Unlocking Emotional Well-Being: Top Mental Wellness Activities

Mental and emotional wellness doesn't mean avoiding negative emotions. It means living in a place of self-compassion, self-esteem, and self-awareness. With emotional wellness, we can calibrate our mood when we feel low.

We all face stressful situations, but managing stress in productive ways can support emotional wellness. If you've been caught in a cycle of negative thinking, it can be difficult to imagine a life of total emotional health and wellness. But it is possible for everyone. Once we determine our needs, we can create a plan that works for us.

Our emotional well-being and mental health are directly correlated, so this plan might begin with getting professional help and support. Learning certain mental health activities and strategies can help us to feel more able to weather life's storms and appreciate life's gifts. 

In this article, we'll cover:

• How emotional wellness impacts overall health
• The relationship between emotional wellness and mental health
• Examples demonstrating a state of positive emotional wellness
• Importance of adequate sleep and a balanced diet
• Expressing emotions through art, music or writing in an emotional wellness journal
• Practicing meditation and mindfulness to lower stress levels and reduce stress
• Participating in regular physical exercise and healthy habits

Examples of Emotional Wellness

When we can enjoy our life, cultivate healthy relationships, trust ourselves to get through difficult times and find healthy habits, we are living in a place of emotional wellness. According to the NIH, emotional wellness is "the ability to successfully handle life's stresses and adapt to change and difficult times." This, ultimately begins with self-trust.

So how do we trust ourselves to be well, even when things are difficult? The best way is to identify activities that will support you and remind you how to return to who you truly are, even when stressed. By creating an emotional wellness strategy that is personal to you, you are investing in your mental health, physical health, and relationships. 

Activities to Boost Emotional Health and Mental Wellness

Let's look at a few ways to cultivate more emotional wellness and, in so doing, mental wellness. Below are activities you can try this week.

• Reduce stress with deep-breathing techniques. I've written about the power of breath practices before. I personally feel there has been no greater technique for helping me to find peace of mind in the moment or bounce back from negative emotions than the simple act of focusing deeply on my breath - even for a few moments.
• Invest in yourself by spending time on a hobby. We spend so much time working and trying to make money. A hobby is something we do for fun. Spending time on things that feed our soul without worrying about exchange or income is an excellent way to reduce stress levels and cultivate positive emotions.
• Getting outside and reconnecting with nature. A walk in nature can do wonders when we are feeling negative. Being among nature helps us in a few ways. According to The Cleveland Clinic, forest bathing (simply spending time in the woods), allows us to have a more positive mood and increased wellbeing. If you cannot get to the woods, simply getting outside or opening a window can provide a sense of groundedness. 
• Invest in your relationships. No matter how alone we can sometimes feel, we are part of an interconnected world. By investing in our relationships in person, online, close and distant, we will find ourselves better able to trust that we can find a way. Not only can other people offer support, we can support others when we are feeling low--which has been scientifically proven to help us become more resilient. You can begin with this meditation on remembering our connectivity and practicing compassion for self and others. 
• Work on building your self esteem through journaling. Mindful journaling is an excellent way to get to know ourselves better. Taking a few minutes a day to reflect on what we've accomplished and what we are proud of can build self esteem because many of us are so hardwired to focus on the bad stuff or what we wish was different. Try to journal about what went well. It can even be a list, and see how it shifts your outlook.
• Find an exercise routine that works for you. I personally find that yoga is a wonderful mood lifter and helps me to feel more emotionally centered. But exercise of any sort is beneficial because we are oxygenating the body and reducing stress inducing chemicals such as adrenaline and cortisol.
• Expressing emotions through art, music or writing. Along with mindful journaling, we can use writing and art or the creation of music to process our feelings. As an exercise, see if you can draw or write about how you feel without stopping for five minutes. Just see what comes out. Not to create something great, but to process the emotion. This can be a cathartic and powerful exercise for many.
• Nurture your sleep routine. Finally, sleep is a key element to emotional wellness. While stress can make sleep more difficult, we can find ways to create a bedtime routine that will aid us in deeper and more restful sleep. Meditation and mindfulness are excellent tools as we unwind before sleep. We can also benefit from meditation music or binaural beats. 

Improvement and Maintenance of Emotional Wellness

"There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in." ― Leonard Cohen

It's important to remember that sometimes to relieve stress and find our way to these routines, we may first need to reach out to a therapist or other mental health resources to support us along our journey. It takes self-awareness to know when we need help sometimes, but there are excellent resources out there. Good mental health begins with understanding what we can and cannot control, and often finding support in the form of friends and family as well as professionals is how we must begin.

Once we find our footing on our path toward emotional wellness, things that once seemed impossible, such as relaxation and deep sleep or increased resilience, reduced anxiety and depression, and more joy can begin to show up in our lives.  

Emotional Wellness Strategies

Regular check-ins with yourself and your community and knowing when to reach out to a therapist will support you in maintaining momentum on your journey toward emotional wellness. Practicing wellness activities, such as meditation and mindfulness, regular exercise, acts of kindness, and self-reflection activities will not only bolster efforts but also impact your physical health. We are dynamic beings who deserve to invest in ourselves. As you set out on this journey, please know I am cheering you on.

Finding wellness coaches and meditation teachers who can support you is another way to stay the course over time. When it comes to emotions and stress, after all, there are fluctuations. With your wellness plan, however, you can find your way toward sustainable emotional wellness.