Making the effort to maintain your mental health is just as important as keeping your body in shape! Need ideas? Here are 10 Mental Fitness Tips from the Canadian Mental Health Association:
- Collect positive emotional moments. – store moments in your memory when you experience positive emotions like pleasure, comfort, tenderness, or confidence, and pull them out to lift your mood or confidence when you’re feeling down, stressed, or anxious.
- Learn how to cope with negative thoughts. – When you notice negativity start invading your thoughts, interrupt it. Blocking them out probably won’t work, but you can prevent them from becoming a priority by distracting or comforting yourself if you can’t resolve the problem immediately. Talking to a friend or family member, or anyone with a positive attitude, is a good idea.
- Focus on 1 activity at a time. – When out for a walk or with friends, turn off your cell phone and don’t think about your “to do” list for the evening. Don’t forget to take in all the sights, sounds, and smells around you; enjoy your surroundings.
- Exercise. – Staying physically fit is key to being emotionally fit! Regular physical activity improves mental health and reduces the likelihood or effects of depression or anxiety. Suggestion: if you’re feeling lonely, join a fitness group, gym, or one of the many athletic intramurals/clubs at UBC to connect with positive, health-minded people with common interests!
- Don’t neglect your hobbies—or pick up some new ones. – Enjoying hobbies helps balance your life since it gives you time for yourself, free from daily pressures from school, work, or home. Hobbies are also great because they keep your brain active.
- Get personal goals. – Both large and small. It might be finishing one novel a month if you’re trying to improve your literacy skills, running a few laps around the block every day if you want to improve physical fitness, going to office hours once a week this term if you’re struggling to keep up in your classes. Setting goals provides tangible motivation for you to improve yourself, builds confidence, and brings satisfaction.
- Keep a journal. – Express your thoughts and feelings through a written journal, a diary app on your phone, or an online personal blog. Writing about a stressful time often helps put things into perspective and reduce the negative emotions that may have built up. It’s also helpful to keep a record of positive experiences that you can look back on, perhaps after a long and tiring day.
- Share humour. – When you see something that makes you smile or laugh pass it along to brighten someone else’s day! It could be as small as a funny phrase you see on a street sign or a humorous youtube video. A little humour can go a long way.
- Volunteer. – Volunteering is golden because it’s a “win-win” activity. If you want to feel better, widen your social network, gain valuable learning experiences, and bring balance to your life—and most importantly, directly improve other people’s lives—find a volunteering opportunity with a UBC club or in your community! govolunteer.ca, UBC Careers Online, and the AMS club listings are great places to start your search.
- Treat yourself. – Cook yourself a delicious meal, have a bubble bath, explore the natural beauty of your neighbourhood on a walk, see a movie with friends, hang out with your brother or sister for the afternoon…whatever you want. Take time to do something for yourself.
Source: http://www.cmha.ca/mental_health/mental-fitness-tips/#.UU3o-hysiSp
