Emotional Hygiene
We practice personal hygiene everyday right from starting our day by brushing our teeth to wearing tidy clothes or having a nutritious diet. Personal Hygiene is defined as taking care of your physical health and appearance. Since our childhood we are taught about it by our parents and even in schools it is a part of our syllabus. We practice personal hygiene daily but what about your Emotional Hygiene are you even aware of it? Just like personal hygiene in emotional hygiene we take care of our mental health and psychological wellbeing. At Mind Celebrations we promote Proactive Mental fitness by our Employee Assistance Program and are dedicated to making your organization thrive. You might look physically healthy engaged in your daily routine practicing personal hygiene without fail but what about your emotional hygiene? A healthy mind in a healthy body is a key to successful life. Take a pause and ask yourself- What steps am I taking for my emotional wellbeing? If the answer is none or you couldn’t come up with one don’t worry this article will guide you ahead.
How to practice Emotional Hygiene?
To practice Emotional Hygiene remember the abbreviation “CLEAN”
C – Cultivate small habits
L – Learn Emotional Regulation
E – Exercise regularly
A – Awareness about self
N – Nurture your soul
C – Cultivate Small Habits:
First step to proceed with building Emotional Hygiene is observing your habits. According to James Clear the author of Atomic Habits- “Solve problems by picking a new habit that is easy enough that you don’t need motivation to do it. Rather than starting with 50 pushups per day, start with 5 pushups per day.” Small tasks like these motivate you to complete more that is our dopamine signaling your brain that you are liking it. It can be as small as making your bed or cleaning that shelf. The spike in dopamine on completion of one task motivates you to complete the other tasks ahead of you.
L – Learn Emotional Regulation:
Master the art of Feeling- feeling things the right way! Express your emotions freely, give yourself enough time to feel things and then act on them. Care for your emotions just the way you care for the people around you. In severe circumstances don’t be harsh on yourself, treat yourself and your emotions rightly. Use deep breathing techniques in day to day life whenever you feel overwhelmed. It helps us reset our system and signals the amygdala, a part of the brain responsible for fight or flight response, that the body is out of danger.
E – Exercise regularly:
Sound Mind, Sound Body. If we are fit emotionally we will be fit physically and vice versa but staying fit remains constant. The dopamine spike we talked about earlier is seen here too! After every successful walk or an intensive workout we get this amazing feeling of satisfaction due to the spike in dopamine and because we feel good we do not choose junk but instead we end up eating a good bowl of salad this is a whole cycle. So it’s up to you to decide which cycle to follow.
A – Awareness about self:
Are you aware of why you are feeling the way you are feeling? Or do you have difficulty figuring out why I reacted the way I just did? If you don’t have clarity about these things that means you are reflecting on it. Using techniques like journaling, introspection and reflecting on things happening around and within you helps in understanding it much more clearly.
N – Nurture your soul:
Mindfulness is the new normal! Be mindful of your environment, your emotions, acknowledge it, nurture your soul by practicing meditation, engaging yourself in activities like positive affirmations, gratitude practice, daily self care and most importantly taking small breaks be it from work or for personal life.
Engage in these “CLEAN” practices and level up your Emotional Hygiene game.
We at Mind Celebrations prioritize building Proactive Mental Fitness for our clients through our Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Connect with us now and let your organization thrive.
