The 12 Habits That Will Improve And Maintain Your Mental Health
After many years of personal search, going through moments of anxiety and constant excessive thoughts that sometimes paralyzed me or separated me from loved people, I learned some habits that, both for me and for my clients, have become essential tools of life.
Let’s see below what are the habits that help maintain good mental health.
These are the 12 habits to maintain a good level of mental health that you can apply to your daily life.
1. Change the concept of having to fix something inside yourself
When we think we need to fix something inside of us and we feel inadequate, we are assuming that we came into the world with something defective.
When we use the concept of fixing something referring to ourselves, we feel trapped in a continuous cycle of insecurity. Therefore, we act from the need to change what works poorly, or makes us incomplete. We identify with a negative image of ourselves.
Let go of the idea that something is wrong inside you. You came equipped with everything you need and you are complete. You just need to really see this: you are enough.
The mind continually throws all kinds of thoughts at us. Creating thoughts is inevitable, you simply need to be aware of them for what they are: thoughts.
The moment we observe them we create a space that allows us not to stay involved in them for too long. They may arise, but if we do not validate them as facts, they lose their power. In this way, they stop conditioning us and we direct our attention to other things. This makes a total difference.
3. Use your breath to slow the flow of your thoughts
There is a very close link between breathing and the flow of thoughts. Anxiety is the reflection of an overly active mind. When we reduce the speed of our breathing, we naturally reduce the speed of our thoughts and, therefore, reduce our anxiety.
4. See the past as an illusion
The past is simply a concept. On many occasions, part of our suffering comes because thoughts from the past determine and justify current behavior. For example, if someone was bullied at school, they will justify thoughts about those events to determine a current personality that fears criticism. When we are aware of how the past is conditioning us and decide to release the control it has over us, we are free to enjoy the present.
5. Exercise most days
If you want to keep your mind healthy, understand the connection between mind and body. When we take care of ourselves physically, our mind also benefits. The mind in a sense is our body. We are much more vulnerable to unhealthy thought patterns when we do not move our energy through our body. Life is movement. However, we are often trying to cheat life, paralyzing our energy when we remain static for too long.
Yoga is, without a doubt, one of the healthiest practices to improve our mental health, moving our energy through our body, and placing our body in the most appropriate way, as if it were an antenna prepared to reorganize our energy correctly.
6. See moments of difficulty as an opportunity or lesson
Remind yourself: There is a lesson in every difficulty. When we are mired in suffering we lose the ability to see clearly. It’s a matter of perspective, it all depends on the place we choose to look at each situation. In every problem there is an opportunity to grow.
7. Get familiar with “the space”
“The space” is a moment of pause between a thought and a behavioral response. Practice not reacting with anger when you have an immediate impulse. Instead, allow that “space” between thought/emotion and response to emerge. Normally it is a matter of ten seconds.
8. Tolerate uncertainty
Intolerance of uncertainty and wanting to have everything under control is a sure path to anxiety. We have a (very human) need to know precisely what will happen next. This is obviously not possible in many cases. Inner tranquility comes naturally when you put aside the need to always know what is going to happen next… Trust uncertainty and instead of seeing it as a danger, see it as an ally. You will perform better in all areas of your life.
9. Choose happiness
Many of us believe that our stress is determined by what is happening in our lives and circumstances. This is false. Tension arises only from our thinking, from our personal perceptions. Based on that, we determine our experiences because we are the creators of them. We can choose to be comfortable. We can choose to be happy. It is something that is generated internally.
Life slows down when we slow down and hurry. Try it. Notice how those who are restless or move and talk quickly tend to be the most anxious. Anxiety is created, in large part, by trying to rush through life. We can’t process reality that quickly, so everything becomes more complicated when we rush. Slow down. Do one thing and then the other; You will see that everything becomes easier.
11. Understand the difference between imagination and rumination
Be aware of the tremendous power that thoughts have. They can be used to visualize futures, design bridges, empathize with others, and make valuable calculations. But also be aware of their destructive power, especially when they take the form of worry or rumination. Pay attention to the difference and shorten rumination. How will you know how to do this? – Return your attention to the present moment.
12. Connect regularly with pure consciousness
Pure consciousness is experiencing the world around us without judging. When we judge, we also feel the negative meaning of those judgments, which causes us stress. For example, if we think that someone or a situation is annoying, we will feel that discomfort in our mind and in our body. Awareness is our exit door beyond all this.
Take a moment every day to listen and feel what arises from within you and around you without judging it, without labeling it. Remember: since everything is within the field of your consciousness, somehow everything is within you. You will find a surprisingly calming power in mindfulness.
