that happen.
- Get moving as much as you can. You have 1,440 minutes in your day. Research shows that those who find at least 30 minutes every day to exercise report lower stress and tension, higher energy levels and reduced anxiety and depression.
- Be thankful for the good in your life. Show an attitude of gratitude by thanking people every day. Those who appreciate others and acknowledge what’s good in their lives are happier, less anxious and depressed and live longer.
- Connect face to face with supportive people: Phone calls and social networks have their place, but nothing can beat the feel-good, mood-busting power of quality face-to-face time with other people. Unplug from emails, texts and social media to spend time with someone you trust and who will listen to you without judgment.
- Write it all down: Has something been bothering you? Let it all out … on paper. Writing about upsetting experiences helps to release the intensity of your feelings. As a result, you’ll feel calmer and less likely to dwell on your worries and stressors.
If you’ve made consistent efforts to improve your mental and emotional health, but don’t feel like you’re functioning well at work, home or in your relationships, it may be time to seek professional help. A caring professional can often help to motivate you to do more for yourself than you’re able to do alone.
Editors note: This article has been repurposed from New Directions, used with permission. May is Mental Health Awareness Month. If you need help or know someone who does, reach out to your doctor or another professional who can come up with the right treatment plan.
Photo credit: Leonid Mamchenkov
