Baby steps to mental health

Don’t be pushed around by the fears in your mind. Be led by the dreams in your heart.”

― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

Easily said, but is it easily done??  In today’s world of continuous schedules from managing your job, social life, household chores, and physical workout routines, rarely do we stop and think about the state of our mind. often, the mental wellbeing gets overshadowed by physically visible activities. We keep in mind to- work accordingly so we can finish within our work deadlines, being a social butterfly, finishing the laundry, and cooking some instant short recipe dishes, working out to reach our ideal scale reading!! But we never remind ourselves to keep our emotional and mental health in check. Being tech-savvy as we all are in recent times, people believe friendship, love, family all are to be showcased online. If love is present on the screen, then they’ve achieved happiness, But do we pause to even think once if we’re actually happy this way? Do we actually feel rejuvenated after only texting a friend with none whatsoever personal touch? Or, do we actually feel reunited with the family when everyone is more anxious to have every-moment on cellphones and actually not enjoy it? Mental health is equally as important as physical health.  According to the World Health Organization –
•         Mental health is “a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.”

•         Psychological condition is more than the absence of mental disorders.

•         Sanity is determined by a range of socioeconomic, biological, and environmental factors.

“It’s up to you today to start making healthy choices. Not choices that are just healthy for your body, but healthy for your mind.” ― Steve Maraboli, Unapologetically You: Reflections on Life and the Human Experience
What determines your Mental Health?---“About a third of my cases are suffering from no clinically definable neurosis, but from the senselessness and emptiness of their lives. This can be defined as the general neurosis of our times.” ― Carl Gustav Jung
Sleep---Sleep plays a silent but major role in being a person of a healthy mind and body. According to various studies, our sleep is divided into 2 cycles namely, Deep sleep and REM(Rapid eye movement) sleep. During deep sleep, the body goes into a calm state which in turn boosts the immune system of the body through some physiological changes.Sleep is the time when a person dreams. The body during this time increases the memory and boosts emotional health..You should take a 7-8 hour sleep every day, also, it helps to maintain a similar schedule for your sleep even on weekends as you do on weekdays.
Work----Working brings out the best mood within us and gives one a sense of purpose. Though the work environment may not always be a positive influence to our mental well-being. Various conditions may arise at our workplace which may result in getting demotivated, losing confidence in one’s working ability, being paranoid about official politics, un-ethical working environment, gender-bias viewpoints, etc..You should work in an environment which promotes their individual employee’s mental and physical health. If your workplace does not have such measures make sure to make the management aware of the various benefits of inculcating mental health improving policies in the workplace.
Personal relations----There are many ups and downs in everyone’s life be it personal or professional. Personal relations provide you the strength and confidence you need to face any obstacles in life’s path. But, Don’t you feel stressed over a love relationship?? Doesn’t your mom’s illness affect your mental state?? Does a breakup with a love partner or passing away of a loved one not affect our emotional health?? Though personal relations have the power of getting one through any hardships caused by life there might be chances of having a hard time because of these relations. Never hold your emotions from your loved ones. If you’re stressed about something on the family front, open up about it to your closest and trust-worthy friends, and vice-versa.
Eating Habits----A healthy diet is very important to our physical health, but do you know it plays an even more significant role in our mental health. Eating sugary substances can instantly provide you with energy, but once the sugar hype goes down with it goes your cheerful mood and motivation. A healthy diet can lead to fewer mood swings, provide a positive outlook, and also improves concentrating or focusing. Whole foods like fruits and vegetables, protein-rich lentils, green leafy vegetables, cantaloupes, mushrooms, omega-3 fatty acids rick chia seeds, salmon, dark chocolate( without sugar), magnesium-rich banana, beans, spinach, cashews, etc. can be included to have better health.