5 Therapeutic things you can do right now for your mental health

Go for a quick walk

Moving your body releases endorphins, or the happy hormones.These endorphins interact with the receptors in your brain that reduce your perception of pain.Endorphins also trigger a positive feeling in the body, similar to that of morphine.

Research has shown that exercise is an effective but often underused treatment for mild to moderate depression. In addition, exercise outside (with the appropriate sun protection) can help boost levels of vitamin D and your mood.

Put on your earphones and listen to an affirmations podcast or some happy music and see the difference in your mood in just 10 mins.

Or hit a friend up and go for a walk together - meeting people also increases revitalization more than walking alone.

Watch something funny

It is scientifically proven that humor can protect against anxiety by relieving some of the tension and replacing the negative feelings with lighter and positive ones. One of the easiest ways to do so is by watching a sitcom or funny clips on instagram/ pinterest.

Write about what you are going through

Journaling increases the overall quality of mental health and wellbeing. One suggestion by a study on journaling is to write about anxious thoughts and write positive aspects of your life (positive lessons you learned from your past mistakes).

Journaling helps control your symptoms and improve your mood by:

• Helping you prioritize problems, fears, and concerns

• Tracking any symptoms day-to-day so that you can recognize triggers and learn ways to better control them

• Providing an opportunity for positive self-talk and identifying negative thoughts and behaviors

Keeping a journal can help you identify the stress and the triggers enabling you to find solutions to the problem.

Practice focused breathing

I personally practice focused breathing every time I need to reset - almost about 5 times a day! As an overachiever, I’m often unable to separate my personal emotions from my business decisions and focused breathing has helped me channel that energy in the right direction.

Sit on a chair, bed or floor and close your eyes. Take a deep breath in for 3 seconds and hold it for one second. Take a deep breath out slowly for 6 seconds. Repeat this 8 times and you’ll notice a shift in your energy.

Deep breathing activates our parasympathetic nervous system which signals our brand that we are safe and do not need the fight, flight or freeze response.

Mute, unfollow accounts on social media that don’t make you smile!

One of the simplest yet understated methods to take care of your mental health is to stop consuming content that doesn’t make you feel great. We’re constantly following influencers who are living the life and we aspire to be like them but it’s also important to not let their social media lives influence how we live our off-social media lives.