In honor of Mental Health Awareness Month (May), I’ll be talking about mental health and how to take care of it. We all need to make sure we’re doing okay, and I have a number of things that you could categorize as self-care.

First before all else, you need to understand how stress affects you both emotionally and physically. For example, I get migraines from higher amounts of stress. Then, you can do the things that might improve your well being. Physically, you can get some exercise, eat a healthier range of food, and get enough sleep. As someone who averages about 5 hours of sleep on a good night, I can only imagine how much better I would be if I got the recommended amount.

There’s a ton of things you can do to help yourself emotionally. Some examples are helping out others, taking up yoga or meditation, and finding productive things that you know improve your well being. Take up painting or drawing. Take time out of your week to just focus on yourself.

For more information on statistics, living with mental health conditions, and getting support, please check out the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Information from NAMI. Featured Image: Flickr. First Image: Flickr. Second Image: Flickr.