WAYS TO IMPROVE EMOTIONAL WELLNESS

Mental health has been a topic that I have always been passionate about and more than ever, I feel like we need to consistently talk about it so we can raise awareness and normalize the stigma around the topic. Lately, I have been finding myself tapping into a deeper side of myself, both in the emotional realm as well as the spiritual dimension.

Emotional wellness is a term that I discovered recently and according to the National Center for Emotional Wellness, the term refers to an awareness, understanding, and acceptance of your emotions, and your ability to manage effectively through challenges and change. I am also reading the book Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender Book by David R. Hawkins, which compelled me to share ways to improve on emotional wellness.

Building on our emotional strength and improving our emotional wellness helps us to slow down, practice mindfulness and better understand our feelings so we know how to handle them.

WAYS TO IMPROVE EMOTIONAL WELLNESS

1. Have a good support system:  A huge part of strengthening your emotional wellness is to have a good support system, whether that be your friends, family or therapist. Try to have more than one person you can count on, so you’re not relying on one individual to hear about your emotional concerns and feelings.

2. Learn to appreciate solitude: Isolation isn’t the same as solitude. Isolation is being cut off from others and isn’t replenishing to the soul. Solitude, on the other hand, is enjoying space and time for yourself. It allows you to recharge your batteries, so you can have energy to show up in the world in a better state of mind.

3. Move your body: People who are fit and healthy generally feel better about themselves. Exercising releases feel good hormones so we feel happier and more energized. Also, you will never regret working out but you can regret not working out.

4. Have fun: Sometimes, we take life and ourselves too seriously. Allow yourself to goof off and have a laugh. Too much work and seriousness will drain your energy, so set some time to do activities and hobbies that you enjoy.

5.  Work on increasing your self-awareness: If we can learn about ourselves, and our natural tendencies, we can learn to master weaknesses and work to change and grow. Take a step back and try to do some self reflection. Ask yourself the difficult question and carve our time to try and understand yourself better including your behaviors, habits, actions, feelings, etc.

6:  Be cautious of who you surround yourself with: There’s validity in the quote “you are the five people you  surround yourself with.” Energy is contagious so you want to make sure that the people who have access to your energy are positive people. Note if there are people who tend to drain your time and energy and make an effort to avoid contact with those people or completely cut them off.

A huge part of emotional wellness directly relates to mental health and self care but we tend to forget that emotions can be overwhelming but they are also a beautiful thing to experience. We can appreciate and understand our emotions better by observing them instead of identifying or associating with them. Let’s all make it a priority to improve our emotional wellness so we can work on being the best versions of ourselves!