Mental Health Awareness week falls on the first week of October and so I would love to share some really useful self care tools that anyone can use themselves.
Poor mental health is incredibly common, in fact at least 1 in 6 workers experience symptoms of poor mental health (‘Mind’ charity facts). It is likely if you are not experiencing issues yourself that someone you know will be; whether you know about it and are helping them or they are dealing with it alone.
Either way mental health self care is important for EVERYONE. It is as essential as our physical health because mental health struggles can affect day to day activities; our relationships with others and ourselves, our productivity at home and work, deflate our interests and leave us feeling hopeless. These are just a few of the symptoms and affects poor mental health can take.
If you or someone you know is experiencing any symptoms such as the above there is always someone to speak to and you are never alone. I have listed some resources/contacts at the bottom.
I sincerely hope you find yourself well and in a brighter place soon🌞
CREATE A TOOLKIT!🛠
I have over time created a ‘toolkit’ of help and techniques that are great at easing and helping cope in tough times and to everyday maintain my mental health.
Hopefully these might give you some outlets that you can use should you want to.
These tools include:
- Yoga, Meditation and breathing
- Music
- Reading info
- A go to notebook of things that make me happy
- Useful contacts
YOGA AND MEDITATION🙆♀️
I absolutely adore ‘Yoga with Adrienne’ on you tube. She is fantastic! There are tonnes of videos on her channel that tailor yoga to every stage, total beginner or pro and tailors sessions to particular issues. There are super short ones and hour long sessions depending on your time available. I save the link or add to my favourites any that I really enjoyed or found really useful so I can easily access them whenever.
She also has videos that take you through meditation practises and breathing techniques that allow you to learn to listen to your body and totally unwind.
Some examples of ‘yoga with Adrienne’
MUSIC 🎶
Some people find that silence is a must for unwinding and relaxing as they can’t have any distractions. Personally, I find it more effective to have something to focus on and block everything else out. That may be to meditate in front of a lit candle and focus on the moving flame or to close my eyes and pay attention to my body’s position and breathing. I always need music however!
I will use Spotify, YouTube or ‘calm’ to have sound in the room with me. Continuous instrumental is typically my favourite and repetitive sounds are generally better when trying to meditate as it’s not so stimulating on the mind.
Calm is an app available to download onto your phone and the free version even has a lot of tracks to listen to. Falling rain, thunderstorms, a train travelling on tracks, camp fires and more.
YouTube again is a fantastic resource and has a huge amount of music for relaxation. Searching simply “music for meditation” or “nature sounds” will bring up a lot of results-just make sure you pick one without adverts every 5 minutes!
A view of some sound tracks on the ‘calm’ app.
READING INFO📖
I love reading a good fiction book but sometimes reading information in books or online about others’ experiences with what you may be going through is incredibly helpful in ensuring you are not alone and that you can get through this. It is a great way to understand any symptoms you may be feeling and/or help you to recognise these behaviours in others. Knowledge is powerful, if you are able to recognise symptoms before they progress you can save yourself a lot of struggle before it gets more difficult and perhaps harder to tackle.
To understand mental health and symptoms follow the links at the bottom of this page.
A HAPPY NOTEBOOK📒
I created some time ago a ridiculously cute notebook of all the things that make me happy;
- Favourite films/tv shows
- Favourite books
- Favourite places to go
- Favourite things to do
- Things I am proud of myself for
- Things I want to do
- Contacts of those I can talk to
On my phone I have;
- Favourite music and videos
- Photos and memories
Together it makes a fantastic personal tool, I can look at it and see my personality on the pages and remind myself that that’s who I am. I can pick one of the films I love and stick it on the telly or be reminded of a place I love and go there for a walk alone or with a friend or family member.
Importantly it has a list of people I know I can talk to or hang out with.
The first page even has a little paragraph written to myself for reassurance if it’s a really tough time. If the reassurance comes from you in a happy place you know you can get there again.
My insanely cute fluffy happy notebook.
AROMATHERAPY 🌿
Aromatherapy is the use of essential oils to help improve psychological and physical wellbeing.
There are so many different oils and each have their own properties suited to an individuals current needs.
You can use them in many different ways;
- Add 8-10 drops to an electric or candle lit diffuser
- Add a few drops to a base oil e.g. melted coconut oil and use to massage or apply to pulse points at the wrists and temples
- Drop some on your pillow or wheat bag (be aware they may stain however)
- Add them to homemade hair masks or face masques
Some of the best oils for a healthy mind are;
- Bergamot- uplifting and grounding
- Lavender- may relieve nervous tension and relax breathing
- Clary sage- may ease tensions and control the stress hormone cortisol (not for use in pregnancy)
- Marjoram- may reduce headaches and nervousness (not for use in pregnancy)
- Frankincense- may relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety
**Please note: Only use essential oils from the second trimester and first check they are suitable for use in pregnancy.
Some great sources to purchase essential oils are listed below.
http://www.neph-aromatics.co.uk
https://www.nealsyardremedies.com
Enjoy exploring all the scents out there!!
Sending virtual love and wellbeing
Lucy, massage and beauty therapist at Vita skin spa xx
Further help and guidance:
You can find a list of helpful sources on the NHS website
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mental-health-helplines/
Mental health foundation- has an A-Z list of mental health issues that you can follow for support
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/a
-MIND provide advice support and guidance to anyone with a mental health problem.
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