Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act as we cope with life. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood and aging.

How can I improve my mental health?

Staying positive:  It’s important to try to have a positive outlook; some ways to do that include:

1. Finding balance between positive and negative emotions. Staying positive does not mean that you never feel negative emotions, such as sadness or anger. You need to feel them so that you can move through difficult situations. They can help you to respond to a problem. But you do not want those emotions to take over. For example, it is not helpful to keep thinking about bad things that happened in the past or worry too much about the future.

• Trying to hold on to the positive emotions when you have them.

• Taking a break from negative information. Know when to stop watching or reading the news. Use social media to reach out for support and feel connected to others but be careful. Do not fall for rumors, get into arguments, or negatively compare your life to others.

Practicing gratitude:  Which means being thankful for the good things in your life. It’s helpful to do this every day, either by thinking about what you are grateful for or writing it down in a journal. These can be big things, such as the support you have from loved ones, or little things, such as enjoying a nice meal. It’s important to allow yourself a moment to enjoy that you had a positive experience. Practicing gratitude can help you to see your life differently. For example, when you are stressed, you may not notice that there are also moments when you have some positive emotions. Gratitude can help you to recognize them.

Taking care of your physical health: since your physical and mental health are connected. Some ways to take care of your physical health include.

1. Being physically active. Exercise can reduce feelings of stress and depression and improve your mood.
2. Getting enough sleep. Sleep affects your mood. If you don’t get a good sleep, you may become more easily annoyed and angry. Over the long term, a lack of quality sleep can make you more likely to become depressed. So it’s important to make sure that you have a regular sleep schedule and get enough quality sleep every night.
3. Healthy eating. Good nutrition will help you feel better physically but could also improve your mood and decrease anxiety and stress. Also, not having enough of certain nutrients may contribute to some mental illnesses. For example, there may be a link between low levels of vitamin B12 and depression. Eating

a well-balanced diet can help you to get enough of the nutrients you need.

Connecting with others: Humans are social creatures, and it’s important to have strong, healthy relationships with others. Having good social support may help protect you against the harms of stress. It is also good to have different types of connections. Besides connecting with family and friends, you could find ways to get involved with your community or neighborhood. For example, you could volunteer for a local organization or join a group that is focused on a hobby you enjoy.

• Developing a sense of meaning and purpose in life. This could be through your job, volunteering, learning new skills, or exploring your spirituality.

• Developing coping skills, which are methods you use to deal with stressful situations. They may help you face a problem, take action, be flexible, and not easily give up in solving it.

• Meditation, which is a mind and body practice where you learn to focus your attention and awareness. There are many types, including mindfulness meditation and transcendental meditation. Meditation usually involves

A quiet location with as few distractions as possible.

A specific, comfortable posture. This could be sitting, lying down, walking, or another position.

A focus of attention, such as a specially chosen word or set of words, an object, or your breathing.

An open attitude, where you try to let distractions come and go naturally without judging them.

It is also important to recognize when you need to get help. Talk therapy and/or medicines can treat mental disorders. If you do not know where to get treatment, start by contacting your primary care provider.

Business: Having a big, billion-dollar idea for a new company or start-up is great—but now what? You probably need a website, a tech team, some office space, and, of course, at least enough cash coming in each month to pay your rent.

Which means, you need money. Whether it’s a cool new app or a swanky café, most businesses and most entrepreneurs require at least a little bit of funding to really get off the ground in their early days. If you have a tech-based idea, you may have an easier time attracting attention from venture capitalists or angel investors, but as more companies work that angle, finding an investor is harder than ever. So how can you get your business off the ground?

Here’s an overview of some typical sources of financing for start-ups:

Begin With Bootstrapping

When first getting started, many entrepreneurs use “bootstrapping,” which means financing your company by scraping together any personal funds you can find. This typically includes your savings account, credit cards, and any home equity lines you may have.

In many cases, using the money you have instead of borrowing or raising is a great approach—in fact, some entrepreneurs continue to bootstrap until their business is profitable. This can be beneficial because it means you won’t have extensive loans and monthly payments that bog you down, especially if you run into snags along the way.

But, if you’re looking to scale your business quickly, it can be advantageous to bring in outside sources of funding. So, what happens when your funds run out, or you decide you need something more? That will ultimately depend on the type of business you’re building, but there are some common places to start.

Keep Your Day Job

This is the suggestion no one likes. If you currently have a job that is meeting your expenses and letting you live a relatively comfortable lifestyle, don’t be in such a hurry to quit your job and follow your business dreams. Spend some time getting the business off the ground and building through the early, difficult phases with the solidity of your 9-5 job paying your bills.

This lets you build your business with fewer compromises, and lets you stay true to your vision without needing to give in to financial pressure. You can also get a great experience from your day job to help you run your company down the road.

Consider Friends and Family

Asking your friends and family for money might seem like a daunting prospect—but tapping those closest to you is often a good first step before getting external funding. And hey, it can never hurt to ask. While Aunt Irene is probably not in a position to finance your entire new social network for dog owners, she may be impressed enough to toss you a couple grand to help you get rolling (and join the site to find Fido some new playmates).

Before you ask your friends and family for money, though, you should have a business plan at the ready. This way, you can explain to them exactly what you’re selling, what you plan on charging, how you’ll make money, and whether you’re asking for a loan, an investment, or a gift (i.e., whether or not they should expect to get back any money they put into your business, and if so, how much).

Look for Angels

Angels are generally wealthy individuals or retired company executives who invest directly in small firms owned by others. They are often leaders in their own field who not only contribute their experience and network of contacts but also their technical and/or management knowledge. Angels tend to finance the early stages of the business with investments in the order of $25,000 to $100,000. Institutional venture capitalists prefer larger investments, in the order of $1,000,000.

In exchange for risking their money, they reserve the right to supervise the company’s management practices. In concrete terms, this often involves a seat on the board of directors and an assurance of transparency.

Incubator or Accelerator

Business accelerators and incubators have sprung up all across the country, particularly near colleges with a strong business program. These spaces are part communal workspace and part mentorship development centers. Young businesses can get a great start here while partnering with some amazing people.

The downside? They are often focused on tech-heavy businesses, so you might struggle to find one that works for your company.

Crowdfunding

If you have a sexy idea and you’re great at social media, crowdfunding might be an option. When websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo first started, there were a number of businesses that had great success pulling together funding through their reach.

The downside? Lots of companies aim for crowdfunding, so you have to generate a lot of buzz to make it through the overall signal noise. It’s also very possible to overextend yourself and frustrate backers, which can lead to a great deal of animosity before your company is even really off the ground.

Finding funding can be the hardest part of getting your business off the ground, but also the most rewarding. Once you’ve saved, gotten approved for a loan, or found other people to invest in your business, you can get back to—or start—your dream job! Though it can be a long road to success, finding allies along the way (whether they’re friends, angel investors, or venture capitalists) to help keep your business afloat can make all the difference in the world. Good luck!

As it is always said, ” Early to bed, early to rise “. It is also important for one to follow this. Waking up early is essential in many ways. If one sleeps on time in the night they can wake up early. It is all on the person as to how they look up to life. Waking up early is beneficial because it keeps you active throughout and you can be more productive at your workplace or any other work that you do.

The importance of waking up early are :

1. Eat healthy food: When you wake up early you can make a good healthy breakfast for yourself and have it with peace rather than waking up a little late and ending up having some junk in a hurry. You can keep yourself fit and healthy by just munching on healthy food.

2. Stay stress-free: Waking up early helps you to stay stress-free by just planning your day ahead properly. You won’t have any sort of hurry to complete things as the day is all yours. You also can plan extra things in case you really find some free time and got nothing to do.

3. Exercise regularly: it is always told to wake up early and exercise because it keeps you fit and healthy. The pro tip of waking up early is you can do exercises as you wish as you have time in your hand. You can be productive and it will help you in the long run.

4. Quality sleep: Waking up early and working throughout the day would definitely make you tired by the end of the day. Out of tiredness, you would tend to sleep early, thereby enjoying more hours of sleep than compared to the rest. So yes Waking up early gives you the benefit to sleep early.

5. Feel happier: Since you wake up early and do the work with utmost patience and smoothness you feel happy about it. There is no more a place to worry in your life. You tend to enjoy life and live life to the fullest without any grief. Happiness is the key to success and when you are happy you will definitely succeed in all your endeavors.

Waking up early not only helps you with the above benefits but, there are a lot of other benefits that you will experience yourself if you wake up early. It keeps you away from all the stress in life and keeps you at peace. You not only feel fresh but also feel lighter as you don’t carry a burden with you. Sleep early and wake up early. You will definitely succeed in all that you do because you will absolutely be active.

When was the last time you read a book, or a substantial magazine article? Do your daily reading habits center around tweets, Facebook updates, or the directions on your instant oatmeal packet? If you’re one of countless people who don’t make a habit of reading regularly, you might be missing out: reading has a significant number of benefits, and just a few benefits of reading are listed below.

Stress Reduction

No matter how much stress you have at work, in your personal relationships, or countless other issues faced in daily life, it all just slips away when you lose yourself in a great story. A well-written novel can transport you to other realms, while an engaging article will distract you and keep you in the present moment, letting tensions drain away and allowing you to relax.

Knowledge

Everything you read fills your head with new bits of information, and you never know when it might come in handy. The more knowledge you have, the better-equipped you are to tackle any challenge you’ll ever face.

Additionally, here’s a bit of food for thought: should you ever find yourself in dire circumstances, remember that although you might lose everything else—your job, your possessions, your money, even your health but knowledge can never be taken from you.

Vocabulary Expansion

The more you read, the more words you gain exposure to, and they’ll inevitably make their way into your everyday vocabulary. Being articulate and well-spoken is of great help in any profession and knowing that you can speak to higher-ups with self-confidence can be an enormous boost to your self-esteem. It could even aid in your career, as those who are well-read, well-spoken, and knowledgeable on a variety of topics tend to get promotions more quickly (and more often) than those with smaller vocabularies and lack of awareness of literature, scientific breakthroughs, and global events.

Memory Exercise

When you read a book, you have to remember an assortment of characters, their backgrounds, ambitions, history, and nuances, as well as the various arcs and sub-plots that weave their way through every story. That’s a fair bit to remember, but brains are marvelous things and can remember these things with relative ease.

Better Writing Skills

This goes hand-in-hand with the expansion of your vocabulary: exposure to published, well-written work has a noted effect on one’s own writing, as observing the cadence, fluidity, and writing styles of other authors will invariably influence your own work.

In the same way that musicians influence one another, and painters use techniques established by previous masters, so do writers learn how to craft prose by reading the works of others.

Improved Focus

In our internet-crazed world, attention is drawn in a million different directions at once as we multitask through every day. In a single 5-minute span, the average person will divide their time between working on a task, checking email, chatting with a couple of people (via gchat, skype, etc.), keeping an eye on twitter, monitoring their smartphone, and interacting with co-workers. This type of ADD-like behavior causes stress levels to rise and lowers our productivity.

When you read a book, all of your attention is focused on the story—the rest of the world just falls away, and you can immerse yourself in every fine detail you’re absorbing. Try reading for 15-20 minutes before work (i.e. on your morning commute, if you take public transit), and you’ll be surprised at how much more focused you are once you get to the office.

Tranquility

In addition to the relaxation that accompanies reading a good book, it’s possible that the subject you read about can bring about immense inner peace and tranquility. Reading spiritual texts can lower blood pressure and bring about an immense sense of calm, while reading self-help books has been shown to help people suffering from certain mood disorders and mild mental illnesses.

There’s a reading genre for every literate person on the planet, and whether your tastes lie in classical literature, poetry, fashion magazines, biographies, religious texts, young adult books, self-help guides, street lit, or romance novels, there’s something out there to capture your curiosity and imagination. Step away from your computer for a little while, crack open a book, and replenish your soul for a little while.

Migraine: Picture this, you’re away for the day in a hot air balloon with your family. Bright sun, a loud engine, the smell of exhaust, a jerking ride in the wind – just the day your kids dreamed of. Suddenly, you feel a Migraine attack coming on. You dig through your backpack – and no meds. Short of bumming two aspirin from a fellow tourist, what can you do? How to get rid of a Migraine fast before it’s in full swing?

5 tips for instant Migraine relief give you the best chance for keeping that baby Migraine attack from turning into a roaring beast.

COLD:

Apply cold or ice packs to your head and neck. Or in a pinch, a can of cold soda. Any waitress or food service worker can get you a plastic bag with ice, or find a vending machine for a can.

Apply to the back of the neck and the forehead. This keeps your blood vessels from inflaming and causing pain. I’ve even been given ice packs while at the ER, proof that ice is one of the best ways to get rid of a Migraine.

HEAT:

Heat up your hands and feet to keep the blood flowing. Run your hands under warm water.

Find the closest restroom and wash your hands until they are warm again. Even your feet can go under the faucet if that’s at all practical.

INHALE:

Breathe fresh air deeply. Get away from smells and smoke and get the coolest, freshest air you can find.

Inhale slowly for 8 counts; hold for 8 counts; exhale slowly for 8 counts. Repeat up to 10 times. This gets more oxygen to your brain.

LIQUIDS:

Drink at least 16 ounces of water, as much as you can handle. There’s a good chance you’re dehydrated, a controllable Migraine trigger, and this alone can resolve it.

If water isn’t available, Gatorade or Powerade is a good substitute, but soda, coffee, and tea aren’t. Because of the high sodium and caffeine levels in these drinks, they actually further dehydrate you.

LIGHTS OUT:

If a dark room or shade isn’t available, shade or cover your eyes. Again, this protects you from light and visual disturbances which can add to your activated triggers. Photophobia, or sensitivity to light, is a very common Migraine symptom. With photophobia, light actually hurts and it makes Migraine pain worse.

If your Migraine attack was triggered by dehydration then coffee, tea, and soda will make it worse, not better. Further, the caffeine and Excedrin Migraine puts you at risk for a rebound cycle that will produce the same symptoms 8-24 hours later.

It’s best to stick with plain water when treating an attack. Or choose a drink that will soothe your stomach, like peppermint tea.

Remember these  tips for instant Migraine relief, and you’ll be feeling better in no time: Cold, Heat, Inhale, Liquid, and Lights off. Replace panic with CHILL.