Content

• To step
• Method 1 of 3: Building relationships
• Method 2 of 3: Enjoy life
• Method 3 of 3: Challenge yourself

Strong mental health means understanding what it means to feel good, function normally in daily life, and be confident enough to overcome the obstacles you face every day. In many cases, your mental health is no different from your physical health in the sense that action can be taken to improve the health of your mind. It's important to take good care of your mental health from childhood and throughout your adult life to avoid depression, anxiety, excessive stress and addictions, conditions that can impact anyone. Keeping your mind calm should always be an important goal in your life.

To step

Method 1 of 3: Building relationships

1. Connect with your friends and family. These are the people who love and care about you and will be the most honest with you. Every void can be filled by friends and family who can reassure you and give you confidence. It is important to find a balance in your life between work, fun and family.
   • It is good to talk to people you love and trust and that way relieve stress, think positively and take a break from your work or other urgent matters.
   • Regardless of how busy your weekly schedule is, take one day of the week to dedicate to friends and family. Your body and mind will certainly appreciate it.
   • Family and friends also provide companionship, companionship, and enjoyable encounters that can reduce feelings of loneliness and stress.
2. Find people who have the same interests as you. Communicating with people who enjoy the same activities creates a sense of belonging and improves your mental health.
   • Join a reading group or card club, a sports club or a walking group for the evening, so that you can not only enjoy the physical and mental training, but also get outside for a while.
   • Build friendships with intelligent, informed, and experienced people. These friendships will provide stimulating conversations on a variety of topics, introducing you to new ideas, perspectives, and understanding, which is good mental exercise.
   • You can find these types of clubs and associations in many places, whether online, in the newspaper or through friends and family members.
3. Offer to volunteer in your area. Volunteering has been found to contribute to enhancing a person's well-being, self-confidence and self-esteem. Volunteering often adds to the community, gives you a sense of unity, achievement and a positive outlook on life.
   • Volunteering doesn't have to be a big undertaking. You can also help an elderly neighbor pick up groceries, clear the snow in the winter driveway for a single mom, or build a community garden to improve the health of others.
   • Biologically, the side effects of volunteering for social connections consist of the release of the hormone oxytocin, which is associated with relaxation, confidence and mental stability.

Method 2 of 3: Enjoy life

1. Find a hobby. Make time during the week for activities that you enjoy. Relax and have fun without much stress. Hobbies, for example, are a great excuse to take a break from your busy lifestyle without feeling that you are not doing anything useful.
   • Studies show that a sudden rush of excitement or pleasure, such as going for a walk, playing with the dog, or cooking, releases eustress, a mild form of mental stress that turns out to be good for you.
   • As a positive break from your work, hobbies pose new challenges for the brain and an outlet for your stress. Focusing on activities that are different from your job gives your brain new tasks to focus on.
   • The intensity of participating in something that you enjoy makes time seem to fly by. This is a time when you don't think about the past or worry about the future.
   • Engaging in activities you love has been found to lower blood pressure, cortisol, obesity and BMI, while at the same time enhancing your positive psychosocial state. This proves that hobbies are good for body, soul and mind.
2. Stay active. Exercise is good for your body, but also for your mental health. Many studies link greater self-esteem, concentration and physical activity to exercise. Exercise also improves your sleep, replenishes your energy stores and builds stronger social bonds, while at the same time reducing tension, stress and mental exhaustion.
   • There is no need for expensive gym membership. Go for a jog in the park, swim in the sea, a lake or a river, or stretch and stretch in the living room. There are many ways to stay active outside of the gym, you can even exercise at work.
   • Moderate exercise - breathing more heavily than usual or if you're just starting to sweat - is recommended by most doctors to do 30 minutes, 5 times a week.
   • Choose activities that fit into your daily schedule, times that are right for you, and make it a regular part of your way of life.
   • If you need a partner to motivate you, ask a colleague, friend or family member to join you.
3. Eat healthy. Eating healthy is essential for strong mental health. If you don't, you only run the risk of a whole host of potential psychological problems. Recent studies show that the type of food you eat determines whether you are more prone to psychological problems. In short, eat a balanced diet that emphasizes plenty of fruits and vegetables.
   • Eat three healthy meals a day to keep your blood sugar in balance. Skipping a meal, especially breakfast, will leave you feeling more hungry, irritable and fatigued for the rest of the day. Eat a healthy snack to make up for it if you need it.
   • Be careful to eat less processed foods, such as sugar, and eat more whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Sugar will give you a boost of energy, but will eventually make you tired and irritable, while the sugars in fruits are absorbed more slowly and keep your mood steady.
   • Protein is full of the amino acid tryptophan, which reduces anxiety and stress, regulates behavior and improves sleep quality. Make sure your brain is regularly fed tryptophan by eating meat, eggs, cheese and nuts during meals.
   • Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids from fish oil are also part of your diet, as they play an important role in normal brain development and functioning, and help prevent heart attack, stroke and cancer.
   • Drink plenty of water to maintain your hydration levels and don't drink too much alcohol to prevent dehydration. Dehydration causes irritation, loss of concentration and a decrease in thinking ability, which are also among the side effects of alcohol.
   • Have a varied and interesting diet so you can be sure you are getting the full range of vitamins, minerals and nutrients your body needs to function at a high level.
   • Maintain a healthy weight to control your mood and self-esteem.
   • Do not do drugs. The use of narcotics is not a solution to solving your problems. Drug use only causes problems.
4. Have good sleeping habits. Eight hours of sleep a day will restore your mind and body while preparing you for the next day. Without enough sleep, your mental health will suffer, your concentration will deteriorate and you will become more agitated.
   • Try to go to bed and get up around the same time every day. Good habits will result in better sleep patterns as your body will get used to the routine.
   • If you are not getting enough sleep, take 5 or 10 minutes during the day to relax your brain and let it wander, daydream, or meditate.
5. Ask for help. Do not be afraid to seek help from others during times of great stress.Whether it concerns dropping the children with your parents to relax for a while, or having them stay overnight at the neighbors.
   • Only ask this from someone you trust and can count on. Then you don't have to worry about anything and you can reassure yourself.
   • True strength and understanding come from calling in your reserve troops - friends and family - when you need them. It's not a sign of weakness or failure if you ask for help. Most of the time you will discover that people enjoy helping other people, especially if it really benefits them.
   • Try to be specific about the reasons why you need help. People are much more understanding when they know they are helping for an important reason.
6. Seek expert help. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a psychotherapy that aims to solve problems and change behavior for many different types of mental health problems. Cognitive behavioral therapy is helpful in learning new skills that can change a person's way of thinking and behavior for the rest of their life.
   • CBT focuses more on dealing with thoughts about environmental factors than emotions.
   • Therapy is not only intended for people with a mental disorder. In fact, any time in your life that you want to make a change in your work, home, family, personal relationships, or with your colleagues, therapy is a safe route to follow.
   • Cognitive therapy is also helpful if you want to become more intelligent, have a greater interest in culture, learn new skills, or simply improve the overall quality of your life.

Method 3 of 3: Challenge yourself

1. Learn a new skill. Challenge yourself to learn a new skill in the office, gym, kitchen or garage. Choose something you are interested in and try to master it. This will help you achieve your goals, build confidence in your own abilities, and increase your mental capabilities.
   • Most jobs require some adjustment from you over time. Taking the time to learn a new skill will keep you in control of your career, boost your confidence and keep your mind sharp.
   • Lifelong learning people are better able to keep up with rapidly changing times and face the constantly evolving challenges of the modern world.
   • Learning a new skill keeps your mind running at a high level, reduces the risk of cognitive decline, and gives you the overall joy of better mental health.
2. Deal with your stress. Stress is a part of life and one cannot be avoided. However, it is important to know what is causing your stress so that you can deal with it while keeping your mental strength from suffering. A balanced lifestyle is the most direct way to deal with stress, but if you find that the stress is exhausting you, you may need to go a step further and reduce the stress by doing yoga or breathing exercises.
   • Use yoga as a way to experience your true nature - thoughts, feelings and emotions - and as a way to help you cope with a stressful environment. In short, it can increase your quality of life.
   • Take short 3-minute breaks a few times each day to interrupt what you are doing, and breathe in and out deeply. This can help clear your thoughts, calm you down, and make you more productive. Find a quiet place so that you can focus on your breathing while the air circulates throughout your body.
3. Live in the here and now. Take the time every day to engage and experience all of your senses. These exercises will slow down your body function and boost your mental strength, reduce stress and focus your thoughts for the rest of the day. Our brains are constantly inundated with both visual and mental impressions that are superfluous, as we suffer from the hectic and chaotic world around us. Exercises for focusing your attention allow you to become fully absorbed in the here and now and break the chain of stress and worry.
   • Mindfulness is the art of experiencing the step-by-step process of ordinary, everyday activities, by consciously thinking about the role that each sensory perception plays in doing those everyday things. Breathing plays a key role in this exercise, as you must focus on inhaling, exhaling, and following the path the air follows as it travels through your body. Mindful exercises make you aware of the thoughts, sensations, and feelings from moment to moment, and give you a sense of the environment around you.
   • Doing routine chores around the house can serve as a mindful exercise. Whether it's vacuuming, ironing or dusting, immerse yourself in every step of the process instead of mindlessly doing it.
   • Take 10 minutes a day to engage in a mindful activity. Keep a journal to write down your feelings that you have noticed with each activity and to express your experience in words. It is important to realize the difference between doing the activity thoughtlessly or attentively.