Maintaining a healthy body may protect you against diseases like heart disease and diabetes, and it can also increase your chances of living a long, fulfilling life on your own terms. This is why maintaining a healthy body image is so important. However, mental fitness is often disregarded. This refers to the ability to handle the challenges and opportunities that life throws at you.
Why it’s so important to take care of one’s mental health
It’s hardly shocking that how well we handle stress or difficulties might be a barometer of our mental health. Regaining equilibrium after being thrown off by a tragic life event requires a lot of willpower and mental fortitude. When we’re mentally healthy, we’re able to make the most of our faculties, which boosts our ability to solve problems, think creatively, seize opportunities, and maintain composure in trying times. Benefiting from mental fitness is making the most of our innate intellectual potential.
So, what can you do to improve your current level of mental fitness?
Focus entirely on what you’re doing right now
Multitasking well is a sign of intelligence, but too much of it may be detrimental for your health. Practise living in the now. Take in the sights and sounds of your surroundings, including the weather and the birds, as you go for a walk. Listen carefully to what your buddies and companions are saying while you’re together. Relax and stop thinking about all the things you have to do later; put down the phone.
Put some time aside each day for exercise
By increasing the amounts of feel-good chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine in the brain, exercise has shown promise as a treatment for mental health issues. As a result, we have a greater sense of mental health as a result of the enhanced and normalised levels of neurotransmitters. Intuition, creativity, assertiveness, and a love of life are all improved, as are social health and relationships, self-esteem, and spiritual connection. Stress is also mitigated, relaxation is deepened, and mental clarity, learning, insight, memory, and cognitive functioning are all boosted, among other positive outcomes.
Practice “mindfulness by taking a break” once a day
It was shown that significant improvements in focus, energy, and stress levels might be achieved after only one week of brief, daily practising of mindfulness meditation. Studies have revealed that the benefits are more than just anecdotal; those who practised yoga had real changes in their immune systems and lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. They also exhibited considerable enhancements in critical mental capacities as visuospatial processing, working memory, and executive functioning.
Don’t Forget to Schedule Some “Self-Care”
Give yourself permission to take some time in the afternoon or evening to do something you like. Schedule some time for yourself to do something fun that you can share with no one else. This might be anything from finishing a book in one sitting to binge-watching several episodes of a show.
Determine Standards, and Keep to Them
There are benefits to being a member of a society that values success. The struggle to maintain a satisfying personal life while simultaneously being a contributing member of society may lead to burnout and other negative consequences. Always keep in mind that it’s okay to say “no” occasionally. Limit your personal and professional commitments so you don’t end up with more on your plate than you can handle. You won’t wind up stretching yourself too thin.
