Ways I’m Glowing up Mentally
We all have time periods in our lives when we’re just not feeling our best. While I truly feel so grateful for the life I live, surrounded by incredible people and opportunities, sometimes anxieties, my mood or negative self-talk can get in the way. Over the past few months, I have worked on prioritizing how I feel, as I know that taking care of myself means looking inwards to address and work to understand my emotions, with the goal of living a happier and more fulfilling life.
The first way in which I have worked towards improving my mental health is through therapy. I had never seriously considered therapy in the past because I thought it was only for people dealing with significantly hard times. I was entirely wrong in this perspective, as therapy can be helpful for anyone, regardless of the severity of one’s problems. Honestly, I find that being able to talk though my problems is extremely beneficial by itself, but therapy also allows me to feel more validated in my emotions, while learning valuable tools and healthy coping mechanisms.
I also have tried to be more aware of self-sabotaging behaviors, which ultimately make me feel worse long term. In my life, this usually pertains to productivity habits, as I tend to procrastinate assignments to scroll on my phone instead. This ultimately causes unnecessary stress, and sometimes forces me to sacrifice my sleep to get the work done. Similarly, I try my best to sleep a full eight hours, and make sure I don’t stay up too late when I know I have to wake up early the next morning. Thinking ahead and building better habits has significantly improved my mental health. Making a conscious effort to put my mental health at the forefront of decisions is one of the most important forms of self-love. With this, I also give myself compassion when I make mistakes, and remember that balance in life is crucial to maintaining feel-good habits.
One of the easiest ways I have been able to feel better in my day to day life is through breathwork. When I’m feeling overwhelmed, I pause what I am doing and take deep breaths until I feel calm again. This could be just three deep breaths, with my focus on either how the breath feels, the connection between my feet and the ground or the environment around me. Shifting my focus out of my mind and into my body allows me to calm any overwhelming thoughts and feel more grounded.
Prioritizing my mental health is still a work in progress for me, but therapy, making mindful decisions and breathwork have been significantly useful in creating a calmer, more fulfilling life.