Easy Ways to Boost Your Mental Health

Summer is a great time to work on your mental health, when the weather is nice, and Vitamin D is plentiful. So let’s talk about some ways to proactively care for our mental health. Having a battle plan for when moments are stressful and challenging helps us to endure those moments well.

Sleep

As a society, I’m pretty sure we are perpetually sleep deprived. Have you been a room of adults lately that talks about how “well-rested” they are? Probably not. Getting enough quality rest is important for our emotional health. In fact, the Sleep Foundation finds that, “Sufficient sleep, especially REM sleep, facilitates the brain’s processing of emotional information. During sleep, the brain works to evaluate and remember thoughts and memories, and it appears that a lack of sleep is especially harmful to the consolidation of positive emotional content. This can influence mood and emotional reactivity and is tied to mental health disorders and their severity, including the risk of suicidal ideas or behaviors.”

So how to we promote better sleep? Having a set schedule that allows for enough sleep is important. It can be tempting after a long day to sit and veg with Netflix for ‘just one more episode,’ or ‘one more chapter’ with our latest read. But having a set time to go to bed can help make sure you have enough time to get adequate rest. 

Having a time limit or ‘bed time’ for screens and food can also help to prepare your body to get a good-night’s sleep. Blue light from our screens is usually only available during the middle of the day naturally, which means that our late night scrolls are telling our brains it’s time to be awake! This interrupts the circadian rhythm we would normally be receiving from the sun, thus lessening our ability to get adequate deep sleep. Food has a similar tendency. When we eat late at night, (particularly on things like chips, candy, or other popular snacks) we are spiking our blood sugar. At night, our body goes into a rest state, where our heart rate slows. But, if we pump our bodies full of sugars right before bed, our body will still be working hard while we are asleep, preventing the rest it needed to repair for the next day. 

Adding things like white noise machines, black out curtains, grounding time, and even time outside can also promote better sleep. 

Go Outside

Don’t you love after a long winter, that first day where the sun is out, and the temperature starts to warm up? It’s so nice to go out and lay in the sun, or go on a walk. I live in Rexburg, which means that it is snowy and cold from sometime in October until April. But the first day it is over 40 degrees, everyone is outside in the sun, with shorts, and t-shirts. And you can just tell people just feel better.

Why is that? Studies have actually shown that a few minutes outside can actually measurably lower your stress levels! Fresh air, exercise, and direct sunlight help combat depression, anxiety, and other mental health challenges by boosting endorphin and lowering cortisol levels.

Hobbies such as gardening, raising animals, walking, and sports can all provide a health benefits for the physical body, and for mental health. 

Clean Eating 

What about the food we eat? Could that actually contribute to our mental health? Did you know that your gastrointestinal tract is sometimes called your second brain? Your gut health is actually directly related to your dopamine levels, because the bacteria in your gut affect your neurotransmitters. Therefore, what you eat definitely affect how you think and feel. Whole foods help balance and promote good bacteria, whereas things like sugar interrupt those neurotransmitters and cause crashes. So cleaning up our diet can help us not only feel better physically, but also mentally!

Exercise

Ok, if we’re going to talk about diet, you know we’re going to mention exercise. In the words of the wise Elle Woods, “Exercise causes endorphins, endorphins make you happy. Happy people don’t shoot their husbands.” Researchers have found that exercise helps to lower blood pressure and cortisol levels. 

There are lots of different ways to exercise, and none are a ‘one size fits all’. One of the best things I’ve heard a fitness instructor say is that you should find a fitness plan that you enjoy. That could be going out on walks or runs, getting into a competitive sports team in your community, or joining. a fitness class. Social media is full of places to help you find something that fits you, and can give you an enjoyable outlet, rather than something you dread.