May is a busy month as far as awareness campaigns go. The month hosts Mental Health Month, National Women’s Health Week, Arthritis Awareness Month, National Bike Month, and National Physical Fitness & Sports Month, among other celebrations. Along with these awareness campaigns come some great tips for living well. Here in Maine, the month of May also brings warmer weather and beautiful flowers, a welcome sight after our typical cold, drab winters. The connection between mental health and women’s health is often under-recognized.
This May, you may want to take some time to focus on your mental health and well-being. Spring is a great time to get back to being active and start focusing more on health. In many situations, when people are healthy, they’re happy. Following are a few tips to consider as we head toward the summer months.
Tools to Maintain and Improve Mental Health and Women’s Health
It’s critical to find what works for you and stick with it. A mental health professional can be a great resource to help get you started on the path to wellness and maintaining good mental health. If you don’t have access to a mental health professional, there are still many things you can do on your own to improve your mental health. For instance, these tips include:
- Connect with others – According to the National Institute of Mental Health, social support can be extremely beneficial to mental health.
- Stay positive – A positive outlook can do wonders for mental and physical health.
- Get physically active – According to the National Women’s Health Information Center, regular physical activity can help reduce stress, anxiety, and depression.
- Help others – When we help others, we often end up helping ourselves.
- Get enough sleep – According to the National Sleep Foundation, getting enough sleep is crucial for good mental health.
- Create joy and satisfaction – Joy and satisfaction can come from many different things. Find what works for you.
- Eat well – Eating a healthy diet is important for good mental and physical health.
- Take care of your spirit – Taking care of your spiritual needs can be important for mental health.
- Deal better with hard times – We all face challenges in life. Learning how to deal with them in a healthy way can help reduce stress and improve mental health.
- Get professional help if you need it – Don’t be afraid to seek professional help if you are struggling with mental health.
The Importance of Physical Activity for Mental Health and Women’s Health
Some physical activity facts from The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports include:
- Adults 18 and older need 30 minutes of physical activity on five or more days a week to be healthy; children and teens need 60 minutes of activity a day for their health.
- Significant health benefits can be obtained by including a moderate amount of physical activity (e.g., 30 minutes of brisk walking or raking leaves, 15 minutes of running, 45 minutes of playing volleyball). Additional health benefits can be gained through greater amounts of physical activity.
- Thirty to sixty minutes of activity broken into smaller segments of 10 or 15 minutes throughout the day has significant health benefits.
- Moderate daily physical activity can substantially reduce the risk of developing or dying from cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers, such as colon cancer. Daily physical activity helps to lower blood pressure and cholesterol, helps prevent or retard osteoporosis, and helps reduce obesity, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and symptoms of arthritis.
Tips to Get Started with Physical Activity
If you’re not used to being physically active, it’s important to start slowly and gradually increase the amount of activity you do. Here are some tips to get you started:
Fit Physical Activity into a Busy Schedule –
It’s important to find ways to fit physical activity into a busy schedule. Try the following tips:
- If you can’t set aside one block of time, do short activities throughout the day, such as three 10-minute walks.
- Walk or bike to work or to the store.
- Use stairs instead of the elevator or escalator.
- Walk while you talk if you’re using a cellphone or cordless phone.
- Doing yard work or household chores counts as physical activity. Turn on some upbeat music to help you do chores faster and speed up your heart rate.
Make It Fun –
It’s critical to find activities that you enjoy so that you’ll be more likely to stick with them. Try the following tips:
- Choose activities that you enjoy.
- Vary your activities, so you don’t get bored. For instance, use different jogging, walking, or biking paths. Or bike one day, and jog the next.
- If you have children, make time to play with them outside. Set a good example.
- Make it a social event. Join a hiking or running club or go dancing with your partner or friends.
Overcome Challenges
Don’t let cold weather keep you on the couch. You can find activities to do in the winter, such as indoor fitness classes or exercising to a workout video.
Learn More at Crossroads
At Crossroads, we are committed to improving women’s mental and physical health. If you are suffering from an addiction, mental health concern, or eating disorder, Women’s Health Awareness Month is the perfect time to find treatment. Call Crossroads today at 877.978.1667 to learn more.
