Mental Health & Wellness
Practicing Gratitude
Being grateful for what you have, what you’re capable of, and those around you isn’t just for Thanksgiving. Positive thinking and appreciation for the world you live in can help reduce stress, anxiety, and feelings of incompetence. Now, more than ever, we need to be practicing gratitude. The past year has been difficult but there is always something to be grateful for. Practicing gratitude is a practice and it takes time. Start small, don’t rush.
Ways to practicing gratitude:
Write down hobbies or skills you’ve picked up this year. (good job, btw!)
Slow down while eating to appreciate each bite for how delicious it is.
Keep a gratitude journal. It’s not as difficult as you’d think! Let Mindful show you how.
Your body is amazing, show it some love. It’s truly amazing what our bodies are able to do. Give your body a big ‘thank you’ by embracing the curves and bumps. Put on a face mask, dance around in your favorite outfit, give yourself a hug. Say out loud one thing you like about your body.
Let your loved ones know how grateful you are for them.
Gratitude resources:
Self-care has become a really popular topic, and for good reason! We all need a little care now and then. Make sure your family is getting the self-care they need by making a family self-care plan and helping each other stick to it.
More information: https://www.actionforhealthykids.org/activity/create-a-family-self-care-plan/
Take Deep Breaths to Reduce Stress
Setting yourself up for a good day with better sleep.
Use these tips to help you fall asleep faster, stay asleep through the night, and wake up rested.
Have a consistent bed time.
Remove electronic devices.
Avoid large meals and caffeine close to bed time.
Make sure you’re getting enough physical activity throughout the day.
Getting a good night’s sleep is essential to taking care of yourself. So many of us compromise our sleep quality when we’re busy and stressed which only leads to feeling even more stressed and tired.
For more tips and sleep information visit the CDC page for sleep and sleep disorders.
Exercise can help to improve your mental health. Exercise is known to reduce stress, anxiety and depression. It also helps to prevent diseases like Dementia, Alzheimer’s, and Diabetes. Exercising daily can also help to improve the quality of your sleep, learning and mental performance, and your memory!
Suicide Awareness
Suicide affects everyone. The risk of suicide is a combination of individual, relationship, community, and societal factors. ANTHC recognizes that suicide can be challenging to talk about, so we welcome you to support our journey by starting a conversation. Please join us through the month of September to honor Suicide Prevention Awareness with (5) weekly activities aimed to normalize conversations about suicide. Remember, we are in this together.
For more information on how to participate in the weekly activities, please visit this link.
Looking for some outdoor inspiration and resources?
The City of Bethel has parks and trails posted on their website. This is a great way to get outside without going too far from home.
Human’s Outside is a podcast with weekly interviews with outdoor-minded folks. The host is based in Alaska and the guests are all over the country. You’ll laugh, you might cry, you’ll definitely be inspired to go outside!
Thanks to their #optoutside program REI has become known for their outdoor inspiration and resources in addition to their gear. They’ve even put together a list of 95 Ways To Spend More Time Outdoors.
