A Practical Guide to Women’s Mental Health
- drmhagel
- May 1
- 4 min read
Simple, realistic ways to support your well-being—so you can show up fully for yourself and others
Women’s mental health is often pushed to the bottom of the to-do list. Women are often the caregivers in their family and tend to put everyone else’s needs above their own. But this month we want women to take a minute and take a few steps to take care of their mental well-being.
Why focus specifically on women’s mental health? While mental health is incredibly important for both sexes, women face a unique set of circumstances that play a big role in their mental well being.
Hormones have a huge impact on how we are feeling and able to manage life. With hormone changes from puberty, pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause, and menopause, women go through a wild ride of changes that can affect their outlook on life. Women are often the main caregivers making it easy to
push the need of others before their own. As wives, daughters and mother’s, women are looked to care for others around them.
Another big reason to take a minute to look at women’s health is that women have largely been ignored in health studies. By recognizing that women face different changes and including them in the conversation will eventually lead to better health solutions for women.
But all is not lost! But taking a minute to incorporate one or two changes in your life and prioritizing your health can make a difference. Remember the old adage- you can’t drink from a dry well? Well same goes with your mental health. If you are burnt out from putting others first, you are unable to continue to help them. By taking a minute to do something for yourself, you refill your own “well” and can be more present and more effective in other areas in your life.
6 Tips to support women's mental health
So, what can you do? Here are 6 simple tips to try
1) Get moving! It doesn’t have to be a hard-core work out (though it can be if you want to!) A simple walk, gentle yoga, stretching, or a fun activity that gets your body up and moving does the trick (think bowling, gardening, dance party in your kitchen, mini golf, geocaching, swimming). And bonus factor: do it with a friend! This motivates you, and gives you a mental boost that comes with spending time with a friend or loved one and getting a good conversation in.
2) Connect with others. Connecting with others helps us to gain support during periods of stress and gives emotional support. Meet for tea/coffee or appetizers with a friend or get a 2-for-1 and go do an activity together as listed in tip 1!
3) Practice mindfulness. Kind of the opposite of the first tip- but opposites do often work well together! Take a few moments for yourself to practice mindfulness. Pause to do some deep breathing exercises, go for a walk (barefoot if possible), dance for 10 minutes or just practice meditation, there are many meditation and mindfulness apps you can download on your phone to guide you through a few minutes of calm to reset your mind. Other mindfulness practices can also include journaling or keeping a gratitude list.
4) Book an appointment. We all have something we have been putting off for one reason or another. Perhaps it’s a doctor’s appointment to deal with our own health because we are too focused on the health of others. Maybe it’s massage or acupuncture to make our bodies feel and function better. Maybe it’s a mani/pedi just to make us feel relaxed and a little special! By making the appointment and then showing up, we are telling ourselves we are worthy of help and of being put first upon occasion!
5) Join an event to celebrate your health! By joining other like-minded people, we are introduced to new ideas to help improve and maintain our own mental health. Here at CNV, we offer ladies’ night events to bring together ladies who want to improve their health by taking a minute to acknowledge their needs and by being surrounded by a like-minded community. Stay tuned for upcoming dates!
6) Get those Zzzzz’s in. Sleep plays a huge factor in our mental well being. If we are short on sleep, we are unable to cope with everyday situations as effectively. Try to aim for 7-9 hours of sleep a night. To help with this try a bedtime routine- a cup of herbal tea, no screens, maybe some stretches, a warm bath or shower can all be helpful in getting you ready to drift off more quickly.
Don’t let this overwhelm you! Try picking one or two tips that speak to you and try incorporating them into your schedule. As time goes on it may be easier to try a few more. As we take a minute to acknowledge that our mental health needs to be cared for, we take steps to being healthier and happier in all areas of our lives.
Do you have any tips or tricks that help you with your mental health? If so, share in the comments to keep the good vibes going and be apart of our community!
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