The most valuable asset you have

We find ourselves in times where the mental health of the average person is below an optimal percentage, with anxiety and depression being the most common form of pathologies, amounting to even 50% of the population. The increase of these is not surprising, as today we have become more efficient in detecting them and identifying their symptoms, though there are also another factors that affect our sanity such as our repeated exposure to negative information in the news, the limitation of our ability to concentrate due to activities that require a constant shift in what we pay attention to (Such as scrolling social media) and the increase of sedentary lifestyles and loneliness in the past 20 years. All these things amount to a bad state of mind that make people more self absorbed, cynical and disconnected from the world, thus resulting in poor mental health. That's why in this article I will talk about some things you can easily apply to your lifestyle in order to improve your mental health, It being the cornerstone to a functional human being and a happy person. Let's begin:

Be grateful

There's a lot of things that people might try to sell you as the road to happiness, It meaning that you will be happy for the rest of your days without a problem. However, this is a delusional fairy tale. As human beings, It is impossible for us to feel happy at all times, as there will always be problems, situations to solve and moments in which It might not be the most adequate reaction to what's happening. However, there's something you can apply in order to increase your levels of happiness throughout the day and that's just being grateful. Just take a moment and seek into your mind things or people for which you might feel grateful, then think further into It and write a couple of those things in a piece of paper. You'll notice that If you did that genuinely, you'll be much more happy that when you started. You can use gratefulness even in greater ways, writing people why you feel grateful for them and practicing gratitude meditation, which will boost your mental health.

Exercise

The oldest one of all. Have you ever noticed that after a great workout session you feel relaxed and more optimistic? This is because your hypothalamus and our pituitary gland secrete endorphins, which are neurochemicals attached to your reward center that upon being released they block nerve cells that receive pain signals, thus bringing those feelings of well-being. Along with this, upon working out your levels of serotonin and norepinephrine increase, making your body withstand stressors better. That's why you should actually consider exercise in the form of cardio (Jogging or running), calisthenics or even weightlifting as crucial tools to use when considering improving your mental health.

Flow states

This might be a little bit more complicated and controversial than the previous two points for which I will explain first what is a flow state. A flow state is a mental state in which the person is completely immersed in the task, performing It in a succesful way. In simpler terms, when you are doing something you really are focused on succeding, such as a sport, a creative task or even studying and you feel like time passes so quick that everytime you check the clock (If you even check It) the hours pass like minutes then you know that you are in a flow state. The key to entering a flow state is to reduce the amount of distractions that fragment your attention span (Such as social media and binge watching television), augment those that increase your focus (Such as mindful meditation) and to endure the first 20 minutes when you sit down to do your work, in which you tend to seek any distraction and your mind will complain the most. If you succeed in all that is described before, you'll find that you will be in a flow state whenever you pick the pen, your gloves or your laptop, giving you a sense of purpose and in result increasing greatly your mental state.

I hope that the tips presented in this article could have being of use to you, providing you with what has always helped in my case and that of most people, providing you with why they do help and how to implementing, expecting to make your life at least a 1% better. Thank you for your support and good luck!