Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

altmuslim

Home
Muslim
Beyond Prayer: Ten Tips to Achieving Mental Health and Wellness

Beyond Prayer: Ten Tips to Achieving Mental Health and Wellness

Last updated on: May 9, 2016 at 6:43 pm by Guest Contributor

Beyond Prayer: Ten Tips to Achieving Mental Health and Wellness 2016-05-09T18:43:02-04:00 Guest Contributor

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Photo is of public domain from pixabay.com

By Saud Inam

May is Mental Health Month. We many not think about mental health and wellness goals as part of our physical, emotional and spiritual well-being, but we should. If you are a person of faith, your iman can be a large part of how we achieve and maintain good mental health in addition to other non-spiritual practices. Here are a couple of tips to help you achieve good mental health and wellness this May (and for the rest of the year):

Build an Introspective Routine

As a part of our faith, we are taught to reflect upon Allah’s signs and to cleanse our souls and spiritual hearts. Deep introspection and reflection upon their spiritual, emotional and psychological conditions on a constant basis is important maintain balance in our lives. Many of us may live our lives without taking time out for self-care and assessing where we are in life. We may live lives where we are constantly under pressure from internal and external forces, and we may or may not know how that is impacting our mental, physical and emotional health.

Create a Self-Care Routine

In addition to an introspective routine, it’s also important to create a self-care routine where you address all levels of your being: Spiritual, physical, emotional and mental. This means allotting time to address each aspect. Each part of our being needs nourishment. Perhaps create a spiritual routine, like memorizing new surahs (completed verses) of the Quran, memorizing short du’as (prayers) or doing dhikr throughout the day. It also may mean creating a workout routine, even if its 30 minutes a day.

For psychological, emotional and mental well-being, find time in your schedule to simply sit and reflect in peace and quiet. Find a space (or create the space) where you can clear your mind — this may be somewhere in your home, a park, beach or even your desk at work where you simply sit for 10-15 minutes before work and clear your mind.

Forgive Yourself

Many times we may put undue pressure on ourselves because of internal feelings of insecurity, fear and anxiety. We also may have overwhelming regret about the past or anxiety for the future.

No amount of worrying can change the future. Go easy on yourself, for the outcome of all affairs is determined by God’s decree. If something is meant to go elsewhere, it will never come your way, but if it is yours by destiny, from you it cannot flee. ― Umar ibn Al-Khattab

Be sure to forgive yourself for your weaknesses and pray for Allah to grant you strength to become a stronger person. We will make mistakes, and Allah will (inshallah) forgive us:

O son of Adam, as long as you call on Me, I shall forgive you of what you have done, and think nothing of it. O son of Adam, even if your sins were to reach up to the clouds in the sky, and then you were to ask for My forgiveness, I would forgive you and think nothing of it. O son of Adam, even if you were to come to Me with sins nearly as great as the earth, and then you were to meet Me after death, not worshipping anything besides Me, I would bring you forgiveness nearly as great as the earth.’ [Tirmidhi]

Tune Out Negativity

We all have negativity in our lives at one level or another. It may be a friend who may always be complaining or may just in general be a bad influence. It may be a family member who tells you that you are nothing and haven’t accomplished anything, or is constantly comparing you to others. It’s important to tune all of these negative forces in your life.

Tuning out negativity means tuning out all external negative forces that may be impacting your spiritual, emotional and mental health and well-being. This means if you have friends or family members who may be giving you negative energy then reduce interactions with them, or try your best to avoid confrontation. Also, try to tune out negativity that may be internal as well — i.e. self-doubt, insecurity, etc. Whether by seeking positive influences or turning inwards spiritually, or finding healthy hobbies, replacing internal negativity with positivity is so important.

Sometimes our biggest enemies can be is ourselves. We must find peace within ourselves and find self-confidence in order to repel negativity.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay

Keep Striving!

Yes, we may have moments of weakness and feel like giving up, but the key is to get back up after you’re knocked down. It’s a cliché, but it’s true. Not everyone is going to live a perfect life, and it’s natural to feel down at times and sad. Pain in itself is a blessing that allows our body and our soul to realize something is wrong.

The key is to not let that sadness and depression to consume you. Identify it and overcome it. Pick yourself up again and keep striving to overcome any obstacle in your path. Find peace and strength in hadith, Quranic ayahs or even motivational talks (my favorite is E.T. Thomas). This is all, of course, easier said than done, but just knowing that we have to find a way to keep moving forward is a start.

Most importantly, if you feel unable to overcome your emotional or mental challenges, you need help seek a qualified counselor or therapist. This is something Muslims often shy away from, but why should we? There is no shame in seeking help.

Find a Counselor

This process of self-care, introspection and emotional and mental healing can be a hard task for one to take alone. Just as any athlete needs a coach to help guide and train them we too may need coaches in our lives to help us reach our goals of self-care, introspection and emotional and mental wellness. The “coaches” we need to seek are counselors and therapists who can do an analysis of our emotional, spiritual, and mental condition.

We may find through therapy and counseling sessions that a certain characteristic, action or trait in ourselves may be the reason for increased stress or lack of emotional, spiritual or mental wellness. Our emotional, spiritual and mental conditions can often be complicated to navigate ourselves. A counselor or therapist can help us navigate and unravel what I like to call the ball of yarn that comprises our emotional, spiritual and emotional states.

Seeking help from a counselor or therapist is not un-Islamic, nor is it haram. One of the best counselors or therapists was the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Often time women and men would seek his guidance and counsel on extremely intimate issues they were facing. Did he turn them away and say “No brother — astaghfurallah, go home please.” Or did he say “Sister — just do dhikr and salah, recite some Quran.” to solve their issues?

No, he advised them and provided them practical advice to overcome their personal challenges, no matter how intimate their issues may have been.

Show Empathy

One of the biggest acts we are missing today is empathy. In a world full of so much pain, anger and confusion an act of empathy can go a long way. Be a shoulder to cry on for a friend or family member. Listen to friends or family members who simply want to vent or need someone to listen to them. This in itself is a huge help to those facing extreme stress, depression or sadness.

Conduct a Mental Health Khutbah

Talk to your masjid leadership or imam to ask them to conduct a khutbah (sermon) on the topic of mental health. Find counselors or therapists to help draft up the khutbah for your imam. This would also be a great opportunity to connect your imam to local counselors or therapists in your community.

Create a Non-Judgmental Environment

Today, many Muslims of all age ranges are facing so many mental and emotional challenges. As was said before, it’s more important than ever to show empathy and create a non-judgmental environment in your home, workplace and your masjid. Create spaces and opportunities for people to talk about their problems without feeling ashamed or judged.

Get Mental Health First Aid Certification

Mental Health First Aid Training is a great way to help open up the dialogue around mental health in your community. We recently conducted one in Atlanta. The training lasts one day and trains community leaders, imams and teachers how to identify mental health challenges in community members, and how to address them in a productive and healthy manner.

Saud Inam is a Muslim American activist, social entrepreneur, blogger and Project Manager for Discover Islam-USA a Muslim American media company dedicated to producing high quality media about Islam and Muslims. He is a columnist for Altmuslim. Saud is always on the lookout for more opportunities to help empower the Muslim American community.

May mental health month

Previous Post

May 5, 2016

Has Islamophobia United Muslims or Distracted Us from Important Internal Debates?

Next Post

May 13, 2016 Five Great Places of Islamic History in the U.S.

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2012 Elections 30 Dayd 30 Writers (2017) 30 Days 30 Writers 30 Days 30 Writers (2015) 30 Days 30 Writers (2016) 30 Days 30 Writers (2018) 30 Days 30 Writers 2017 Ali Asadullah Ali Eteraz Alper Bilgili Arthur Richards Asides Asma Uddin Black History Month Briefings Charles Turner Commentary Cyrus McGoldrick Eman H Aly Fatimah Popal Hajj Hajj and Dhul Hijjah Hesham Hassaballa Hisham Hellyer Ibrahim Abusharif Inas Younis Irfan Yusuf Jalal Baig Junaid Afeef Laila Alawa Laila Alwala Mas'ood Cajee Muqtedar Khan Nakia Jackson Newsmakers Parvez Ahmed Podcasts Rabia Chaudry Rafia Zakaria Ramadan Reviews Safiyyah Ally Saud Inam Shahed Amanullah Svend White The Opinionated Oncologist Visions Wajahat Ali Zahed Amanullah Zahir Janmohamed Zainab Khan

Select a Month November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which Christian tradition uses the rosary for prayer?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Presbyterian Anglican Catholicism Baptist