Mental Wellness: 6 Steps To Mental Wellbeing

Mental Wellness: Mental illness is a very common disease nowadays. 1 in every 5 adults suffers from a mental disease at some point in their lives. Mental illness can strike at any age, although it is most common in childhood.

The consequences of mental illness might be either transient or permanent. One can potentially have multiple mental illnesses at once. For example, one can have both depression and an addiction disorder.

What Is Mental Health?

Our emotional, psychological, and social well-being all contribute to our mental health. It has an impact on how we think, feel, and act. It also influences how we deal with stress, interacts with people, and make good decisions. Mental health is essential throughout life, from childhood and adolescence to adulthood.

While the phrases are sometimes used interchangeably, poor mental health and mental illness are not synonymous. A person might have poor mental health without being diagnosed with a mental disease. Similarly, a person with a mental disease might have times of physical, mental, and social well-being.

Both mental and physical health are critical components of overall health. Depression, for example, raises the risk of several sorts of physical health problems, particularly long-term diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Similarly, the existence of chronic illnesses can raise one’s risk of developing mental illness.

What Causes Mental Illness?

Mental illness does not have a single cause. A variety of factors, such as age, might increase one’s chance of developing mental illness.

• Early adversity in life, such as trauma or a history of abuse (for example, child abuse, sexual assault, witnessing violence, etc.)
• Other persistent (chronic) medical illnesses, such as cancer or diabetes, have resulted in similar experiences.
• Brain biological factors or chemical imbalances
• Use of alcoholic beverages or illegal drugs
• Feelings of solitude or loneliness
• Brain damage caused by a severe injury (traumatic brain injury).
• Having been abused as a youngster.
• Any history of mental disease in relatives

6 Steps To Improve Mental Wellbeing

1. Emotional cleansing
2. Pranayama
3. Meditation
4. Healthy Diet
5. Asana practice
6. Mantra chanting

1. Emotional Cleansing

Emotional detox does not purge your body of what you may consider bad emotions, but rather of those that have become stagnant.

You don’t have to look far for cleansing instructions. These are often built on cleansing the body; eating clean, taking digestive herbs, sweating, and drinking plenty of water. An emotional detox, on the other hand, incorporates many of the same ideas as well as some key additional measures. In her new book Emotional Detox, Sherianna Boyle, a psychology professor and author, presents a clear roadmap.

According to Boyle, the goal of an emotional detox is not to rid your body of what you may consider unpleasant emotions, but rather to clear out those that have stalled and become stuck, allowing you to process and experience all of your emotions in a healthy way. An emotional cleansing can help you digest your emotional experiences in the same way that a physical cleanse can. Emotions can become stuck as a result of trauma, unhealthy attachments, or aversion to specific emotions – usually, because we lack the means to deal with them. “Interestingly, as we digest our own feelings, our ability to empathise with others without being reactive improves,” writes Boyle.

2. Pranayama

Pranayama is a life-giving force that not only improves physical health but also develops mental purity. This gives the spiritual power an opportunity to awaken. Pranayama facilitates mental and spiritual development. It leads to Samadhi and the individual begins his journey towards himself.

Pranayama is not only an exercise in controlling one’s breath and exhale, but it is also a method of opening the doors to consciousness by controlling one’s thoughts and senses. Pranayama is apparent from above as the action of transmission and cessation of breathing, but it affects all of the senses and the mind.

Also Read: What is Pranayama? Definition, Benefits and Effects

3. Meditation

Meditation improves your ability to be calm and focused. Meditation is a very effective strategy for improving the quality of your sleep. Meditation also helps you deal with your thoughts, emotions, and problems as they arise. When we deal with them at the appropriate moment and with a cool mind, we can actually sleep better at night.

Meditation makes you thankful and in the present moment. It helps you appreciate the little things in life more. A study found that frequent meditation increases serotonin levels or the hormone that generates a sensation of happiness in the body.

Also Read: Meditation Benefits: 7 Awesome Benefits You Did Not Know

4. Healthy Diet

There is a saying, the mind will be like the food you eat. One of the major reasons for deteriorating mental health is the change in our food habits. Fast food, oily food, spicy food, and outside food are all reasons for deteriorating health. According to my yoga and spiritual teacher Shri Vijay Saini ji, eat the food that our grandparents used to eat. Seasonal fruits, vegetables, Sattvic diet (more emphasis on non-veg), direct consumption of natural things (like carrot, radish, banana, amla, linseed, guava etc. should be consumed seasonally). Health remains good with these, as well as mental happiness is also available. Mental health is greatly benefited from the calmness of the mind.

5. Asana practice

Due to hyperactivity of the parasympathetic nervous system, the person becomes submissive, and fearful and suffers from an inferiority complex. The effect of asanas is in the form of controlling or balancing these two nervous entities, which leads to the all-around development of a person with mental health benefits.

There is an ongoing conflict between conscience (knowledge) and emotion. Conscience prohibits wrongdoing, yet emotion causes one to act. A person ruins his life by surrendering to wild emotions. Asanas have a very strong impact on the spine and brain. As a result, the urge becomes naturally controlled and balanced.

6. Mantra chanting

Mantra chanting is beneficial to one’s health. Many difficulties can be solved by chanting mantras. Mantras are extremely important in our daily lives because they help us focus and keep us grounded. Mantras were created as divine vibrations to affect various facets of human well-being. It is a type of meditation that allows you to release your mind. Chanting a line or a word repeatedly makes us more self-aware, reduces stress, and brings us greater calm. Chanting has been shown in several scientific research to improve attention, mood, and emotions of social cohesion. Include mantra chanting in your everyday routine to help you relax.

When you chant mantras, you are engaging in a form of repetition. It is beneficial to control your breathing, deepen it, and do it in a rhythm. This pattern helps to relax the mind and nervous system, improving general wellness. Chanting has a mental influence. When you generate different vibrational frequencies in your body, you also influence your thoughts. Chanting a mantra has a similar impact to how specific breathing practises actively affect your physical health, manifesting itself in the mind as well-being.

Chanting assists novices in their meditation practice. Meditation is an excellent approach to entering the state since it allows you to focus, and relax on what is going on in your mind. Gayatri Mantra is one of the best mantras which helps a person to relax his mind and achieve calmness and mental wellness.