Your mental fitness
Keeping your mental fitness in shape
and tips for the toolbox
Taking care of our mental health, often starts when we are feeling mentally unwell, reaching a point of crisis or difficulty.
Early intervention or even better, prevention as far as possible can be realisable. Effective treatments are available.
Catching a cold or virus
As we enter Autumn and Winter, we recognise that we may be more vulnerable to catching a cold, flu or virus. Some people may choose to protect themselves with extra vitamins, being careful about their healthy eating habits, reduce stress, spend as much time outdoors for fresh air, exercise, vitamin D as possible, others who may have underlying conditions or reduced immune systems may take a vaccination or similar. A person who has a long term health condition, e.g. diabetes, knows that to maintain their physical health they need to take care of themselves daily, monitoring blood glucose and taking any required medication, attending health checkups.
Our mental health can ebb and flow, sometimes it can be better than others. It can slide into mental ill health in the same way that we can catch a cold or flu or develop an illness. More prolonged and enduring conditions may require more maintenance in the form of medication, but good mental health is still possible. Learning to notice the signs of our mental health slipping, or catching a mental cold, and understanding how to manage it so we can recover and heal, can allow us to live the life that we want.
What do you do when you catch a virus like a cold or flu? Take some pain relief, maybe eat extra healthy food or take extra vitamins? Reduce your workload or take some time off work? Buy some soft tissues, chocolate? Rest more? Duvet dive with a box set? Absorb lots of TLC and care from friends and loved ones?
We recognise and respond to our physical needs and find ways to get our needs met. We know and have learned this is how we recover more quickly, this applies to our mental health too.
Things that help, can often feel difficult at first
Compassion is often defined as recognising that difficulty exists with a desire to end that difficulty. It is important to consider what your needs are and how do you get your needs met.
Knowing how to take care of our mental health, our mental fitness, maintaining our mental health immune system is possible. There are common themes and suggestions, but it is about learning this for yourself. What works for you? What sustains you? We recognise the couch to 5km programmes, but the equivalent of this for our mental fitness and health is possible.
Creating the space and time in your day and week for the things that keep you healthy, things that maintain your mental health is important. In CBT, we often talk about self care as putting on your oxygen mask. We are instructed in airplane safety demonstrations to put our own mask on before we help the person next to us, in the same way with our mental health we must take care of ourselves before we can care for those around us.
Top Tips
- Daily Routine and Structure, including things that give us a sense of achievement and pleasure. Eating and sleeping regularly
- Being kind to ourselves, how we are with ourselves, the tone of voice we use with our self,
- Giving yourself permission to find something or a period of time difficult, then you can create the space and opportunity to work through this
- What are your needs?
- Healthy Eating, food as nourishing, an act of self care.
- Exercise – walking, cycling, clubs.
- Being outside in nature, natural light helps to regulate our brains, can improve our sleep. Notice the detail, colours, sounds smells, what you can see, sensory things can ground us.
- Connecting with other people, in person, online if needed. Maybe joining a club, activity, meet up.
- Be creative, perhaps art, music, cooking, writing.
- It is ok to enjoy quiet time, time to reflect, a cuppa, a book, music, nature, the garden.
- Simple Knowing, with your innate wisdom, that this will pass, in the same way a cold or flu passes.
- Reduce Screen time
- Self care There can be common things that lots of people enjoy, but we are unique. What is the kindest, wisest thing for you?
- Meditation or conscious breathing, this is part of our soothing system. You don’t need a yoga mat, a meditation cushion, to do this for hours. Simply sit or stand, feel your feet grounded on the floor, lower your gaze or close your eyes, and bring your attention to your body – the place your feel your breath most, hand on your tummy if it helps and follow a few breaths as the enter and leave your body.
- Laughter and fun – this can release happy chemicals which positively impact our brain health, with others, a tv comedy, funny you tube clips etc.
- Reduce alcohol intake – Alcohol increases cortisol, this increases anxiety, disrupts our sleep, negatively impacts our immune systems.