Maintaining good mental health is crucial for overall well-being, and the NHS provides a comprehensive guide to enhancing your mental health through five key steps:
- Connect with Others: Engaging with friends, family, and colleagues helps build a support network. Whether it's sharing meals, joining clubs, or simply catching up over a call, these connections provide emotional support and a sense of belonging.
- Be Physically Active: Physical activity is not just about improving fitness; it also boosts mood and reduces anxiety. Activities like walking, cycling, or even gardening can be effective. The key is to find something you enjoy that fits into your daily routine.
- Learn New Skills: Acquiring new skills can boost your self-confidence and provide a sense of achievement. Whether it's learning to cook, taking up a new hobby, or pursuing an online course, the process of learning can be as rewarding as the skills themselves.
- Give to Others: Acts of kindness and giving can create positive feelings and help build a sense of community. This could be through volunteering, helping a neighbour, or simply giving a compliment. These actions not only benefit others but also enhance your own mental wellbeing.
- Be Mindful: Mindfulness involves paying full attention to the present moment, including your thoughts, feelings, and the world around you. Practices like meditation, yoga, or even mindful walking can help you develop this awareness, reducing stress and improving your emotional health.
For those seeking more support, consider exploring online resources, local community centres or networks, or speaking with a mental health professional. The NHS website offers further guidance and links to supportive services, providing a good starting point for anyone looking to improve their mental wellbeing.
Tips and tricks:
When starting anything new, start small. Our blog on habit stacking gives the lowdown on how to create consistency with new habits, check it out here.
Enlist a friend or family member: going it alone is hard! Finding someone to keep you on track can help, and make it more fun in the process.
Celebrate the small wins! Create some really small goals to focus on. You wouldn’t expect to run a 10k straight away, so neither should you expect to change your lifestyle overnight.
Journaling is a great tool for mindfulness but can be a tricky skill to master, so a guided journal can help you to get started.
If you've got time, volunteering is a great way to make friends and build community, and it makes you feel good. Council websites will often have a volunteering portal which you can sign up to. Check out Stoke-on-Trent Council's version here.
For more detailed advice and support options, visit the NHS's mental wellbeing guide.
