How to feel good psychologically? 10 tips
Usually, most people spend most of their lives trying to improve a large part of the spheres of our lives. We want to feel better physically, improve our career or move up in our relationships and social circles.
But how many times do we stop to think about how we really feel on an emotional level? In psychological well-being we find the necessary strength to perform and improve in the rest of aspects of our life. So throughout this article we will offer a series of tips to feel good psychologically .
- Related article: "Emotional health: 7 tips to improve it"
What is psychological well-being?
The concept of psychological well-being, as well as happiness, are notions that are very difficult to define or determine in a concise way. However, we can say that in both cases of dealing with abstract concepts that are characterized by being subjective states related to a feeling of well-being and general satisfaction .
Of course, the reasons or causes that generate this satisfaction are different in each one of the people and they adhere to the individual beliefs that each individual possesses in relation to what he himself understands by psychological well-being or happiness.
However, although as we have mentioned each person is distinguished by having different conceptions of what it is to feel good psychologically, there are a number of common points without which this psychological well-being is much more difficult to achieve. These dimensions were developed by the psychologist of the University of Pennsylvania, Carol Ryff, and consists of the following aspects:
- Self-acceptance .
- Positive relationships
- Have a purpose in life.
- Personal growth .
- Autonomy.
- Domain of the environment
As we can see all these aspects are likely to be worked and improved, so that achieving psychological well-being is within our reach. It is necessary to specify that, obviously, this will not always be easy, since external events or agents may appear that disturb this well-being and that we can not control.
However, even if we do not have control over these agents, we can determine and decide how to face them and what degree of consideration to give them, this being what will make the difference when it comes to maintaining our psychological well-being or not.
10 tips to achieve psychological well-being
As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, we are the only ones responsible for managing our happiness and our mental well-being, which makes us active agents capable of improving our psychological state.
Below we will see a series of tips or recommendations that we can practice for improve our psychological and emotional health . This does not mean that to achieve this we must make each and every one of these indications, since this psychological well-being is a totally subjective concept, we can choose those with which we feel more comfortable or identify ourselves more.
1. Learn to control our thoughts and emotions
We could say that this first point is about a universal recommendation valid for all types of people regardless of their character or personality .
Usually, our thoughts tend to be accompanied by emotions that turn them into positive or negative experiences. If we learn to control and effectively manage our thoughts and emotions we will achieve the necessary skills to improve our psychological well-being, this being the first step and the basis that facilitates the rest of our psychological work.
For this we can resort to traditional meditation exercises, as well as the practice of mindfulness exercises, which have been shown to be effective in achieving control of our thoughts and emotional well-being.
- Related article: "Emotional regulation: this way we tame our state of mind"
2. Take a moment to feel grateful
Habitually, we tend to maintain an excessive fixation on problems and negative situations that we experience throughout the day. Therefore, we can find it particularly useful to spend a few minutes a day reflecting on the things that have happened to us throughout the day for which we can thank.
Although this may be difficult at first, with practice it will cost us less and less to identify small daily details by which we can feel grateful and satisfied. This habit will bring us a series of daily feelings of wellbeing that can be maintained throughout the week.
3. Put our lives in order
The excess of stress that we experience daily It is one of the great enemies of psychological well-being, since it gradually diminishes our sense of well-being and tends to increase if we do nothing to remedy it.
To solve this, it will be very useful to carry out an effective organization of our tasks throughout the day. This will help us to reduce the effect of unforeseen events and to experience a sense of control over our lives.
4. Sleep well
Sleep routines directly affect our mood so that harmful sleep habits will negatively affect our psychological well-being .
Therefore, it is essential to try to maintain some sleep habits in which we perform the recommended minimum hours of sleep, always with all the lights off and trying to diminish everything that interferes with our sleep, such as external noises or the sound of the mobile phone.
- Maybe you're interested: "10 basic principles for good sleep hygiene"
5. Improve diet and exercise
As described by the expression mens sana in corpore sano, caring for our body and finding a balance will help us achieve and maintain our psychological well-being. Contrary to what is popularly believed, the original meaning of the expression is related to the need to have a healthy mind and body in order to achieve well-being.
For this, it is essential to maintain a balanced diet that provides all kinds of nutrients, as well as exercise regularly, which will help us keep our body in shape and facilitate emotional balance .
6. Start a conversation with other people
Human beings are social animals, so Keeping close to other people usually has a positive effect on our mood . Dedicating a moment of our day to start a conversation with someone we know and thus increase our social relationships, will generate a very pleasant feeling of well-being and satisfaction.
7. Break the monotony
Although a certain degree of routine and monotony offer us a sense of security and control over our life that can be beneficial, the excess of this usually does not turn out to be so pleasant, being able to appear feelings like boredom, frustration or sadness.
To compensate, we can plan or establish small changes in our daily routine that may be stimulating , as well as keeping our mind open to the possibility of trying or experiencing new things that bring a little vivacity and dynamism in our lives.
8. Do something for another person
In psychology, the positive effect that the act of helping others exerts on our state of mind and on our psychological well-being is well known. Doing something for someone increases our levels of happiness and satisfaction, as well as brings a sense of utility and competence , it reduces the levels of stress and how it does not contribute something good to the society and the mood of the other person.
9. Perform artistic activities
It is not necessary to be an artistic prodigy to benefit from the positive effects that the realization of artistic activities has on our state of mind. Art, manifested in whatever form, increases our levels of dopamine and stimulates certain areas of our frontal cortex that provoke positive and pleasurable sensations .
10. Being in touch with nature
Finally, there are many studies that have related living or being close to nature or green areas with better levels of mental health and emotional well-being .
The connection with nature generates a positive impact on our mood. In addition, the simple fact of being exposed to sunlight helps us to increase vitamin D levels, which is directly related to the decrease of negative emotions such as sadness.
