How to feel good psychologically? 10 tips
Several keys to enhance emotional well-being on a daily basis.
Usually, most of us spend most of our lives trying to improve a large part of the spheres of our lives. We want to feel better physically, improve our careers, or move up in our relationships and social circles.
But how often do we stop to think about how we really feel emotionally? In psychological well-being we find the strength we need to fulfill ourselves and improve in all other aspects of our lives. Therefore, throughout this article we will offer a series of advices to feel well psychologically..
What is psychological well-being?
The concept of psychological well-being, as well as that of happiness, are notions that are very difficult to define or determine in a concise manner. However, we can say that in both cases we are 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 of the people and are related to the individual beliefs held by each individual in relation to what he or she understands as psychological well-being or happiness.
However, although as we have mentioned, each person has different conceptions of what it means to feel psychologically well, there are a number of common points without which this psychological well-being is much more difficult to achieve. These dimensions were developed by University of Pennsylvania psychologist Carol Ryff and consist of the following aspects:
- Self-acceptance.
- Positive relationships.
- Having a purpose in life.
- Personal growth.
- Autonomy.
- Mastery of the environment.
As we can see, all these aspects can be worked on and improved, so that psychological well-being is within our reach. It is necessary to specify that, obviously, this is not always going to be simple, since external events or agents may appear external events or agents can appear that disturb this well-being and that we cannot control. that we cannot control.
However, although we do not have control over these agents, we can determine and decide how to deal with them and what degree of consideration to give them, and this 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 this article, we are solely responsible for managing our happiness and 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 in order to improve our psychological and emotional health. This does not mean that in order to achieve this we must carry out 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 with which we identify more.
1. Learning to control our thoughts and emotions
We could say that this first point is a universal recommendation that is valid for all types of people 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 effectively control and manage our thoughts and emotions we will achieve the necessary ability 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 proven to be effective in achieving control of our thoughts and emotional well-being.
2. Dedicate a moment to feel grateful
Habitually, we tend to maintain an excessive fixation on the problems and negative situations that we experience throughout the day. that we experience throughout the day. Therefore, it can be particularly helpful to spend a few minutes a day reflecting on the things that have happened to us during the day for which we can give thanks.
Although this may be difficult at first, with practice we will find it less and less difficult to identify small daily details for which we can feel grateful and satisfied. This habit will bring us a series of daily feelings of well-being that can be maintained throughout the week.
3. Put our life in order
The excess of stress that we experience daily 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 it, it will be very useful to carry out an effective organization of our tasks throughout the day. This will help us to diminish the effect of unforeseen events and to experience a sense of control over our lives.
4. Sleep well
Sleep routines directly affect our state of mind, so poor sleep habits will have a negative impact on our psychological well-being. harmful sleep habits will have a negative impact on our psychological well-being..
Therefore, it is essential to try to maintain sleep habits in which we perform the minimum recommended hours of sleep, always with all the lights off and trying to reduce everything that interferes with our sleep, such as external noises or the sound of the cell phone.
5. Improve your diet and exercise
As the expression mens sana in corpore sano describes, taking care of our body and finding a balance will help us to achieve and maintain our psychological well-being. Contrary to popular belief, the original meaning of the expression is related to the need to have a healthy mind and body in order to achieve wellness.
For this, it is essential to maintain a balanced diet that provides us with all kinds of nutrients, as well as to exercise regularly, which will help us to keep our body in shape and to facilitate emotional balance.
6. Engage in conversation with other people
Human beings are social animals, so keeping close to other people often keeping close to other people usually has a positive effect on our mood.. Dedicating a moment of our day to engage in a conversation with someone we know and thus increase our social relationships, will generate a very pleasant feeling of well-being and satisfaction.
7. Breaking the monotony
Although a certain degree of routine and monotony offer us a sense of security and control over our lives that can be beneficial, too much of it is usually not so pleasant, and feelings such as boredom, frustration or sadness may appear.
To compensate for this, we can plan or establish small changes in our daily routine that we can find stimulating, as well as keeping our mind open to the new challenges of our daily routine.We can also keep our minds open to the possibility of trying or experiencing new things that bring a little liveliness and dynamism to our lives.
8. Do something for someone else
In psychology, it is well known that helping others has a positive effect on our mood and psychological well-being. Doing something for someone else increases our levels of happiness and satisfaction, as well as provides a sense of usefulness and competenceThe other person's mood, reduces stress levels and how it does not contribute something good to society and to the other person's mood.
9. Performing artistic activities
You don't have to be an artistic prodigy to benefit from the positive effects that engaging in artistic activities has on our mood. Art, in whatever form it takes, increases our dopamine levels and stimulates certain areas of our frontal cortex which positive and pleasurable sensations..
10. Being in contact with nature
Finally, there are many studies that have linked living or being close to nature or green areas with better mental health and better moods. better mental health and emotional well-being..
The connection with nature has a positive impact on our mood. In addition, the simple fact of being exposed to sunlight helps us to increase the levels of vitamin D, which is directly related to the reduction of negative emotions such as sadness.
(Updated at Apr 14 / 2024)