You brush your teeth twice a day to prevent plaque build-up and see a dentist regularly for additional maintenance. It’s just good hygiene.
But how often do you practice mental hygiene?
If you have a specific concern or are just trying to have a little better day, dedicate about 15 minutes each morning to keeping your mental health balanced it is something that everyone can benefit from.
The assessment is by clinical psychologist Broderick Sawyer, from Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States. “This is the mental health equivalent of brushing your teeth before you need a root canal,” he said.
Hygiene is a way to lower cortisol levels, the main stress hormone. An intentional daily practice to relieve stress doesn’t just make you feel better the same day — studies suggest it can improve long-term well-being.
Rising cortisol levels can lead to a host of physical health complications, according to research conducted in 2020. A 2016 study revealed that emotion regulation has been shown to improve health resilience in old age.
Sawyer chose a method for mental health hygiene. He explained why this should be part of your routine and how you can build it into your life.
Yes you have 15 minutes
If you are stressed and overwhelmed, Taking 15 minutes out of your morning to relax may seem like just another obstacle. on your to-do list. This addition, however, will make the rest of the list easier to deal with, Sawyer said.
“It’s not that I don’t have time, you have time for a lot of things,” he said. “If we really can (practice mindfulness) throughout the day, our mental health will need less energy and resources.”
Taking the time to reset mind care earlier in the day means that stressors won’t pile up on top of an already overworked system.
And if you start the day feeling stressed, that’s often the baseline you come back to for the rest of the day, Sawyer said. When you begin the journey with a clear and relaxed mind, you have a calm reference point to which you can return.
“Having a mental health hygiene practice is like cleaning your mirror and looking at it, and you look in it and you know what is and isn’t a part of you,” Sawyer said.
This understanding of what a relaxed baseline means and what pulls you away from that point can help you have compassion for yourself and for others who may also be anxious or upset, he added.
“When we do these things every day, we essentially ‘practice feeling happy,’” Sawyer said. ”.
Here’s how to build the method of mental hygiene into your daily practice.
1. Try new activities
The first step in improving your mental health hygiene is to experiment with different activities — anything that brings calm and reduces cortisol, Sawyer said. “It’s just learning to treat and cultivate that inner space with awareness,” she added.
For starters, set aside 15 minutes in the morning each day as time to slow down and intentionally focus on your inner well-being. The things you fill that time with can be the ones you do every day anyway, but in a more relaxing way – like sipping your morning coffee slowly with a few deep breaths or switching the radio to the songs you enjoy throughout. the route, Sawyer said.
Changing things up can also help, such as sitting outside, walking or stretching, he added.
The important thing is to keep trying new activities until you find something that works for you – and don’t be discouraged if it takes some time to see the benefits.
2. Understand how changes make you feel
An important part of experimentation is keeping a journal of sorts, Sawyer said. After trying a new activity on your 15-minute break, writing down how you felt afterwards and throughout the day can help you discern what kind of habit works best for you.
Do you feel calmer throughout the day? More energized? Better able to handle stress? The feeling you’re looking for may change, but the goal is to cultivate a basic feeling that helps you feel better throughout the day.
Journaling can also help you maintain a positive attitude if you don’t immediately get the results you expect from your practice, he said.
“You kind of stumble on these things through your own practice of intuitively experiencing things. So if they don’t work, that’s fine and just write it down,” Sawyer said.
3. Pay attention to what you need at different times
No action will work all the time, Sawyer said. It can make a big difference to keep an eye on what you need in different contexts.
“So if I have a workday with a lot of meetings, maybe I need to be a little more lively. Maybe I need to be more focused because it’s a heavy writing day. Those are different energies,” Sawyer said.
That could mean ending your 15 minutes with a shot of espresso in a day or do a concentration meditation another day, he added.
4. Add breaks throughout the day as needed
Eventually, those 15 minutes in the morning might not seem like such a chore. In fact, you may start craving some mental state checks at more points throughout the day.
Anytime you feel good, but at least three days a week, Sawyer suggested adding in some low-impact physical activity, like walking, biking, or yoga.
It’s also useful to add some time to relax at the end of the day if you can, by turning off work notifications, stepping away from screens and taking time to disconnect, he added.
“Once we find that tool or collection of tools for ourselves, we can master how well we use them,” Sawyer said.
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Source: CNN Brasil