Nutrition

Mental strength is a person’s capability to cope successfully with stresses, demands, and difficulties and achieve their full potential regardless of the conditions. Developing mental strength is critical to living your best life.

Just as people go to the gym and lift weights to strengthen their muscles, we can also improve our mental health by using certain tools and methods.

When we are mentally healthy, this helps us to live a life that we like, with significant social relationships and a positive sense of self-worth. It also enables us to take chances, do new things, and cope better with any tough circumstances that life may throw our way.

Mental strength is something that we can develop over time, by prioritizing our personal growth. Just as exercise and a healthy diet can bring physical benefits, good mental habits — such as practicing thankfulness — can bring mental health benefits.

To experience improvements in our physical health, we must also consider limiting unhealthy and harmful behaviors like eating junk food. In a similar way, if we want to see mental improvements, we need to give up bad habits like making negative comments about ourselves.

To learn more about building mental strength, check out BLOOM’s  Mental Strength section of the website.

Want to improve the way you see yourself, and you’re not sure where to start? Here are some strategies you can follow.

To begin, try to stop treating your body and mind as an object, and avoid comparing it to the “ideal” bodies that you see in the media. Think about how much time you spend mentally assessing how your body appears and worrying about how others see you.

You can begin to love your body by recognizing that how you think others may see you doesn’t matter, only your viewpoint matters in this regard. Take pride in yourself by standing tall with your chest wide and shoulders relaxed, to demonstrate love for your body. Continually remind yourself of all the things you like about yourself, inside and out. Remind yourself of what your body can do and accomplish. By doing these things, over time you can slowly develop an appreciation for and acceptance of your body.

We all need to appreciate our individual physical, social, and learning strengths and challenges. Maybe you feel you have social, mental health, learning or motor differences from many of your peers. This is more common than you may realize! With each of these unique differences come so many amazing strengths and abilities. Surround yourself with people who celebrate your individuality and will help you find successful role models.

Change your mindset of how you see yourself. Stop any thoughts that focus on only one aspect or part of yourself that you have negative thoughts about. See yourself as a whole person and not just negative parts.

Try to change the way you talk to yourself and about yourself from negative, to positive. To develop a healthy connection with our minds and bodies, we need to stop speaking so harshly to ourselves! We must unlearn society’s method of doing things and do things our way! Treat yourself and your body as a friend — this is a major step toward developing a good self-perception. Be kind to yourself.

Remove any negative influences that cause you to feel shame, anxious, or insecure about yourself.  This can include removing yourself from viewing negative and distorted media, or distancing yourself from anyone or anything that does not support and love you for who you are.

Above all, remember that it is alright to make mistakes along the way. Be patient with yourself; improving our everyday habits is a marathon, not a sprint. Self-love may contribute significantly to a healthy lifestyle.

Mindfulness is a kind of meditation in which a person focuses on being aware of what they are experiencing and feeling, without judgment or interpretation. Mindfulness training includes the use of guided meditations, and other relaxation approaches to help the body relax and decrease stress.

Here are 5 simple ways to cultivate mindfulness:

1. Attention –  Try to slow down and observe things around you. Make an effort to engage all of your senses while experiencing your surroundings — touch, sound, sight, smell, and taste. For instance, when you eat your favorite food, take time to smell, taste, and appreciate it.
2. Living in the moment –  Make a conscious effort to bring an open and accepting awareness to everything you do. Discover delight in little pleasures.
3. Accepting yourself – Try to respect and accept yourself as you would a good friend.
4. Gratitude – Recognize the amazing things your body can feel, do, and accomplish. View yourself as a whole person with many attributes that you are grateful for. Give yourself thanks and self-praise for the incredible things you are able to do and achieve with your body.
5. Kindness – Practice acts of giving or contributing to something that makes you feel good about yourself.

You can practice these mindfulness techniques anywhere and at any time.

Some other mindfulness activities, such as a body scan or sitting meditation, require some time in a quiet location free of distractions or disruptions. You may want to do these kinds of mental workouts first thing in the morning before beginning your daily routine.

To learn how to practice mindfulness and listen to audio practices, visit BLOOM’s Mindfulness section of the hub.

By making healthy choices in regards to nutrition, sleep, exercise, and activities that provide you pleasure, you can take good care of your body.

Our physical and mental health are completely connected. Many aspects of our lifestyle and behaviors affect our mental health and general well-being. Just as good sleep, food, and exercise habits are critical for physical fitness, they also have a strong correlation with mental health.

Consuming nutritious foods, engaging in regular physical activity, and ensuring that you receive enough high-quality sleep each night may help improve your psychological well-being and decrease your chance of developing disorders like depression and anxiety.

Likewise, a lack of exercise, sleep, and healthy food can have a detrimental effect on your mood and perspective. We should all try to eat, exercise, and sleep in ways that benefit our bodies and minds. However, according to a study published in “Frontiers in Psychology,” sleep seems to be the greatest predictor of mental well-being — specifically sleep quality, probably followed by sleep quantity (Rönnlund & Carelli, 2018).

This means that, although you should prioritize nutrition, exercise, and sleep for optimum health and longevity, focusing additional attention on your sleep patterns may be the most effective approach for maintaining a positive attitude and avoiding stress, anxiety, and mood swings.

To learn more about taking care of your body, visit BLOOM’s Healthy Body section of the hub.

Over time, goal-setting methods have been shown to assist people in beginning and maintaining healthy behaviors. Goals can motivate us, and help us to start new habits, guide our attention, and sustain a feeling of momentum in our lives. Goals also help us to concentrate our attention, and achieving a goal can foster a feeling of self-mastery. Setting goals is not only inspiring, it can also help us enhance our mental health and our level of personal and professional success.

Start by setting achievable goals. These goals can involve a number of steps that you can achieve along the way. Having smaller steps will allow you to see small gains and keep on track. It will also help manage the ability to adapt in case there is failure along the way.

The hardest part about a goal is starting. So jump in, tell others about your goal, and expect some hiccups along the way. Even starting on your goal is a huge measure of success! Once you start seeing progress towards your goal, you may even inspire family and friends to start working towards their own. When setting goals, it can be helpful to remember the S.M.A.R.T. acronym.

Specific: Every goal should be clear and specific.

Measurable: It is important to have measurable goals so that you can track your progress, stay on track, and keep motivated.

Achievable: A goal that is within your skill set or that stretches your abilities a bit is far more likely to be attainable and accomplished.

Relevant: It is helpful to have realistic and relevant goals. When making a goal, be sure that it is relevant for your life and lights you up with inspiration. Also be sure it is reasonable according to your skillset and resources (time and money) available.

Time Bound: Be sure to give your goal a time frame or target date so that you have a deadline to work toward.

To learn more about setting achievable goals and building healthy habits, visit BLOOM’s Mental Strength section of the hub.

Self-worth is a measure of how much you respect yourself. It is not determined by what others think of you or the accomplishments you have made — it comes from within. You are inherently worthy and can give yourself the love you desire. It is a choice you can consciously make everyday and with practice it will get easier.

Self-acceptance is probably the greatest gift you can offer yourself. Self-acceptance is unconditional: it means accepting you as you are, faults and all. If we make self-acceptance or self-love conditional, the reality is that we will never be satisfied with ourselves.

The truth is that our bodies are continuously evolving and will never be the same as they were the day before. If we put our self-worth on something as fluid as our appearances, we will perpetually ride the emotional roller coaster of body preoccupation and humiliation.

If you want to alter your appearance, do it for yourself. However, keep in mind that your body image should not determine your value. A lovely body or a gorgeous face will not last forever nor change the way you truly feel about yourself inside. If your self-worth is based only on how you look, then imagine how your self-worth could change from day to day. Explore self-worth beyond the boundaries of your appearance. Once you understand who you are and are content with that, you can find serenity even while you navigate life’s unavoidable highs and lows.

The most important thing to remember and repeat to yourself is that you are already whole. You are unique and you are enough just the way you are.

We all want certain things in life. We have various goals and a multitude of interests. So how do we get there? What tools of the trade can allow us to find success? Here are three quick tips to develop a habit.

First things first: What do you want to do? Do you want to develop healthy habits of physical activity? Is hanging out with friends more of your priority? Do you want to consider reading a print copy of a book instead of looking at a bright screen before bedtime?

Although we can receive feedback from others, no one can really decide on a habit for us. It’s the consequence of a bad habit or the result of forming a good habit that gives us the intrinsic motivation for change. As long as your focus will bring about a positive outcome in your life, there are so many possibilities of what habit(s) you could continue and which ones you’d like to begin.

Common examples of desirable habits are developing a certain skill in a sport, improving in a musical instrument, getting better at a creative outlet (e.g., writing, drawing, or technology), and of course keeping up with friends and family. Examine your life as a triangle of physical, mental, and social well-being.  Make a decision based on if one of these is lacking— and why.

Nothing says a new focus needs to be permanent, so don’t worry you’ve made a wrong choice.

Reassess your focus points throughout the year to see if your priorities still align with your life goals. A great time for this is the first of the month. Is it a new month? Do a personal check-in. Ask yourself, “Are my behaviors truly driving me towards the life I want to live?”

Also, keep in mind that while it’s true that a person can have multiple new habits going at once, it really doesn’t need to be a huge life shift at all. In fact, that leads us to tip number two.

We’ve all heard the term baby steps. Well, it’s generally great advice for habits. Sure, some people can go “all in” and make a huge change in just one day or one week— but that’s rare. Generally, things happen by effecting a major change, but in a minor way.

• What this means is: Are you trying to be more organized? You can start by making the bed.
• Want to get exercise each day? It happens by putting your shoes on.
• Feel the need to get away from the screen? Begin by opening the blinds to let the sunshine in.

It all happens with a small start. Fill your water bottle, put the book on your bed stand, write a social event on the calendar, or pick up and hold your musical instrument. These small things lead to the next step, which leads to the next step, and so on and so on.

Which leads us to the next step! 😉

This one is super obvious and it should go without saying, but a habit is only a habit if you repeat the activity. Just because you did something for a few weeks doesn’t make it a habit.

It often helps to think in terms of a lifestyle versus something like a resolution. New Year’s resolutions generally don’t stick because people view the new behavior as temporary.

Build a pattern or a streak of your healthy activity to keep the habit flowing. It is human nature to get into an “either/or” situation: a rut of unhealthy living or a path of productivity. What this means is, it’s easier to eat a whole bag of chips today if you already did that yesterday. It’s easier to self-deprecate and talk down to yourself if you’ve been doing so for a while. It’s easier to skip another night of sleep if you’ve been staying up late to watch Netflix or play video games all week. (Or, in the case of you students out there… all summer?)

Likewise, it’s easier to keep up with your habit if it’s simply just part of your day-to-day routine. Without being compulsive about things, how many books have you read this summer? How many days this week did you limit screen time to under two hours? How many weeks in a row have you been perfect with flossing and brushing your teeth?

Making it routine is easier said than done, of course, because this is the essence of a habit. That’s why starting small is so crucial, and that’s why creating a calendar streak of days is the next logical step. Miss a day? Don’t beat yourself up about it. All’s not lost. Just jump in the next day and you’re on track again.

There are two fantastic books on this topic, one entitled, “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg, and the other is “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. Both focus on small steps towards big things in life, and are my personal recommendations as essential readings on this topic.

Build those healthy habits in time, and you’ll feel better about yourself with that success and sense of accomplishment. Self-confidence spills over into social interactions, and of course, any stress relief in the form of healthy habits leads to better physical health and overall longevity.