2 essential life skills to support your mental well-being
Whether you have a diagnosed mental health condition or not, none of us are immune from life’s stresses and strains and learning healthy coping strategies is key to living well.
I’m of the opinion that maintaining good mental wellbeing is a learned skill and not something that comes easy to us all. Fortunately with the right information and practice the following strategies can help create a happier and healthier you.
Mindfulness
The charity MIND describes mindfulness as “a technique you can learn which involves noticing what's happening in the present moment, without judgement”. It is the practice of taking time out to simply notice and examine your thoughts (1). Mindfulness practice is grounded in evidence with large trials showing more activation in the areas associated with positivity in the brain when practicing for only 10-15 minutes a day (2).
So how do you get started with this? There are many smartphone applications to help with mindfulness practice including the popular apps Headspace and Calm. If you have a Netflix subscription you will also have access to the series Headspace: Guide to Meditation and an interactive mindfulness exercise programme called Headspace: Unwind Your Mind where you can select how you are feeling and be directed to an appropriate mindfulness exercise. The Netflix series can be great to do on your own but is also suitable for the whole family to watch together.
If you want to take things one step further there is an excellent resource called the Oxford Mindfulness Foundation who run free weekly online mindfulness sessions, as well as more detailed mindfulness courses for a cost (3).
Gratitude practices
There is a growing body of evidence that people with a grateful mindset have lower levels of depression and anxiety and are more likely to have strong relationships and higher self-esteem (4). A simple way to get started with this is to get a journal or notebook and simply write down 2-3 things you are grateful for each day. If you prefer, you can purchase a specific gratitude journal of which there are many on the market. One I have found to be helpful is Rangan Chatterjee’s The Three Question Journal (5). The questions in this journal are also outlined in his podcast How To Make 2024 Your Best Year: 3 Questions To Ask Yourself Each Day so you can feel free to create your own journal without incurring any extra cost (6).
I hope you feel able to build these practices into your routine and with time and practice reap the benefits in the form of a calmer and happier mind.
References
