10 Amazing Benefits of Meditation on Your Mental and Physical Health
When you are feeling stressed or just need a break from your daily routine, you should consider meditating.
Meditation helps you relax and unwind from a long day. It can also reduce tension from your body and help you calm your mind.
There are so many benefits of meditation on your physical and mental health and we will consider 10 of those benefits in this article.
Let’s begin.
What is the Meaning of Meditation?
In recent years, meditation has become a major practice highly recommended by a lot of health professionals and organizations.
It is the practice of focusing on your thoughts and feelings in the present moment. Healthline defines it as the habitual process of training your mind to focus and redirect your thoughts.
Meditation involves focusing your mind on a single action, thought, object or sound.
Despite the many benefits of meditation, it is a cost-free activity. Meditation can be done anywhere. You can do it indoors or outdoors. You can also do it anytime either in the day or before going to bed.
Meditation can also be done alone or as a group. What matters is that you do it in a quiet environment.
Types of Meditation
There are several types of meditation but the most popular meditation techniques are:
- Guided Meditation/Visualization: Here, you focus on a mental image or thing. This process can also be led by a teacher.
- Mantra Meditation: In this type of meditation, your mind is focused on a particular word or phrase.
- Mindfulness Meditation: This is one of the most common types of meditation. This type of meditation is when you focus on the present i.e you become more aware of the present. It is a mindful from of meditating.
How Meditation Works
As mentioned earlier, during meditation, you focus on one thing alone and rid your mind of all distracting thoughts.
There are a lot of meditation techniques but it is best that you consider simpler techniques at the beginning.
Here are the steps for a simple meditation session:
Step 1
Set a time limit for your meditation session. If you're just starting out, consider meditating between 5 minutes to 10 minutes.
Step 2
Sit or stand in a quiet environment. It is best to keep your eyes closed.
Step 3
Focus your attention on your breathing or body sensations. Try to empty and calm your mind
Step 4
Do this continuously. Whenever you get distracted or start thinking about something, try to draw your attention back.
Note: Your mind might wander at the beginning but as you try to meditate daily, you will get better and be less distracted.
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10 Amazing Benefits that Meditation has on Your Mental and Physical Health
- Meditation helps you control your emotions: When meditating, you focus all your attention on the present moment and let go of negative emotions, worries etc.
According to a study, you feel less anger and stress when you meditate.
- Meditation helps you manage and reduce mental health issues like anxiety. When you meditate, you let go of your anxieties and worry less.
- Meditation improves your memory: Meditating regularly can increase your memory capacity and help you focus more. Furthermore, it helps to combat age-related memory loss.
- It helps you sleep better: Meditation can be very useful in enjoying a quality sleep. Meditating before bedtime helps you release tension from your body and reduce your stress levels. This reduces insomnia and helps you sleep quickly and much better.
- Meditation reduces stress: Stress is one of the major reasons why people meditate. It can help you to unburden the stress from your daily work and regain balance.
Through meditation, you get to focus on what truly matters and let go of stressful thoughts and worries either from your work, school etc.
- It increases your self-awareness: Meditation involves trying to focus on your thoughts and feelings in the present moment. It is a self-practice just like journaling that can help you understand yourself better, and gain more knowledge about your habits and thoughts.
When you meditate, you notice your thoughts about yourself and become more mindful of how you think of yourself.
- Meditation increases your attention span.: Currently, we are in a time of information overload and our attention span are very low. But with meditation, you would be able to keep your attention on certain things for a longer period of time. A study showed that meditating for 13mins daily can increase your attention span and memory capacity.
- Meditation increases your self-compassion: When you meditate daily, you are able to reflect on yourself, habits and your actions. This helps you to be more accepting of yourself and people around you.
Studies have shown that meditation can increase people's compassion towards themselves and others.
- Meditation reduces heart problems: Heart issues like high blood pressure can be decreased through meditation. Meditation reduces stress and relaxes your nerve signals, your blood pressure and heart rate is also lowered
- Meditation helps you to reduce negative emotions. As you meditate, your attention is set on a particular thought or action and this helps you empty your mind. With meditation, you can let go of negative emotions and embrace positive ones.
Come Meditate with Us
Mycarebuddy in collaboration with the Happiness center will be hosting a meditation and yoga session along with other self-care activities on 5th October 2024. It will hold between the hours of 4pm-6pm at the Happiness Center, 320 Akin Ogunlewe street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Register here and Join us for an evening of Meditation and Relaxation.
Conclusion
Meditation can be the self-care practice your mental and physical health requires. To release tension from your daily activities and reduce stress, consider practicing meditation.
Back to School: 12 Essential Mental Health Tips for Students and Teachers
The school break has ended and both students and teachers are beginning a new academic year. Like any other place, schools have their own set of activities and responsibilities which can affect your mental health.
Whether you are a teacher trying to manage the academic and emotional needs of your students or a student balancing classes, assignments, taking care of your mental health is very important.
So, in this article, we will discuss 12 essential mental health tips that will help you take care of your mental health either as a student and as a teacher.
6 Essential Mental Health Tips for Students
As a student, you have a lot of responsibilities for every academic session. Whether it's trying to get good grades, keeping up with classes, meeting new teachers and students or even reuniting with familiar faces, the back-to-school experience can sometimes be both stressful and overwhelming.
To avoid feeling pressured by all these responsibilities, it is very important that you learn to prioritize your mental well-being. Here are 6 mental health tips to help you do that:
- Organize your Time Effectively: For a student, time management is one of the most important skills you need to balance all your school responsibilities without being stressed out. You need to know how to manage and allocate your time between attending classes, doing assignments and extracurricular activities.
To do this, create a daily schedule and allocate a time to study, do your homework and assignments, relax, etc.
- Practice Self-Care: Self-care include activities that you can do to help you relax and unwind. Everyone has to make time for self-care including you, so you don't get pressured or frustrated by academic activities
As a student, some self-care practices you can do are:
- Taking part in sports like football, basketball, etc.
- Exercising e.g taking a walk, running, etc.
- Joining school clubs and associations e.g debate clubs.
- Practicing relaxation techniques like meditation, deep breathing, etc.
- Journaling regularly.
Taking regular breaks is a good way to reduce stress and manage academic pressure. Remember, all work with no play makes jack a dull boy.
- Live a Balanced and Healthy Lifestyle: As a student, it is good to strive for academic success but you shouldn't get so obsessed with it to the point your health is affected.
For example, reading throughout the night without sleeping might benefit your academics but at the expense of your mental and physical health.
So, try to create a balance. Sleep at regular hours. Try to include healthy and nutritious foods in your diet like vegetables, fruits, etc.
Also try to exercise regularly and go outdoors. This will improve your mood and help you relax.
- Set Realistic Goals: This is very important as a student. It is okay to have high academic goals but it should also be realistic. Setting an unrealistic academic goal can be very detrimental to your mental health and physical well-being.
For example, if you try to meet an unrealistic academic goal and it fails, you might get anxious and depressed. So you need to create a balance. Set goals that you can achieve without your health suffering from it.
- Ask for Help: As a student, your friends, parents and teachers are there for you. If you have problems in your academics or social interactions, tell your teachers and parents.
If you are finding it hard to cope with your academic responsibilities, do not be afraid to ask for help from your teachers, parents, counsellors etc.
You can even seek professional help. For example, at Mycarebuddy, we offer therapy services, academic guidance and emotional support to students.
- Connect and Relate: While it is good to focus on your academics, there is a place of social interactions. Do not be so obsessed with grades that you keep to yourself all the time.
Relate with your classmates and friends. This is very good for your mental health and it would help you improve your mood.
ALSO READ : 10 Self-Care Practices to Help You Relax and Unwind
6 Essential Mental Health Tips for Teachers
As a teacher, you also bear a significant portion of the demand and responsibilities of every academic session. Whether it's planning for the session, teaching or meeting your students' unique needs, starting a new academic session can be stressful especially after a long break.
This is why you must learn how to take care of your mental health even as you perform your teaching responsibilities. Here are 6 ways to do that:
- Practice Regular Self-Care: As a teacher, you are constantly trying to meet the many needs of your students while impacting knowledge. Sometimes it can be difficult for you to handle and you can get frustrated. This can ultimately less to burnout. This is why it is important that you take regular breaks to relax.
If you can't take breaks during the week, you can take breaks in the weekends. Try to do things that will help you relax such as:
- Take regular walks and go outdoors.
- Take up new hobbies and interests.
- Listen to relaxing music.
There are several self-care practices you can consider. It could even be simple as sleeping. What matters is that it is intentional and help you unwind and feel good.
- Develop a Good Work-Life Balance: To take care of your mental health, you must be able to strike a balance between your personal life and your work as a teacher. Set regular boundaries between you and your students especially in your time off work.
If you are not able to strike this balance, you might end up getting burnout. One way you can do this to avoid or reduce interactions with parents and students on weekends or after school hours.
What matters is that you do not let your work as a teacher take up all your time or make you neglect your own life or family. Have a life outside teaching.
- Connect and Interact with Others: Social interaction is a very good way to lift your mood and relax. Meet with other teachers, your friends and families. Attend social events and meet with people outside school.
- Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle: An healthy lifestyle is key to having a good mental and physical health. The combination of a healthy diet, quality sleep and regular exercise will do wonders for your mental health.
- Manage Your Time: Organizing your time is very important as a teacher. From teaching, providing student support and even handling extracurricular activities, a teacher has so many responsibilities.
To avoid feeling stressed and anxious, you must learn to plan your time effectively.
- 6. Seek Mental Health Support: If you feel unhappy, frustrated or burnout from school and all its responsibilities, it is totally okay to seek help. Talk to fellow teachers and ask for help.
You can also reach out to mental health professionals. At Mycarebuddy , we offer both online and offline mental health services.
Conclusion
Mental health should be a priority for you whether you are a student or teacher. By implementing these tips above ranging from time management, self-care, etc., you will be able to cope with the responsibilities of school life either as a teacher or student.
To receive mental health support, feel free to reach out to us. We offer quality mental health services both for students and teachers.
You can also join our mental health community and receive quality and empathetic mental health support and resources.
10 Self-Care Practices to Help You Relax and Unwind
Practicing self -care is an amazing way to take care of your physical and mental health. As an adult, parent, employer/employee, setting time out for yourself is very important.
In the hustle and bustle of daily life, you can get stressed and tired. This is why it is very important that you take time to care for yourself and relax.
In this article, you will learn 10 self-care practices to help you unwind and relax from your busy schedule and daily life.
5 Major Benefits of Self-Care
Self-care practices are things that we do to help us feel happy mentally and physically. It is the intentional act of taking care of ourselves.
There are a lot of benefits to self-care and some of them are:
1. Self-care helps you to refresh and constantly stay energized.
Constantly working without timeouts is a recipe for burnout and breakdown. But when you practice regular self -care, you stay physically and mentally refreshed.
- It improves your mood.
Regular self-care is a good way to improve your mood and feel happy. Whether you choose to visit a therapist or attend a yoga session, you always leave with a sense of peace and relief, leaving you in a good mood.
3. It increases your productivity.
Either at work or in school, self-care helps you to do better and faster. After self-care, your mind is refreshed and energized which helps you to stay more focused and be more productive.
- Self-care helps you reduce stress and anxiety.
Pressure from work, school or our personal life can sometimes get too much for us to handle. It can leave us stressed and constantly worried. Practicing self-care will help us destress and reduce our anxieties.
- It helps you develop and maintain better relationships.
When you do not take time for self-care, your relationships are also affected. It can be emotionally draining for other people around you who have to cope with your mood swings and unhappiness. Therefore, regular self-care would put you in a good mood and leave you relaxed.
ALSO READ: Therapy for Nigerians: 7 ways therapy can change your life and where you can access it
10 Self-Care Practices to Help You Relax and Unwind
There are a lot of self-care practices we can do to relax and unwind from a stressful week or schedule. Some of them include:
- Spend time outdoors: Constantly staying indoors is not good for your mental and social wellbeing. You need to connect with others no matter how busy you are.
You can decide to make time in the weekends to hang out with friends, attend social events, or even go for a simple walk.
- Take regular screen breaks: We are in the era where nearly everything we do is done online. Constantly staring at our phones, laptops, etc., can be very draining on our physical health and mental health.
This is why it is very important that we take regular breaks and connect with people face-to-face.
- Exercise regularly: Exercising regularly will help you take care of your mental health and physical health.
For persons who are constantly at their desk, exercise is a good self-care practice to help them unwind and relax. You can go for a run, join a gym, take a walk etc.
- Pursue new hobbies and interests: As mentioned earlier, self-care is an intentional act to take care of your physical and mental health. Taking up new hobbies would help you forget about your worries at work or school and leave you feeling relaxed.
- Therapy : Regular therapy sessions is very good for your mental health. Through therapy, you can talk about things that are burdening you and learn better ways to cope with them. In short, therapy sessions leave you feeling less burdened and more relieved.
- Better sleep: An healthy sleep routine is an underrated but important self-care practice. Having regular sleep daily boosts your mood and reduces your stress levels
7-8 hours is a good sleep time to aim for. If you can't do this during the week, then consider it during the weekends.
- Journaling: This is one of the major ways to practice self -care. Taking time from your busy schedule to relax and put down your thoughts, feelings, does so much for your health especially your mental health.
You get to reflect, analyze your feelings and find closure. So, get a journal now and start writing.
- Meditation: This is a practice where you try to focus and direct your thoughts to rid your mind of negative emotions and achieve a state of calm and clarity. It is a major self-care practice which can help you relax and unwind from a stressful schedule or routine.
- Yoga: This involves a series of physical activities, stretching, meditation, breathing techniques, etc., which can help your body build strength. It is a major activity that can help you relax and unwind from the stress of daily life.
- Read regularly: Reading interesting books like self-help books, fictions etc., is also a good self-care practice. When you read, you forget about your troubles or worries and get entertained or inspired.
To help you build a reading habit, you can join our mental community where we read and review amazing books for your mental health.
Come, Relax and Unwind with Us
Mycarebuddy in collaboration with The Happiness Center will be hosting an evening of relaxation where self-care practices like professional therapy, meditation, yoga session etc., will be held.
It will hold on 5th October 2024 between the hours of 4pm-6pm at the Happiness Center, 320 Akin Ogun ewe street, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Register here and Join us for an Evening of Relaxation and Self-Care.
Conclusion
Self -care is no longer a luxury but a must. To reduce burnout, stress and even take care of others, you must prioritize your own self-care. After all, you can't give what you do not have.
As a parent, employee, employee, adult, teenager, you must learn to practice regular self-care to stay constantly relaxed and energized.
World Suicide Prevention Day 2024: Recognizing Signs of Suicide, Causes and Taking Action in Nigeria
World Suicide Prevention Day is observed all over the world on the 10th of September. It is a day dedicated to increasing awareness about suicide and promoting the importance of suicide prevention in the society.
Today is September 10 and this year's theme is Changing the Narrative on Suicide with the call to action - Start the Conversation.
This theme is aimed at encouraging more conversations about suicide and raising awareness about the importance of reducing it. On this day, we must have a conversation on the need to change how we think of suicide and shift from a culture of silence to one of understanding and support.
The call to action for this year's theme is Start the Conversation. This means we need to have more discussions around suicide in our society and break the barrier of silence and stigma around it.
So, in this article, you will learn about suicide in Nigeria, the myths around it, its signs and causes. You will also learn how to start the conversation around suicide and other suicide preventative measures.
Suicide in Nigeria
Suicide is when someone dies by self-harm. Wikipedia defines it as the act of taking one's own life. It is when someone harms his/herself with the intent to die e.g., jumping from a high place, taking dangerous substances like sniper, drugs, etc
Suicide is not specific to any age group, class, position. For example, in April, it was reported that a Deputy Commissioner of Police in Lagos, Nigeria took his own life. This goes to show that anyone can commit suicide regardless of position or class.
According to the WHO, there are more than 700,000 deaths by suicide globally every year. In Africa, Nigeria has one of the highest suicide rates.
There are several cases of persons committing suicide either due to depression, financial problems, breakups etc. In 2022, the Punch reported up to 79 cases of suicide and this number has dramatically increased over the years.
What Are the Warning Signs of Suicide?
There are no clear cut signs to tell if someone is considering suicide. However, there are certain warning signs that might give an indication such as
- Talking or thinking about death constantly.
- Making final preparations like saying goodbye to loved ones, writing a will, researching on suicide methods online, etc.
- Buying harmful substances like drugs, Sniper, etc.
- Expressing feelings of hopelessness or feelings of being trapped. e.g When someone constantly says' I am tired’. This might not be a reference for how they feel physically but how they feel regarding a situation.
- Constant mood swings.
- Isolation and withdrawal from friends and loved ones.
- Posting cryptic messages on their social media about death, hopelessness etc.
- Taking reckless or self-harming risks like drunk driving or speed driving, etc.
NOTE: If you find that someone shows any of the signs above, you should try to reach out to them. It should also be noted that these signs vary for different persons.
Why would someone consider suicide?
A person could have suicidal thoughts or commit suicide for various reasons like:
- Physical abuse like bullying.
- Sexual abuse and emotional abuse.
- Debt or financial failures.
- Relationship breakdown like divorce, heartbreaks, etc.
- Mental health conditions like PTSD, depression, Substance Use Disorder, etc.
- Unemployment and poverty.
- Diagnosis of a terminal or incurable disease.
- Cultural or religious beliefs.
- Grief or death of a loved one.
- Alcohol or substance abuse.
- Academic pressure.
ALSO READ: 10 major benefits of joining an online mental health community
Suicide Prevention Measures in Nigeria
People consider suicide because they feel it is an end to a hopeless situation. However, no situation is hopeless. Here are a few ways on how we can reduce the risk of suicide in our society-
1. Start a Conversation
In line with the theme for this year, having discussions about suicide is one of the ways we can reduce the risk and stigma associated with it.
Having open conversations about suicide can help people who are feeling suicidal come forward and talk about it instead of resorting to self-harm.
Encourage people around you to talk about their struggles and what they are going through. If you notice any warning signs, reach out and offer a listening ear. This could go a long way in reducing risks of suicide in such persons.
Pay attention to the needs and behaviors of your loved ones. For example, if you notice anyone posting cryptic messages on their social media, reach out to them.
Also, do not be judgmental while having these conversations. Let your support come from a place of understanding and empathy.
You can also encourage them to reach out to mental health providers like therapists, counsellors etc. If they are feeling shy or scared of being judged, there are online mental health providers that they can reach out to and receive confidential care.
An example is Mycarebuddy. We offer quality mental health services to individuals, families, groups etc., and you can reach out to us.
You can also refer them to helplines that they can call or text and receive support.
No one is above feeling hopeless and having suicidal thoughts. So, try to be more understanding.
2. Mental Health Awareness and Education
There needs to be more sensitization of the public about mental health and mental wellness. Many Nigerians still perceive mental health issues as something to be ashamed about and this needs to stop.
The best way to do this is to increase awareness efforts on the discussions of mental health and mental health issues. These awareness campaigns must be done online and offline with stakeholders in the entertainment, cultural, religious, social scenes leading the charge.
3. Increased Mental Health Services
In Nigeria, mental health services are either inaccessible or unavailable. Many persons especially in the rural areas do not even know where mental health providers can be found.
Therefore, the government, NGOs, private organizations need to work together to expand mental health services in Nigeria.
Other Suicide Prevention Measures Include-
- Organizing more skill acquisition programs to reduce poverty and economic hardships in the country.
2.. Sensitizing the public on financial issues like loans, etc.
- Publicizing the existence of helplines for people who are feeling suicidal.
- Establishment of mental health support groups and communities where individuals can be educated on mental health, suicide, etc.
Mycarebuddy can Help
Mycarebuddy is a mental health organization in Nigeria that offers mental health services like therapy, trainings, mental health resources, etc.
You can reach out to us here if you or any of your loved one is having suicidal thoughts or just going through a hard time.
You can also join our mental health community and receive support, resources all aimed at supporting your mental health.
Conclusion
Suicide is preventable not inevitable. Everyone including the government, churches, mosques, families have a role to play in reducing and preventing the incidence of suicide in Nigeria.
So, as we observe the World Suicide Prevention Day, let us commit to raising awareness, supporting mental health initiatives, and promoting open conversations to reduce the risk of suicide and other mental health issues in our country.