For all the resources and focus on our physical health in today’s age, mental health is often underappreciated and not considered strongly enough.
What I’d like to offer here is the general awareness of your mental health along with some mindfulness practice recommendations. The most important point is that mental health is tied to all the other aspects of health discussed on this website—both as a contributor to the others and as a beneficiary (or victim of) the other components of overall health.
Mindfulness
Everyone should have some regular practice of mindfulness. This doesn’t have to be sitting still with your eyes closed and chanting ‘Om’ for 15 minutes (but that could work); rather a place you can go and thing you can do to clear your mind. Perhaps a walk or jog through the park is best for you, or perhaps a quiet place where you can sit and relax. There are some great resources for traditional meditation, including:
- Headspace: if you’re completely new to meditation then try their 10-for-10 series, which takes just 10 minutes for 10 days: 10-for-10
- Insight Timer
- If you have an Oura ring, their app now has some nice mindfulness features: https://ouraring.com/
- And here’s an entire course on meditation, mostly from a Buddhist perspective: on-line meditation course
Be sure to find learning opportunities that you enjoy. Whether that is taking a traditional education class at a university, finding a new hobby, reading an interesting novel, or listening to an educational podcast (some interesting suggestions include Hidden Brain, Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History, Radiolab, …and I’ll resist the urge to list the other 30 or so that I regularly pick through…), the important thing is that you continue to grow as a person.
Joy
Another often overlooked aspect of mental health is the anticipation of events. As you may have read on my quotes page, happiness comes from experiences, and a big part of experiences is the anticipation of the event. Put events that you will look forward to onto your calendar as soon as possible. Just the act of planning will make it more likely to happen, and having it scheduled will increase your motivation and happiness as you await the experience.
Aside from meditative events, one physical experience that can enhance mental performance and health is temperature exposure–both cold and hot. This can be sauna, hot tub, steam room, ice bath, or cold shower. Protocols exist, and I will add them to the resources page.
Psychology
Finally, don’t be afraid to see a doctor for your brain. And your body for that matter. Or maybe in both together, as practitioners in fields such as functional medicine can serve. But in all cases, the more you do your own research and can be your own self-advocate, the better off you’ll be. Though we don’t necessarily have the formal training, almost anyone can have access to nearly all the information of most health practitioners. And don’t assume that someone with credentials is current on all the information—in today’s world it is impossible to stay up to date on everything, so using multiple resources in your own self-research is the best bet!
I’ve dedicated an entire page to forming good habits and breaking bad ones, with its own resources. Check it out.
Relationships
Relationships are at the core of our lives, so I’ve dedicated a page to them.