Balanced: 30 Ways to Celebrate National Mental Health Month

With the beginning of May comes the beginning of an annual National Mental Health month. According to Mental Health America, May has been Mental Health Month for over 50 years now, encouraging people to be as mentally healthy as possible. This year's theme is "Live Your Life Well," and is challenging us to "promote whole health and wellness in homes, communities, schools, and inform those who don't believe it's attainable." While you may struggle with depression, anxiety or even an eating disorder, positive mental health is attainable.

Here are 30 positive and health and wallet-friendly ways you can celebrate National Mental Health Month.

1. Connect with people around you
2. Sleep in a little bit - sleep deprivation directly effects mental health
3. Stay positive, even when it's hard
4. Become physical active, even if it's just a short walk
5. Help someone else
6. If it doesn't cause joy in your life, get rid of it
7. Eat well
8. Take care of your spirit
9. Get professional help if you need it
10. Be flexible
11. Pick up a new hobby
12. Eat your favorite dessert
13. Meditate or use guided relaxation
14. Laugh loudly and freely
15. Buy a new pair of shoes
16. Take your children to the park and play with them
17. Sing in the shower
18. Dance in the living room
19. Scream into a pillow or in your car while driving
20. Play a board game with friends
21. Pack a picnic lunch and eat in the sunshine
22. Volunteer your time
23. Smile even when you don't feel like it
24. Journal your "high" and your "low" for the day
25. Write a letter to a friend or family member
26. Set a long-term (or short-term) goal
27. Do less today than you did yesterday
28. Accept what you have
29. Make a list of things you want
30. Cross out everything on that list you don't need

While some of these tips seem too easy to be true (laugh loudly and freely, for example), there is proof in the science of laughter:

"...laughter unites people, and social support has been shown in studies to improve mental and physical health. Indeed, the presumed health benefits of laughter may be coincidental consequences of its primary goal: bringing people together."

My challenge to you this week? Pick five things off the celebration-list and purposefully do them. Sing in the shower, laugh at yourself and then spend your day living as positively as possible.

I dare you!

When she's not writing for Savings.com, Sarah teaches health and science to high schoolers. You can also find Sarah at WEGO Health, where she is an advocate of improved health conditions for women and children of both the United States and globally and on her personal blog, Sarahndipitea.