Fit Fridays

Transform Your Health with Fit Fridays! 🌟

Health means not only physical health,

but also Mental Health.

& it matters!

Why psychological well-being is important?

It is important for several reasons such as:

1. Physical Health and Longevity:

- Numerous studies have proven that people with better psychological well-being live physically healthier and happier lives, and have a longer lifespan.

2. Avoidance of Social Problems:

- Focusing on your psychological well-being makes you less likely to engage in criminal activity, antisocial behavior, or substance abuse throughout your life.

3. Social Standing and Financial Success:

- Higher levels of psychological well-being and happiness are linked to higher earnings, healthier social circles, and increased engagement in activities like volunteering.

4. Reduced Stress, Chronic Disease, and Mortality:

- Recent studies show that positive psychological well-being is associated with less stress, lower rates of chronic diseases, decreased mortality, and overall healthier behaviors.(We will delve deeper into it on our next issue)

5. Psychological Effects on Physical Health:

- Numerous studies have proven that aspects of your physical health rely on your mental health.

- Those with higher levels of optimism and positive habits are more likely to exercise regularly, maintain a healthy diet, and avoid smoking.

How to improve psychological Well Being?

Creating a sense of purpose is pivotal for psychological well-being. Find something you care about deeply, whether it's volunteering, prioritizing family, or aligning your actions with your core values. Having a clear "why" provides meaning, fulfillment, and reduces inner conflict.

Additionally, pursuing a purpose helps build self-worth, gives you something to work towards, and can foster a supportive community. It combats feelings of aimlessness and promotes positive lifestyle changes. Regularly reflect on your purpose to stay motivated and make adjustments as needed. Small, consistent steps towards your purpose can significantly boost mental health over time.

Positive thinking

This might seem like an obvious one, but positive thinking truly can change your life. However, we understand that positive thinking is often easier said than done, especially when you are not in the habit of thinking positively or prioritising your mental health or psychological well-being.

Positive thinking is hard. If you’re going through a tough time, it can be extremely difficult to remain positive.

However, there are a number of positive thinking and positive psychological books, podcasts and useful tools to help you to think more positively and reframe your thoughts and habit

.

Journaling

If you want to prioritise your psychological well-being, then journaling is a great place to start. Lots of people use journaling as a way of writing down your daily thoughts and feelings, so that you can make better sense of them.

You can also use different journaling prompts and diaries to structure your writing so that you can get the very best out of journaling.

You can simply write down your thoughts, or create a checklist for yourself to make sure that you are achieving daily habits to improve your mental and physical health.

Why not make it a routine to sit down and journal the last thing every evening or first thing every morning? By doing so you will start to make more sense of your thoughts and emotions, and will understand your thoughts, habits and actions more clearly.

In fact, positive psychology and joyful coach author, councillor and podcaster Sophie Cliff journals on a regular basis, and is keen to promote others too as well.

Helping others

Many studies have now shown that helping other people is a great way of improving your mental health and well-being. In fact, studies have shown that helping other people is a great way of reducing stress levels and feeling some sort of achievement.

By helping other people, you will open yourself up to social interaction with new people, learn new life and people skills and will also feel valued and appreciated.

Pro-social behaviour such as volunteering or helping loved ones or people in the community will increase your levels of empathy and will also make you appreciate what you have.

Expressing gratitude

Expressing gratitude is another great way of improving your mental health and psychological well-being.

In fact, positive psychology studies and specialist doctors state that expressing gratitude is now a proven way of making you happier.

This is because gratitude helps you to feel more positive about the world around you, which will in turn help you to appreciate things and other people around you better than ever before.

Expressing gratitude will also help you to improve your relationships with loved ones.

There are a few ways you can practise gratitude on a daily basis. For example, you could try to write down three things that you are grateful for every day.

Alternatively, you can make an effort to speak to people in a more appreciative way, try to listen to your loved ones more actively or treat someone you love or appreciate to a gift or treat.

You can also go on an ‘awe walk’ to feel more appreciative and gratuitous.

An ‘awe walk’ is when you go on a walk in your local area, preferably to the woods or within nature, and try to focus on the beauty that you see.

You might try to focus on the different colours of the leaves and trees, or the sounds of the birds flying overhead. You should make an effort to really look, slow down your thinking and appreciate the beauty that surrounds you.

Identify your strengths

If you want to improve your psychological well-being, then you should try to identify and work on your personal strengths. In order to improve your mindset, you must accept and appreciate yourself and everything you have to offer.

By trying to identify your strengths, you will feel more positive and confident about yourself, your thoughts and your actions.

Why not try to make a list of things that you like about yourself? Or list some things that you think you are really good at? These could be physical, emotional or mental.

Forgive yourself and others for any wrongdoings

In order to feel truly happy and at peace, you must forgive yourself and other people for any wrongdoings.

However, this is a lot easier said than done.

Letting go of any negative energy or emotions is proven to help to boost a positive mindset, and helps to rid you of negative emotions, including anger, depression and anxiety.

A key component and aspect of forgiving other people is accepting shared humanity. This means that you need to accept that everyone is human and that everyone struggles to do the right thing at some point in their lives.

You must also accept that people are very rarely all good or all bad. People might have bad aspects, but they also must have good aspects too.

Creating positive relationships

Creating positive relationships is also a proven way of creating a more positive and healthy psychological well-being.

You could have a hundred friends, but when it comes to relationships it is important to focus on quality instead of quantity.

This means that you should try to focus the majority of your efforts on those who put the effort in with you.

You should try to prioritise spending time with people who you really admire and appreciate, and with people who admire and appreciate you just as much.

You should try to touch base as much as possible with friends and family members who mean a lot to you, and try to meet up when you can. You should also make an effort to check that they are okay, letting them know that you are there for them should they start to struggle with their mental health or well-being.

Be physically active

If you want to improve your psychological well-being, then try to get physically active by doing something that you love. Studies have shown that physical exercise is now a tried and tested way of improving your mental health and overall well-being.

You should aim to be physically active at least three times a week.

You could take up a sport, join your local gym or simply try to go on more walks in the daytime to get your blood pumping and get some fresh air.

Take frequent breaks

Lots of people who suffer from more mental health and well-being also suffer from burnout.

Burnout is when you feel stressed and exhausted from your work, so much so that you struggle to feel positive about your work or colleagues, and feel a reduced level of accomplishment when you do succeed.

Burnout is also closely associated with other things such as depression and anxiety.

This is why you should make sure that you take frequent breaks if you want to avoid burnout and poor mental well-being.

You should try to set goals for each day so that you remain positive, but you should also make sure that you schedule some breaks on a day-to-day basis so that you have time to relax, focus on yourself and reclaim your energy.

This could be a 20-minute walk around the block or local park, or taking 5 minutes out to go and make yourself a cup of tea or coffee.

If you are suffering from burnout or depression, then you might need to give yourself longer breaks to feel positive and energised again. This might mean that you need to take some time out over a number of days or weeks.

Why not book yourself some annual leave, or book a much-needed holiday to help you to overcome your burnout and improve your mental health and psychological well-being?

Eat a healthy diet

Nutrition is a huge part of your well-being. A healthy diet has been directly linked to happy and healthy mental and psychological well-being.

Whilst many people accept that you have to eat the right kinds of food in order to maintain a healthy body, eating the right food has also been linked to maintaining a healthy mindset.

Unfortunately, it is very easy and tempting to eat what tastes good and comforting when you are feeling low.

This usually involves eating junk food, high calorific food or sugary snacks.

However, these foods have now been proven to make you feel worse, both physically and mentally. This is because junk food and foods with high levels of sugar interfere with the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin.

Unfortunately, when your body lacks these two chemicals it is a lot more prone to depression and anxiety.

This is why you should try your best to maintain a healthy, balanced diet. Healthy foods have also been proven to create a more positive mindset.

This is because fibre-rich, protein-rich and nutrient-rich foods help to clear your mind of any brain fog, help to make you more alert and work hard to improve your concentration levels and rid your body and mind of fatigue.

Below is a list of foods that have been proven to create a positive mindset and support psychological well-being:

• Salmon

• Chicken

• Whole grains

• Avocados

• Seafood

• Spinach

• Yogurt

• Nuts

• Olive oil

• Dark chocolate

• Berries

• Turmeric

• Broccoli

• Oranges

• Pumpkin

Get at least 8 hours of sleep every night

Sleep is an incredibly important part of anyone’s mental health and psychological well-being.

This is because individuals who are struggling to get at least 8 hours of sleep every night are a lot more likely to feel anxious or depressed, or struggle to function socially.

If you struggle to sleep, then you are much more likely to turn to substances such as cigarettes, alcohol and drugs as a way of coping with your struggles.

Get enough sun

Lots of people suffer from seasonal affective disorder (also known as SAD). This happens when individuals do not get enough sunlight throughout the year, particularly in the winter months.

Humans need sunlight to release serotonin, which is responsible for boosting your mood and helping you to feel happy, calm and focused.

If you work from home or live in the UK, then you might find yourself staying indoors a lot, which can be bad for your mental health. This is why you should try to get out and about in the sunshine at least once a day – when the UK weather allows it, of course.

Avoid alcohol and other drugs

Unfortunately, lots of people who suffer from depression, anxiety and an overall low psychological well-being find themselves turning to drugs and alcohol as a way of trying to cope.

However, this is not a healthy way of trying to cope with your emotions.

Alcohol and drug addiction is closely associated with a whole host of physical, emotional, social and mental problems and should be avoided at all costs.

In our next issue, we'll provide fascinating insights on managing stress and anxiety, causes and many more, so please subscribe and share with your loved ones whom you care until then.