Mental Health Awareness Month: 5 Mental Health Tips from Calm's Mel Mah

It can be tough to prioritize your mental health, but Calm is here to help.

To mark Mental Health Awareness Month, each week in May, Calm’s mindfulness experts will provide you with a few simple, quick ways to improve your mindset right now. No need to clear your schedule – these are all easy actions to incorporate into your daily routine that hopefully, will add up in a big way.

Mel Mah, the expert behind Calm’s Daily Move, has five techniques to help kick off your week.

1. Close your eyes and take three slow, deep breaths.

This allows you to come back to the present and back to your body. When you shut out all the noise and tune inward, we can slow the nervous system down and calm the mind. Breathing also connects you right back to the present.

2. Smile at a stranger. Maybe even throw them a compliment.

We sometimes feel so isolated and lonely that we forget that people out there are waiting to connect! It starts with us. Spread some light even to people you don’t know and feel the difference it creates within you.

3. Move your body!

Get playful. Moving can mean dance, yoga, walking, working out… doesn’t matter. Listen to your intuition. The more you move your body, the more you get out of your head. This will help lower your stress level.

4. Slow down as you eat.

It’s so easy to just shove food into your mouth and not think anything of it. But if you can make it a practice to only focus on your food when you eat, you’re doing more than just nourishing your body – you’re cultivating more present-moment joy.

5. Find one thing a day to be grateful for.

Before you go to bed at night, think of one thing to be grateful for. It might even be helpful to write down your thoughts in a journal. The more gratitude you can cultivate on a daily basis, the more joyful and expansive you feel. Negative thoughts will always be there, but there will always be positive ones too. It’s all about what we’re focusing on. The choice is yours!

Calm your mind. Change your life.

Mental health is hard. Getting support doesn't have to be. The Calm app puts the tools to feel better in your back pocket, with personalized content to manage stress and anxiety, get better sleep, and feel more present in your life.