Being Mentally Fit

Just like our physical fitness, it is important to work on our mental fitness. Mental health is “a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.”

How we feel about our mental health and wellbeing can be influenced by a variety of things. We all have ups and downs, times when we feel great and times when we feel we are struggling. This is normal, after all LIFE IS A CIRCUS!

Keeping our mind healthy is something we should do on a daily basis. It is an important part of your overall health to be able to function well, have meaningful social connections, positive self-esteem and the ability to cope with change.

This page is dedicated to sharing with you ways that you can practice Mental Fitness.

SELF CARE

Self-care is a broad term that encompasses just about anything you to do be good to yourself. In a nutshell, it’s about being as kind to yourself as you would be to others. It’s partly about knowing when your resources are running low, and stepping back to replenish them rather than letting them all drain away.

Meanwhile, it also involves integrating self-compassion into your life in a way that helps to prevent even the possibility of a burnout.

However, it’s important to note that not everything that feels good is self-care. We can all be tempted to use unhealthy coping mechanisms like drugs, alcohol, over-eating, and risk-taking. These self-destructive activities help us to regulate challenging emotions, but the relief is temporary.

The difference between unhealthy coping mechanisms and self-care activities is that the latter is uncontroversially good for you. When practiced correctly, self-care has long-term benefit for the mind, the body, or both. Check out some great ideas here, and continue reading for more tools and strategies.

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Mindfulness

Mindfulness is about being in the present. Being in the present means that you're not dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. It can help you feel better, reduce stress and improve your wellbeing which is known to have many health benefits.

Mindfulness is self-awareness training originating from Buddhist meditation principles. It was initially developed to help people improve their moods and prevent depression. The beauty of mindfulness is that anyone can practice mindfulness.

Being mindful refers to the act of paying full attention to what is going on in the moment without judgement. You are fully aware of your surroundings which enables you to observe your thoughts and feelings in a positive way and concentrate on taste, touch, smell, sight and sound.

Mindfulness is easy to fit into your day, and also a really good way to stop an anxiety attack. A great, easy exercise is the 5 Senses Grounding Exercise which is below...

5 Senses Grounding Exercise

Breathing exercise

wellness tool kit checklist

anything else??

You may want to consider a list of things to avoid as well, such as:

Excessive

alcohol consumption

Sugar, caffeine and unhealthy food

Staying up late and becoming overtired

People who are 'toxic' or negative to you

Mobile Phone Apps

1 Giant Mind is a free mobile app that is for anyone who wants to feel happier, less stressed and more energised. Providing a 12-step meditation journey.

Infinite Abundance is a free mobile guided meditation app.

Calm is a free online tool which provides meditation to help reduce anxiety, sleep better and feel happier.

Headspace meditation made simple is an online free tool that provides a guided meditation session covering all basics of meditation and mindfulness.

Living in Love is a free mobile app which presents a guided meditation app. It mixes and matches 5 guided meditations with 5 musical tracks to create 25 unique meditation experiences.

Smiling Mind is a free mobile app on modern meditation, which has been developed by psychologists and educators to help bring balance to people’s lives.

ReachOut Breathe is a free mobile app which is designed to help reduce the physical symptoms of stress and anxiety by slowing down your heart rate with your iPhone or apple watch. ReachOut helps you control your breath and measures your heart rate in real-time using the camera in your phone.

ReachOut WorryTime interrupts this repetitive thinking by setting aside your worries until later, so you don't get caught up in them and can get on with your day. This means you can deal with worries once a day, rather than carrying them around with you 24/7.

Daybreak is an online program that helps you change your relationship with alcohol through a supportive community, habit-change experiments, and one-on-one chat with health coaches. Get your free access code if discussed with Country & Outback Health.

Black Dog Snapshot is a free self-assessment mobile app that helps you keep track of your mental health and wellbeing. Provides general feedback and options for online and offline help-seeking services in Australia.

REACHOUT WEBSITE has a range of professionally-reviewed mobile apps and tools to help you look after your health and wellbeing. Click on the image below to go straight to the Tools and Apps page on their website.

ONLINE SELF HELP TOOLS

Click on the logos to be redirected to the site

BITE BACK is the very first online positive psychology program designed to improve the overall wellbeing of young Australians between 13 and 16 years old.

Happify is a free online tool which helps you take control of your feelings and improve your mental health and wellbeing.

MINDSPOT CLINIC provide free Online Screening Assessments to help you learn about your symptoms. They also offer free Treatment Courses to assist with recovery.

Act Belong Commit Self-Assessment Tool is a 10-minute online tool that helps rate your involvement in mental health and wellbeing activities. The tool helps you identify what you can do to help maintain your mental health and wellbeing.