The government is always telling us we have to eat five fruit or veg a day to help improve the nations’ health, but what about the nations’ mental health? Fruit and veg have obvious physical benefits for our bodies, from reducing the risk of heart disease and diabetes to possibly protecting your body against some kind of cancers. However, a good amount of fruit and vegetables in your diet has also been found to have positive effects on your mental health.
Although food often feels like it is my life (an in many ways it is), there is more to food; and therefore other things which can help my wellbeing. I’ve discovered that certain activities are of real benefit to me. In a way, they are the equivalent of the 5-a-day fruit and veg. If I manage to do some or all of these things, my days go well. It is widely understood that taking part in activities is really beneficial to one’s mental health, and the organisation Mindapples has taken this concept, asking people to name their 5-a-day for your mind. They call these beneficial activities ‘mindapples’; the mental equivalent of an apple a day to keep the doctor away I suppose. Whatever their name, my mindapples are crucial to me. They help me to have time to think, to enjoy a moment, to be active, to connect with others…They just help me.
So, what are my 5-a-day for the mind? Well.
- Time at the allotment
- Baking bread
- A coffee with someone in a busy café
- A walk on the Downs
- Helping people
Mindapples, or just 5-a-day for your mind; doing things, can be of just as much help to your health as fruit or veg. What are your 5-a-day?
Spade Fork Spoon 
Interesting question!
My five-a-day for the mind….. Doing something outside the home in the evening (eg been to the cinema this evening: Paddington is hilarious by the way); doing something constructive in the house (eg decluttering); sharing time with my daughter; spending time in or looking onto the garden (just watching the birds brings such joy); and getting to bed before 10 and therefore having time to snuggle down with a good book. Ah, bliss!!
Enjoy your days as far as you can and be kind to yourself 🙂
Thanks for your comment. Yep, Paddington was great; saw it with the family. A really lovely afternoon with all of us together.
Glad you enjoyed it, too!
I like your idea about mindapples. I think regardless of what they are they have some things in common.
Walking on the downs provides quiet time, time to calm the mind. Bread making and gardening are creative and forward thinking tasks. Coffee with a mate is friendship and laughter. So perhaps three apples a day are required, creative work, mind rest and play (to paraphrase the Mars bar adds).
Thats an interesting thought.