How to Improve Your Mental, Physical, and Spiritual Health

To begin improving your mental, physical and spiritual health start by making some realistic goals, and begin implementing small steps towards these goals.

The most important goal you can make is taking care of your spirit. Make goals towards spending daily, intimate time with God. Let all that distracts you and deters you from this time be put aside. Allow at least 30 minutes per day of quiet time with the Lord. Start a Bible study to aid in your spiritual growth, and if you are married make a goal to pray together daily and have a Bible study that you can do together. Do whatever the Lord leads you to do, but do something that will feed your spirit and cause you to mature spirituality. This may look different for other people. That is okay, do what will cause you to grow and mature. If you need spiritual healing in this season, then take some time where you pull back from ministry positions and leadership roles, and allow God to “pour back into you,” and restore your soul. If your “cup is empty” you cannot effectively help anyone. There is a season to be on front-line ministry and a season to allow God to pour back into your cup. You may need to be refilled in this season. Go before God and ask Him, “What season am I in?” This may not be the time that you are serving full-force, but a time that God is going to bring refreshment into your dry places.

 Take care of your spirit first, and everything else will come easier.

Next take care of your mental and emotional health. Start by saying, “No,” more often. Do things just for fun and pure enjoyment. Listen to your favorite music, read, garden, or paint. Try and spend at least 10 minutes outside in the sun. Set boundaries and limits with other people and on your time. Limit your time with negative and draining people. Set a guard on what causes you stress, and limit what stresses you as much as possible. Do not allow other people’s problems to become your problems! Do not carry the burdens and responsibility of other people. Cut out all unnecessary things in your life, make priorities.

Finally, take care of your physical body. Get at least 8 hours of sleep. Eat balanced meals with daily fresh fruit and vegetables. Stay away from fried foods and sweets as much as possible. If you do not exercise, start walking at least 3x per week. Take a multi-vitamin and B vitamin daily.  Drink plenty of water and drink green tea daily. Take warm baths to relieve tired muscles and to relax you.

The mind, body and spirit are connected so, implement goals to improve not just your physical health but your mental and spiritual health as well. 

Tips for Improving Your Mental Health

When we think of New Year’s resolutions, usually it is to improve our physical health, however, maintaining good mental and emotional habits are just as important. If you have had a challenging year in 2015, it is time to reevaluate why and what you can do differently for 2016. Being mentally healthy means that you have a sense of wellbeing, you are able to function with everyday life and meet challenges in confidence.

Risk factors that can compromise your emotional health:

1.                  Poor connection/attachment to your primary caregiver early in life.

2.                  Childhood trauma and/or early losses through death, divorce, etc.

3.                  Learned helplessness. Believing that you are helpless and can do little to change your situations.

4.                  Physical illness that is long-term or debilitating.

5.                  Substance abuse. This can lead to initially having a release of “feel good” chemicals, but the long-term effects of chronic use can deplete these chemicals.

All of these risk factors can be counteracted with protective factors. There are steps that you can take to improve your emotional wellbeing. Your brain can actually manufacture its own “feel good” chemicals, called endorphins.

In addition to exercise, endorphins can be released naturally by:

1.      Eating chocolate, but choose dark chocolate. Chocolate contains the endorphin anandamide, which helps you relax. Eat (1) 4oz. piece daily.

2.      Find ways to laugh. The act of laughing helps you feel good instantly.

3.      Smiling, but only a true smile will do.

4.      Eating spicy foods.

5.      Thinking positive, and limiting unhealthy mental habits like worrying. Negative thoughts drain your energy and trigger feelings of anxiety, fear, and depression.

6.      Exposure to 10-15 minutes of daily sunlight.

7.      Use all of your senses. View beautiful artwork, listen to your favorite music, smell your favorite scents, or walk barefoot.

8.      Interacting with others that are healthy and positive for you.

9.      Engage in creative work, such as painting, building, gardening, or writing.

10.  Take time to enjoy life and do things that simulate you such as a walk in the park, going to the movies, or reading a book.

11.  Volunteer or be active in your community/church.

12.  Rest and refresh. Sleep restores your mind as well as your body. However, feelings of fatigue will set in if you are constantly rushed and overwhelmed. Allow yourself to have unfocused time each day to refresh.

People who are emotionally healthy are in control of their emotions.

Ask yourself these following questions to see if you need a boost in your emotional health?

1.      Do you have a sense of contentment?

2.      Are you able to enjoy life, have times of fun and relaxation, and not take life so seriously?

3.      Can you bounce back from setbacks/difficulties fairly quickly?

4.      Do you have meaning and purpose in your life?

5.      Are your relationships healthy? And do you have times of social interaction with them?

6.      Are you flexible with change?

7.      Do you have a balance of work, play, rest, and time with God?

8.      Do you think positive about yourself?

If you answered yes to most of the questions above, you can more readily cope when faced with life’s challenges and stresses. Being emotionally and mentally healthy does not mean that you will never go through tough times or experience emotional problems. We can still at times feel sadness, anxiety and stress. The difference is your ability to bounce back after adversity, and not remain stuck in the hardships. This ability is called resilience. People who have resilience have “tools” for coping in difficult times. They are able to stay focused, flexible, and maintain a good outlook.

Are you ready for a healthier mental/emotional you for 2016? Let me know about it.

John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts by troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”

Understanding Mental and Emotional Stability

Spiritual maturity and emotional maturity go hand-in-hand; you cannot have one without the other. Emotional health involves knowing your limits, and not reacting act of emotions to circumstances. Everyone has limits, and it is wise to know yours.

Have you ever began your morning and said something like this, “Today, I will not let the enemy kill the joy and peace I desire to have.” Then something happens in your day and you feel emotionally drained. What happened? Reaction to circumstances. The enemy set you up by “baiting” you with people and circumstances that are difficult, stressful, and overwhelming. The enemy hopes we will react in our emotions, because this will usually lead us into sin. We are not to be led by our emotions and feelings; they are deceitful and constantly changing. We will encounter trials, stress and difficult people, and sometimes when we our “off-guard,” but we must take a step back, go and pray, and be still and quiet as we wait for God’s intervention.

 

Do you feel like this sometimes?

Some key factors that you are at your limit emotionally:

1.        Emotions are running high.

2.       Stress and/or fatigue.

3.       Short temper.

4.       Lack of grace and patience.

It is important to know if you have experienced emotional trauma and stress, so that you can heal and know how to deal properly in certain situations. Emotional trauma and stress can happen once or it can be a series of stressful events. If that is something you have endured, it is likely you will have a high stress/emotional response to current stressful situations. Is it hopeless? No, with acknowledging your hurt, facing the truth of your limits, and totally relying on God’s help and healing; there is hope.

People are more likely to be traumatized by stressful events if they are already under a heavy load. Childhood trauma can increase the risk of future trauma, and the way we deal and process stressful events. Emotional stress can be detrimental to your health and well-being. Find out what is causing your mental and emotional instability, and begin being proactive and make needed changes to your life. Your body is not able to defend itself against emotional stress, which in turn triggers mental and emotional instability.

 Causes of emotional trauma and stress:

1.       It happened unexpectedly.

2.       You were unprepared for it.

3.       You were powerless to prevent it.

4.       It happened repeatedly (exposure to continued stressful situations).

5.       It happened in childhood.

As Christians, we should make it a priority to have mental and emotional stability, but we may need to first understand what is causing it and what actions need to be taken to deal effectively with current and past stressors. What has occurred in the past as a stressful event can still cause us to react emotionally if we are continually exposed to that stressor. Know your triggers and past hurts, and how they could still be triggering an emotional response currently. If you experience frequent ups and downs emotionally, it is time to examine why and seek God for intervention; it is not His will for you to live unstable emotionally.

 Having a better balance on your emotions will cause you to feel better physically and to have an increase in energy. It is time to ask yourself,” What am I expending my emotional energy on?” Remember, the enemy knows what will cause you to react and to get upset. Having emotional stability will enable you to peacefully and calmly go through difficult situations. Emotional stability does not mean suppressing your emotions, but controlling them.

A hallmark of a mentally and emotionally stable person is the ability to control one’s emotions.

Keys to mental and emotional stability:

1.       First, admit your limits. What you can and cannot handle. Be okay with that, and don’t compare what other people can endure.

2.       Recognize the people that deplete your energy, are unhealthy, and cause you stress. You may want to reevaluate your time and exposure to them.

3.       Don’t take on more than you can handle; whether at work, ministry, church, or family.

4.       Learn to say, “No,” when you are feeing stressed, tired, sick, or just need some alone time with yourself or God.

5.       Don’t take on other’s issues, problems, or stress. We can pray for people, but we cannot do for others if we ourselves are depleted.

6.       Do not react to your feelings or emotions. Pray first.

7.       Exercise, eat healthy, and maintain a trustworthy/healthy support system.

8.       Journal by processing your pent-up feelings, and talk to God about your deepest concerns.

Understanding that if you are mentally and emotionally unstable, it is likely you have endured some emotional/psychological trauma and stress, and that you need God’s help to overcome these damaged emotions. Don’t be hard on yourself, if you have emotional instability, but recognize that there is hope and a way to cope effectively.

1 Peter 5:8-9, Teaches us to be well-balanced and temperate (self-controlled) to keep satan from devouring us.

Psalm 94:13, God wants to give us power to stay calm in adversity.