Mental health and wellbeingâman, those words hit me hard some days. Iâm sitting here in my shoebox of an apartment in Chicago, rain pounding the window like itâs mad at me, and my coffeeâs cold again âcause I forgot to drink it. Typical. Iâm thinking about how I got into this whole mental wellness thing, mostly âcause I was a total trainwreck a few years ago. Iâve been blogging for a whileâcouple hundred posts, some were straight-up garbage, but a bunch got shared like crazy on X. These five mental health and wellbeing practices? Theyâre not fancy, Iâm not perfect at âem, but theyâve kept me from losing it. Letâs get into it, I guess.
Why I Even Care About Mental Health and Wellbeing
Okay, so picture me in 2019: working a crap retail job, eating ramen that tasted like sadness, and acting like I was âfineâ while my brain was basically a Tilt-A-Whirl on fire. Iâd scroll X at, like, 2 a.m., seeing people post about their perfect livesâyoga at sunrise, green smoothies, whateverâand Iâm over here like, âI canât even find my other shoe.â You ever feel like youâre just⌠failing at life? That was me. I didnât even know mental health and wellbeing was something I could actually do something about. Thought you were either chill or a mess. Then my friend Jessâsheâs the bestâdragged me to a yoga class where I legit fell on my face during some pose I still canât pronounce. Mortifying, but also kinda the start of something.
Mental wellness isnât just about not being sad. Itâs about not wanting to yeet yourself into the void when life gets weird. These practices Iâm gonna talk about? Theyâre not some influencer BS. Theyâre stuff Iâve tried, screwed up, and stuck with. Some I found on blogs like Tiny Buddha, some from random X posts, and some from just fumbling through life. Hereâs my deal.
1. Journaling: My Hot Mess of a Notebook
Journaling sounds like something your 8th-grade teacher made you do, and I was not about it at first. Like, really? Iâm gonna write my feelings? But during the pandemic, I was stuck inside, losing my mind, so I grabbed a cheap notebook from Walgreens. Spilled coffee on it day oneâclassic me. Started scribbling whatever: what I ate, why I was mad, how I was secretly freaking out about everything. Itâs a disasterâhalf the pages are doodles or rants about my neighborâs terrible taste in music (who listens to EDM at 7 a.m.?). But itâs my disaster.
Journalingâs huge for mental health and wellbeing âcause it gets the chaos out of your head. You know those thoughts that just keep circling like a bad pop song? Writing âem down is like telling them, âOkay, youâre on paper, now shut up.â I read somewhereâmaybe Psychology Todayâthat it cuts stress and helps you figure out what youâre feeling. My journalâs a mess, with coffee stains and random grocery lists in the margins. Donât try to make it cute. Just write. Itâs like venting to a friend who doesnât talk back.

2. Moving My Body (Even When Iâd Rather Not)
Iâm not a gym person. At all. Last time I ran was in high school âcause I missed the bus, and Iâm pretty sure I pulled something. But moving your body does wonders for mental wellness, and I donât mean you gotta lift weights or whatever. I started with walks around Chicagoâearbuds in, some chill lo-fi playlist, just wandering. One time, I got lost in Lincoln Park and ended up petting some dudeâs dog for, like, 20 minutes. Dogâs name was Pickles. Absolute legend. That day was the best in forever.
Movingâlike walking, yoga, or dancing like nobodyâs watchingâpumps out endorphins, which are like your brainâs version of a warm hug. I saw some X post saying even 10 minutes a day can make you feel better. Iâm not great at itâsometimes I skip a week and feel like a lumpâbut when I do it, I feel good. My tip? Do something you donât hate. I tried running (hard pass), then found dance videos on YouTube. Now Iâm flailing around my living room to bad pop music, and itâs honestly kinda fun.
3. Mindfulness: Trying Not to Freak Out All the Time
Mindfulness sounds like some hippy-dippy nonsense, right? I thought so too. Like, what, Iâm supposed to sit there and âbe one with the universeâ? Nah. But after a day where everything went wrongâspilled coffee, missed a deadline, fought with my roommate over who left dishes in the sinkâI tried a meditation app âcause I was desperate. I was terrible at it. My brainâs like, âFocus on breathing? Cool, letâs think about that time I tripped in front of my crush in 9th grade.â But I kept at it, like five minutes a day, and itâs helped my mental health and wellbeing big time.
Mindfulness is just noticing whatâs happening without overthinking it. You can do it anywhereâon the bus, eating pizza, whatever. Apps like Headspace are nice, but YouTubeâs got free meditations too. Itâs not about having an empty mind; itâs about not letting your thoughts run you over. I still get distractedâmy cat jumping on me mid-meditation is a whole vibeâbut Iâm way less stressed than I used to be.

4. Talking to People (Even When Itâs Awkward as Hell)
Iâm an introvert, so talking to people feels like climbing a mountain in Crocs. But being alone too much? Itâs a mental health and wellbeing killer. In 2021, I went weeks talking to nobody except my barista (Mike at Starbucks, youâre the real MVP). I felt like I was disappearing. Then I started sending dumb texts to friendsâmemes, random stuff like âyo, remember when we got kicked out of that diner at 2 a.m.?â Itâs small, but it helped.
You donât need some deep therapy session. Text a friend, send a stupid GIF, or just say hi to someone at the store (unless youâre in a big city, then maybe donât). Thereâs science about thisâsocial stuff boosts oxytocin, which calms you down. Iâm still weird about it. Last week, I accidentally sent my boss a dog meme meant for my sister. We laughed, though, and now weâre kinda cool. Lifeâs weird like that.
5. Saying No (Without Feeling Like a Jerk)
This oneâs my favorite âcause itâs so freaking hard. I used to say yes to everythingâextra work shifts, helping friends move, going to parties I hated. Thought it made me a âgood person.â Nope, just made me tired and cranky. Learning to say no has been a game-changer for my emotional health. Like, last month, my cousin asked me to help paint her apartment. I was like, âLove you, but Iâm swamped.â And guess what? Nobody died.
Setting boundaries is a self-care practice that saves your sanity. Itâs not about being mean; itâs about not burning out. I still feel guilty sometimesâMidwest nice is realâbut Iâm working on it. Start small, like saying no to your auntâs weird Jell-O salad at Thanksgiving. Youâll feel like a badass.

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