As parents, it can be extremely difficult to find the time to wind down and relax. We all know how important it is to keep care of our physical health – the phrase ‘five a day’ has been engrained into our minds – but often we forget how important it is to look after our mental health.
In this article, we’ll detail three ways you can relax the mind, and maintain a healthy psyche. Put these tips into practice and you will soon feel the benefits.
Make sure to exercise your mind
People often forget that the brain needs to be worked out on a daily basis to remain healthy, and it is like any other muscle in your body. As soon as you stop doing weights, you will witness a reduction in the muscle mass of your arms, and the same applies to your brain.
There are a number of ways you can work out with your mind:
- Scrabble, or any other word-creating game
- crosswords
- puzzles
- movies
- video games
While you might not think of video games initially, there are plenty of video games that you and your child can use to improve intelligence and logical thinking.
Exercise on a daily basis
We’re not talking about a solid gym schedule. There are many ways you can fit exercise into daily life without spending all day working out. Exercise is a fantastic way of providing oxygen to the brain, while the endorphins released afterward make you feel great.
Here are a few ways you can schedule exercise into your daily life:
- Use your bike: make cycling your main form of transport and reap the benefits.
- Yoga is a great way to get the body and mind moving concurrently.
- Dancing is a fun activity which is also very healthy.
- Tennis is a very competitive sport which is also a great workout.
- Yard work: working in the garden is a great way to keep fit.
Exercising also gives you the excuse to pamper yourself after a strenuous workout. There are various ways you can wind down – maybe a relaxing massage Folsom style, a bit of tai chi, or pamper yourself with a manicure. Just make sure you shower first!
Keep in touch with friends and loved ones
Whether you’ve moved far away from the family home, or you’re just too busy to see the parents, it’s extremely important to make time for your family and close circle of friends. Scientists now believe that socializing could build cognitive reserve – essentially a section of the brain that you use when other areas start to decline. In layman’s terms, the cognitive reserve is a backup brain. The frontal lobe also gets a great workout in these situations, which is responsible for planning, response control, and decision making.
Finally, by making time for your friends, it reduces the amount of cortisol in your brain, which as you may know, is responsible for creating that dreadful emotion called stress. It might just be time to throw a party.
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