When we hear the word fitness, we usually think of our physical fitness: How often do I exercise and how athletic am I actually? But also our soul, our mind and our brain can be trained and thus made fitter. Mental training should be just as much a part of our everyday life as sports because this is the only way we can stay healthy, efficient and focused in the long term.
But what exactly is mental fitness and how can we train it? We’ll explain it to you and show you different relaxation techniques you can use to boost your mental health.
What does mental fitness mean?
Mental fitness is broadly understood to mean the optimal performance of our brain. The brain controls all our thoughts, movements, behaviors, and emotions. In addition, our consciousness is located there. Thus, the processes in the brain are also strongly related to our mental or spiritual health. The soul is defined as the totality of all emotions and spiritual processes. To put it simply, mental health manifests itself in negative or positive feelings or in well-being or malaise. With regard to the development of feelings and thoughts, however, each brain works differently: each person copes with his or her life situations differently. There are people who can cope with defeats relatively easily and keep their composure even in difficult times. Other people struggle with defeat for a long time and reach their psychological limits in difficult times. The decisive factor in how we deal with problems and difficult situations is usually our thoughts. Far too often we find ourselves in negative thoughts and never-ending carousels of thoughts that rob us of any strength and make everyday life difficult for us. But it doesn’t have to stay that way: we can train our minds and build mental strength. This is how we gain self-efficacy, i.e. confidence in ourselves and our abilities, with which we can cope with difficult situations and problems. This makes us more resilient and allows us to keep a cool head and remain efficient even in turbulent times.
Train your mental fitness – but how?
In order to build mental strength, there are various qualities that we should train. This includes gratitude, self-confidence, discipline, optimism and self-reflection. We’ll show you different ways to help you strengthen these qualities. We will also introduce you to practical relaxation techniques that you can use to calm down when your thoughts go crazy again and stress has a firm grip on you.
#1 Find the right relaxation technique: There are plenty of relaxation techniques and procedures that can help you calm down and lower your stress levels at the same time. By doing so, you are doing something good for yourself and your body. Popular relaxation techniques include, for example, progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), in which you can enter a state of deep relaxation by specifically tensing and relaxing all muscle groups. At the same time, muscular tension can be relieved. Or you can try Tai Chi – an originally Chinese martial art that focuses on body tension, breathing and mindfulness. As a result, one’s own body can be consciously perceived, balance and mobility can be promoted and the ability to concentrate can be increased. Qi Gong is also a Chinese tradition and is about a special breathing and meditation technique. The exercises are therefore somewhat calmer and more meditative than those of Tai Chi. Through regular practice of Qi Gong and the resulting inward-looking attention, one’s own body awareness and self-efficacy can be strengthened and the general mental well-being can be positively influenced. In addition to the three relaxation techniques presented, there are a lot more, such as yoga, autogenic training and various breathing techniques. It is important that you find a way of relaxing for yourself that suits you and your everyday life. So, feel free to try out different directions and find out what suits you.
#2 Create relaxation rituals: In addition to special relaxation techniques, there are of course many other ways to experience small moments of relaxation in everyday life. This can be, for example, the first coffee in the morning before the day really starts or the walk after work. Again, you should find out for yourself what is good for you and easily integrate it into your everyday life. Try to develop a small relaxation routine by developing one or more small rituals that you incorporate into your daily routine.
#3 Try physical exercise: Exercise is not only beneficial for your physical health, but it can also help you become mentally strong. During an intensive training you get to know your physical limits and have to apply and prove discipline and stamina in order to reach your goal. In addition, you can reduce stress, sleep better and be more relaxed overall through exercise. All of this has a positive impact on your mental state.
#4 Practice being alone: If you are alone with yourself, you automatically deal with yourself as well as your own thoughts and feelings and learn to endure them. This may be difficult at first, but if you practice it and can be alone at some point and feel balanced and satisfied at the same time, you will benefit from it: You will get to know yourself better and accept yourself more easily, even with your weaknesses and supposed mistakes. Thus, by being alone on a regular basis, you can practice self-reflection and gain more self-confidence, which ultimately also helps you to gain more mental strength.
#5 Take care of yourself: In order to stay mentally healthy and productive, it is important to perceive your own needs and act accordingly. This includes, among other things, setting boundaries so that you can create space and time for yourself. Our everyday life is often so packed with work, family obligations and leisure stress that times when we can really recharge our batteries are often neglected. And digital media also play their part: looking at our smartphone or TV doesn’t really contribute to recovery. Try to limit the amount of time you spend with digital media and instead do something where you can really relax, such as sitting in the sun reading a book or going for a walk without a smartphone and music, where you can simply enjoy nature and tranquility.
#6 Develop a positive mindset: Often, we think far too much about how a situation could turn negative and what could happen. Try to have positive expectations for the future instead of falling into fears and worries about the future. Because it’s often the case that a large part of the worries and concerns were unfounded in retrospect and a lot of things are good as they are, aren’t they? So we can save ourselves a lot of worries and instead rather trust that everything will be fine, be grateful for what we have in the present and look forward to what the future holds. Gratitude and optimism can also contribute a large part to mental health.
#7 Discover meditation: With regular meditation, you will generally be able to concentrate better, organize your thoughts better and keep a clear head. As a result, you can no longer be easily thrown off balance in stressful situations. The good thing is: you don’t have to meditate for an hour every day. Even if you meditate regularly for 5-10 minutes, you will notice positive effects. Why don’t you try a guided meditation? YouTube & Co. offers a variety of possibilities.