I wanted to share with you a couple of fast and easy ways to make an immediate improvement in your mental health. These are physical ways to calm the anxiety. • Move a little(stretch, take a walk around the block, do ten jumping jacks, studies show movement impacts mental health almost as effectively as medication and even minimal movement has been shown to make a significant improvement.)• Smile• Breath (Breathe in deeply for 4 seconds, hold it for 4 seconds, release it for 4 seconds - repeat x5)• Say something kind about yourself - again, out loud. ("I am healthy, strong and whole." )

Fast & Easy Ways to Improve Your Mental Health

• Give something - (It doesn't have to be big - you can give approval, an encouraging text, a dollar, a chance)• When worry hits, say out loud: I will not worry about the things I cannot control. Sounds simple, but doing this involves your thinking, hearing and speaking so it's a triple whammy against anxiety.• Go outside and touch the earth or the grass or a tree or a plant. (I don't have a scholarly article about why this helps, I only know from experience that it truly does.)• Turn off all social media for eight hours. (Or start with thirty minutes if that feels more doable.)

• Make an immediate, small improvement in something (water a plant, straighten a shelf, toss out your junk mail, make your bed, delete old emails, clean a counter, reorganize the refrigerator, fluff some pillows - whatever you can do to make a small improvement that your hands can touch and your eyes can see.)• Scan for beauty: Look around your space, or outside, and find three things that are beautiful or evoke beautiful thoughts. Name those things out loud or write them down on a piece of paper.

Janice Christy on Oct 13

Janice Christy