8 Clever Ways To Boost Your Mental Health
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Improving your mental health can come in many forms, but it’s often hard to know where to start. That’s why it’s a good idea to think outside the box and customize your mental health path for your specific needs. Let’s take a look at a few unique things you can try to improve your mental state and feel better overall.
Help your community with a nonprofit
One great way to boost your self-confidence and sense of self-worth is to help others, and you’ll have a wider reach if you start a nonprofit, which will allow you to easily apply for grants and federal funding opportunities. Just make sure you understand the steps for forming a nonprofit, which include creating bylaws that detail how the operation is governed, how voting will work, how often you’ll hold board meetings, and rules about how you’ll handle conflicts of interest.
Go back to school
Not quite ready to start your own nonprofit? Consider going back to school, which will give you the skills and confidence you’ll need to pursue your goals. Look at online programs, which make it much easier to earn a degree than in-person classes, and make sure the school is accredited and offers competitive tuition. Choose a program that focuses on a subject you’ve always been interested in.
Adopt a pet
If your mental health needs are more connected to feelings of stress or anxiety than self-esteem, consider adopting a pet. Pets can help reduce stress, provide comfort and companionship, and can even lower blood pressure. Just make sure you do some research before adopting to ensure you understand what your new pet will need, especially if it’s a younger animal that will require a lot of attention and care for the first few months.
Work with an animal to treat anxiety or trauma
If you’re not in a position to adopt a pet, you might still be able to benefit from spending time with an animal. Equine-assisted therapy has been utilized for several years to help treat various mental health issues and can help build confidence and emotional regulation, learn responsibility, and practice impulse control.
Rearrange your living space
Sometimes, we spend so much time in our homes that we don’t notice when it becomes cluttered, dark, or just doesn’t work for our needs anymore. If you’ve been feeling stressed or depressed lately, spending time working with animals can only do so much; your living space needs to be clean, have natural light, and flow nicely from room to room in order for you to maximize every area. Update or rearrange your furniture, keeping in mind that you don’t have to spend a fortune; simply hit up the nearest thrift shop or garage sale to find great pieces.
Set up a meditation spot
Feeling tired and overwhelmed too often? It might be time to rethink your daily routines. Consider setting up a meditation spot in your home while you’re rearranging, using a comfy chair or yoga mat, a relaxing candle, quiet music, and calming lights to help you unwind or get into the right mindset in the morning.
Get better sleep
When you’re relaxed, you can sleep better, which in turn can positively affect everything from anxiety to your digestive system. Meditate, read a book, take a hot shower, and unplug from technology each night before bed so you can get a better quality of sleep.
Do something for your inner child
Just like being well-rested, having fun can help boost your enjoyment of each day while reducing anxiety and stress, so do something to appease your inner child. Color in a coloring book, bounce on a trampoline, or go skating. Doing something just for the fun of it can help you see things in a different light.
Improving your mental health may feel like a monumental task, so take small steps at first. Organize a volunteer group before starting your nonprofit so you’ll have a network of support, or do some research on online classes before starting a degree program.
