Your mental health greatly impacts your thinking, how you feel, cope with daily life. It also affects the way you cope with stress, handle challenges, establish positive relationships, and bounce back from life's hardships.
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Considering that physical health is often dictated by mental health, it would be smart to take the nurture of mental health seriously.
Hiking is an excellent means by which our brains are given a chance to thrive. The combination of a serenely scenic and calming environment allows the mind to realign itself. Being out in nature has a documented, physiological effect on the neurological functioning of the brain.
A recent study conducted by Stanford University explores the beneficial ramifications of being in nature, even in small doses.
What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality – Plutarch
The findings acknowledge that more than half of the world’s population lives in urban settings, and as urbanization and disconnection from nature has grown dramatically, so have mental disorders such as depression.
Yoga is also greatly beneficial to mental health as it engages both mind and body. Findings published on Harvard Universities’ health page details study findings that assert a link between yoga and a substantial decrease in both anxiety and depression.
The study found significant drops in average levels of tension, anxiety, depression, anger, and hostility in patients with bipolar disorder, and major depression after just one yoga class.
The best way to get out of something is to GROW through it – Victoria Parham, Motivational Life Coach Click To TweetMeditation is excellent for your mental health, as it's very intentional reflection allows the brain to cease its racing and calms the overactive mind created by modern times that demand we continuously multitask, and endure undue daily stress.
Physical exercise, from the gym to a basketball game to jumping jacks and everything in between is vital for good mental health and fitness. Heidi Godman of the Harvard Health Letter notes the tangible benefits to both thinking skills and memory that aerobic exercise facilitates.
Researchers at the University of British Columbia report that regular aerobic exercise, the kind that gets your heart pumping appears to increase the size of the hippocampus, the brain area involved in verbal memory and learning.
Your present circumstances don't determine where you can go; they merely determine where you can start – Nido Qubein Click To TweetMusic can evoke nostalgia, good memories, and a general sense of well-being, all while engaging the brain. Experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have identified a neural population in the auditory cortex that responds selectively to sounds and it is truly remarkable how music exudes exclusive qualities to which the brain responds.
Whether you are feeling stuck, down, or worried, positive thinking alone may not be the only solution you need. Physical movement, where you are actually doing something with your body, can help to shift not only your way of thinking but it can also help to reduce stress and anxiety.
2 Bonus Activities
Walking is a great physical activity that can be calming. Studies show that 30 minutes of walking per day can greatly reduce depression and improve your quality of life.
Journaling is another activity that helps you to pin your thoughts to paper. This doesn't have to be a formal “dear diary” situation, there are other creative forms of journaling that can be equally as effective.
Bullet journals for example allow you to document with calendars, lists, bullet lists, and task lists. Free Writing Journals can be a way to write your thoughts daily or on at times convenient for you. A gratitude journal is an excellent tool to keep track of the positive things in life.
Take care of you!
Additional Resources:
Article – The Connections Between Positive Psychology And Mental Health
by – Madhuleena Roy Chowdhury, BA
PositivePsychology.com
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Victoria Parham (VP) is a woman of compassion, vision, faith, and purpose, she believes in meeting people where they are in their lives and offers a no-nonsense approach in her message, training, and coaching style.
Outspoken, wise, direct, thoughtful, and sometimes provocative, her message is always with love and respect. Victoria knows from her own experiences that we all have the power within us to make decisions and choices that can lead to living an authentic life that is enriching, filled with purpose, personal satisfaction, on-going growth, joy, and gratitude.Victoria believes that when we discover who we truly are, only then can we become our most authentic selves.
Outspoken, wise, direct, thoughtful, and sometimes provocative, her message is always with love and respect. Victoria knows from her own experiences that we all have the power within us to make decisions and choices that can lead to living an authentic life that is enriching, filled with purpose, personal satisfaction, on-going growth, joy, and gratitude.Victoria believes that when we discover who we truly are, only then can we become our most authentic selves.
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