Techniques to Improve Your Mental Well-Being
Emotional well-being describes how people think and feel about themselves. It can be improved by reducing stress, fostering positive social connections and caring for physical health.
A few ways to prioritize your mental wellness include: establishing regular exercise routines, eating a balanced diet, getting enough sleep and cultivating supportive relationships.
1. Exercise
Getting regular exercise isn’t just good for your waistline and your joints, it’s also beneficial to your mental health. Studies show that people who regularly exercise have fewer days when they feel bad about themselves and are more resilient to life’s stressors.
When you exercise, your body releases hormones that improve mood and increase energy levels. It also helps you sleep better at night, and can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.
The key is to make exercising a part of your routine, so it becomes just as important as eating or sleeping. If you’re not sure where to start, try adding some low-impact exercises like walking or yoga to your daily routine.
If you’re worried that adding another chore to your already busy day won’t be possible, try making it a social event by exercising with friends. This will be more fun and help keep you accountable to your workout plan. Plus, you’ll have someone to talk to about how you’re feeling. This is one of the best ways to relieve stress and can also be a form of meditation.
2. Take a Break
Taking regular breaks, even if they are only five minutes, can help you reduce stress, increase productivity and improve mental health. The best breaks are those that involve movement and a change of scenery, like a short walk, reading a book or talking to a friend.
Research has shown that relaxing breaks facilitate recovery by restoring our mental and physical functional systems to their baseline state. These break activities can also deactivate and reactivate the part of the brain associated with our work, making it easier to focus when we return to the task at hand.
Taking breaks is important because it can allow us to discover parts of ourselves that we may not be aware of. For example, if you and your partner are struggling in your relationship and decide to go no-contact, you might find that as the break continues, your needs change. This can be a good opportunity to learn about your own needs and how to communicate them to one another. Additionally, a break might also help you address any underlying mental health conditions that may be contributing to your conflict.
3. Listen to Music
Whether it’s to calm you down or help you focus, music can be an effective tool for coping with anxiety and stress. In fact, it’s been found that the brain can absorb and respond to music by releasing feel-good hormones.
In addition to lowering blood pressure, music can also reduce muscle tension and boost attention span. Using a mix of soothing melodies and calming instruments can create a sense of peaceful calm to help you relax.
Studies have shown that music can improve your performance on cognitive tasks, particularly in older adults. When studying, a study suggests that listening to instrumental tracks may be more beneficial than those with complex lyrics, as they can help reduce distractions and promote concentration.
Additionally, practicing mindful listening enables you to completely immerse yourself in the music and divert your attention from anxious-provoking thoughts. If you want to take it a step further, try learning to play an instrument. Research has shown that musical training can improve your memory, mood and quality of life. In one study, participants who took piano lessons saw improvements in their verbal intelligence scores.
4. Talk to a Friend
Talking is a key aspect of most friendships and is a great way to learn more about your friends. Sharing personal experiences can strengthen your bond with them and also help you to manage any stressors you may be facing.
Studies have shown that social connection and support from friends is important for mental well-being. One study even found that having a single conversation with a friend is enough to boost feelings of connectedness and lower stress levels. It is important to be a good listener and ask open-ended questions so your friend can share as much or as little as they want.
Be empathetic when they talk about hard times, but don’t try to fix their problems for them. This can make them feel like you don’t value their opinion or care about their emotions. It’s also important to avoid interrupting them while they are talking and minimizing their concerns. Instead, try to find more neutral ways to express your concern such as, “I’m sorry that has been difficult for you” or “I think you should consider seeking professional help”. Having this discussion can give them the permission they need to seek help on their own.
5. Relax
Getting plenty of rest is one of the most effective ways to reduce stress. Studies show that when your body is relaxed, you can strengthen the immune system and improve health conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease and insomnia.
Relaxation techniques work by switching off the fight-or-flight response, the chain of bodily reactions that prepares you to defend against perceived danger or stress. Relaxation techniques can include deep breathing, meditation, yoga and self-hypnosis. They also include progressive muscle relaxation, where you tensing and then relaxing muscles in groups of muscles until the entire body is relaxed; autogenic training, which uses the senses of smell, sight, sound and touch; and biofeedback-assisted relaxation, where an electronic device provides feedback on how your body reacts to different emotional or physical experiences.
Many of these relaxation techniques can be taught by a mental health professional or by complementary and integrative health specialists. It can take time to learn them and for them to become part of your regular routine, but practicing them daily can help you manage your stress levels.
