3 Simple Ways to Improve Your Mental Health

Attending to our mental health is crucial. What we feed our mind and spirit will be reflected in our physical health and relationships. Refining the quality of thoughts we focus on as well as the quality of our routine and daily action will have a direct effect in uplifting and attracting better experiences.

I propose 3 simple ways to improve your mental health with nurturing and fun activities that will uplift your spirit and bring positive change in your life.

Daily or weekly self-care routine

Self-care is obvious and has been said more than once but is worth reiterating.

What does self-care mean and how does it look? Self-care is making sure your own cup is full so there are enough vitality and positive traits to attend to your life’s demands. That means filling your cup on a regular basis with highly nourishing activities and practices.

You may want to develop your own list with this fun and simple exercise: Happiness Map

You can also make a whole ritual practice out of it and light some incense or candle, brew a nice cup of tea or put on a special outfit for the occasion.

Here is a list of ideas:

1. Quiet time for yourself
2. Meditation, contemplation or journaling practices
3. Healing and cleansing your energetic body (learn how with through my Deep Chakra Clearing Program)
4. Preparing food with high-quality ingredients. Eliminating process food as much as possible.

   And if lack of time is an issue, finding ways to carve more time or not being stuck feeling hungry and grabbing junk food. You can meal prep once or twice a week, create a meal planning calendar, prepare freezer meals, having healthy and quick recipes on hand (including the ingredients), etc…
5. Exercising
6. Regular social medias and news watching pause or complete withdrawal
7. Having a hobby that is either tactile (hands-on) or that feeds your mind (ex. learning a language)
8. Learning a new skill
9. Going to bed when your body is letting you know it’s time
10. Spending quality time with friends who are uplifting and supportive
11. Spending time in nature
12. Reading uplifting books
13. Doing something you’ve been wanting to do for a long time

However, self-care is not:

watching TV (this only feed toxic energies – they don’t call it TV programming for no reason)

or volunteering (that is helping others and not filling your own cup first)

or working on your business (that is feeding your business and not yourself)

Loving the space you’re in

I’m not an expert in that field because it is still something that requires a lot of work for me. But I definitely notice the shift in energy when I declutter my space, when I rearrange the placement of certain furniture or objects, or when I add different colors or textures to my space.

Although I do not follow a lot of the Feng Shui rules, I know and feel how a space affects the movement of energy and thus how our environment affects our well-being.

So you may want to spend some time rearranging your space so it matches how you want to feel in a specific room.

Do you want a room where you can feel peaceful? Add natural color tones and soft hues, maybe some greens for health and balance, or blues for relaxation and peacefulness. Add candles, plants, comfortable blankets, and throw pillows

Do you want to feel inspired and creative? Add splashes of bright colors and funky artwork or mural.

It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Sometimes it can just be moving what we have around to different rooms. It can also be just bringing a few new items.

It’s also the best time to get rid of what is broken, taking unnecessary space, doesn’t fit you anymore, or what you no longer enjoy.

Here is a list of properties for each color to help you match your decor with the mood you’re after. I suggest using accessories to colorize the rooms, not necessarily painting the whole room as it can become overbearing.

Red – For passion, vitality, strength, courage, independence. Enhances activity, keeps us alert, facilitates judgment. Can easily become oppressive and tiring.

Pink – For love, compassion, nurturing, feminity, friendship, domestic harmony, self-improvement. Toned down energy (of red) and alertness so it is mildly stimulating.

Orange – For fun, creativity, self-expression, overcoming addiction, business success, ambition, opportunity. Balance of red and yellow. Colour of joy, movement, and dance. Encourages joyfulness, lightness, release, and pleasure.

Yellow – For pleasure, success, happiness, learning, concentration, confidence. Encourages detachment, and objectivity but also nervousness.

Gold – For great fortune, abundance, male energy, positive attitude, justice, health. Has a high degree of healing and balancing properties.

Green – For physical and emotional healing, luck, marriage, acceptance. Promotes balance and careful judgment, but can also encourage indecision and stasis.

Turquoise – Cool, refreshing, calming, and soothing.

Blue – For communication, will power, focus, forgiveness, weight loss, truth, fidelity, patience, domestic harmony, organization. Calms, relaxes, helps with sleep, tension, and nervousness.

Violet – For spirituality, connection to Higher Self, insight, clarity. Encourages purpose, meditation, and reverence. Calms the body and balance the mind.

Magenta – Colour of spiritual fulfillment. Supports contentment, feeling of completeness, and self-respect. Helps to bring about change.

Black – For grounding, learning, protection. Heightens emotional response so it is best to use sparingly if overly moody or negative.

White – For unity, purity, balance, innocence. Exaggerates purity and non-experience. Pair with other colours.

Starting a hobby

A hobby can be a good way to bring about relaxation of body and mind. If you can find an activity you get completely absorbed in, it can help you access the Alpha state of mind. In that state, you enter the present moment and lose track of time. Alpha waves aid overall mental coordination, calmness, alertness, mind/body integration, and learning.

Starting a hobby also feeds your mind with joyful and purposeful thoughts.

I also strongly feel that it can help you find your higher vocation and guide you towards a sense of fulfillment and purpose.

Sometimes we need to try a few things before we find the right fit. There is a lot of different classes and workshops offered in almost anything now. So before you invest a bunch of money in tools and materials, just start taking classes and workshops.

Here are some interesting ideas:

• Cooking and bread-making
• Sewing
• Knitting
• Ceramic and pottery
• Jewelry making
• Lapidary (stone cutting – or your local rock club for rock hounding)
• Iron forging
• Woodworking
• Archery
• Traditional skills (canning, fermenting, tanning, etc..)

Or browse this for a comprehensive list of ideas and to find lessons near you or online.

However. It can also feel a bit intimidating for some people to try new things on their own.

3 simple ways to improve mental health