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Post in Wellness Warriors
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How to start?

How does one start an emotional/mental health wellness routine? Can anyone share their stories for how they started and what helped them? I’m trying to start but I don’t know what I’m doing so I’m hoping to learn more from all of you.

Re: How to start?

@Alessie   The thing that helps

me the most is getting adequate sleep.  It’s much easier to self regulate when you’re working with a fully charged brain.  
I take mood boosting cocktail of 5-htp, vitamin b1, vitamin d and magnesium 

daily yoga (even if you don’t feel like it (just a 5minute session is good on super tired or busy days) The meditation and  slow deep breathing are fantastic for diverting your attention away from your thoughts and for activating the parasympathetic nervous system and relaxing you.  

writing three things you’re grateful for each morning in a gratitude journal seems cheesy at first but sets you off on the right foot.  It’s doesn’t have to be something profound either.  You can be grateful for say, a working air conditioner on a hot day, or for a scent you love.  The idea is to stop and enjoy something you take for granted and to be more mindful of small pleasures.  

 

 

Re: How to start?

Two tools for emotional health that I have found helpful:

 

Meditation:

Headspace App:   Initially it is free.. I used the free mediations for about 3 months until I subscribed, I wanted to be sure I would stick with it and a subscription is kind of expensive.   The meditations are wonderful and there is even a 3 minute one for when you are super busy.  You can pick a male or a female voice.. I must confess I like the accent of the male voice.   Give it a try.. I think it will give you more peace.(If you do not have a phone you can use a computer for this as well)

 

Gratitude jar:   This is a great tool to reduce stress.  Get a glass jar and some paper, every morning write something that you are grateful for and put it in the jar.  Try to pick something different every day.   I am not sure why it works but  it does.  In 30 days you will feel better.. and you can read everything you wrote.   I will frequently do this again as it is easy to forget.

 

Initially I took a class in mindfulness meditation and it was wonderful.   Her website is http://themindfulcenter.com  - my class was in person but they do have online ones.   It really helped give me  a new way of looking at life.  

 

If you are having a hard time relaxing you could try some decaf green tea or an l-theanine supplement.  l-theanine comes from green tea.  I get mine from swanson because they have really good customer service and decent prices.  Sometimes I would take some l-theanine before doing a long meditation.

 

I hope this helps.   Hugs and prayers for you!

Re: How to start?

Hi, I agree with starting small. I was in a super stressful job, gaining weight little by little, not eating healthy for years, and turned it all around a little at a time. Now I feel healthy, am at my happy weight (about 30+ pounds less than before) and am a freelance writer without the stress, and I walk a mile after every meal. But it didn’t happen overnight.  I started with small steps and adopting better habits.

 

my recipe: 

I started walking 5-7 minutes after each meal. It’s small enough to do easily, even in the house or backyard. If I felt like walking more i did, I didn’t give myself any target other than that 5 min minimum. Over a couple of years I naturally ended up where I am now at a mile after each meal.

 

My eating and weight went in the right direction when I swapped junk for healthy food. Like drinking almond milk instead of Diet Coke. An apple instead of chips, etc. just swap one unhealthy snack for a healthy one and stick with that one thing. Then do another when you want to.

 

sorry this is long and I could go on... lol! But doing one little step at a time consistently is key. Set yourself up to succeed by giving yourself a chance to adopt little habit changes then take another step forward. 🙂

Re: How to start?

Start small! I found that setting too many expectations for myself in the beginning made my healing feel like something I had to do, rather than something I wanted to do. I found this great podcast called “happiness 5 a day”, by Gemma Bennet, and it really resonated with me, just 5 minutes a day where I listened to someone with positive insight really helped. 

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