Mental Wellness is More than Absence of Mental Illness

I have a theory that we think of mental health in a way that is too black and white. We are either fully mentally functional or broken. Of course, if we think about this at all, we can see it’s clearly not accurate, but generally, we simply don’t contemplate our own mental health as much as we think about about our muffin top waistline.

We know what moves us down the spectrum of mental: tragedy. It could be a death in the family, a shocking illness like cancer or a violent crime. What we don’t think much about is what moves us up the spectrum of mental wellness and what we could do daily to improve our mental wellness.

We know we should drink 6 cups of water daily, eat our greens and lean proteins, do cardio 3x per week. We know we should do an annual physical with blood tests, cholesterol, blood pressure and a flu shot every year. So, what should we do daily, weekly, annually for mental wellness?

How about:

Daily:

• 10 minutes of mindfulness breathing
• Write 3 things we feel grateful for in our journal
• Get out into nature for at least 10 minutes
• Talk with at least one person just for the joy of talking with them
• Use an app to monitor sleep quality & quantity
• Turn on Do Not Disturb smart phone function to protect sleep quality
• Use a Haptic smart alarm to wake up when it’s most advantageous for our brain health

Weekly:

•  Volunteer
•  Engage in a spiritual community event

Annually:

• Emotional Intelligence testing & training