Easy Complimentary Medicine Tips to Improve your Mental Health You Can Start, Right Now!

How to Improve Mental Health

We all understand the importance of physical hygiene. We exercise, brush our teeth, and nourish our bodies to prevent illness. Yet emotional hygiene, the daily practices that regulate our nervous system, process stress, and support psychological resilience, is often overlooked.

Considering your mental state influences physical health outcomes in incredible ways, its even more pertinent we learn how to adequately support our mental health. For example, one 2020 study by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine: "Social Isolation and Loneliness in Older Adults' ' found social isolation produced the same effect on all-cause mortality as those of smoking, obesity, and physical inactivity. They also observed a 50% increase in risk of Dementia, 29% increased risk of heart disease and a 32% increased risk of stroke related to social isolation.

Psychologists are highly trained and Psychological care is essential for treating mental health conditions, helping individuals develop insight, emotional awareness, and adaptive cognitive patterns. However, mental wellbeing is also influenced by physiological factors such as nervous system regulation, inflammation, sleep quality, breathing patterns, and lifestyle habits. Supporting these biological foundations which may fall outside of the scope of traditional talk therapy can significantly enhance emotional stability, cognitive function, and resilience.

In my clinical work, I complement psychological care by helping clients regulate their nervous system, identify and resolve physiological stress patterns, and implement practical daily tools that support emotional and physical stability.

Below are simple, evidence-informed practices you can begin immediately to support your mental health and nervous system.

Exercise: Regular exercise is one of the most effective interventions for improving mental health. It increases brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which supports neuroplasticity (the ability to alter neural pathways) and reduces symptoms of anxiety and depression (Schuch et al., 2016).

Exercise also helps regulate stress hormones, improves sleep quality, and enhances emotional resilience. releases endorphins, promotes longevity, focus and memory, resets you attention when you're in a negative spiral, expends adrenaline and nervous energy and wards off disease. Do 30-60 mins 3-5 times a week. Aerobic (best for Anxiety and Depression), Resistance (best for Anxiety and Self esteem) Low Intensity regulating like yoga, walking or Tai Chi (best for Burnout, trauma and anxiety) Morning (best for mood focus and sleep) Midday (best for stress loop busting and cognitive performance) Evening, go gentle (Intense exercise late at night can elevate cortisol and impair sleep.) Crucially, avoid over-training. It has significant negative effects on mood and well-being.

Take an Epsom Salt Bath: Replenishes Magnesium which produces Serotonin, relaxes muscles and eases nervous tension. Warm baths lower blood pressure, cause you to breathe more deeply, triggering the parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest) and oxygenating your cells. Try a foot bath in a big saucepan if you don’t have a bathtub.

Sing: Singing stimulates the Vagus Nerve, improved vagal tone is associated with emotional and attention regulation.

Reduce Inflammation. Inflammation affects the brain and mental health severely. Common sources of inflammation are: refined sugar, refined carbs, processed meat, alcohol/smoking, sensitivities, heavy metals, refined oils, lack of sleep, environmental toxins, excess omega 6 (corn/soy) mould exposure, infections (like strep), insufficient exercise

Support can include: boosting the immune system by reducing stress (see rest of article) herbs, identifying allergens with an elimination diet, detoxifying and supplementing with D,A,C, E, B Vitamins, zinc and selenium.

You can cool body inflammation by supplementing with fish oil, ginger, garlic and tumeric. Speak to a health professional or Naturopath.

Breathing exercises.

Breathing patterns directly influence the autonomic nervous system. Slow, controlled breathing stimulates the vagus nerve and supports parasympathetic activation, helping reduce anxiety and improve emotional regulation (Zaccaro et al., 2018).

Simple techniques such as box breathing or the physiological sigh can rapidly reduce physiological stress.

• Box Breath: Inhale count of four, hold count of four, exhale four, hold four, repeat four times.

• Physiological sigh: Take a deep breath in, then an extra sharp sip at top, sigh out. Repeat as desired, or about eight times.

  
  

Support safety and stability in the nervous system

Mental health improves significantly when the nervous system experiences safety.

Practical ways to support this include:

• Consistent daily routines

• Predictable sleep and waking times

• Safe, supportive relationships

• Spending time in Nature (serotonin boosting)

• Sensory rest (low stimulus environments)

These signals help the nervous system shift out of survival mode and into repair and recovery.

Sleep

ISleep is one of the most powerful and underappreciated regulators of mental health. During sleep, the brain processes emotional experiences, clears metabolic waste, restores neurotransmitter balance, and resets the nervous system.

Even a single night of poor sleep can increase emotional reactivity, reduce stress tolerance, impair concentration, and worsen symptoms of anxiety and low mood. Chronic sleep disruption significantly increases the risk of depression, anxiety disorders, and burnout.

Neuroscientist Dr Matthew Walker explains, “Sleep is the single most effective thing we can do to reset our brain and body health each day.”

Sleep also plays a critical role in nervous system regulation. When sleep is insufficient or fragmented, the sympathetic nervous system (fight-or-flight) becomes more active, while the parasympathetic nervous system (rest-and-digest) becomes less effective. This makes individuals more vulnerable to stress and emotional dysregulation.

From a physiological perspective, supporting sleep improves emotional resilience, cognitive clarity, and the body's ability to recover from stress. Hopefully even if you struggle with insomnia this advice can help you turn it around.

Practical ways to improve sleep quality

• Maintain a consistent sleep and waking time. The nervous system relies on predictable circadian rhythms. Going to bed and waking up at the same time each day strengthens sleep quality and improves emotional stability. If you can only focus on one, make it to wake up the same time daily. Your melotonin production will kick in 14 hours after waking and help you restabilise faster.

• Consider if any insomnia is driven by perimenopause and talk to your GP.

• Get morning sunlight exposure. Morning light exposure regulates circadian rhythm and improves nighttime melatonin production. Even 5–10 minutes of outdoor light exposure shortly after waking can significantly improve sleep.

• Support nervous system regulation before bed. Gentle breathing exercises, stretching, or a warm shower in the evening can help shift the nervous system into a parasympathetic state, preparing the body for sleep.

• Avoid excessive stimulation, especially late in the evening. What goes up must come down and we will experience a crash. Reduce exposure to bright lights, intense work, or emotionally activating content close to bedtime, as these can elevate cortisol and delay sleep onset, contributing to a corresponding low when it catches up.

• Support physiological recovery. Adequate nutrition, stable blood sugar, and nervous system regulation all contribute to improved sleep quality. Kinesiology can help.

• Consider supplementing with creatine. Creatine helps buffer the brain’s energy supply by increasing phosphocreatine availability, which supports ATP production during periods of sleep deprivation when the brain is under metabolic stress. Research shows creatine supplementation can reduce cognitive impairment, mental fatigue, and mood disturbance associated with sleep loss by helping maintain cellular energy in the brain (McMorris et al., 2006; Gordji-Nejad et al., 2024).

Connect with good people. Social connection is one of the strongest predictors of mental health and longevity. Humans are biologically wired for co-regulation, meaning safe social interaction helps regulate the nervous system and reduce stress responses (Porges, 2011).

Humans are capable of holding only a fixed number of community members in their awareness, so we generally see the strongest bonds and highest concern for others wellbeing engaged in small groups, country towns etc. Community thrives in small places, and when we see people repetitively. Find a network.

Even if you are not the best connected there are many ways to encourage connection. You can do someone a favour, volunteer, join a club, sport team, class or women's circle, speak to that person you see every day at the coffee shop etc. to establish a bond, rekindle old friendships, email your old work bff, follow through on your plans to see people, plan an event or group holiday or call your extended family. Write your own to-do list and follow through.

Mental health care is most effective when approached collaboratively.

Psychologists provide essential support for emotional processing, cognitive restructuring, and treatment of mental health conditions. My role is to complement this care by supporting nervous system regulation, stress physiology, and lifestyle factors that influence emotional stability and resilience.

Many clients benefit from integrating both approaches, as improving physiological regulation can enhance psychological therapy outcomes. If you are currently working with a psychologist, my work can support and enhance your progress. If needed, I am also happy to collaborate with your treating practitioner.

I hope you enjoy implementing these simple changes and the benefits they bring. The path of life and self improvement does require constant work, be consoled that that’s normal, and just undertake what you have the capacity for today.

Please seek professional assistance and support, especially with chronic issues. Some supplements may be contraindicated, so seek advice. I’m always here to help, take a look at booking a session HERE

Yours in health and happiness.

E xx

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