What if I told you that you could change your life for 10 minutes per day? What if you could engage in a practice that took almost no time or effort at all but has incredible results??
Do you have optimal mental health? Mental health is quite the hot topic these days. I for one am very excited we are investing more in our mental health which actually translates to us investing in ourselves! Yay!
We focus so much on our physical health, likely because we see doctors who focus on just that, the physical, but is it time to shift gears and also incorporate strategies for your mental health? What if we can shift our physical health by focusing on the mental side of things, yep, that’s been proven to help! When we work to improve our mental health, our physical health also benefits!
Here’s where to start:
#1 Journal, Meditate, Pray, Deep Breath, Stretch or Practice gratitude EVERYDAY!
Take 5-10 minutes of your day to practice one of these practices. It’s amazing what can happen with our viewpoint when we are actively thinking of what we have to be grateful for rather than what we don’t have.
Take some time to reflect while journaling, sit quiet for a few minutes and breathe, pray to your higher power or the universe, just connect to it! There are a million meditation apps or videos on youtube so you can do this!
Are you struggling with the idea of not enough time? That’s an excuse, when we have to clean up the kids unexpectedly before we run out of the house for the day, we find time. When another project lands in our lap we don’t believe we can accomplish, we almost always do. We can do this too! Stop using lack of time as a reason to not invest in yourself.
I promise this will be the best investment of 5 minutes of your day and will lead you to feel more calm, centered, balanced and refreshed ready to take on the day! There are over 20,000 studies on how mindfulness is beneficial and I believe deep breathing, yoga, gratitude etc. have similar if not the same benefits.
You’re worth it!
If you take away anything from this post, it’s to do #1 and to make it a commitment to your day!
Sit quietly and do some reflection. You can do some journaling during your practice or just sit quietly and allow space to think. Remove as many distractions as possible.
Ask yourself, what is not working well for me right now?
Do you feel out of balance, too stressed, overwhelmed by your emotions, not sleeping well?
The goal is to focus on stress reduction. Where is the stress coming from in your life and what needs to shift in order to feel better balanced, happier, less stressed, exhausted etc.
Ask yourself, what is one thing I could do differently?
This could be waking up a few minutes early to do some stretches, wake with the sun
while you practice gratitude, spend a few extra minutes journaling or practicing
mindfulness. Maybe you need to go to bed earlier and get better rest. It also could look like taking 5 minutes a day to move your body. I recently started to incorporate a 5 minute walk during my lunch break and it is so nice to see the sun directly, not just from my office window. Do some deep breathing- you can do that anywhere!
It’s time to put what’s out of balance into balance. We cannot feel less stressed by our emotions, circumstances, our jobs, spouses or children without identifying what needs to NOW be a priority. As busy humans it is so simple to forget about ourselves and what we need and get so caught up in the daily grind we lose track of what it is we even need. Go back to #1! Reflect, identify what you need to change.
Create a system, strategy or outline how you can make this new change happen. If you need to drink more water, make a plan for how to get this accomplished. If you are wanting to set a boundary with someone, decide when and where this will happen and stick to it! If you need to feel less stressed at work, take five minutes to get fresh air, want to enjoy your commute- spice it up how you sit in your car for 30 minutes, want to have a happier home, address the communication issues and set limits for behaviors and expectations. YOU CAN DO THIS!
Let’s go back to basic needs, we need food, water, sleep to function at a basic level so see where you are struggling in these areas. You can also prioritize what you need, make a plan and do your best to stick to it!
If you need help in these areas, that is totally ok too! That may be why you are here. If you need support in your journey with food, let’s talk about it and get the support you need!
I cannot stress enough the importance of relationships for our mental health. It may be listed as number 6, however it could be just as easily number 1. When we are surrounded by important relationships, we are more likely to thrive. Remember, we are wired to connect. Relationships have been shown to be the number 1 reason people report being happy as well as contributes to the biggest factor to our longevity in life.
To put it simply: we need people in our lives! Be sure to invest some time in those relationships, whether it’s spending quality time with our significant others, having a night out with friends or making time to eat lunch with co workers. It can be simple, call a friend, go on a walk with a neighbor, do a favor for someone you care about or send a card.
We can only get so far in our lives on our own. We need others and why not enjoy this crazy thing of life with those we care about around us.
I urge you to see where you can make a few minutes of your day, week, month to invest in those most important people to you.
Let’s sum it all up!
To make the biggest impact on your mental health you need to find a few quiet minutes a day to reflect, journal, stretch or do yoga, practice gratitude etc. This can literally be 5 minutes of the day to yourself. If we cannot find this time, we are really out of balance and I would encourage you to go back to numbers 2-4 and see what needs to change. I believe we can all spare 5 minutes. It may be on our commute to quietly think to ourselves or practice gratitude in our heads, wake up 5 minutes earlier or do it before bed. When we are looking to find the time, there will be time.
Along with your daily practice, reflect on what needs to shift in order to reduce your stress levels, prioritize what is most important in your life that day and make a plan to make the change. If your plan does not work, reevaluate and try again. Nothing works perfectly in the beginning but if it’s time to shift, let’s make the change and stick to it.
Don’t forget your basic needs: food, hydration, sleep- these have to be a priority too! If you need to make a plan around these, do it! For instance, if you need to menu plan for the week to then meal prep to make consistent nutrition happen do it! If you need to plan to go to bed earlier to manage your sleep routine, do it! If you need to buy a larger water bottle with times of the day to drink your water, do it!
Relationships! Relationships! Relationships! Bottom line, we are designed as humans to be connected to others. We heal when we exist in communities. When we invest in those connections, we thrive! You deserve to thrive too! So you need to find time to make it a priority to be around or connected to others. Call a friend, send a card or make a date to meet up. It’s vital to your health and wellbeing to be with others. Why do you think the pandemic and quarantine had such negative consequences? Because we need one another. Invest in your relationships!
You are worth the investment to spend a few minutes a day on your mental health. If you do just one thing, stick to number 1 and make it a daily practice! I promise it will be worth your time. You just have to carve out the time to do so. I believe we all have 5 minutes to spare.
To heal your mental health is to support your physical health! It is time to focus on both and to invest in your ultimate well being. This is your life!
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