Arjun Desai

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Hygiene for your Head.

Hope all of you have started the year happy and healthy.

In the spirit of good health, I want to share a TED Talk that I really liked — the idea of emotional hygiene.

Guy Winch, a psychologist (and ironically, a twin too!), speaks about taking care of ourselves mentally — similar to ways we take care of ourselves physically.

Most of us having good physical habits: we exercise, we diet and we floss. And when we get sick, we seek out proper help to heal — medicine, therapy, etc.

So why not apply the same idea to our psychological health? What about practicing good hygiene for our brain?

Guy talks about mental “injuries” like failure, rejection and loneliness — and how to heal from it properly. But many people undermine these conditions and don’t take steps to address it. Imagine if you had a broken leg — how would you feel if someone told you to just “get over it”?

For me, I’ve been trying out a few habits to improve my emotional resiliency — like giving thanks, being present and practicing forgiveness.

And when I am not feeling 100%, I seek out friends, family and counselors to get me back on track.

So if this year — if you’re having an emotionally tough day, spend enough time on your mind to help it recover.

Because when our mind and body are in sync, I know we will all have the strength to be more and achieve more.