Mental health is one of the most important aspects of our lives. It’s something that affects us in virtually every part of our day-to-day existence, and it’s something that can be difficult to manage at times. Mental health refers to how we feel about ourselves and the way we think about the world around us. It’s a broad term that encompasses many different mental states, including anxiety, depression, stress, and more.

But how do I know it's my mental health?

If you’re experiencing some difficulties with your mental health, you might not be sure what exactly is going on with you. There are many different symptoms of an unbalanced mental state that might indicate there are issues that need to be addressed sooner rather than later. If any of these signs resonate with you right now, it could be a good idea to take some time to focus on improving your mental health.

It's all just so hard!

Fear not, I have just the thing for you! I have this amazing resource that incorporates not only everything in this post but so much more! So follow along, do these things and then have a look at my amazing workbook.

How do i start to improve my mental health?

Fortunately, there are many ways to improve your mental health as quickly as reading this blog post in fact. Below are some tried and true methods I have personally used to increase my mental well-being when my mental health was suffering.

Deep breathing

For the rest of this post, you are going to focus on taking what is considered the ‘perfect breath'. It's actually a very simple way to breathe but does take some practice.

-Breathe in for 5 full seconds.

-Breathe out for 5 full seconds.

This method will give you 5 full breaths per minute and is considered the ‘perfect breath'. You will instantly feel a whole lot lighter within yourself. Use this method whenever you feel a bit anxious or stressed, day to day when you have a few spare minutes, and before bed to wind down.

Confront what it is that's making you feel that way

Whether you are anxious or depressed, before reading the rest of the post, I want you to confront and confirm what is making you feel this way. This is such a powerful thing to do because you are taking away the power that the emotion holds over you.

Irrational thought

If it is an irrational thought you have (which is also very common mind you) you can straight away take away the power by confronting that fear and telling it that it holds no logical stance. This is where you need to dig deep and believe in yourself because it really is mind over matter. You need to believe that irrational thoughts have no power over you. The more you practice this, the easier it is to do.

Deep seeded fear from experience

If it is a thought and fear from experience, it is time to face that fear head-on. If you have fallen for something once, it is unlikely you'll fall for it again. We grow from what we learn, and once we've been through an experience, we are highly likely to learn from it and do it differently the next time. So it's time to confront that fear and come up with all the ways you would concur it this time. The more ways you can come up with, the better you'll feel in yourself.

Bad memory

One of the hardest things with depression is reliving bad memories. It almost feels like your own brain is against you, wanting you to feel such sadness, but there is a way to help yourself through this time. Remember that emotions like this don't last, they will pass. Not right away, after all, people with depression are those who feel emotions more deeply, those who let their minds feel every situation. This means we can't just flick those emotions off, as much as we wish we could. But this pain and sadness won't last forever, and that is what you need to keep reminding yourself. When you face this, it takes away the hold the emotion has over you. It is no quick fix, but it helps you remind yourself that there is hope.

Journaling and positive affirmations

A good way to focus on the good things in your life is journaling, and more specifically with focus on good affirmations. If you have no experience in journaling and affirmations, I have just the thing for you below. Sometimes we need a helping hand, a follow-the-leader worksheet to help you start to learn how to journal. There are many resources out there to help with journaling, and I have a great post about positive affirmations if you are new to that method of increasing your mental state.

Check out this ultimate workbook

Whether you are new to workbooks or worksheets for mental health or just looking for another resource, I have the perfect mental health workbook for you. In fact, I have made it with the younger me in mind, the me I was when I was at my lowest mental health. With 14 interactive pages, anyone will find benefits in this workbook. I recommend printing out this workbook so you can get hands-on and make it perfectly colourful.

You can either click on the image or the link below.

Check it out