GenGood Habits for Positive Mental Health
By Sher Graham
How positive is your mental wellness? Over the next three columns, we will discuss how making the choice creates a positive mental health behavior. By choosing to behave with good habits, your mental health becomes more positive and so does the mental health of each person you meet.
Here are some choices: Getting regular exercise, eating a balanced diet, prioritizing consistent sleep, practicing mindfulness, connecting with others including kids, family, and colleagues, engaging in enjoyable hobbies, and practicing gratitude. These habits can help manage stress, improve mood, and reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression by promoting physical and emotional well-being.
Part 1: Physical & Lifestyle Habits
Get active: Regular physical activity releases feel-good hormones and can decrease stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms. Take a short walk backwards and forwards. Play your favorite record and dance as if everyone is watching. Smile and stretch your arms and laugh aloud!!!!
Eat a balanced diet: Yes, food budgets can impact your nutrition plan. Focus on whole foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins. Eat everything in moderation. Just remember that unhealthy nutrition can negatively impact your mental health. This applies to what you feed your children. Do you know that your young children get their eating habits from how they see parents react to foods?
Make sleep work: Consistent, restorative sleep by maintaining a regular schedule and limiting activities before settling down to bed is important. No more food or drink requests. No additional stories. No more screen time. All electronics should have a home on a desk not on the bedside table.
Get grounded again with the earth and air. When you as an adult set your electronics down, so will your children and guests. Make it a family rule. Use real conversation without emojis to talk to each other. Teach your young one how to listen, provided you know how to really listen! Reduce excessive daily screen use, especially on social media, to improve your overall mental state.
