13 Tiny Habits That'll Help Your Mental Health (If You Can't See A Therapist)
These small shifts will have an outsized impact on how you feel.
Anderson Coelho | Canva From your morning routine to your level of exercise and the food you eat, making minor changes to your daily life can have a huge positive impact on your mental health.
Here are 13 tiny habits that'll help your mental health if you can't see a therapist:
1. Every morning, write out your challenges and opportunities
Journal through your solutions to get those thoughts out of your head and onto paper.
2. Be curious about your emotions instead of being carried away with them
Creating this distance will nurture your emotional control and prevent you from acting out of a place of anger, anxiety, or sadness.
3. Walk every single day for at least 30 minutes
4. Commit to letting go of worry
Turning away from worry to focus on the real world is a practice that will change your life. Don't waste time worrying about things you cannot change.
5. Lift weights regularly
The physical and cognitive benefits are established and substantial. Do not physically weaken.
6. Forgive yourself
Many of us hold a grudge against who we were. Find a way to understand that what you did was for a good reason at the time. You’re human. Forgive.
7. Be aware of energy drains
Enforce firm boundaries to ensure your energy levels aren’t ‘stolen’ by other people, bad news, bad food, and cheap sources of dopamine.
8. Avoid insulin-spiking food
Staying away from foods that increase insulin, like bread, refined sugar, and pastries, ensures your mood remains stable, and you’re less likely to get into bad thinking habits due to physical imbalance.
9. Be yourself
Don’t allow the need for approval from others to make you weird and uptight. Get into the habit of showing us who you are — warts and all.
10. Spend 5 minutes listing out some things you’re grateful for
Develop a gratitude practice and show appreciation for the meaningful things in your life. Reminding yourself of what you have will lift you, but it also makes you more receptive to receiving more positive things.
Daniel Hoz / Shutterstock
11. If you’re a man, check your testosterone levels
Do whatever you can to raise these as high as possible. This is directly correlated to your mood, energy, and mental health.
12. Never sit still for more than 45 minutes
This is unless you’re sleeping (in which case, you need your 8 hours or so for optimal mental health). Take regular stretching and movement breaks.
13. Develop a closer relationship with breathing
We can hold our breath when fearful, which reinforces mental ill-health. Breathe properly, through the nose, and take 3 slow, long breaths when you get emotional.
Alex Mathers is a writer and coach who helps you build a money-making personal brand with your knowledge and skills while staying mentally resilient.