The Foundations of Good Mental Health
You know…
Each of us is basically a very unique and complicated house plant…but when you really think about it, it’s not alllll that complicated.
There are some foundational building blocks to good mental health.
Without these foundations…it makes sense why we may be having issues.
Of course there is also the idea that because of mental illness we cannot complete these foundations, however, most likely, some or all of these were not in place, not learned, etc and contributed to mental health decline.
In no specific order, these are the foundations we need to keep in mind (the green highlighted words are links to read more):
Sleep - sleep is critical to many different bodily functions. It’s just not worth the extra hours of scrolling (you know what I mean! lol) Do your best to create a bedtime for yourself, a relaxing night routine, limit blue light exposure, and optimize yourself for a good night’s sleep.
Movement - at the minimum, we would like to aim for 30 minutes of walking or some other form of moderate joyful movement each day. I say “joyful movement,’ because especially if you deal with eating disorder concerns, sometimes movement has become a tool to fuel the ED. To counteract that, I want you to just focus on moving your body in a way that is joyful to you. This could look different for each of us. Maybe yoga? Soccer? Weight training? Skipping? Kayaking? Dancing? You get the jist. If 30 minutes a day sounds like a lot right now, just start with connecting with your body and moving in some way.
Body Hygiene - Some of us were taught this, while some were not. We want to aim for a bath or shower every day. Brushing our teeth at least once a day. Combing and washing our hair each week. Washing our clothes once a week. You deserve to be clean, look good, and feel good :) This helps us to feel more confident and able to tackle the day. If you WFH, try changing out of your PJs so that you can feel ready for the day even if we’ll be at home. We’re tricking our brains here for higher self esteem and confidence.
Nature/Sunlight - Lowers levels of Vitamin D andd sun exposure are linked to higher rates of depression, anxiety, impaired cognition, and many other issues. Getting morning light exposure sets our body/hormonal clocks and triggers the release of serotonin (happy and calming chemical). We are beings from nature and getting outside and into it is likely to help you feel better. Negative ions (molecules charged with electricity) from running water, oceans, thunderstorms, plants, etc have been shown to reduce symptoms of depression, promote antimicrobial activity, increase metabolism, reduce stress, regulate sleep, and boost immune system function. Grounding or “earthing,” is also a very calming practice of allowing your bare feet to touch the earth or grass and connect to Mother Earth.
Nutrition/Hydration - To keep this short and sweet, our bodies’ water percentage should be between 50-70% on average. Water is a vital nutrient to every cell in your body. The most basic of building blocks. Read here for more info on all the amazing and important things water does for our body. Further more, this study on water consciousness shows us how water is necessary for energetic communication in the body and its structure responds to our very own thoughts. Filtered, electrolyte filled, and charged water is also preferred as electrolytes help to hydrate and filters purify the water of impurities. Now, when we talk about nutrition, I want you to think of eating enough each day and eating a variety of fresh, lower processed foods where you can. Nutrition plays vital roles in overall mental health. Think of getting enough fiber, vitamins, carbs, fats, and protein. Also, be mindful of portions. Most of our diets will never be “perfect,” - in fact, we don’t want to aim for perfect because that often leads to food and body issues. We want to aim for balanced and realistic. Sometimes you might eat out, other times you might cook at home. Sometimes we might have a cookie, sometimes we might have a salad. Foods don’t have moral value - we just want to be realistic and mindful.
Managing Bad Habits - Do you vape? Drink often? Smoke weed multiple times a week? Pick up your phone often? Take an inventory of the ways that you may be harming yourself in terms of substance use, technology use, emotional eating, etc. This isn’t to shame, it’s just to be mindful and intentional. These are often self soothing behaviors so start by trying to make a plan to begin cutting down on some of these bad habits and finding healthier replacement behaviors.
Social connections/Sense of belonging - Sometimes loneliness is the true diagnosis and connection is the prescription. We are social creatures at our core. We have an innate desire to belong and to be a part of a community. Putting yourself out there (again and again) even when it is scary could help you to add years onto your lifespan. People in the past may have made us feel like we don’t belong and aren’t worthy of connection, but you have to challenge these ideas in order to find connections and people you can count on.
Hormone regulation/gut health/vitamin/parasite/blood/stool tests - These building blocks can often be interconnected which can make this complicated. A good way to see where you stand physiologically is to get regular hormonal, blood, and stool tests to see if any other things are going on. These tests can give a lot of insight to a bigger picture of what may be going on. Gut health specifically is a big area of interest lately due to the fact that we have something called the vagus nerve which essentially creates the gut-brain axis.
Stress management/mindfulness - This is a lot of what we learn in therapy. Think of your coping skills toolbox. Stress impacts the body and mind. We can literally get sick when we are too stressed. Mindfulness is another antidote to stress and can help us to get back into the present moment, feeling our feels, and allowing our thoughts to just be. A skilled seaman knows how to sail in rough waters. He also has hope and faith that the storm will end and the sun will come out.
Play/Fun - Think of connecting back to your inner child :) Even if you haven’t connected to them in awhile, there is still a little you in there who doesn’t want to just work, work, work their life away. You deserve to have fun, take a break, be creative, and enjoy life where you can.
Financial health - Money doesn’t necessarily buy happiness, but it definitely can help you to purchase the things you need, the things that might bring you joy, and can help you to feel a sense of security. And those things in moderation definitely don’t make you more depressed… We have to learn to lose any scarcity mindsets and instead know that the Universe is abundant. If you’re just starting out, make a budget, get a savings account, learn how to negotiate, and figure out what you need to do to reach your financial goals. It might look like talking to a financial professional to see your options.
Generational/Trauma healing/Genetic factors - This is also a lot of what we do in therapy. We undo generational patterns to heal the lineage moving forward. Epigenetics is the study of how environment (nurture) turns genes off and on. Trauma is one of those things that can absolutely turn on unwanted genes through stress signals and trauma responses.
Environmental self care - Is your house in relative order? Or are you living in chaos? Are the people around you supportive and loving? Or are you always feeling used, taken advantage of, and not cared for? With this building block, it challenges us to see how our environment is impacting us. Whether it’s at work, at home, at school, in our relationships…where do we need to set boundaries, clean up, or change.
Gratitude/Giving back/Spiritual self care/connection to something greater - Take time to feel deep appreciation for your journey, your progress, and all the things we do have to be thankful for. This can be easy to forget and quick to sweep under the rug, but it is so important that we take the time to say thank you. Whether that’s to ourselves, a higher power, or someone we love. We can even go the extra mile to give back where we can and give an opportunity or word of encouragement to the next person. You might feel a warm sense of joy and realize how good it can actually feel to be in this energy of gratitude and servitude.
What else do you think should be on this list? Let me know :)