5 Ways to Improve Your Mental Health within 1 Week
#5: Ditch your slouching posture
Are you tired of hearing bad news all the time? Are you desperate to improve your mental health? Are you tired of feeling hopeless all the time? If you answered yes to those three questions, keep reading.
Many don’t achieve the results they want with their mental health because they give up way too early on the process. If they don’t see results quickly, they assume it’s never going to work out. That’s a mistake.
Imagine we cut an oak tree on its infant state just because it hasn’t fully grown in a year. That’d be crazy. It takes about 30–35 years for an oak tree to reach its adult state. I ask you, is an oak tree more complex than humans? Of course not. We humans are the most complex creatures ever known, and learning good habits isn’t a quick process.
That’s why we need to be patient if we want to see results. If we want to teach our brains to be positive, we need to pick up healthy habits to make them be what we want them to be.
1. Make Genuine Connections
Make an honest attempt to get to know someone new or someone you already know. Try talking to your parents more often. They have more experience in life and they are likely to give you good advice.
Don’t limit yourself to talking only to people from your age group, go ahead and expand your horizons and open your mind to the possibility that anyone can be your friend.
This is a great way to create a network of people who are there for you when you are feeling down.
Do’s
- Turn off the TV to talk or play a game with your children, friends, or family.
- Visit a friend or family member who needs your support.
- Make plans to hang out at a new restaurant, mall, park.
Don’ts
- Do not rely solely on technology or social media alone to build relationships. Those types of relationships don’t tend to last and end up in disappointment.
- Don’t invite friends to activities where everyone will be quiet or sitting down. Even if everyone is in the same room, if no interaction is going on, it’s pointless.
2. Time to Hit That Gym
Physical workout is known to build resilience and a good mood in people. If you are feeling good, working out can make you feel great, and if you are feeling down, it can make you feel better.
Doing sports or hitting the gym can inject you with a sense of control over your own body and actions. You feel like the boss because you are the one deciding how many reps to bust and for how long.
You are more likely increase your self-esteem and improve your mental health if you are physically active.
Do’s
- Find fun activates to help you get in shape.
- Get a gym membership or go run at the beach.
- Look up free workout plans on Google.
Don’ts
- Do not feel that you have to open up your wallet to get fit. Find free activities that you enjoy and make them part of your life.
- Don’t give up soon. Not seeing results quickly doesn’t mean it’s not working out. Remember the oak tree? Well, you need to plant the seed and wait for it to grow.
3. Create Something New
Neurology has discovered that learning new skills can promote neuroplasticity in the brain. In other words, you are changing the physical structures of the brain by pushing it to learn something new.
When you discover new abilities, new neural pathways form, which help neurotransmitters transfer impulses faster. All of this boosts your self-confidence, raises your self-esteem, helps you build a sense of purpose, and it can help you connect with others.
Do’s
- Learn how to cook something new. Look up healthy recipes and cooking tips.
- Discover new hobbies, like pottery, chess, poetry, painting, singing, or fiction writing.
Don’ts
- It’s good to challenge yourself, but you don’t need to learn things you don’t like. Always look for something that interests you.
- Do be unrealistic when you set your goals. Make them easy to achieve and fun to do.
4. Sit Back and Relax to Music
Has a song ever made you cry? A beat fills you up with power? Did a song inspire you to take a leap of faith? Have you ever said, Oh yeahhhh!! to your favorite song? If you said yes, it’s for good reasons, my friend. Recent discoveries show that listening to music and creating it has marvelous effects on mental health.
Positive genres have the innate ability to reduce pressure and tension, while more aggressive songs tend to do the opposite. Even if you are not paying attention to a song playing in the background, it’s been discovered that it can change your mood.
Do’s
- Listen to chill music with positive lyrics.
- Create a mood playlist when you are feeling down.
- Choose happy beats that encourage creativity and relaxation.
Don’ts
- Avoid sad music. When we are depressed, we tend to choose music that gets us in touch with our negative emotions, which feeds the beast we have inside.
5. Ditch Your Slouching Posture
Are you exhausted after a long day at the office? Do you feel more stressed when you sit down for hours on a zoom meeting? New studies show that bad posture can be bad for your mental health.
Benefits of good posture:
- Increased confidence.
- Greater persistence & resilience.
- Increased energy levels & better mood.
- More positive emotions.
Your body is like a reflection of how you are feeling inside. If you are feeling depressed, you are likely to slouch more. That’s why when you are sitting down, resting, or sleeping, you feel more tired than rested.
Research has shown that correct posture can help you handle stress during a long day of work at home.
Do’s
- Walk up straight and put your chin up.
- Do back exercises that correct bad posture.
- Be conscious of your posture while you sit, walk, and sleep.
Don’ts
- Don’t sit like melted gelatin at meetings. Bad posture can also give the feeling to others that you don’t care about what the boss is saying.
- Do not spend hours sitting down.
All You Need To Know
The definite way to improve your mental health is to do something about it. As you can see, most of these tips are free and work out almost anywhere.
If you want to make real changes to how you feel, you must commit to these habits:
- Make genuine connections.
- Time to hit the gym.
- Create something new.
- Sit back and relax to music.
- Ditch your slouching posture.
