 Hi Psych2Goers, do you always feel overwhelmed and stressed out? As you go about your busy life, the stress from your duties and responsibilities can easily take a toll on your mental health. Just like how your mood and feelings fluctuate throughout the day, your mental wellness will change during situations of stress and hardship. So to help you cope and improve on your health, here are six small habits to improve your mental health. Number one, make light of tough situations. Do you see the glasses half empty or half full? Along with many other benefits, positivity has proven to affect your outlook on life for the better. When practiced over time, it can help you shift your mood and thought process during tough times to one that's more hopeful, optimistic and accepting. By giving your thoughts a chance to go down a different, more positive route, a flexible mindset like this can prevent negative feelings from snowballing. It can also give you a chance to reflect on what's happened and allow you to think about what you might be able to learn from the situation instead of dreading over why it's happened to you. Seeing the challenges and bumps in the road is something more than what they are at face value is a great attitude to have in life and also something that can help keep your mental wellness in check. Number two, practice gratitude. There are many things we take for granted in our lives like food, shelter and even waking up each morning. Even while it might sound obvious that these are all very important, it can definitely be easy to forget to appreciate the things we have. Sometimes you may only express gratitude when you finally get your dream job or that perfect test score, yet you'll be ungrateful and gloomy when times are tough or when thinking about the things you don't have. But the reality is that there's always something to be grateful for. Studies even show that people who practice gratitude are happier and less prone to depression. Being a habit out of counting your blessings can have great effects on your attitude, self-esteem, outlook on life and mental wellness. Number three, connect with nature. How is your relationship with nature? How much do you notice and appreciate your natural surroundings? Did you know that being in nature generates a multitude of positive emotions such as calmness, joy, creativity and facilitates concentration? According to research, people who are more connected with nature are usually happier in life and more likely to report feeling their lives are worthwhile. Not only that, when you have a strong nature connectedness, you're also more likely to have pro-environmental behaviors such as recycling items or buying seasonal food. Healthy environment leads to a healthy lifestyle and mental wellness. Do you want to be part of the biggest challenge of our generation? Are you interested in taking action on climate change? We'd like to thank our sponsor for today's video, Klima, an app dedicated to helping people offset or completely eliminate their carbon footprint. One of the best things about Klima is that it's very simple to use. First, you answer a few questions generated by the carbon calculator to get an accurate estimate of your environmental impact, which will then be used with the next feature, the impact tracker. As you fund projects that capture or reduce emissions elsewhere, your own impact meter will decrease. They also include a neat tree meter, which tracks the number of trees planted across the world in your name. And right now, Klima has a great offer going on. The first 100 people to subscribe to Klima will get 10 extra trees planted in their name. Just click the link and enter my code, and let's get started. Let's make our planet a greener place. Number four, meditate. What do you think of when you see the word meditation? Perhaps it's being able to sit still for long periods of time, or maybe you associate it with images of peaceful Buddhist monks sitting cross-legged. But meditation is much more than that. It's something that anyone of any background can do. While there are different reasons a person might choose to meditate, meditation's main purpose is for you to become mindful or aware of your thoughts and emotions. Mindfulness achieved through meditation can help you ground yourself, remind you to be present at the moment, and reduce your negative feelings like anxiety and stress. It can also help you identify any destructive habits and thoughts you have. Proper meditation is something that's learned with time and practice. But you can start small by spending just a few minutes sitting still each day as you focus on your breath and observe your thoughts. Number five, put your thoughts and feelings onto paper. Have you ever tried journaling? Jotting your thoughts and feelings down onto paper can help you clear your mind and understand your emotions better, like meditation. Writing encourages mindfulness. During stressful times, writing down any negative thoughts or emotions you have can not only help you find a root cause for why you feel a certain way, but also help you find a solution. Being able to physically see your thoughts and feelings on paper may be enough to make you realize that things aren't as bad as they seem, since our emotions can easily make situations more intense than they really are. Whether in a fancy bullet journal or a piece of scrap paper, making a habit out of writing down your thoughts and feelings can help you understand your emotions better, manage stress, and ultimately be something that boosts your mental wellness. And number six, take care of your body. While physical health and mental health are two different states, there are also ones that go hand in hand. This means if your physical health is neglected, there is a good chance your mental health might not be in the best shape either. Luckily, good physical health can help keep your mental health in check too. Doing things like getting enough sleep each night, exercising regularly, and incorporating healthy food into your diet can not only help you steer away from illness, but can also improve your mood, confidence, energy, and more. When your physical health is taken care of, your mental health will naturally follow suit, so making sure to tend to your body's needs is a great habit that can keep your mental wellness in check as well. So do you practice any of these habits? Let us know in the comments below. If you found this video helpful, be sure to like, subscribe, and share this video with those who might benefit from it. And don't forget to hit the notification bell icon to get notified whenever Psych2Go posts a new video. The references and studies used in this video are added in the description below. Thanks so much for watching and we'll see you in our next video.