ways to genuinely improve your mental health.

If you’ve read my recent posts recently, you would know that my mental health has been a little down in the dumps. Since this isn’t the first time that I’ve struggled with this, I kind of have an idea of what helps boost it up. Are you also struggling with your Mental Health? Here are just a few simple things to help you improve on your mental health.

keep a constant sleep routine

Being tired is a surefire way to ruin anyone’s mood. Sleep is something that’s important when you don’t struggle with mental health, but even more-so if you do. You might normally be the happiest, most upbeat person you know, but a few days of poor sleep and you’ll find yourself feeling sluggish, irritable and over emotional. Typically, when your mental health has plummeted, one of the first things you notice is how exhausted you are. Trying to keep a consistent sleep schedule really helps. While that’s easier said than done (trust me, I know), it honestly helps a lot in the long-run.

If you struggle with falling asleep, I suggest trying a lavender/chamomile essential oils, where you can put them into a diffuser to help calm you down before sleep. Another thing you can do is make a chamomile and honey tea! The last suggestion I would make is a type of sleep spray! You can literally make your own with water, witch hazel and certain essential oils (lavender, chamomile). I actually spoke about it a bit on one of my blog posts, which you can read here!

exercise

We’re all told over and over again how exercise is a natural mood booster and it really is true. Now, I know how difficult is it to actually get to the gym or start exercising. Get yourself an accountablibuddy (sorry, I had to use this reference from South Park), no but seriously get someone who will kind of help force yourself into working out. You don’t even have to exercise in a gym, there are tons of at home workout programs on YouTube!

Another thing to take into consideration, is that it can take a while for you to start seeing the benefits. If you’re not used to exercising very often, you might feel the endorphins, and be in a good mood, but you’ll feel super exhausted at the same time.It does take time to reach a level of fitness where you feel the endorphins, but at the same time you’ll actually start to enjoy it! It might not feel like it when you first start, but keep at it and you’ll begin to enjoy the burn! Exercising releases happy chemicals in the brain, regulates hormones and does lots of things in the body that in turn improve your mental health.

journal

This might be one of the biggest things stress you do. When our mental health is down, one of the things that happens is that all these thoughts are constantly flowing in our mind. These thoughts really can affect our mood. One thing that we have to do is make sure is that we don’t leave all these thoughts inside our head. You either have to speak to a therapist (which I know a lot of people can’t do, because of the expense), or you can buy an inexpensive notebook anywhere and start writing! You could use prompts, or practice just writing whatever comes to mind. It doesn’t have to make sense, and it doesn’t have to be well written, but you just have to write down your thoughts, your feelings, etc.

You’ll even be surprised, sometimes we don’t really know what’s going on in our heads, but writing it down gives us that weird moment of clarity. You might find out something about yourself that you have never known about yourself. 

have fun with friends

Laughter really can be the best medicine. If you’re feeling a little down, stressed or anxious, getting together with friends and having a good time can set you right again. I know it might be hard to want to do anything other than lay on your couch or stay in bed after work, but it really helps take you out of that funk when you’re around people you genuinely like spending time with. Make sure you don’t spend time with people who might have a more negative energy vibe or stresses you out. You definitely don’t need that if you’re feeling a bit down.

enjoy a creative outlet

One thing that a lot of us can experience as adults is restrictions in our creativity. We finish school and start working full time, which often doesn’t leaving us with much time for anything else. Our jobs might be monotonous and overly routine day in and day out. Getting creative can be great for your mental health! Make sure you give yourself an outlet that enables you to express yourself. It could be anything from painting to writing to candle making, whatever you’re into!

I’ve personally been into doing a few things recently. I’ve been bullet journaling for 3 years, which allows me to not only be more organized, but also creative! I get to create a whole bunch of different spreads for multiple uses. On top of that, I’ve been really into watercolor painting. It’s super tricky, but it’s so relaxing, and really boosts my mood. On top of that, I run this blog, which also allows me to be creative in a different way than the other two do. I suggest maybe giving one of those three things a try!

keep your surroundings clean and tidy

Don't Forget Your Physical Health

An integral component of good mental health is physical wellness; exercise not only releases happy chemicals into your brain, but can regulate hormones as well. Exercising regularly has many positive outcomes on mental wellbeing as well.

Another way to prioritize your physical wellbeing is through regular visits with medical professionals like Dr. Yaw Adu Gyamfi. By working closely with these medical specialists, it will ensure you're taking adequate care of both physical and mental health.

The last, but still important thing I want to talk about is the fact that, in general, we are massively affected by our surroundings as humans. Things like colors, layout and cleanliness all play a part. De-clutter your home and give it a fresh coat of paint. Choose items that are meaningful and add to the space aesthetically. While it might be difficult, because trust me, when my mood is the way it’s been these past few weeks, the last thing I want to do is clean everything up. Take it little by little. Give yourself one thing to clean/organize, and you will feel loads better. If you remember my last post, I mentioned the fact that I organized my makeup, and omg it has made a huge difference. Every time I look at that lil’ corner in my room where it’s all organized, I feel so much better about myself! I still quite a bit to clean up, but I had to start somewhere! Do I recommend you do the same thing, and you’ll see a difference in your mood.

What do you do in order to improve your mental health? Let me know, I’m always looking for more ways to make myself feel better! As always, thank you for reading. I hope you have a wonderful day/night! Sending you love, strength, and positivity.

-Melina xxx