Taking a holistic approach to mental health is the best way to go. It ensures that mind, body, and soul are aligned and helps us reduce stress, increase our output, and stay in a healthier state of mind.
Therefore, investing your time in different practices that help feed your mind, body, and soul is essential. Here’s a handy guide to help you take a holistic approach to boost your mental health.
Shift Your Mindset
Shifting your mindset is easier said than done. But, you can do it with the right approach. The best thing is to start small and work your way up to the big beliefs and mindsets that have shaped your life this far.
How you perceive what is happening in your life and around you matters greatly. For instance, if today you lost your job, you could choose to look at it as the end of the world or shift your mindset to believe that something better is waiting for you.
Our mindset often dictates how we react to situations and the specific actions we take when faced with challenging circumstances. At the same time, when you adopt a negative mindset, you expose yourself to stress and anxiety that may affect your mental health.
If you adopt a positive or growth mindset, you significantly improve your mental health and reduce the risk of stress. A study of college students showed that a growth mindset significantly impacts stress recovery and a sense of control.
So, start by monitoring your beliefs and shifting them to more positive and uplifting thoughts to boost your mental health. Remember to start small and work your way up to a more positive mindset.
Meditate to Calm Your Mind
Meditation is not about quieting your mind and making it blank instantly. Instead, it is a practice that entails mindful breaths to help you calm your mind and allow you to take a much-deserved break from your busy life.
During meditation, many thoughts will enter your mind, but you can observe them and let them go by focusing on your breath. Over time, you’ll train your mind’s attention and awareness to focus on your breath, reducing the overwhelming thoughts.
Studies show that meditation effectively reduces anxiety, stress, and depression. So, adopting meditation to help you stay mindful will positively impact and boost your mental health.
Invest in Therapeutic Treatments
Therapies that take a holistic approach to feeding your mind, body, and soul come in different forms. Some of the therapeutic treatments to consider include:
- Energy healing
Energy healing methods like Reiki and acupuncture are great to help remove blockages and allow for a more effortless flow of healing energy.
- Art therapy
Expressing your feelings through art and letting your creativity flow is a great way to stay mindful and reduce anxiety. It allows you to reduce stress, increase self-awareness, and improve your self-esteem.
- Music therapy
Research shows that music acts as a regulating or calming medium for anxiety while helping to process emotions, trauma, and grief. Music therapy can help you take a more holistic approach to your mental health.
- Nature therapy
Nature has a healing presence that helps alleviate symptoms of depression and boost your mental health. Spending at least 120 minutes per week in nature is great for your health.
- Neural Therapy
Your body’s normal healing process may be interfered with due to different dysfunctions that you must address. Neural therapy helps correct interference fields and restore your body’s natural healing ability.
Journal to Process Your Thoughts
It’s overwhelming to have so many thoughts in your mind and not have a way to let them out. Journaling is a great way to get your thoughts down on paper to help you make space in your mind.
Writing your thoughts allows you to figure out solutions to problems that may take up too much mental capacity. On the other hand, having too many thoughts in your mind may lead to overthinking, which may result in stress and anxiety, significantly affecting your mental health.
Therefore, take some time to journal and process your thoughts on paper without having to store them in your mind. Get in a regular habit of doing a brain dump that lets you get everything out to help you sift through what to work on and what to let go of.
Move Your Body
The benefits of exercising trickle into your mental health, helping you reduce stress, depression, and anxiety. Exercise also helps boost self-esteem and self-confidence, which may significantly impact your mental health.
Doing at least 30 minutes of exercise a day is a great place to start. You do not have to go hard and start lifting weights or running for miles. Instead, start small by walking around your block, riding a bicycle, swimming, or jogging.
Aim at feeling comfortable with your exercise routine to ensure you stay consistent and enjoy the process of moving your body. In addition, enjoying the moment will help you reduce stress and anxiety.
Yoga is also a great exercise to consider adding to your holistic approach to mental health. It is a practice that involves mindfulness and a focus on the present moment. Yoga will improve your body flexibility, enhance your mind and body connection and promote your mental well being.
Invest in a Healthy Diet
Healthy eating is a great way to enhance wellness of the mind, body, and soul. Eating nutritious foods will improve your mood and leave you feeling energized, motivated, and happy. In addition, these foods will contribute essential vitamins and nutrients for your body and mind to function optimally.
So, avoid junk foods that leave you feeling sluggish and out of sorts when you eat them. These foods are great at the moment, especially when satisfying cravings. But, they won’t lift your mood like having a nutritious salad or full-course meal.
Remember that food contributes to your energy and motivation to get things done. If you feel sluggish from eating junk food, you’ll not accomplish much, which may contribute to your stress and anxiety.
On the other hand, if you have a healthy meal, you’ll feel light and ready to continue with your daily tasks. It will help to lift your spirits and improve your mood significantly.
About the Author: Nicole McCray is known for her health and wellness knowledge and gained her knack for sharing the same when first asked to ghostwrite for a friend’s nutrition blog. While working in the health industry for over a decade, she has grown into an experienced writer who likes to simplify any science-based jargon into reader-friendly language.
Photo by Clark Douglas on Unsplash
The opinions and views expressed in any guest blog post do not necessarily reflect those of www.rtor.org or its sponsor, Laurel House, Inc. The author and www.rtor.org have no affiliations with any products or services mentioned in the article or linked to therein. Guest Authors may have affiliations to products mentioned or linked to in their author bios.
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