Spring Cleaning: A Mental Health Edition
Spring is a time of rebirth, renewal, and new opportunities. Everything around us is growing once again, the days are longer, and we might feel more motivated to make life changes. I’m sure we’re all familiar with “spring cleaning” where we deep clean our living spaces, declutter, and maybe even redecorate. What if we applied a similar exercise but with practices that impact our mental health?
What about our mental health?
Taking a little time to check in with yourself might be the best start to “mental health spring cleaning” before diving into making changes. There is an abundance of advice out there screaming at you to just pick up better habits.
Start running miles!
Make juice!
Go to the gym!
Pick up a hobby!
Read more!
Do yoga!
Wake up earlier!
Much of the advice out there on social media encourages people to be “better” in some generic way that does not account for personal differences, mental health challenges, or neurodiversity. We’re not all built the same and something that may be simple for one person could be a significant challenge to another. Taking on so many changes at once can be overwhelming and end up detracting from your mental health rather than enhancing it. Our culture glorifies productivity and this idea seeps into what is sold as personal wellness. It seems as though much of this new “wellness” culture emphasizes constant productivity by prescribing it in forms of meal prep, exercise, journaling, meditating, and ways of socializing.
The aim of this post is not to perpetuate the toxic change culture. It is to suggest experimenting with habits that you feel might really benefit you. For example, maybe you don’t start running but you commit to walking around the block everyday. You’ll still be moving your body and getting a chance to connect with nature. You may not be able to make yourself healthy meals everyday but maybe you can try one night a week where you set aside time to make yourself a healthy meal. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing.
Let’s think about what habits are shaping our days and how we’re feeling about ourselves in general. What’s been working to support your wellbeing and what might need some attention?
Below are some reflection questions that could be useful to ask yourself during the checking-in process:
What are some habits I already engage in that support my wellbeing?
What do I do (mentally, physically, socially) that feels restorative to me?
Are my daily habits getting in the way of reaching my goals?
What might I need (emotionally, physically, socially) before making a lifestyle change?
Am I engaging in certain behaviors that make me feel poorly about myself? If so, what are they?
Am I involved in relationship patterns that don’t feel good to me?
What might feel scary about making a change or adopting a new habit?
Do I want to make a change because it feels right to me or because I feel like I should?
What Next?
Your best is going to look different everyday. As human beings we only have so much energy. How much energy we have access to is going to be dependent on current life stressors, personal health, and general capacities. Expending that energy on beating yourself up for not being “healthier” or doing all the things you “should” be doing seems wasteful. Instead, extending yourself some compassionate curiosity may allow you to figure out what changes would really benefit you and why. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, lost, or frozen when trying to think about creating habits that would be beneficial to you, seeking out a therapist could be a great start in figuring out what you might need.
