31 Ways to Improve your Mental Health

Nurturing your child’s mental health by being the best parent you can be, is important to your child’s physical, emotional, and behavioral development. One way you can help yourself be the best parent you can be is by nurturing your own mental health. Available, responsive, and stable parents are critical in supporting children’s well-being. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General:“Mental and emotional well-being is essential to overall health. Positive mental health allows people to realize their full potential, cope with the stresses of life, work productively, and make meaningful contributions to their communities.” Parenting itself is hard work. Add in a job, volunteer commitments, time with the in-laws, obligations to friends, etc., and anybody can see that making time for oneself is no easy task. However, there are plenty of easy, everyday ways you can take care of yourself and nurture your mental health. How many of these do you do regularly?Top 10 Easy, Everyday Ways to Improve Your Mental Health1. Spend Time Outdoors2. Share a Laugh3. Express Gratitude4. Get Quality Sleep5. Exercise6. Dance7. Talk (to a friend, to your dog…)8. Take a Break9. Sing (in the shower, in a choir)10. Eat a Healthy Meal (salmon, walnuts, flaxseeds)Need more ideas? How about 31 of them? Check out this fun calendar for one month’s worth of ways to improve your mental health.A Month of Mental Health

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
					1 Get some quality sleep tonight – it’s important for mental health.	2 Spend some time outside today (and every day) – walk, bike, read…
3 Reconnect with a relative, friend, or neighbor.	4 Set a new goal or dream a new dream.	5 Sign up for a class you’ve always wanted to take.	6 Create a gratitude journal.	7 Enjoy a good laugh as often as possible.	8 Listen/dance to your favorite music.	9 Make a reasonable “To Do” list for the day.
10 Take a bath or hot shower – use your favorite soap or bubble bath.	11 Add walnuts, flaxseeds, or salmon to something you eat.	12 Sing – in a choir, in the shower – to boost your mood.	13 Bring something nice to one of your neighbors.	14 Read a new book before bed.	15 Practice 10 minutes of meditation with deep breathing.	16 Offer someone you love a hug.
17 Add some exercise to your day/week (ideally with a friend).	18 Make a list – 10 things that are great about you.	19 Make a point to smile and hello to someone.	20 Send someone a thank you note.	21 Try yoga or some other form of exercise.	22 Play with a furry friend.	23 Go on a hike.
24 Do something nice for someone else.	25 Try something new or different today to break up your routine.	26 Go outside and smell the flowers or try gardening.	27 Take a 10 minute break out of your day.	28 Join a group of club.	29 Express gratitude – tell someone that you appreciate them.	30 Volunteer for a cause you believe in.
31 Look back at the month and identify 5 things to continue.

 Taking care of yourself is also taking care of your child. The happier you are, the more rich, loving, and supportive your interactions with your child will be. Developing habits that improve mental health is important, and -with luck- these will be habits that you pass on to your children.The information in this article is derived from the American Psychological Association and the Mind Your Mind Project.