Winter is here and as we begin to slow down with the snow, our trees fully changed to bare, it is also important that we make some changes in ourselves. How have you been taking care of your mental health? It’s important that we take time to look within, check our habits and implement more ways of nourishing ourselves from the inside out. Here are 6 ways to take care of your mental health this season.
Let Go of Material and Emotional Clutter
How many times have you looked around your home and realized that it was cluttered? Now look within. Is your life a little cluttered with emotions and thoughts, too? So many times, our outside world reflects our inside feelings. Letting go of material and emotional clutter will “clean up” the energy around you, literally and figuratively. Turn on some music, clean your space and release some of the emotional clutter that clouds the corners of your mind from time to time. This will lessen stress and allow you to focus on what is important to you.
Check your basic Self- Care
Have you fallen off your self-care regimen in any area? Getting enough rest, eating enough meals each day and exercising to keep your mind and body strong is underrated medicine for your mental health. Sometimes you are moving around so much you don’t notice you’ve been completely skipping lunch and eating dinner later than usual for weeks. Even increasing the amount of water you drink daily can impact your physical and mental health in positive ways each day. So check your habits as of late.
What simple elements of self-care can you take better care of?
Don’t be afraid to ask for help
Everyone needs a little extra support on occasion. Some of us have a hard time asking for help or declining extra tasks. What tasks can you surrender to someone else to lighten your load? Do you really trust in others, or do you only rely only on yourself? Learn to lean.
Get outside and soak up the sun
Even though it’s cold out, the sun still shines. Vitamin D deficiency is linked to mood changes and fatigue. During the summer months when the sun is out brighter and longer, it is easier to get your daily dose of vitamin D than during the fall and winter. It is important to be mindful of this shift as the seasons change so that you can better plan to take care of yourself. Taking an extra walk or getting up earlier to catch more sunlight during the day can increase the vitamin D in your body and have positive effects on your mental health.
Give gratitude each day
Write down one thing that you are grateful for each day. Write it down in a journal or place it on pieces of paper in an empty jar in your home. Read over them from time to time as reminders of all that you can be thankful for even on your worst days. Use it to remind yourself of every good moment you have felt over time. Practicing gratitude is a tool to help change your words, change your thoughts and change your life.
Give yourself permission to feel your emotions
Feeling your way through your emotions is the only way that you can properly release them. It’s okay to not be okay. The goal of leading a positive lifestyle is not to ignore your emotions and go on as if you are not affected by situations that arise in your life. Truly taking care of your mental health means addressing the way that you feel and allowing yourself time and space to process these emotions safely and effectively. Giving yourself permission to feel your emotions allows you to confront the good, the bad and the ugly so that you can release the power your emotions can sometimes have over you. This will have positive effects on your mental health.
The winter season doesn’t have to be so hard on us! Use these 6 tips to begin uplifting your mental health in so many ways. Remember, it’s not enough to just read about it. Take what resonates and implement these tips consistently so that your mind, body and spirit can truly thrive this winter.
Chare’A Smith is a Wellness Educator, Writer, and Entrepreneur passionate about helping people thrive in life and in their career. Ye Self Care is a business wellness consulting company offering meditation and wellness resources for people and businesses. Visit www.yeselfcare.com to learn more about living holistically successful: a thriving mind, body, spirit, and career. You can have it all with the right tools. Let’s Take Good Care together!
resources: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26998791/
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