YOU are an EMPOWERED woman. You are STRONG, BEAUTIFUL – inside and out – and simply put AMAZING. But even as an amazing woman, you still need to care for your mental health to keep your amazing status in peak form. Let’s talk about how women (yes even empowered women) can better care for their mental health.
In one of our more profound posts, we want to address your mental health with six ways you can care for it. Because as a women-owned and run business, we get the importance of taking care of ourselves and the stress that can cause us to become mentally overwhelmed.
Read on to discover our favourite secrets for keeping our mental health muscles strong. Here’s a sneak peek at our top 6 ways to care for your mental health:
- Accept That You Can be Both Empowered AND Flawed
- Take Care of Your Physical Health
- Eat to Support Your Brain Health
- Put Your Phone Down
- Nature, the Key to Lightening Your Mental Load
- Practice Self-Care Until It’s Like Breathing
Warning Signs That Your Mental Health is Suffering
Before we get into the top ways to care for your mental health, it’s good to know when you really need to make your mental health a big focus in your life. Like the maintenance of our car, the upkeep of our mental health is just as vital. And sometimes, we don’t always see the signs. We get so used to the lagging start-up of our car engine that we start making allowances for it in the same way we make allowances for taking longer to fall asleep at night.
According to Healthline, the biggest signs you might need a break are: feeling restless, having trouble sleeping, feeling unmotivated, lacking energy, becoming withdrawn, and not enjoying our favourite things.
If any of these ring true for you, our following list may help you to give your mental health a little self-love.
OK, now on with our top 6 ways to take better care of your mental health.
1. Accept that you can be both empowered and flawed
Just because you identify as empowered, doesn’t mean you have to feel like you can’t have weak moments. And empowered women can certainly be flawed women who make mistakes, don’t always look perfect for every occasion, and are still learning.
An EMPOWERED woman recognizes that her body, mind, and heart will continue to change and evolve, but at each moment, she is right where she needs to be. An empowered woman learns to take a neutral stance on herself, to not judge herself harshly, but be kind and offer herself acceptance.
2. Take care of your physical health to better care for your mental health
The results have been in for years, physical health and mental health have a symbiotic relationship. This means that when our physical health is suffering, so too does our mental health and vice versa. One of the best ways to maintain the wellness of our mental health is to care for our physical body.
According to the Canadian Red Cross, some of the boosts your mental health will receive from exercise include reducing stress, helping to receive a better night’s sleep, giving your mood and energy a boost, and inspiring a sense of pride and overall well-being.
So, what are you waiting for? Get out there and MOVE.
Cultivate a nurturing love for yourself with our FREE 28-day self-care course
Delivered to your inbox, this course lets you work at your own pace while also helping keep you on track with your self-care. And we’re here each step of the way via email ❤️
3. Eat to support your brain health (because mental health is about the mind)
Although it can be tempting to eat like the Gilmore Girls, eating a diet that is optimal for brain health is crucial to maintaining a healthy brain to ensure ideal mental well-being. Typically, the brain consumes 20% of a woman’s daily caloric intake.
Now, think about how you’ve been eating, and imagine what if 40% of fast food and sugary treats were going to nourish your brain; how would you feel? We don’t know about you, but the saying: you are what you eat, really takes on a whole new meaning.
Include food that feeds the brain in your eating habits, such as fish, leafy greens, olive oil, nuts, yogurt, seafood, and whole grains.
4. Accept that your phone may not be good for your mental health
We’re going to tell you something that you already know. Many of us are OBSESSED with our phones. And that’s not to say that we should abandon our phones in the same way that Ed Sheeran has, but we could definitely consider taking a break.
Our phones are how we stay connected to the world and social media, but, news flash, this is causing our brains to feel even more depressed, anxious, and mentally drained. If you find that social media is causing your mental health to suffer, perhaps take a page out of Selena Gomez’s book and take a step back.
In an interview with Good Morning America, she stated that “I am happier, I am more present, I connect more with people.” And if you find yourself unable to put the phone and social media down, a great way to replace them is to give Mother Nature a call.
5. Quiet your mind by Reconnecting with Nature
We highly suggest reconnecting with nature to give your mental health a boost. Even on those days that you can’t leave the office or home, studies have shown looking at images of nature can benefit our mental health.
And who can argue with research that indicates that nature aids in boosting our memory, benefits our mental and physical health (recall that physical health is number two on our list), and can help lower our cortisol, our body’s stress hormone?
6. Practice Self-Care to boost mental health long-term
This is the last one on our list, but it is certainly not the least important. In fact, we may even go as far as to say it is the MOST important.
Self-care can be whatever YOU deem to be self-care. And no one is allowed to have an opinion on it. That means however you define it, NEVER let ANYONE make you feel like this is selfish. The Canadian Mental Health Association suggests thinking of it as “me too”, rather than “me first”.
From the busy mom to the young entrepreneur trying to run her own business, practicing REGULAR self-care is one of the most EFFECTIVE ways to ensure that your mental health stays strong. It may include physical, psychological, spiritual, or emotional self-care, but whatever you need to focus on, make it a PRIORITY.
We understand that saying make it a priority is easier said than done. But at Gabriel Cruz Photography, we’re offering our free self-care course as a way of helping EMPOWERED women, like you, make their mental health a priority through self-care.
Want to know more? Join our self-care course at no commitment to you and ensure that your mental health gets the attention it craves.
