7 Simple Things I’m Doing to Improve My Mental Health This Year

I have always been quite a worrier and an over-thinker, but I think since lockdown my anxiety has got quite a bit worse. I guess it’s a combination of getting out of the house and seeing people less, the worry of it all and just the daily stresses of life, but it has been affecting me more and more and so I would really like to work on improving my mental health this year so I can enjoy life as much as possible.

Anxiety can have a big effect on your life and affect your sleep, appetite, your physical health and of course your mood. Of course, sometimes it gets so bad that medication is required (I do already take some) but I also want to explore some more natural methods of improving my mental health. There are lots of more natural ways that you can reduce your anxiety.

There are some particular things that I have already been doing that I want to improve on, as well as some new to me things that I would like to incorporate to improve my mental health and really make an effort to give my health an overall boost and hopefully start to feel less anxious and stressed.

7 Things I’m Doing to Improve My Mental Health This Year

Meditation and mindfulness

Meditation is a practice that requires no special equipment or skills and anyone can start immediately as long as you have a quiet space to sit or lie down and relax. It is really just a series of breathing practices that help to focus the mind and encourage you to exist in the present, and it can be really effective for those who get anxious, helping you to focus on the here and now and what is important.

Meditation is a new one for me, and until recently I hadn’t particularly thought about trying it as I just didn’t think it was for me. But actually, I could really do with a bit of time for myself each day where I try to relax and switch off. I have used the ‘Calm‘ app on and off before I go to sleep for years now, listening to a sleep story or the meditation sessions for sleep and I really like them, so I want to use that app to do some of the meditation during the day because my head is always so full and I think re-centering myself and focusing on one thing for a short time would be very beneficial.

Practicing mindfulness and meditation really is so good for you, helping with stress and if you are able to centre your attention on the present moment, the more enthusiasm you tend to have for life, and it can even help with ageing too!

Should you find it difficult to relax and unwind, using natural products (such as cannabinoids can help). For instance, Delta 10 THC Products can offer a unique experience and allow the individual to attain a euphoric experience. Users can take the edge off and not deal with any of the negative side effects, which other THC products are known for.

Playing online games

My daughter and I love playing computer games together, whether that’s Xbox, our very old Wii, Roblox on my phone (she loves it – me, not so much!) or playing online games. We have a car racing game on the Xbox which is great as well as old-school Sonic the hedgehog which we both love, and building up a profitable business on Zoo Tycoon is also something I enjoy doing.

I have also been playing more online games on my laptop in between doing some work or if I’m feeling particularly stressed or anxious. I find it really takes my mind off everything else and I can just focus on the game for a few minutes and forget about everything else; it helps me to chill out, have fun, and de-stress and I find them really enjoyable.

Sometimes I just like to go online and find a new game that I haven’t played before that I can add to my favourites collection if I like it, but more often than not I’ll go back to an old favourite – I love that you can save the games to a favourites collection on Plays.org so you don’t lose them.

I love the simplicity of Tetris so Tetra Blocks on Plays.Org is great, allowing me to concentrate on just this for ten minutes and calm my busy mind. I also love playing Snakes as that just takes me back to the days of being young and playing on old simple phones!

If I feel like I need something slightly more challenging to keep my brain occupied then I love Solitaire and I have played that, both online and off since I was young and my mum taught me how to play. I could play it for ages and not get bored and it is really great for taking my mind off all my worries for a bit!

Putting down my phone earlier

This is something I’ve tried to do numerous times before but I always fail at it. However, now I really, really want to try and put my phone down a little while before I go to sleep as it is said to be so bad for our sleep and is definitely not helpful for calming my brain before I try to drift off.

I also want to take more time away from social media as often that just makes me feel more anxious and not good enough, particularly Instagram.

I think we’re all so used to just doing something constantly nowadays that we forget that it’s OK and actually beneficial to just be alone with our thoughts sometimes. So often I will put my phone down and then pick it straight back up again because I couldn’t possibly just do nothing for a minute or two, could I!? It’s crazy really and it’s no good for us to be like that. So I want to try to be less obsessed with my phone and allow myself to not be looking at something all the time and let my mind just wander.

Watch something funny

I always feel so much better after I watch something that makes me laugh loads, like ‘You’ve Been Framed’ or something else that is easy to watch. It is so good for us to laugh, and we don’t do it anywhere near enough as adults. It also helps take my mind off things for a little while and helps me feel more relaxed.

Playing board games

We love playing games together as a family, and even just playing a game together for a quarter of an hour really helps take my mind off things and concentrate on something else for a short while. It’s also fun (unless it’s Scrabble for hours!!) and so it helps to calm me down and relax, and I also love spending quality time with my family.

Reading more

I absolutely love to read, especially fiction books as they take me out of my own head and into the world of someone else for a little while. I also feel better and drift off to sleep more easily when I choose to read rather than sit on my phone flicking from one thing to another.

But I just don’t do it often enough and so I want to spend a lot much more time reading, especially in the evening. I know reading helps with my overall mental health so I really want to do it miuch more.

Going for dog walks and exercising more

Since getting a dog last year I get outside and walk, way more and I find it really good for my mental as well as physical health. Sometimes it’s really hard to make myself get outside especially when I don’t feel like being around anyone else or I’m feeling particularly tired, but I always feel so much better when I do make the effort.

I do find that doing any type of exercise regularly, improves my mental health so I really want to get back to doing more exercise consistently again as that really does make me feel so much better. Yoga is something that I enjoy, particularly when it’s a proper class that I go to so I really want to start doing that again now too.

Physical exercise has been found to release endorphins in the brain that not only reduce stress and depression but also help your brain to focus better so it’s so important for us to maintain.

Do you do any of these things or do you do anything in particular to improve your mental health? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

This is a collaborative post.