I thought I would share with you some things that I have been thinking about recently for my own self-care and holistic well-being. I have a real awareness of what is important to me when thinking about self-care and what happens when this slips. Writing these things down in my journal really helps to flag up the importance of my daily and weekly routines that keep me physically and mentally well. I can also get a nice reminder of what helps me, because I too forget sometimes or feel I am too busy or tired to do the things I need to do to take care of me.
I have also been listening to a lot of audio books, one called Not another diet book by James Smith. It is a really interesting listen and although I am only half way through at the moment it has helped me to consider sustainability of my self-care practices. He talks about habits and changing habits slowly over time. He says that two people can have the same goal, one will start to make changes and move towards these and the other may make no changes, or such big changes they are not sustainable and soon revert back to that person’s usual behaviour. This made me think about self-care, we can all get into that ‘new year, new me’ mode, but do we keep it up? Maybe if you feel like we are into September and some of those changes you may have made at the beginning of the year have slipped or did some time ago, then why not look at what your goals are or the life style changes you want to make? Consider the habits you want to change to get there. Just little sustainable changes. This can make such a difference.
Considering changing habits around mental health and whether that is changing thought patterns and coping strategies, or maybe lifestyle changes that will impact helping you to maintain good mental health, it’s worth a bit of space to think about. Yoga is something I practice every day, even if I can only fit in a 20 minute session. I know through this regular mindful practice it will help reduce my anxiety and help me cope with the constant changes in life! Regular yoga practice has been proven to improve the impact of PTSD and anxiety. Moving your body, mindfully reduces the stress hormones in your body and improves mood, reducing the amount of anxiety attacks and improving the ability to cope with stress.
The following Tedtalk I found really interesting, talking about the impact of movement on mental health. Please give this a watch, he talks about this in a really inspiring way and reminded me why I am going to go to maintain my exercise sessions this week and not cancel them!
How to manage your mental health
He also talks about breathing, at times it can be harder to move our bodies and not always an option, however he does talk about the breath and how this can impact on the mind. So maybe taking some time for mindful meditation. Below is a link for a 20 minute meditation, I really like the Mindful Movement, they have plenty of meditations if you like this one. Maybe time for a little break? Giving yourself 20 minutes, or even 5, can help you to reduce stress, relax and be able to manage your well-being in a way that you want to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2zdUXve6fQ 20 Minute Mindfulness Meditation for Being Present / Mindful Movement
I hope this has helped as a little reminder to take care of you,
Namaste
Joanne x x
Joanne Lawrence
www.counselling-with-joanne.co.uk
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