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6 ways to improve your Mental Health

Hey lovely people! Here are the 6 easy tips I live by when it comes to improving my 'mental health' at home!

#1: Exercise, Exercise, Exercise...

As much as you might hate to hear this (just like I did) exercising is a key element in helping with your mental health. I know, I know, you hear and see this from every doctor you see and every site you look up, but I am being serious. The best way i've found to exercise and keep myself motivated is the app called "Seven". It is a free app on both the Google Play store and the App Store. This is a personalized app based on how many times a week you exercise and what your goal is, they use quick starter workouts, planned workouts, or you can create your own workout. The best part? Every workout is only 7 minutes long making it easy to squeeze into your schedule daily.

#2: Eat Healthy!

At this point your probably thinking i'm spewing out every other thing another blog would tell you, eating healthy not only improves your physical health but also your mental health. When I first started the journey I like to call my "mental health path" i started cutting out 'bad' foods. And when I say bad foods I mean chips, chocolate, take-out (and yes this unfortunately includes pizza my fellow pizza lovers), pop, etc. Within the first 2 weeks I was noticing how energetic and (to be lame here) how healthy I was actually feeling. It was like a mini detox for my body! And i'm not saying you have to go out and buy organic cucumbers for $4.00, just the small cut outs will make things 10 times better. P.S for all you girls out there struggling with acne, clean eating followed by my everyday skincare routine helped clear up my breakouts (next post??)!

#3: Good Hygiene?

Now this part may be slightly gross but, when in a bad spot, or even just a depressive episode (which for me can last for days) I have no motivation to get out of bed and shower or even brush my teeth. What i'm going to tell you know is going to be hard but, YOU NEED TO SHOWER EVERYDAY WEATHER YOU THINK YOU CAN OR NOT! On the days where you have no intent on getting up to shower, you need to dig deep and get up and do it. i am telling you, the feeling of being clean will make you feeling better instantly and can help motivate you to stay out of bed for the day.

#4: Keep your friends close, and your enemies as far away as possible!!

I feel like this is the one that really hits home with me, and i'm sure most of you guys as well. When your down on yourself and you can feeling yourself 'slipping' back into bad habits concerning your mental health, you need to keep in touch with your friends. I can admit i'm extremely guilty of closing my self in my house and 'hermitting' in my room, but when you keep in contact with people in your life it keeps you from having excuses to stay home in your room, especially when your friends do know of your 'bad habits'. I went 2 weeks without any contact with my friends, I could feel myself falling back down until my friend finally messaged me like "hey we haven't talked in forever gurl lets catch up were going to the movies". It's important to keep these people in your life and close, leading to my next tip...

#5: Create your own support system

In my life my support system includes, my mother (every girl needs her mother), My BFF'S who are basically my sisters, and my therapist (even when you are in a good spot it is important to keep in contact with your therapist and still go to sessions). A support system is a group of people who, know and/or understand what your going through, and are there for you when you need them to help talk you down when your in a state where you need to get the help. You should never be ashamed to need help, I still get help when I understand that I need it.

#6: AVOID DRINKING AND RECREATIONAL DRUGS

Another one which is commonly known is that alcohol and drugs are depressants! Back in high school I never understood why my moods were like a roller coaster all the time. I would go from being completely happy and stable, to a frantic mania. It wasn't until me and my therapist touched on my drinking that it all became clear to me. I would drink daily, not only worsening my moods, but also having an effect on my physical health. At the time i had medications I was on advising me not to drink but my ignorance to the rules caused my meds to be 'void', leaving me on my roller coaster. Up until recently, i've decided for my mental health (and a bit of my physical health and safety) to stop drinking and maybe you should to?

So there you have it! Although these are only scratching the surface of the many tips I could give you, these (in my opinion) are the more 'quick improvement' tips. Stay tuned for more tips coming your way and possible my skin care routine (who knows??)