Happy New Year!!
January is Mental Wellness Month and is an appropriate designation given many people's desires to set New Year's Resolutions. While how and what you decide to focus on is entirely individual and preferential, we have created a short list of things you can do that will provide benefits not only to your physical health but to your overall mental well being. Enjoy!
1) Prioritize your sleep! Sleep is essential to every process in the body, affecting our physical and mental functioning the next day, our ability to fight disease and develop immunity, and our metabolism and chronic disease risk.
2) Healing…whatever that looks like for you. Whether it be starting therapy, journaling, human connections - start where it makes the most sense for you and where you can find ways to prioritize inner healing.
3) Practice gratitude - Make it a goal to take time out of every day to recognize and sit with the small things you are grateful for.
4) Moving your body for your mental health. Establish a consistent exercise routine. Pick something that you find enjoyable and challenge yourself to stick with it.
5) Diligently speak nicely about yourself and treat yourself with respect...Developing a more positive mindset may have more benefits than we realize. According to the Mayo Clinic research, positive self talk may contribute to:
Increased life span
Lower rates of depression
Lower levels of distress
Better psychological and physical well-being
Better cardiovascular health and reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease
Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress
New Year's resolutions aside, don't be too hard on yourself if you don't accomplish all you have set out to do in some defined set of time. Anytime is a good time to begin taking care of yourself. For additional resources, please feel free to click any of the following links.
Month
Week
No Name Calling Week (Jan. 11-21)
Day
Global Family Day (Jan. 1)
National Clean Off Your Desk Day (Jan. 9)
Human Trafficking Awareness Day (Jan. 11)
National Fun At Work Day (Jan. 27)