Improve your mental wellbeing in 5 minutes
With everything that’s been going on in the world lately, you might be finding that your levels of anxiety are heightened. Feelings of overwhelm, helplessness, and dread might have become commonplace for you, but it’s important for your mental and physical health to try to calm your mind and process your emotions.
Of course, this is easier said than done, but we’ve put together a few helpful tips to help you relax, refocus, and improve your mental wellbeing in just 5 minutes.
Notice what you’re feeling
Often when we’re feeling so-called ‘negative’ emotions, we push them to the side and distract ourselves from what we are feeling. Although this works as a good short-term solution and can be necessary when we’re busy, we need to make time to acknowledge and notice what emotions are coming up. Only when we do this can we properly process and make space for the emotions to come and go.
It might feel uncomfortable, but try sitting in silence for a while and noticing what you are feeling without judgement and without trying to fix anything.
Focus on your senses
A good way to help calm any feeling of anxiety or stress is to bring yourself into the present moment. It sounds a bit cliche, but it can really help to pull you out of your head and the anxious thoughts and emotions swirling around in there.
Sit quietly and focus on each of your senses. What can you hear? What can you see? What smells are around? What can you feel on your skin? Is there any taste in your mouth? Noticing these sensations can help you regulate your emotions and calm your nervous system.
Breathe with intention
You’ve probably heard that breathing is a great way to calm your body and mind, but the key here is to be intentional with your breathing. Because we breathe all the time, we’ve become used to the feeling and tend to forget we’re even doing it. By bringing your attention to your breath, you’ll be doing your mental health a favour.
Try what’s known as box breathing, a tool that’s commonly used by Navy SEALs to relieve stress. Simply breathe in for a count of 4, feeling the air filling up your lungs. Hold your breath for another count of 4, then exhale slowly for the last count of 4. Repeat this for a few minutes and see how you feel.
Once you’ve noticed any emotions, focused on what you can sense around you, and practised a few deep breathing techniques, you should be feeling a bit calmer and ready to focus again.
You can do these exercises as many times as you need throughout the day. Practise them while sitting at your desk or while out for a walk, and you might just see a great improvement in your mental wellbeing.
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