21 Ways to Practice Self-care and Improve Mental Health

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21 Ways to Practice Self-care and Improve Mental Health

The struggle to survive each day’s struggle is not an easy one. Everyone is expected to fight through each struggle and come out strong and victorious. How would one do this without a suitable guide to provide a clear path for success? Irrespective of the environmental conditions, there are active steps you can take to care for your mental health and practice self-care.


This article will deliver 21 ways to practice self-care and improve your mental health. They are simple steps and tips you can practice without any professional help.

1. Stand Up Slowly in the Morning

When you wake up in the morning, rise up gently from your bed. Try to balance your feet on the floor while sitting on your bed. Do this for a few minutes, feel your breath. Is it coming right? If yes, you can proceed to stand up.

2. A Glass of Water is a Perfect Kick Start

When you rise, take a cup of warm water (about 8 ounces), this will help clear your system of leftovers. If available, you can also drink lemon juice after taking the water. As such, you can wake the digestive track up for the task ahead. Water is essential.

3. Lunch Break is Important

Working is good, but to survive each day’s task, sufficient rest is required. Getting lunch and dinner breaks is as important as completing your daily task. Never be forced into working for hours without resting.

4. Appreciate Each Meal

Many eat without paying attention to what they are eating. Yours should not be like that, endeavor to chew your food slowly, try to pay attention to the taste, texture, and flavor it carries. Don’t stand or eat inside your car; find a comfortable spot. As such, you find more pleasure in eating and enjoy each meal.

5. Practice Effective Breathing

Always stop in-between work to take full breaths. Close your eyes for a few seconds and take a few full breaths. Pick a number say five and take five full breaths, filling your lungs and then blow it out. Repeat this every hour and stretch your arms and legs afterward.

6. Never Stop Drinking Water

Water is life. It is required to help your brain function well. Ensure to stay hydrated throughout the day, drinking water, juice, or other fluids.

7. Take a Walk Everyday

You drive to work; you drive back home, that’s not the best thing for your health. Try to take a few minutes to walk every day. Try swinging your hands and jerking your legs when walking.

8. Eat Home-Made Meals

Even if you have to leave home early for work every day, preparing your meal will help you eat healthily. Incorporate herbs and take more of organic food; this will help you stay healthy.

9. Reduce Alcohol Intake

While many love to spend time and money on alcoholic beverages believing they are enjoying themselves, you should take a different route. Reduce your intake of alcohol or avoid it totally. Instead of alcohol, switch to other healthy and nutritious fluids like herbal tea, or juice.

10. Reduce Intake of Sugar

We all want a sweet taste when eating, if you want too, taking honey is better than taking raw sugar. Even with honey, be sure that you are taking locally grown honey. It is also best to substitute processed flour for organic whole grain. As such, you are eating healthily and not just sugar-filled flour.

11. Reduce your Workload

You’re not a machine; there is a limit to how much you can do. Instead of scheduling several tasks and meeting for a day, it is better to spread it over the week. Ensure there is sufficient time for you to rest after completing a task or meeting. This significantly increases your productivity and helps you accomplish more while working less. Try to play your favorite game in between tasks, listen to music; all this will help clear your head.

12. Explore Things that Makes you Smile

Thanks to the series of applications and social media platforms online, you can always find things that will make you smile. Look for those that produce comedy skits, watch for a few minutes or hours that should be enough for the day. The goal is to smile and stay happy.

13. Listen to quality music

Gone are the days when the advice will be, listen to music. It is important to add quality to the sort of music you hear. Endeavor to scrutinize the lyrics of the song you are listening to ensure you agree with its contents. Also, try to make use of excellent headphones and earpieces; this will improve the quality of sound you hear.

14. Read Books

Books are also excellent tools when you are striving to improve your mental health. If you have been focusing on the screen for a long time, then a break will do you lots of good. You can also read an audiobook that will help you engage in other activities while learning.

15. Don’t Rush Through Your Day

You undoubtedly want to cover a lot of ground in every 24 hours you have, yet you may not find a pinch of joy in your activities if you rush through them all. Rather than racing through your activities, ensure you are fully involved and can identify each step you are taking.

16. Do Some Tongue Dropping

There are several things you can do each day to stay mentally awake; tongue dropping is one of them. Try to drop the tongue away from the roof of your mouth. This helps your jaw relax. In fact, this simple task will help you measure or notice how long you are compressing your jaws.

17. Watch the World

There are millions of sights to see that can lift your day and make it more peaceful. You can watch through your window, sit outside your home to catch sight of events as they unfold. Watch the movement of creatures around your home. All these will help you enjoy your day without much hindrance.

18. Keep your Home Clean

Another task that can keep your mental health in top form is cleaning your home. When your home is dirty, or when you live in dirty surroundings, there is no way you will become comfortable. Both in and out, clean your home every week, and you’ll become healthier and mentally balanced.

19. Care for Your Skin

Little things they say matters, your skin condition might seem little, but it matters a lot. Use natural products to keep your skin in good condition. The glowing feel is satisfaction on its own.

20. Keep plants in and outside the house

Keep plants in your home and office, and try to care for the plant regularly. The touch of beauty they add to your home is fun enough. Seeing them grow will make you happier and help you feel more fulfilled.

21. Take Time to Meditate Daily

A daily dose of medication is needed to keep your mental health in good shape. If you are the super busy type, try to wake up very early in the morning to meditate, 20 to 30 minutes is a good number. Its effect can help transform your day totally.

Conclusion

There you have it, 21 practical ways to practice self-care and improve your mental health. When you strive to practice these tips, your progress will be visible, not to yourself only; others will observe your progress too.