Working toward better mental health is an essential component of leading a happy, productive life. If someone has good mental health, it does not necessarily mean that they’re happy all of the time—it means they have the tools and mindset to see them through the hard times. Bad things may happen in our lives but learning to be thoughtful, insightful, and resourceful can help us move through them more easily.

Healthy eating, or good nutrition, is simply eating adequate, well-balanced meals to support your body’s needs. At the heart of healthy eating is doing what helps you feel well. A healthy diet does not have to look a particular way and can accommodate many types of palates, dietary restrictions, and lifestyles. What matters is figuring out what foods help you feel like your best self.

Equanimity is a state of mental and emotional stability, calmness, and composure, especially in challenging situations. It’s maintaining a balanced and nonreactive mindset, regardless of external circumstances or internal thoughts and feelings. People who possess equanimity can face adversity with clarity, focus, and resilience, without being overwhelmed by emotions like fear, anger, or anxiety.

Sometimes, life throws you a curveball and you find yourself overwhelmed. Whenever you find yourself anxious or stressed, you can use grounding techniques to reconnect with yourself and the present moment. This science-based strategy may be helpful for anxiety, panic attacks, flashbacks, or even dissociation.

It’s thought that a self-confident person can rise to new challenges, take advantage of new opportunities, and deal with challenges or difficulties. They believe they have what it takes to succeed. That is why confidence is such a valuable characteristic and one most of us likely want to build.

Stressing out over an extended period may undermine your well-being. For example, stressing about the deadlines for your work or school calendar, the pile of bills on your coffee table, or relationships can take a toll. Stressing out can drain your energy and leave you even more frustrated. Hence, recognizing when stress arises and taking action may help you manage it more effectively.

What is self-care? Self-care is generally thought to be the activities that individuals undertake to improve their own health and well-being. Self-care is thought to have originated from self-reliant individualism and also from a belief that ill-health could be prevented. Indeed, self-care can have a positive impact on nearly every form of ill-health making it an extremely valuable practice.

Even though negative emotions feel bad, they have important functions that help us have experiences that make us feel better and even thrive in the longer term. So instead of running from our negative emotions, we’re better off learning to deal with and process our negative emotions in healthy ways.

The human mind can solve almost any type of problem, but what happens when problem-solving runs wild in our minds? We’re so good at identifying problems and imagining scenarios that sometimes it’s hard to stop. And being in our heads too much can make it hard to move past difficulties.

Although cultivating healthy habits might seem daunting at first, it’s beneficial for your health to nourish yourself, both physically and spiritually. Studies show that healthy habits can contribute to healthier and longer life expectancy. Here are some key healthy habits to focus on.

In life, we all face stressful experiences. But, each of us is very different in how we cope with these experiences. Some of us cope well and may even grow and improve as a result of stress. Others struggle and may even develop mental health issues in the face of stress.

Emotional health is defined as a lack of mental disorders, but it also includes positive emotional characteristics, like resilience, self-efficacy, and vitality. Given how many different aspects of mental and emotional health there are, there are actually lots of different things we can do to improve our emotional health. Here are a few things you can do.

Do you tend to feel a lot of negative emotions? Do you feel bad about yourself or feel unhappy about your place in the world? Well, science has shown us that we actually have a lot of control over our feelings and well-being. Here are six science-based tips to help you feel better.