Here are top 7 simple tips to maintaining your mental health.

And “now” is always a great time to better your mental health.

Usually at the start of the new year, everyone is looking to better themselves for the new future they are about to face in the upcoming year.

People look to better their health, eating habits, style and even relationships. But many times, no one thinks about what they can do to better their mental health.

If you take the time to focus on your mental health and make it a priority, it can make accomplishing your other goals so much easier.

Why?

Because your mind will have the space and capacity to function the way it’s supposed to. Simply because you took the time and effort to take care of it.

So let’s dive into 7 things you can do to better your mental health.

1. Sleep

Don’t underestimate the power of a good night’s sleep.

I know you have had zombie days when you’ve had a terrible night, so you didn’t sleep well and that made everything else you had to do during the day felt like a drag.

When I don’t sleep well, I know that I will have a rough day with my toddler.

He is a such a great and happy kid with a lot of energy. So I know I need to be rested to keep up with him.

Trust me, everything is a struggle. All because you didn’t sleep.

According to the Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, when you sleep your body has the chance to support your heart and brain properly function.

Your brain has the time to restore itself and form the necessary connections to help maintain your memory and overall brain health.

Also, you’re more likely to get sick and feel extremely stressed when you’re not rested.

So do yourself a favor and get some rest.

2. Get A Check Up

It’s so empowering when you know exactly what is going on with your body.

You feel like you can take control of it, and fix or maintain whatever it is that needs to be taken care.

Going to the doctor can be scary, if you don’t have the information need to take care of your health or you don’t have a medical provider you don’t feel comfortable.

First, find a doctor you feel like you can trust and will listen to your needs. Next, come to the appointment with your questions, and don’t be afraid to ask all of them.

You deserve to know what is going with your body, because having good health is priceless.

You can definitely achieve some peace of mind if you know how to care for yourself the way you need to going forward.

3. Talk To A Therapist (Or A Life Coach)

You should have seen this one coming.

If your body needs a professional to check in on it, then your mind needs one too.

I’ve said it before, if your mind is not right then the rest of you won’t be either.

I will always advocate for you to talk to someone to clarify how to best take care of your mind and heart.

Therapy is great and should be considered if you going through any kind of mental health issues, whether you consider them big or small.

But if you not sure you want to try therapy, consider mental health/life coaching. It could also be extremely helpful in working through any emotional issues or goals you want to meet.

And in case you’re wondering what the difference is between these two services, the best way I can describe it is this:

A therapist would be like your general family doctor, and a life coach is like having a personal trainer/nutritionist/dietitian.

Both of these professionals help you achieve better health for you to live a quality and full life.

It’s the same way with a therapist and a life coach… but for your mind.

In all of this you have a choice of how you want to approach your health, choose the service that you feel will best help you achieve health.

4. Exercise

I hear the groan you just gave (and saw the eye roll).

Now I’m no expert, but don’t underestimate the difference that moving your body can make.

Our bodies were literally created to move! To move you from place to place; to move you through life.

So when the body cannot do what it is naturally created to do (what it was purposed to do), it will start to malfunction.

Similar to any machine that will malfunction if it can’t accomplish what it’s meant to do.

In your body, malfunctioning can manifest itself in countless forms… including in affecting how your mind operates leading to possible mental health issues.

Take just 15 minutes and walk around your home, but if you can get outside, even better.

Sunshine can do you a lot of good, which leads me to the next tip.

5. Take Vitamin D (or a multivitamin)

Places that don’t receive much sunshine tend to have higher rate of mental health issues, mental illness and suicide.

Clearly, vitamin D is an essential component that your body needs.

Getting outside will have a lot of benefits for your body and mental health, because your giving your body the essential elements (including fresh air) it needs to function optimally.

You could also take it a step up and add a multivitamin to your daily routine. A multivitamin will only help with filling in the gaps in your cells to replace any minerals or vitamins that you’re low in.

So take in that sunlight wherever possible and know back that multivitamin for both your physical and mental health.

6. Switch One Meal

What you eat is literally what fuels your body and brain (which is part of your body).

So you have to make sure you are giving your body “quality fuel”.

Something as simple as switch one meal, or one thing in your meal, can make a difference in how you feel and how much energy your body will have.

For example, instead of eating rice with your meal, switch for either sweet potato, regular potatoes, or cauliflower rice.

Making small changes like this will make it easier to make more changes to improve your eating habits, which will then improve your mental health.

7. Drink Water

You might be sick of hearing this tip by this point, but hear me out.

This is not one of those “drink only water as your drink of choice for 30 days and see how clear your skin is” type of tips.

I’m sure that could work for a lot of people, but that’s not the point.

Your body actually needs water to function properly.

So you can imagine, if your body doesn’t have the thing it needs to work, then your body won’t work right.

Making sure you drink a good amount of water everyday (anywhere from 5-8 cups is good) will do wonders at making sure your body is hydrated, so your brain will get healthy and hydrated blood to power it.

Your mental health is something that you should take care of everyday in the same way you take care of your body.

Following these tips you will be able continually improve and/or maintain your mental health, no matter what you maybe going through.

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Add your additional tips on improving your mental in the comment section below.