It is not new if the hectic office schedule or a fight with your best friend overwhelms you and makes you stressed, low, and upset. After all, everyone experiences anxiety, mood swings, and depression at some point. But if these low and negative emotions persist for a longer time, they can create a mental health issue.

You may think, why is mental health so important? Mental health is our  emotional, psychological, and social well-being that affects how we think, feel, and act.

Researchers emphasize that mental issues may exist even in those who act completely normal.

To emphasize the importance of mental health, 10th October is observed as World Mental Health Day.

How to take care of your mental health?

Mental health issues should be recognized, analyzed, and checked before it's too late. Here are 7 ways to incorporate mental health into your daily life and live a better life.

1. Increase Self-Awareness

Be aware of your thoughts, behavior, and actions. People who are jittery, slow, or unruly are so because of previous unchecked behavior patterns.  Unchecked behaviors become habits that need conscious efforts for change. So, next time you think unruly, binge browse the internet, or eat subconsciously, just pause, relax, and do that consciously.

Activity: Close your eyes and relax for 5 minutes and breathe slowly. Dont interrupt your thoughts that come in between, but just take a mental note of thoughts that erupt in your mind. 

2. Practice Positive Affirmations

Practicing positive affirmations forces the mind to think positively about affirmation. Of course, every plan should be followed by action to get results, but positive affirmations trigger a wave of optimism in the brain.

Activity: Say to yourself these five affirmations regularly for 21 days, and then note your experience in a diary.

• I am relaxed.

• I am strong.

• I am confident.

• I am becoming better every day.

• All source of power is within me.

3. Meditation

Meditation is an age-old technique to focus and increase self-awareness. Many societies have associated meditation with spirituality, but now, researchers prove meditation's mettle in making you emotionally and psychologically strong.

Activity: Find a quiet place, and sit in a cross-legged position on the mat with your head, neck, and spine in straight alignment. Slowly close your eyes, relax and focus on deep breathing. Do this for 10 minutes every day.

4. Exercise

Exercise builds muscle and bone and regulates the entire body’s systems. The repetitive, slow, and conscious movements in exercise build stamina and flexibility in the body. The same applies to mental exercise also. The brain is a muscle, and training can evolve it much better. 

According to a survey, those who play crosswords, sudoku, or do 15-20 minutes of maths practice every day are lesser prone to Dementia or Alzheimers in old age.

Activity- Dedicate 30 minutes of exercise time and 15-20 minutes of mental exercise time every day. Your  training will change your body and mind gradually over time. 

5. Learn time management skills

Everybody has tasks for the day. Some manage to accomplish them and sleep peacefully, whereas some regret saying, ‘Oh! One more day passed, and I could not complete it’. If this repeats every day, it sows seeds of regret that make us anxious and low.

Activity- Write your goals and mark them when complete. Use Pomodoros, a To-do list, and other applications to upskill your time management.

6. Pursue a hobby

Almost everyone has one hobby that he/she enjoys every bit of it. It enhances creativity, refreshes you, and gives you a sense of accomplishment, leading to serotonin “good hormone” release.

Activity- In the time management plan, incorporate your hobbies daily or weekly. It gives you a sense of fulfillment.

7. Practice Self-Love

Dont confuse self-love with selfishness or self-centric. Self-love helps us imagine and create a better version of ourselves. You can do the following things to express self-love.

• Pamper yourself.

• Spend some time alone exploring things that matter to you.

• Pursue your hobby.

Still, if you think you need help, consult Zivanza. We understand how sensitive mental health issues are. Our expert team maintains 100% confidentiality, so you can express your concerns transparently with us.