Importance of Mental Health – 5 Proper Ways To Improve It

Physical and mental health are the most critical aspects of a healthy lifestyle. They are the foundations for living the best quality of life and shouldn’t be overlooked. Generally, in life, we can manage or heal our bodies in many different ways – be it modern, Chinese, or ayurvedic medicine.

However, psychological health is quite a bit complex to deal with because it is much subtler due to various influences, environment, and heredity. Healing of the mind is a different thing, but we are discussing the improvement of psychological well-being.

Mental health is often misunderstood. Some believe that the way you act and behave entirely depends on your brain chemistry and genetics, whereas others say it’s just a matter of willpower – the “positive” thinking mentality. Unfortunately, it is never about a single decision, but it is based on multiple factors and habits. 

There are several things you can do to improve your mental health:

1) Observe your thoughts:

The ability to pay attention and observe your thoughts without any evaluation is the key to lowering your reactions to emotions. Because as soon as you react to your thoughts, you stop learning about yourself, and therefore it becomes pretty meaningless. 

Most people react, that is, act on autopilot, particularly when they feel strong emotions: 

A) You get angry, and your reaction is immediately lashing out – throwing things around, punching the wall, being abusive, or thinking about how terrible someone else is. 

B) Anxiety takes over, and the first thing you do is engage in meaningless activities or look for comfort by calling a friend or someone close to you.

C) You turn to alcohol or drugs when you feel sad or depressed. 

All these acts are based on impulsiveness and lead you nowhere. To learn something new about yourself, you must be with your thoughts and emotions. The more you do that, the more you realize how insignificant your past actions were.

2) Learn to change patterns of your behavior

An obvious sign of poor mental health is rigid behavior. The key to stronger mental and emotional health is to change your behavior from time to time. When we act on the same patterns every day and expect a different result, it is a form of neurosis.  

It is not exactly insanity, but if you try and think back on a time when you were suffering psychologically, you see the same pattern repeating itself. However, it doesn’t make you feel better. It gradually gets worse over time. 

For instance, it becomes too easy to distract yourself with mindless activities when you are feeling anxious or afraid or to isolate yourself when you are sad and depressed. 

Simply put, we all have our ways of responding to sadness and stress, and it is always in the same pattern because the past holds us away from the present. You must see this pattern and break it immediately so that you can respond to your emotions differently.

3) Relaxation practices

Some breathing or spiritual practices bring about the body’s natural relaxation response. It helps slow your breathing, lower blood pressure, and reduce muscle tension. Some of them are:

A) Pranayama: Pranayama is a part of yoga that mainly focuses on your breath. Some practices involve fast breathing, and others involve slow breathing. It is a great way to energize yourself physically as well as mentally. Ensure to follow all the rules before taking up this practice. 

B) Meditation: Various meditations, such as focusing on the breath, observing your thoughts without judgment, or concentrating on chakras, can also promote inner peace. 

All these forms of meditation are self-help. They give you a sense of harmony within yourself and make you less reactive to outward happenings. 

C) Massage: Getting a head or full-body massage can benefit both physical and mental health. It helps to reduce your stress hormones by lowering the heart rate. 

It increases the temperature in the body to promote relaxation and improve circulation throughout the body. 

4) Give your whole attention to suffering

When going through a hard time, be compassionate towards all your emotions and thoughts. You must ensure you approach them with kindness, affection, and rationality. 

Most of us lack the quality of self-compassion. It is a quality that makes you want to treat yourself with love, empathy, and no judgments, like a close friend. While many have learned to be kind towards others, they are terrible at doing the same for themselves. 

For instance, when you commit a mistake, you start criticizing yourself with negative thinking and self-talk, or you start comparing yourself to others when you are unsure about what you want. 

5) Living healthily every day

Physical and mental health are not separate; they are interrelated. The more you are aware of this, the healthier lifestyle you will want to pursue. It includes everything you do throughout the day – how you eat, sit, behave, think and spend time. 

Some of the essential things you should consider are:

1) Good quality sleep: It is not the amount of sleep you get, but it is about the quality. Fewer hours of quality sleep is even better for your mental health. Poor sleep can cause you to become more angry and irritated. 

Over time, lack of good sleep can make worsen your mental condition. So, it is important to ensure that you sleep well, especially at night. 

2) Proper eating habits: Proper nutrition not only makes you physically healthy but also boosts cognitive function and decreases stress and anxiety. There have been studies that show how lack of nutrients can cause certain mental illnesses. (4)

Choosing a well-balanced diet that gets you all the essential nutrients you need is crucial to promoting both physical and mental well-being. 

3) Make yourself physically active: Working out or doing yoga can positively impact your mental health. Physical activities boost your mood, concentration, and alertness. 

It doesn’t have to be a heavy workout or twisting yourself in yogic poses. You can walk, run or do some regular exercises to ensure your body does sufficient movement. Any physical activity is better than none.