4 Tips to Becoming an Emotionally Healthy Person (Tip #1: Physical Activity)

Hey guys, it’s your girl, Keys.

As you all know, I’m what you’d consider a mental health advocate. This means that not only do I advocate for other people's wellbeing, but I’m also very open and public about my own struggles—specifically, my journey from a few years ago when I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety and depression. Since then, I’ve been able to go from having a nervous breakdown to actually thriving.

Because of my status as a mental health advocate, I get asked a lot of questions about a person’s wellbeing. And the top question that I get from people all the time is, "Okay, Kia, on your platform, you talk so much about mental health, and you talk so much about emotional wellbeing. How did you get from point A to point B?"

Well, that answer is not very simple, and it's not a short enough answer to be able to capture it all in one blog post. So, my plan is to go through one tip per day, or every couple of days, so that you can start taking control over your own emotional wellbeing one step at a time.

For today's purposes, we'll talk a little bit about physical activity. I know that a lot of times people may work out just to reach a goal of physical fitness or losing weight. However, it is undeniably true that the dopamine that physical activity releases is so incredible that it's better than any kind of dose of serotonin or dopamine that a pill can give you. If you get out and do some form of physical activity, you will be amazed by the results.

Every day, I try to do a little bit of something. Yesterday, I did hot yoga. Today, I'm going to go out in nature and take a bike ride. I like to call any sort of exercise in nature “forest bathing.” I'm sure you've heard that term before. Getting outside, absorbing the beauty of nature and just breathing in the fresh air will do wonders for your mental health.

So, physical activity is my tip for today to help overcome mental health challenges and also stay in that space of optimal emotional health.

Get out there today and do some physical activity! It doesn't matter what it is. You can work in your garden. You can take a walk in a park. You can ride your bike. You can do high intensity training. But any type of physical activity, no matter how low or high the intensity, has the same benefit, regardless. So, just get up, get out there, and move! Even if you don't feel like it, make yourself, push yourself. Now, I’ve got to get going—I'm going on my bike ride!