As the summer holidays begin, we take the time to do focus on our bodies, cut off the stress of appointments and switch off from our devices. But we don’t always pay attention to our minds, they need cleaning too! Here are some tips.
Make Time to Do What You Love
List all the good things you have in life, past or present. With a bit of luck this should return quite a set! For now, let’s limit that to your top 10. The important task is to incorporate whatever fulfils you, or that you find fulfilling or happy.
Odds are, there are things here that you haven’t done in some time. There are presumably others that you wish you could do however you don’t have the opportunity or the cash. Be that as it may, remember to search for simple actions as well: perhaps you completely overlooked that you like to clear out your cupboards. Or take up journalling!
Utilise this as a guide, to notice the number of the things you love. Making a plan to do some of those, like a vacation a year from now, can give you the feeling that something changed. Incorporate any seemingly insignificant details you can, however don’t feel awful on the off chance that you can’t fit everything in; it’s fine to have a few pastimes that you’re effectively seeking after and others that are in a lower priority status for the time being. There is no shame.
Silence Self-Criticism
We all have negative musings now and then. It’s called your inner saboteur, that keeps telling you all the things you can’t or aren’t.
Luckily, there are tons of approaches to manage the self-criticism in ways that leave you feeling empowered, as opposed to more terrible. One basic way is the “stopping stupid thoughts” worksheet from Mental Health America. This approach allows you to recognise your inner thoughts and write them down. You then compose a comparing good though, similar to what you may say to a friend who says that negative thing regarding themselves.
If your concern is with tension or stress, use this flowchart to understand that concern better. You’ll find if this is really something that you should worry about and if so, how to set your mind to discovering different way to go.
Make Time to Think
You don’t need to meditate to clear your psyche, yet it does merit an attempt. Applications like Calm and Headspace can help you practice. Check out their offers, as they have extended trial periods now to support for the Covid-19 impacts to mental health.
Alternatively, you can also become a little more mindful of your daily life. At its simplest form, it’s nothing more than noticing each step of what you do. I like doing this as I brush my teeth or as I shower. Feeling everything that happens to me, and stopping my mind to wander to other subjects.
You can clear your brain any way you like. Runners go on the road to keep their mind focused, music lovers may put on a record and tune into the lyrics. Perhaps what loosens up your brain is dealing with a tedious undertaking, such as sewing or doing the dishes. Journalling is a great way to do this. Check my store for templates.
Stop Tech Habits
Our mobiles are both extraordinary and horrible for our emotional well-being. We place such a reliance on them to be entertained, informed, and to keep in touch with loved ones, that they are often the thing that you pick up first in the morning and the last at night.
However, this can have an addictive result. Do we really need them so much? Do they make us happy or are they also a cause of negative emotions? Think about that last photo you saw on Instagram or the last news article you read. I bet there wasn’t just fluffy thoughts that came through your mind.
Put your phone aside for calculated period. I’m not asking you to turn it off for the day, as it’s unrealistic and would likely cause you even more stress. But leave it in the living room when you start getting ready to bed, or in your bag when you arrive home from work. Making the habit of disconnecting will make you see the world in a different way.
Check In With Your Brain
It’s important to remember that a couple of tricks won’t do much without any assistance, it’s not enough to remove stress or other issues with your emotional wellness.
Research for specialists or talk with some experts. There are also lots online resources that help figure out areas to focus, and identify problems.
You can find support without going out through applications, chatbots like Woebot, or by messaging or video conferencing with a genuine advisor like myself.
