My Mental Health Five-a-Day

If eating five fruit and veg a day is good for your body, then what's the equivalent for your mind?

That's the question that Andy Gibson asks, the guy behind Mindapples, a social movement to promote individual self-management of mental wellbeing:

"The original “5-a-day” campaign encouraged people to take care of their physical health through simple daily activities, and we want to do the same thing for mental health. We aim to create a stigma-free public debate about mental wellbeing, simply by asking everybody the question: “What’s your five-a-day?”

Dominic Campbell was kind enough to tag me in this meme of sorts, so I scratched my noggin' for a wee bit and plucked out the following five:

• Excercise - Nothing clears my mind like exercise, whether it's going for a run on a crisp, clear winter's morning, getting down and dirty on a muddy football pitch, or pushing iron in a weights session to sculpt those guns. 

• Reading - I like to break a mental sweat too and find reading a wide range of books, news sites, blogs and the occassional weekend newspaper helps keep up with the ideas of the day, helps form my own perspectives on the world, and helps me relax at the same time.

• Writing - As the survey suggests, a brain dump onto a clean white sheet of paper is a great way of making my mind feel like, er, a clean white sheet of paper. My colleague Drew says I'm good at keeping a mental checklist, but I always feel better when it's down on paper and not running through my mind.

• Playing - I honestly really like playing computer games. Not only does it help me destress after a long day, but I think it helps with my reflexes, coordination (thank you Nintendo Wii) and keeps my brain active. I like to think that computer games are like chess, but with more headshots.

• Switching Off - Perhaps the biggest way to keep mentally healthy for me is simply to push that power button and switch off all of the various gadgets and technology that's become an intrinsic part of our modern lives. Taking a walk with no electronic beeps, noises, or whirring to disturb you is perhaps the most refreshing way to cleanse the mind.
  

That's the mental health floss that keeps my mind fresh, so I'm going to tag Jeddy Jeddison, Drewbie, Tommy Tomson, Dommy Domson, and Jazzy J to hear their thoughts.

But why not take the survey yourself here? After all, it will get your mind going just thinking about what keeps your mind going!