The gym for mental fitness – Physical health is well taken care of, for appearances matter a lot! What about Mental Health? Are you working on it?
In this world running after the physical appearances, we run after the bodily fitness, more than often ignoring our MENTAL FITNESS!
Do you have a fit mind? Do you even know whether you have or not?
Well, I am not surprised.
Mental Health is lesser an objective these days.
But I ask, what exactly is good mental health?
As per the general perceptions, we are all more or less mentally healthy, and this usually varies through our lives, especially as we deal with difficult life events, change and so on. Whether we call this psychological well being, happiness, contentment, positive mindset, all these terms relate to good mental health.
With our physical health, it’s part of our everyday discourse to be aspirational about a pleasant looking body. We want to feel physically fit, energetic, strong, balanced in our weight, eating a healthy diet, supple, resilient and not prone to minor ailments. Sure, we complain about our problems, and talk about how we can’t do all the things we know we ought to do. We know it’s not easy to stay physically healthy without working at it, especially if we’ve experienced health problems. We know that even if we reach the peak of physical fitness, we can’t maintain this for the rest of our lives without paying attention to it, and we do it without fail.
Then why such a BIG IGNORE to Mental Fitness?
Research tells us that good mental health is even more beneficial than good physical health. A positive mental outlook increases the rate and speed of recovery from serious, even life threatening, illness. Psychological resilience and wellbeing gives people the strength to turn problems into challenges and into triumphs, thereof.
Still, we’re experiencing an epidemic of mental ill-health. About 1 in 4 people are experiencing some sort of common mental health problem such as depression, anxiety and various stress related symptoms.
The trouble with focusing on the problems and the pain, is that, that’s what we become experts in. We’re looking for cures and treatments to fix the problem, instead of focusing on what makes for good mental health.
What is the remedy, then? How do we bring in SOUND MENTAL HEALTH? Is there a gym or a regime for that too?
I say yes. A self-proposed and self-constructed MENTAL GYMNASIUM it is. With these equipments.
Equip Yourself With Positive Bonds
Love and compassion are certainly one of the best known healers for any illness. Having positive close relationships is good for our mental health. Just like for an extrovert it is a perfectly happy scenario to have a wider network of friends, colleagues and acquaintances, which gives them opportunities to share and express. Giving to others is another really important aspect of nourishing the bonds, and improving our sense of self worth and well being. The more you indulge in giving, the more you become free of insecurities and mental obstructions. Give and receive love, friendships and compassion to have a positive mental health.
Equip Yourself With Self-Challenge
Challenge is about learning and development, it’s how we grow. For children, every day brings new challenges, yet as adults, we often become increasingly fearful of change, unwilling to learn new skills or put ourselves in unfamiliar situations.
So expanding our comfort zone, sometimes in small ways if we’re feeling particularly vulnerable, will help develop our self-confidence and sense of personal achievement. Keep going forward, keep learning and keep becoming a new you every time.
Equip Yourself With Composure
Self composure brings in a sense of balance, and ability to distance ourselves (even if for a little while) from our thoughts and emotions and act rationally. It strengthens our ability to respond rather than react.
This could be described as our sense of spiritual connection, which may come through a particular belief or faith, or may be found through positive connection with nature. A mentally healthy person will feel an inner strength of spirit, and find ways to support that. Such person will always RESPOND to a situation, rather than REACTING to it.
Compose yourself for better mental health.
Equip Yourself With Your Own Character, With Your Own Story. Grow With It
A person’s character is more or less the way in which we interpret their experiences and their responses to them. We all have our own personal stories, which we may or may not share with others. We may cast ourselves as the hero, the victim or the villain, and however we do this will certainly impact our mental health. Someone who has experienced severe, life-traumas, may have great difficulty piecing together their story at all, leaving them feeling literally fragmented, but instead of being broken, if they are strong enough to gather the learning from that, it will help them to become a better and stronger person. Good mental health means having a strong sense of personal values, awareness of our own strengths, skills and resources, and personal stories of learning from mistakes, survival, success and appreciation. One ought to learn and grow as a human. That is how a sound mental health comes in.
Equip Yourself With Creative Energies
Creativity represents the fun, childlike aspects of our mental health. As children, we are naturally creative and we play. As we grow into adulthood, our creativity and playfulness is often discouraged or devalued, and this can cause great frustration, literally diminishing the capacity of our brain to function as well as it could. Exploring creative activities has often been found to have a powerful therapeutic effect, and good mental health certainly depends on opportunities to bring fun, playfulness and creativity into our lives. Explore that creative side of your personality and bring it to the reality, for the bigger benefits of it.
These few equipments will help to provide a framework for your mental gymnasium, within which we can think about our mental health in the same way as we might think of our physical health in your body gym.
It’s pretty damned hard to be a perfect specimen of physical health, but then who needs to be perfect?
Just like our physical health, our mental health is a work in progress and always will be.
