Over the past few years, I’ve written reams on this subject. Ultimately though, tips for mental health boil down to a few simple things – although achieving them all when real life gets in the way is often not so simple!
If you’re anything like me, then you might fail at the first hurdle and forget to think about yourself when you’re a notorious people pleaser, or you might eat well for 4 weeks then a crisis sends you straight to the ice cream (also me!). If you’re looking at these 10 tips and thinking that you’re managing seventy per cent of half of them, then you are heading the right way!
On a scale of 0-100%, reflect on where you are currently and where you would like to be for each area. You’ll then know where to focus your time in the short term because…
What you focus on increases.
#TheWellbeingLady’s Top 10 Tips
1. Put yourself and your needs higher on your agenda: Because we are all rubbish at putting ourselves first! Take a step back and speak to yourself as your best friend or close family member would. What would they suggest?
2. Look out for signs that friends, family and colleagues need support: Pay it forward. If someone needs a hand, then be the one to check in on them. Don’t just assume someone else will. We have a collective responsibility to the people in our lives.
3. Put inhibitions aside and speak out when issues arise: It’s hard to ask for help. Swallow your pride and do it anyway. Best to catch it early. I’m imagining a future world where everyone feels happy to speak freely about their mental health. We are not there yet but we can collectively move towards this level of overcoming inhibitions in this area.
4. Find your passion and do more of what makes you happy: Everyone needs a hobby. Whether you are lucky enough to work in a field that you are passionate about or you look forward to taking part in your hobby when you get home from work, having things to look forward to is key in supporting your own mental health. If you’re unsure, try some new things until you find something you love.
5. Get enough rest; address underlying causes of lack of rest: I love my sleep but also work late a lot as my house is nice and quiet. If you’re burning the candle at both ends, try to set more healthy boundaries or enlist expert help if your sleep issues are more difficult to solve.
6. Seek healthier food that you love. Eat more of it: We have busy lives and when you’re eating on the hop, junk food is quick, convenient and cheap. Take steps to plan ahead as far as possible, try new healthy food and then add it into your diet. If you’re really brave, cut out sugar for a few weeks so you rediscover how naturally sweet and tasty healthy food is, as refined sugar dulls your sweet sensors!
7. Find exercise that you find fun. Do more of it: There are so many options now to exercise and you can get the gym on prescription from the doctor under certain circumstances. Try something new or rediscover something you used to love. Plan it into your weekly schedule.
8. Make connections with likeminded people. Be brave and take the first step: Social media is great for this, there’s a group for everything. I’ve met loads of fantastic people since the world moved to zoom and I started to actively seek out like minded people who enjoy the things I do. You do need to be brave. Once you have been brave a few times, walking into a room of unknown people or pressing the ‘join meeting’ button, isn’t quite so scary.
9. Spend time in nature and undertake other mindful practices: I admit I’m partial to a bit of tree hugging and forest bathing, which is not for everyone, but time in nature is very grounding and excellent for mental health. So are practices such as mindfulness colouring, meditation and journaling. Something where you can turn your brain off and just be in the moment, is so restorative.
10. Develop a positive mindset, go with the flow and have an attitude of gratitude: Yes I know I’ve thrown 3 in for number 10 but they are all important! Positive outlooks and finding those silver linings are amazingly helpful for mindset. Similarly, going with the flow, living in the present and not trying to control everything around you is equally freeing. My mantra is, ‘it could always be worse’ and whilst practicing my attitude of gratitude, I always reflect on situations where it would indeed be worse. I generally conclude on how lucky I am that it’s not that bad. As well as considering all the wonderful things I have to be thankful for.
I hope that these 10 Top Mental Health Tips have allowed you some reflection time for your situation and enabled you to consider where to focus your time moving forward. If you need further support, those in education can access Education Support and everyone can access The Samaritans.
Thanks for reading.
Lynn
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