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Mental Health Self-Care: 3 Quick Ways to Nurture Yourself

Self-care for your mental health is a necessity. It isn’t selfish – it is selfless and oh-so-necessary for everyone.

While self-care or nurture can mean various things to different folx, these concepts are important to practice daily. Yes, daily.

What does daily self-care for mental health look like? For starters, it doesn’t need to be extensive, expensive, or time-consuming. It can be as simple as setting aside a bit of time to do a few things to nurture your mental wellbeing . . .

Read on for a few quick ways to bring self-care for your mental health into your daily life.

5 Ways to Make Radical Self-Care an Everyday Practice
 

 
 

Here Are 3 Quick Ways to Practice Mental Health Self-Care:

Read on for three really fast ways to practice nurturing yourself with mental health self-care. Each of these practices are evidence-based and proven to benefit your overall well-being and mental health.
 

1. Move Your Body

Moving the body is essential. Humans aren’t meant to be sedentary. With so much being virtual, it’s all the more crucial to move in some way to keep the body functioning optimally.

Movement can come in many forms. Taking a walk, practicing yoga, or stretching, are just some ways of moving the body.

In his extensive research on exercise as it relates to mental health, Brad Bowen, MD, psychiatrist, researcher, and founder of The Centre for Theoretical Research in Psychiatry & Clinical Psychology, found that exercise can improve self-image on a psychological level.

On a biological level, exercise increases blood flow to the brain and helps the growth and survival of neurons. He reports utilizing exercise in treatment with his clients because of its many benefits.

Quick Tip: Give yoga a try! If you’d like to relieve stress or tension from the day, there are many types of yoga practices you can allot even just five minutes for throughout the day or in the evening.

If you’d like to wind down from a long day, practice Evening Flows with Ashton August on YA Classes by YouAligned!

Yoga Program
With Ashton August

 

2. Get Quality Sleep

Practicing good sleep hygiene is very important and necessary for everyday functioning. Lack of sleep, or poor sleep, can have physical, mental, and emotional implications.

According to sleepfoundation.org, “Sufficient sleep, especially REM sleep, facilitates the brain’s processing of emotional information.

During sleep, the brain works to evaluate and remember thoughts and memories, and it appears that a lack of sleep is especially harmful to the consolidation of positive emotional content.
 

 
 
This can influence mood and emotional reactivity and is tied to mental health disorders and their severity, including the risk of suicidal ideas or behaviors.”

You can find a list of ways you can increase your sleep hygiene here.

Prepare your mind and body for a quality night’s rest with Better Sleep on YA Classes, a short online breathwork class to help you relax, fall asleep quicker, and sleep better.

Breathwork Class
With Allie Geer

 

3. Breathe

Breathwork is last, but certainly not least. Breath is the anchor that grounds you in a sea of uncertainty.

Throughout the day, take moments to be intentional about your breathing. If your breaths are shallow, take a moment to practice long, slow, deep breaths.

Developing an awareness of breath is the first step. Noticing your breath patterns and setting an intention to deepen the breath is the next step.

We often don’t think about the breath as it is automatic. However, if you can learn how to breathe from the diaphragm, you can experience immediate psychological effects.

Try this guided meditgation and pranayama practice with Carissa Banuelos on YA Classes and notice how you feel afterward.

Breathwork Class
With Carisa Banuelos

 
 

Practice Mental Health Self-Care Daily

In conclusion, the implementation of movement, sleep, and breathwork are some of the most basic and fundamental ways to help support overall mental and emotional well-being.

There are many different ways to create a life that supports caring for your mental health. Find what works for you and implement it daily as part of your overall self-care regimen.

All included information is not intended to treat or diagnose. The views expressed are those of the author and should be attributed solely to the author. For medical questions, please consult your healthcare provider.

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Kristen Shuman

Based out of Savannah, Georgia, Kristen is a licensed Psychotherapist and specializes in trauma therapy. She utilizes EMDR, yoga, energy work, and mindfulness techniques in her work with clients. Kristen is an avid yogi and is also an RYT-500 Kundalini yoga instructor and energy healer.

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