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Building healthy habits for 2021

Greensburg Daily News - 5/14/2021

May 14—2020 was a tough year for our mental health. COVID introduced a number of dramatic changes to our lives that were hard to come to terms with — for some, that meant increased uncertainty around their working lives and for others it meant that opportunities for making social connections were removed.

As the world emerges, blinking-eyes and dazzled, into 2021, it's important to take time to reset your mental health. From depression to anxiety, a healthy routine can have a powerful effect on your wellbeing. Let's take a look at how to form some healthy habits in the coming year.

Take Time To Reflect

Although there were some universal experiences in 2020 — health scares and lockdowns among them — the way these challenges impact mental health is different for everyone. It's important to take time to reflect about what's been hardest for you to deal with before exploring potential solutions.

For example, if your usual social routine was upturned due to working from home and increased lockdowns, you might need to invest time and energy in reaching out to old social circles. Your support network is vital to your wellbeing, and nurturing those connections is an important habit to build.

Most importantly, it's about taking the time to reflect on what matters to you — identifying the areas in which your own mental health is struggling gives you the power to change things.

Early To Bed, Early To Rise

The impact that sleep has on our brain cannot be understated — building a healthy sleeping pattern will have an immediate impact on your mental health as well as providing a foundation for thriving.

Building a routine around going to bed will help your brain switch off at the right time and get the valuable rest it needs to face the challenges of the next day. Try a digital detox for an hour before bed to let your mind escape from the screen-glare of phones, and use habits to program your brain for bed. Going to bed at the same time each night will help teach your mind when it's time for sleep, letting you turn in and drift off with ease.

Be Kind

The world needs a little more kindness, so why not start today? And in fact, there are a number of powerful mental health benefits associated with practicing altruism and empathy that might surprise you. "Kindness switches our brain into a more open state, where the problems and crises of our own life are contextualised with our wider community," says Rebecca Pinzon, a journalist at Britstudent and Write My X.

Volunteering, for example, can kick-start the brain's serotonin delivery system, giving us a chemical reward for our good behaviour. And by working with others in need, you'll gain a strong sense of well-being by doing good in the world. Make kindness a habit in 2021.

Learning Every Day

When you're in a mental health slump it can be exceptionally challenging to change anything — we think we're stuck where we are. But there are so many ways to continue with personal development, and by putting a little emphasis on learning something new every day we'll not only distract ourselves from the troubles at hand but also demonstrate that a better life is possible.

Whether you're learning a new language on an app or just picking up a fun hobby like juggling, you're bettering yourself — and when that becomes a habit, you're growing every day.

Find Your Exercise Outlet

"Our bodies are built to move," says Mary Rendon, a health writer at Essay Help and 1Day2Write, "and the interconnectedness of our brains and cardiovascular system mean that exercise gives us an instant mental health boost." Exercise is vital for our wellbeing, both in body and mind, but it can be hard to get up off the couch when we're feeling down.

Reframing exercise to make it more achievable can help us build healthy routines. For example, a daily stroll around the park can grow into a running habit that lasts a lifetime. Don't be afraid to start small and see where it leads.

Wrapping Up

When you're in the depths of despair it's easy to imagine nothing can change, but by focussing on building healthy habits the truth is revealed — you're in control of your mental health, and there's always a way out. From building support networks to developing sleep hygiene, let 2021 be a year to reboot your mental health.

George J. Newton is a therapist and care consultant at Coursework Writing Services and Phdkingdom.com. He has specialized in digital counselling since 2020 and lives in Boulder, Colorado with his two dogs. He also writes for Coursework Writer service.

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