When most people think about health, they think about physical health. But true wellness is more than muscles and bones. We also have to consider our mental health. Our thoughts affect our moods and our body. Paying attention to the state of your mental wellness is an important practice when working to improve your overall health.
This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but will share some commission. Please see our privacy policy for more information.
3 Strategies for Improving Your Mental Wellness
LINK BETWEEN MOVEMENT AND MOOD
There is a direct link between increased movement and improved mood. Harnessing exercise as a method to improving mental wellness is starting to appear more regularly in psychological studies. The idea that exercise can help to boost a person’s outlook and/or regulate a person’s reaction to a situation has the potential of profound effects.
For people prone to depression or anxiety, the American Psychological Association now recognizes that exercise can play a significant role in helping patients manage those conditions. If movement can even be part of the solution, why not utilize something that is very low cost and very low risk?! Studies show the importance of exercise for your brain.
How does exercise contribute to mental wellness? Hormones!
Exercise stimulates the production of seratonin, a feel-good hormone. In addition to boosting your mood, seratonin also helps regulate sleeping and digestion. Can you imagine how much better you will feel with improved sleep and fewer gut issues? Feeling good in your body definitely makes you happier!
Even when you’re not moving, your posture affects your emotions. Harnessing the power of how you hold your body can shape the way you move through your day. See if you can catch yourself slouching when you feel upset or sad or standing tall when you are proud. Your body and your emotions feed off of each other.
We all know that exercise offers physical health benefits. But when we start to understand how integrated our systems really are, working to improve mental wellness becomes even more important.
IMMEDIATE RESULTS
One of the main reasons people don’t stick to an exercise program is they don’t see the results they want quickly. Weight loss, muscle gain, and body composition change slowly. For most people it can take 12-16 weeks (that’s 3-4 months!) to see physical changes. But when you’re looking at the effects of exercise on mental wellness, the results are immediate.
One workout yields a clear and direct result of improved mood. In this way, it is easier to imagine that if exercise was done consistently, these positive effects would be repeated consistently. And for women concerned they have no time for exercise, studies show that short, intense workouts are effective.
The immediate mental wellness boost can be used as a tool to motivate people to continue with a consistent exercise program. When they tune in to how they feel better every day, it will be easier to stick with the routine for 12-16 weeks. At that point people will understand both the mental and physical benefits of exercise. It’s a double win!
SHAPING YOUR THOUGHTS, SHAPING YOUR BRAIN, SHAPING YOUR BODY
Having a happier, more productive outlook is a worthy objective in and of itself. But when we start to understand the profound interrelationship between our thoughts, our brain, and the cells all over our body, we can no longer ignore the fact that we are what we think.
Our thoughts trigger changes in the way the neruotransmitters in the brain activate and respond. These changes are then absorbed by receptors in your cells. Those cells are programmed to adapt depending on the information they receive. Thus, a series of negative thoughts over days, weeks, or months, could be altering your cellular makeup to be more attuned to these negative messages. Check out this article for a full, easy-access but science-based explanation.
If you’ve been stuck in the pattern of negative thinking, grab yourself a gratitude journal and start writing! If you feel like you need direction for developing a gratitude practice to support your mental wellness, try this option. In just five minutes a day you can reprogram your cells to become more attuned to positive thoughts.
Click here for 5 free self-care practices
Paying attention to mental health is especially important for women over 40. The changing hormones of perimenopause and the stresses of everyday life take a toll on women. Anxiety is a common complaint. Having a good mental health practice in place helps women to buffer unpleasant perimenopause symptoms.
Mental wellness has long played second fiddle to physical wellness issues when we talk about “health.” Along with spiritual wellness, it’s time to bring these issues to the forefront. If you struggle with mental wellness issues, know that there are resources and support out there for you. You’re worth it!
[activecampaign form=4]
