We all know that reading and writing can be useful tools in maintaining our mental health, but what other options are there?
5 ways to look after our mental health
Many of us will be familiar with the idea of self-care and knowing how important it can be to maintain good mental health and wellbeing. But sometimes it’s knowing where to start and knowing what things will actually help our mental health, that’s why NTU has the Healthy NTU programme to help you keep happy and healthy while at NTU. Our programme provides information, resources, activities and events all around ways to look after yourself.
It’s also important to remember that self-care habits differ from person to person, so find what works for you and don’t worry if you try something that doesn’t work so well, there’s plenty of other great things you can try.
Here are 5 ways to look after your mental health, each of these 5 tips incorporates the researched and developed model, 5 Ways to Wellbeing.
- Connect with others
There’s lots of evidence to suggest that talking to people or spending time with others can really benefit our wellbeing. Whether it’s having fun with friends or talking to someone about how you are feeling if you’re struggling. Connecting with others is important for maintaining good mental health. Here at NTU there’s lots of ways to connect with others, including getting involved with Healthy NTU’s activities ran by our Student Mental Health Champions or connecting with Global Lounge through their regular activities, lunches and events too.
- Move your body
You don’t have to go spend hours in the gym to feel the benefits that physical exercise can have on our mental health. Anything that involves moving your body in a way that works for you can have real benefits for our wellbeing. Also, making sure it’s something fun and that you enjoy will also make it easier to slot into your life. NTU offer plenty of options for getting active through NTU Sport too.
- Take notice of your surroundings
Taking a moment to notice your surroundings, current thoughts and feelings and the people around you can also help to improve our wellbeing. Some people like to practice mindfulness as a way to do this, at the moment there are Monday morning Mindfulness sessions ran on Teams by NTU Sport which is a great way to start your week off! The sessions run from 9:15-9:45 through this link. Other ways you can do this is taking a new route into Uni or work or have a clear out and a tidy up.
- Learn something new
Research shows that learning something new can improve our wellbeing by boosting self-esteem and helping with a sense of purpose. It doesn’t have to be anything major, it could be reading a new book, or taking up a new hobby like writing or drawing. Healthy NTU have also put together an NTU library book list which includes lots of different self-care books, learning about ways to look after yourself could also be a great new thing to learn too!
- Give to others
Acts of kindness or giving to others can also be great for our mental health. It can help us to connect with people as well as helping you to feel positive and a have greater sense of self-worth. There are many ways you can do from volunteering within the community of doing something kind for a friend like bringing them a cup of tea or sending them something lovely in the post.
We hope you have enjoyed these tips on ways to look after your mental health from our Healthy NTU team. We also run a blog, podcast and have many other resources you can access around health and wellbeing. To check out our upcoming events and workshops please follow @ntustudentservices on Instagram.
If you feel you may need support with your wellbeing while at NTU’s Student Support Services are here to help. You can access Student Support through our wellbeing form or to find out what support is available visit our Student Hub pages.
