Ten Commandments for achieving and maintaining mental health

Concern about our mental health is quite on the rise these days, following the rapid growth of the internet and information overload which comes with it. But truth is, mental health was always the issue, since the dawn of men, but earlier it was caused by different activities, not only technology related. Here is a short list of activities and habits which we should observe and maintain in a proper way to avoid stress and overuse of our mental abilities.

1. Avoid brain over-excitement

Brain over-excitements is caused by all those pieces of information we process for no other purpose than to entertain our brains. They do not contribute to our daily tasks and mostly just totally exhausted our brains. Brain excitements are for example celebrity news or gossip media.

2. Listen – don’t talk

Nature is talking to us all the time but mostly we are too busy talking to ourselves or to somebody else and we keep our brain constantly switched ‘ON’, thereby shutting down any access for nature to provide guidance. Whatever nature has to tell you is at least 100 times more important than what you have to say, or think.

3. No need to hunt out information – let information find you.

We are all trained to hunt information these days, we follow various social networks, we check emails many times a day, we browse the Internet for news, some of us even buy newspapers… Cut down all the unnecessary information, keep input focused on what you need essentially and just trust that all other information you need will come to you naturally.

4. Focus on your daily task – don’t waste time

I don’t think I need to explain this. Because we hunt for information and brain excitement we lose our focus on what is important to accomplish our daily tasks. Don’t forget that at end of the day that’s the only thing that’s important, all other entertainment is very short lived.

5. Clarify your short and long term goals

It’s absolutely essential that you know why you are doing certain things. Make sure that your head is clear and that you know at least the next few steps towards your goals.

6. Avoid computers and phones as much you can

I did lots of practical research on this topic and my conclusion is that unless we have to use it professionally, we shouldn’t be at the computer for more than 1-2 hours a day. It simply turns our brains into scrambled eggs and damages our health, especially liver, kidneys and heart. Computer caused illnesses will be the number 1 problem in next decades.

7. Avoid stimulating food

Sugar, fat, too salty, too spicy… all these things over-stimulate our brains and make them crave information, news, movies… it turns it into a hungry beast. Eat simple, light and fresh food.

8. Sleep early, get up early

In order to have healthy brain function, we need a regular sleep cycle. Every time you go to sleep after 23:00, you are exhausting your brain, making it excited, and that will probably result in not being able to get up in the morning, ending up in a vicious cycle, a bad habit, one which is very hard to get out of.

9. Poo early in the morning, before breakfast

Seriously, this is probably THE most important practice to keep your mind clear and fresh. By doing this we get rid of all negative energy we have collected during the previous day, and believe me, no matter what you did, you collected negative energy on the way, it’s an unavoidable fact of life! We even have an entire post dedicated to this simple yet crucial task.

10. Enjoy with your heart, not brain

There are two types of pleasure; one I call ‘brain enjoyment’, which is all that excitement you get while your brain is active and your body is fairly static. Brain enjoyment is usually stimulated with food, alcohol, drugs, smoking, reading, movies and music (unless you are dancing or singing, in which case you are actually stepping “out of your mind” which is good).

‘Heart enjoyment’ is state of mind where you don’t have so many thoughts, you feel kind of airy in your head but you also feel very fulfilled around your chest and belly area and happy without any particular reason. This is the state when our energy is fully connected with nature’s energy, kind of plugged-in, which makes you feel unlimited and endlessly connected to every living thing on earth. ‘Heart enjoyment’ is the complete opposite to ‘brain excitement’ and it’s the healthiest and most beneficial state of body and mind. Once you reach that point you will realize that all you want in your life is to feel like that 24 hours a day. Nothing else matters!

One of the best tools to take care of our mental health and to reach heart enjoyment is meditation, and we have the right thing for you, our latest iOS app.

Also published on Medium.