Your mental health can feel like a nebulous concept to keep track of. It can be inconsistent— you can sometimes have good days in bad times and then days of heavy rumination when you feel as though nothing should be bothering you. This nebulous aspect of trying to keep your mental health above a certain level can be what’s most frustrating about it, and that’s without even taking into consideration specific health factors like anxiety or depression.
It doesn’t feel like it would be the case, but there are lifestyle changes you can make that can have a positive impact. Running your eyes over some potential candidates can get you thinking about what suits you, but there’s no way to tell what will make the biggest impact without trying them out yourself.
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Exercise
Including more exercise in your life can be one of the more difficult changes to make due to the amount of effort that’s required. In addition to this, finding the form of exercise that best suits you can take some trial and error, especially if you’re of a certain age or have specific requirements that you feel can make this difficult for you. However, exercise can be massively beneficial to your physical and mental health, which makes knowing about wellness programs all the more important, you can click here to find some great ones that you can try.
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Going Outside More
This is something that you might achieve naturally through exercise, especially if that exercise takes the form of walking or running. However, if not, you might find that simply going outside and sitting on a bench in a natural or quiet area can have more of an impact than you’d expect it to. Walking can be beneficial through the addition of exercise, but having some time to simply sit and enjoy a varied locale while listening to the sounds of nature and getting some fresh air can be more of an aid for your mental health than you might expect.
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Seeing Friends
Unlike something like just going outside more regularly, seeing the people that you care about isn’t a shift that you have complete control over. If your friends and family live further away, there’s no easy way to see them. Of course, this might be something that you try and mitigate through phone calls or video calls, but these can lack the comfort you get from seeing people in person. Other than trying to rearrange your schedules, you might find that joining a social club can help to make up for this, perhaps even helping you to make new friends.
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Targeted Techniques
When you’re really struggling, however, it can feel as though you want to address the problem head on. In certain cases, you might think that it’s important to seek out therapy or counseling—something that you absolutely should do if you feel like it will help. In a more casual, lifestyle-focused way, though, it can help to have some techniques you can call on as and when you need them. Meditation and breathing techniques can be good for that very reason, helping you to remove yourself from your anxiety by practicing mindfulness.
