Mindset challenges to promote mental well-being

Undertaking regular mindset challenges is a great way of mastering your mindset. Read on to discover ways of keeping mentally healthy. Which ones could you do as part of your routine?

Exercise

Mindset challenge#1 is exercise.

Exercising every day can bring you many health benefits such as relieving stress and anxiety, but you already know that, so the question is: Why are you not exercising every day?

If you are now coming up with excuses then stop reading this post now. This is not for you. Exercise does not like excuses. If you’re still here, then ask yourself:

'What do I need to do to bring exercise into my life every day?'

And we’re not out there trying to be Usain Bolt or someone like that. We’re just trying to do a bit of exercise every day to get the blood moving and to get the brain oxygenated.

Start small with brisk walks or 10 press-ups daily and work your way up to 10 minutes of exercise a day.

Smile

 Mindset challenge#2 is smile.

So when was the last time you smiled? Really and truly smiled from the soul. Do you smile every day? You should do, smiling should be a habit.

Smiling releases serotonin in the brain, the mood neurotransmitter that creates happiness and makes you feel in a good mood, so we should, experts say, be doing it every day for at least 10 minutes.

So what are you waiting for?

Go out and smile so much that it becomes a habit, and while you’re at it, if you can, smile at as many people as is possible to do, because smiling is contagious, it’s infectious so every time you smile at someone you should catch a smile back.

Be mindful

Mindset challenge #3 is be mindful.

Be mindful in all your activities, because did you know that we spend up to six years of our life not paying attention instead spending it being on autopilot?

We walk to work looking down at the ground, scrolling through social media and doing household chores like the washing up just in our own bubble and it leads us into sayings and phrases such as:

‘Sorry I didn’t see you there, I was a million miles away’.

So be mindful and pay attention by using all five senses to really hear, feel, see, touch and taste.

Listen to music

Mindset challenge #4 is listen to music.

Music is said to enhance intelligence and focus, improve mental health, and boost the immune system as well as self-esteem and confidence. It can be used to relax, boost and lift our mood, or to improve concentration. Music can also be used to aid in insomnia, helping to encourage and induce a deeper sleep

Listen to some music so that you raise your vibration. Music can improve mood and makes us happy, motivated or nostalgic. Did you even know that listening to music can reduce the onset of Alzheimer’s?

Music is important because it creates new pathways in the brain that allows new activity to take place.

Be grateful

Mindset challenge #5 is be grateful.

Being grateful will improve your life. Why? Because you can’t do two things at the same time. You can’t be angry and grateful at the same time. You can’t be regretful and grateful simultaneously.

So take some time out and compile a list of all the things that you are grateful for in your life, and while you’re at it, spend some time thinking about the things that you complain about  that stop you being grateful.

Do yoga

Mindset challenge #6 is do yoga.

Do you do yoga? If not, why not? Yoga can bring you peace to your mind, increase flexibility in your body and it can relieve stress and pressure. Yoga is fantastic for body mind and soul.

This exercise requires you to undertake stretches, postures and awareness of your breathing which allow you to relax. Some people worry about farting but once you get past that it is a great tool to have in your self-care routine.

Read

Mindset challenge #7 is read.

Read every day. Not just today, read every day for at least 10 minutes, or read for half an hour or whatever you can manage.

Read to improve your intelligence! Read to give your brain and mind exercise! Read to help those mental cogs moving. Read because it’s sexy! Read, so that you get some mental foreplay!

Reading is good for you especially in a time when we spend too much of it on technical appliances that dumb us down. Reading improves the mind.