October 10th is World Mental Health Day as observed by the World Health Organization (WHO). I think we could all use some help with our mental health about now so here are a few of my favorite mental health tips in the style of an infographic!
On Taking Breaks
On Things That Have Helped Me While (Mostly) Stuck at Home
On Mourning During the Coronavirus
On Gratitude During Tough Times (Aka Coronavirus Thoughts)
On Fear During the Coronavirus
Oh man, fear can be a beast! It can get right on in there, take over, and control everything. If we let it.
Fear is our most primal emotion. Absolutely necessary for survival. Yet, we live in a time when there’s actually the least amount of threat to our survival in history. Still we experience the highest levels of fear and stress.
Mindful Monday: How to Reflect
We often think of mindfulness as only focusing on exactly what’s happening in the present moment. However, the definition that’s used in mindfulness research is “the self-regulation of attention with an attitude of curiosity, openness, and acceptance.” This is helpful because at times it’s necessary for our attention to be focused on the past and/or preparing for the future. If we never reflect on our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and experiences, we’d never learn from them. And if we never thought about our hopes, dreams, and plans for the future we’d have nothing to live for.
Mindful Monday: Gratitude Walks
A “gratitude walk” (or run, bike ride, drive, whatever) is like mindful walking, but takes it up a notch. It’s setting the intention to notice things in the moment that you like and appreciate around you as you move.
On Treating Yo' Self... For Free
So I started thinking about how to treat myself without spending as much money. Then I started thinking about how some people literally have zero extra dollars to spend on anything other than the necessities so how can they treat themselves for free. And even if we have that extra money, spending it doesn’t always equal true indulgence. I won’t bore you with the entire thought process, but eventually I got to the place where I started thinking about how we can treat yo’ selves whether we have money or not.
On PTSD Support for Veterans
Sometimes saying thank you never feels like enough. So this Veteran’s Day I’d like to also be of service. Approximately 11-30% of veterans suffer from PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and many more experience other mental health issues. While PTSD is becoming more commonly talked about, many still don’t know much about it and many suffer in silence.
On Goodbyes (How to Mourn Anything and Everything)
This is why mourning is so important, even though it’s not something we talk much about in this larger Western culture. We think of mourning as that thing that happens after a death or the end of a romantic relationship. But mourning is a constant process as we’re always losing things that are important (to varying degrees) to us.
Mindful Monday: How to Accept Things
Last week I talked more about what acceptance actually is. Which is all great and dandy. But how the heck do we do it?
There was a point in my life, before I became an acceptance master. Who am I kidding?! I’m a hard core work in progress on this one.
But there was a point when I didn’t understand this concept in the slightest. So what did I do? What any modern day human does; I googled “how to accept things.” And every other form of that phrase I could think of. I’m nothing if not thorough in my research. But it didn’t help at all. Google failed me! I was no closer to knowing how to accept anything.
Mindful Monday: Acceptance Doesn't Mean Letting Bad Things Happen
Acceptance has been on my mind more than usual lately as I’ve struggled to accept certain things in my life and the world as a whole. I’ve also noticed people around me and society as a whole struggle to accept what is. Through these observations, I realized that even though I’ve mentioned acceptance in many of my writings, I’ve never actually defined it or gone into much depth as to what I mean when I say acceptance.
Mindful Monday: Complaining
What the Actual Heck is Mindfulness?
I recently realized that as much as I talk about the importance of being mindful, I haven't been so mindful of explaining what the heck mindfulness actually is. And how to do it. Thus, I committed the cardinal sin of mindfulness. Assuming. I figured because "mindfulness" is so hot these days that everyone already knows what it is. But come to find out, not so much.
Mindful Monday: Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Mindful Monday: When It's Hard
On Napping
Gratitude is an Attitude
I know Thanksgiving is over (and that it can be a controversial holiday), but I’m still thinking about gratitude (Also, please excuse the cheesy title. My inner Dr. Suess loves rhyming.).
Gratitude isn’t something I only think about during the giving of thanks. It’s often on my mind because I know it’s a good thing.
How I Deal With the Suck
Awhile ago I wrote an article “How I Deal With People Who Suck.” At the same time I started an article entitled “How I Deal With the Suck.” When I say started, I mean that phrase is all I wrote. I thought after the last week and a half in my part of the world, it might be a good time to write the rest of it.