22 DAILY ACTIVITIES THAT IMPROVE YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

Pressure from problems in life and work makes us easy to fall into a state of stress, fatigue, exhaustion, which leads to many serious psychological consequences. Therefore, building for yourself good habits and healthy hobbies is a way for us to have a positive, energetic life. Did you know that just taking a few simple actions every day can improve your mental health?

1. Stop using the snooze button

The habit of delaying the alarm every morning is one of the causes of reducing sleep quality, disrupting the body’s circadian rhythm, making us feel tired and sluggish throughout the day. In fact, an adult needs 7-8 hours of sleep every night. When we sleep, our brain will go through 4-6 cycles, each cycle lasts about 90 minutes. Using the snooze button means we’re forcing our brains to reset a new cycle that can’t be completed, since the snooze button only works for 10 minutes. Therefore, instead of setting multiple alarms to save a few minutes of sleep each morning, try to set the alarm at a certain time and practice the habit of waking up on time to be mentally alert and work efficiently.

2. Open the curtains when you wake up

Every morning when you wake up, open the curtains to let sunlight into your room to feel the energy of a new day. Just a few minutes of exposure to the morning sun will also bring many health benefits, both helping the body synthesize vitamin D and dispel stress, and fatigue, helping you feel happy and lively all throughout the day.

3. Use scented candles

Not only used to decorate your room, scented candles also bring a feeling of relaxation and relief after a long tiring day. The gentle light combined with the gentle fragrance emanating from the candle helps to relax your mind, reduce stress and anxiety, thereby, helps you be more focused when working. Besides that, scented candles also make your room warm, dispel the cold feeling, and help you have a deep and comfortable sleep at night.

4. Grow houseplants

Green plants both help our eyes relax when we have to work a lot in front of the computer screen, and have the effect of purifying the air, preventing radiation from electronic devices, relieving stress, eliminating stress and fatigue. For those reasons, it brings us much joy in life. Besides, many studies also prove that working near plants and trees help us improve memory and concentration, thereby improving work performance.

5. Put on a mask

Choosing for yourself a mask and playing your favorite music to enjoy a peaceful evening after a long day of studying and working is definitely what we women love the most. Applying a mask not only helps you have a beautiful and healthy skin, but also a time for you to relax, and to also forget all the troubles and stress of a day. No matter how busy you are, spend 1-2 evenings a week to reward yourself.

6. Replace coffee with tea

Although we often drink coffee to have energy to work effectively, tea also brings many benefits to human health. With less caffeine than coffee and rich in antioxidants, tea not only helps us stay mentally alert, improves sleep quality, and enhances concentration, but also reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases and even cancer. Drinking tea every day will stimulate the body to produce the happy hormone dopamine, which helps dispel stress, giving us a happy mood, and a refreshing spirit.

7. Express gratitude

Many studies have shown the positive effects of gratitude on people’s physical and mental health. Expressing gratitude helps you feel the meaning of life, find joy in the smallest things so that you can learn to love and appreciate yourself. Write down the things you are grateful for every day or simply think about them to reduce negative thoughts, help clear your mind and have the energy to overcome all difficulties in life.

8. Massage

Surely you have heard of many “golden” benefits of massage for the body and mental health. Not only has the effect of detoxifying the body, avoiding aches and pains, and increasing blood circulation. Therapeutic massage also helps you relieve stress, fatigue, reduce the risk of depression, and give you a good night’s sleep. You can never go wrong with a good night sleep and a happy spirit to receive good things in life.

9. Practice Dancing

Turning on a song you love and dancing along is an effective way to reduce stress because at this time the body will be stimulated to produce the happy hormone serotonin, giving you a feeling of joy and positive energy. When practicing dance, you need to remember the dance and the movements of the body, this helps to promote brain health, and reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in old age.

10. Eat healthy

Our bodies always need an adequate supply of nutrients to grow and work effectively. Therefore, we need to build a healthy diet to supplement protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals useful for the body. As much as possible, limit consuming fast food, greasy food and other unhealthy food to maintain muscle mass, stay healthy and full of energy.

11. Read positive things

Daily news update is very important because we need to keep up with the latest changes in society. However, with the development of social networks, especially Facebook, it is more and more difficult for us to choose information sources. Following negative news for a long time will cause many negative psychological effects. Which in turn will make your life more gloomy and stressful. The advice from experts is that you follow an official website, or websites, and even people who positively inspire the community about lifestyle. Those who have credible knowledge and experiences on how to improve mental health or about a certain field you are interested in.

12. Learn to say “no”

Saying no is not easy, but if you say “Yes” to too many things, you will easily become stressed and exhausted because the responsibility is heavy on your shoulders but you do not have enough time to handle all the work. Learning how to say “no” at the right time helps you become more assertive, and in control of the situation. You can easily identify and prioritize the things that are important to you, and find effective time management.

13. Meditate 5 minutes a day

Just 5 minutes of meditation a day will also bring many long-term health benefits such as strengthening the immune system, promoting blood circulation, reducing stress and anxiety, helping you to calm down and improve your ability to navigate with ease in your everyday activities.

You just need to schedule a time of 5 minutes, then sit comfortably, close your eyes and breathe evenly. Don’t worry if your mind is still wandering. When you find yourself being distracted, let those thoughts slowly pass and gradually focus your attention on the rhythm of your breathing. This is a way to relax the mind especially for those busy people.

14. Play with pets

Life will become more interesting when you have a pet that is always with you or waiting for you to come home every day. When you are tired and stressed, you should temporarily put aside work and spend time playing with your pet to feel comfortable and relax.

If you do not have the conditions to raise a pet, you can also view the pictures and videos of adorable animals on social medias.

Sometimes what you really need is to let your pet’s cuteness do its magic for your mental health.

15. Do nice things

A few simple actions such as leading old people across the street, giving up seats to young children and pregnant women, helping strangers carry heavy things… not only make your life more meaningful but also a way for you spread love and positivity to everyone.

16. Draw and color

Drawing and coloring is not only a fun activity, but it also has many benefits for our mental health. When you focus on coloring or creating your own drawings, your mind will be completely focused on the work, making negative thoughts gradually disappear. Feeling proud and happy when looking at the finished work will surely dispel your current worries.

17. Take a break and take time for yourself

Working continuously with high intensity makes you easy to fall into a state of stress, fatigue, and exhaustion. In the long run this will affect your quality of life and work performance. It is better to schedule time to apply for a leave and reward yourself with a short trip or a staycation if financial conditions do not allow. During this time, turn off your phone so that you can completely relax and enjoy your own moments.

18. Regular exercise

No matter how busy your work is, take some time for a walk outside to breathe in the fresh air, go jogging or play some sports in the park as a form of exercise. Many studies show that being outdoors can strengthen the immune system, reduce stress and anxiety, help you feel refreshed and sleep better every night. Besides, you can also join Yoga classes or go to the gym. You can also ask for a professional physical health advice, a thorough guidance from an expert on the course will be effective as well as providing more motivation to practice every day.

19. Turn off social media before dinner

Most of the problems that negatively affect our lives stem from social media. To completely relax your mind, try to finish work before dinner, then turn off social media and take time for yourself. There are plenty of things you can do other than engaging online, be it reading a book, listening to music, watching a good movie or chat with family members.

20. Clean the house

Research shows that living in a cluttered space makes you more likely to feel stressed, and frustrated. Also, it reduces the ability to concentrate and creativity of the brain. Just taking a little time each day to clean the house, you will notice the quality of your life as well as your mood improve when living in a cool, and clean space.

21. Get enough sleep

Although this sounds easy, in reality, not all of us can do it. Most of us get caught up in the whirlpool of work and forget that sleep is extremely important for our physical and mental health. When you do not get enough sleep, you will easily fall into a state of stress, irritability, impaired memory and concentration. Balancing work and rest time helps your mind to relax, thereby improving your quality of life and work performance.

22. Crying helps balance emotions

Many studies show that when you shed tears, our feel-good hormones are released which help reduce physical and emotional pain. When you cry, you will release inhibitions and negative thoughts that are weighing on your head and heart. This will help you balance your emotions and feel more comfortable and relieved. When you are emotionally balanced, your life and the people’s life around you will definitely get better.