Boost Your Mental Health in Minutes

Boosting your mental health simply requires just a few minutes a day. By using different tools each day, we can cultivate healthy habits that over time become a part of our daily routines and impact our overall health. 

Breathe Deeply 

Slowing down and breathing deeply stimulates the parasympathetic system (PNS). The PNS is a part of the nervous system that promotes relaxation, and conserves energy and helps to regulate the nervous system. By taking a moment each to do mindfully slow down the breath, the PNS is able to help reduce brain activity, anxiety, and promote an overall relaxed state of mind. 

Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a practice of paying attention with purpose, and attention to the present moment. Mindful practices can differ from person to person, examples include: meditating, journaling, hiking, fishing, or getting a massage help to improve mental health. Mindfulness helps to increase self awareness and regulate our emotional centre by decreasing activity in the amygdala (the brain’s emotional centre).  

Explore Nature

Exposure to nature not only helps to promote mindfulness, reduce stress and anxiety, but also includes cognitive and mood-boosting benefits. Many studies have proved that just 5-10 minutes in green spaces can create mood-boosting effects on the brain and help improve focus and cognitive abilities. Though the results of the studies are all the same, why nature has this effect on people is still up for debate. Some theories suggest that the green and blue hues of nature stimulate serotonin and melatonin production, helping to boost your mood and improve sleep. Other theories suggest that because our ancestors lived in nature and relied on it for survival, is what leads us to connect with nature. 

Exercise

Physical Activity has a multitude of benefits including both physical and mental. Exercise boosts mental health by providing blood flow to the brain. The neurotransmitters in the brain also help to reduce stress and increase serotonin levels, which act as natural anti-depressants.  Exercising often also increases Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factors (BDNF) which are vital in learning, memory and overall brain health. 

Connect Socially

Cultivating social connections can help to reduce stress and cultivate emotional resilience. Whether it’s sharing your worries and stresses with friends and family, or being present in conversation, connecting socially helps ground our attention in the present moment and helps foster a sense of belonging. 

Practice Gratitude

Practicing gratitude is re-shifting your focus to the positive aspects of daily life. Shifting focus from the negative to positive has been proven to help reduce stress and anxiety. This shift in focus can also help cultivate emotional resilience as those who practice gratitude are able to face adversity by maintaining a bigger purpose and meaning in certain situations. Studies have shown that overtime, a constant practice in gratitude can lead to long term changes in the neural structures in the brain, leading to a happier lifestyle.  

Take a Screen Break 

Taking a quick break from a screen (whether it be your phone, TV, or computer) can help reduce stress and reduce brain activity. The amount of information we receive on our devices daily can lead to mental fatigue. Taking a break (even just for a few minutes) can help improve focus and reduce anxiety that comes with over-stimulation. Blue screens also increase cortisol levels, so choosing when to look at your screen can also make a big difference throughout the day. Avoiding screens as soon as you wake up, or just before bed can help reduce a cortisol spike, which leads to better sleep and improvement in stress levels.