5 simple ways for women to stay mentally healthy
Who knew mental health will become such a buzz word in 2020 but aren’t we glad!
We’ve always ignored mental wellness and focussed so much on the physical aspect of our body. To live a complete and a full life, you need both. We talk about our bodies even when we don’t have an ailment but we talk about mental health only when there is an issue. That is what we need to change. Let's be proactive and keep our mental health well and good.
Also, big thank you for Mental Health awareness month. As women, we take on so many more roles than we should. We are caregivers, listeners, doers, providers, mediators and so much more. We juggle a zillion things and more. We get all our jobs done but unfortunately somethings gotta give. It is not sustainable. We are called super moms and super humans and it's great and all but at what cost. Most of us don’t even realize how hard we are on ourselves. We’ve made ourselves highly accomplished humans. We do it all so one day when we can’t, we beat ourselves over it. At some point in your life, it will catch up. Nothing wrong with doing it all as long as you have time for some self care.
Be kind and gentle to yourself. I learned that only after losing my mother and my only living parent. When there is no way out, you just do it. I’ve learned the only way for me to deal with my grief is to be kind to myself. Be gentle. I tried to hide the tears cause I didn’t want my children to see me weak until I learned it the hard way. This is life, their mom is suffering in pain and they need to see it and understand it. Now we’ve all learned how to deal with it but first I had to let go of trying to be a super mom first.
Learn to say NO. Each day is different for each of us. Some days are more productive and easier than others. You can only do so much so it's ok to say no to work, to people, to events and to everything that you can’t take on. I know work can be tough to say no to but take a mental health day when you need to.
Find time for yourself. I’ve been told to find a hobby so many times as a way to focus on myself. Finding a hobby feels really bizarre to me and if you are in that boat, then find 10 mins to listen to music, read a book or close your eyes and drift in your thoughts. Anything where it's only you.
Find time to take your shoes off. I know this is a strange thing to put out there, but I’ve been reading the benefits of grounding and I now take my flip flops off and walk on the grass or the patio. I am not sure if it's working or helpful to my body but my mind feels relaxed as I do that. Try it out. I’ve written more about it here.
Write a journal. Some of us document our life on social media. It is a way for us to share what we enjoy and what troubles us and the feedback from people, helps us process it. If that is what you are doing, great. Keep at it. For others, who want to keep it private, jot a few things down each day of how you feel, what you liked about the day and what you would change. When we write, we give ourselves permission to process something and let go or acknowledge something that we want to keep and take with us into the next day. It will also help you be proud of how much you’ve grown over the years and whether or not you’ve taken care of your mental health.