The Importance of Mental Health Breaks

If any of you have been following me either on social media or this blog, you may have noticed that I haven’t been exactly present recently. That’s because I decided to take a mental health break so to speak.

Mental Health Day

In the workplace, we’ve all heard the phrase “taking a mental health day”. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, this is a day that an employee takes off from work in order to relieve stress or renew vitality.

I felt unmotivated, uninspired, and didn’t feel like putting out content that I wasn’t proud of.

I needed to take care of my mental well-being in order to become myself again.

Taking a break to take care of your mental well-being is nothing to be ashamed of. There is nothing wrong with you. Your mental health is just as important as your physical health.

In life, there will be moments where you have to choose yourself.

Mental Health:

I did a lot of self-reflection and introspection into why I was feeling the way I was. I felt the need to take a step back to recharge, regroup and analyze so I could be able to take on life.

Journaling

If you ask anyone who knows me, they’ll say that I have an unhealthy obsession with notebooks.

The only ways for me to get my thoughts out is to either talk it out with someone I trust or when I can’t say it verbally, to write it down.

Journaling, I find to be, is very therapeutic. Just the simple act of writing something down or typing it in a Word document is a way to refocus my energy and thoughts.

Over the years, journaling has been soothing and calming for me and allows me to just let it all out.

Stand Up Comedy

Laughter truly is the best medicine.

Whenever I was feeling blue, I go to Netflix and watch some stand-up comedy shows.

I found that watching stand up comedy shows really brightened my mood and helped take my mind off of what was stressing me out at the time.

No Social Media

One of the reasons why I wasn’t particularly present online was because I wanted to be more in-the-moment instead of focusing a majority of my time and energy coming up with the perfect social media post.

I did a post awhile back on how I went 24 hours without social media which you can check out by clicking here.

There’s a line that I draw with sharing what is going on in my life and I want certain parts to remain private.

When you look back on your life, you’ll remember the memories that were made in the small moments of every day rather than what you posted on Instagram or Facebook.

“Be happy in the moment, that’s enough. Each moment is all we need, not more.” – Mother Teresa

I was so overwhelmed and so consumed on how to make the perfect post that I wasn’t truly living in the moment. This led me to be very down on myself and one of the reasons I wanted to take a step back and focus on my mental health.

“Wherever you are, be all there” – Jim Elliot

If you are ever feeling overwhelmed with work, school, or just life in general, know that it’s okay to take a step back to focus on yourself.