How to feel better. Part 1.

When you experience dramatic changes in your life, your coping strategies often also need to change.

With everything that we’ve experienced over the last 2.5 years, it’s not surprising if you’ve been feeling… just not quite yourself.

Perhaps you’re not at the stage where you’re feeling awful, depressed or completely overwhelmed, but perhaps, you might not be feeling quite like the thriving you that you remember.

If this is you, here’s one thought and one tip that might help you to feel just a little bit better this week.

💭One thought:

The experience of the last 2.5 years is undoubtably a traumatic one. We’re living through an incredibly unsettling period of time and as much as we’ve worked to cope through lockdowns, travel restrictions, racial tension, climate change, inflation and the war in Ukraine (to name just a few things!), it’s important to remember that what happens around us, dramatically impacts our mental health.

In the face of such life changing events, our pre-existing coping mechanisms may not actually work anymore: alongside a dramatic external change, something within us also needs to change to be able to keep up with all that's presenting around us.

In essence, when things change, our self-care strategies can benefit from an examination and perhaps some revamping.

💡One tip:

1. Write down a list of all the strategies that you employ to help you in your self-care.

Eg.

• I practice yoga 3-5 times a week
• I journal (almost) daily
• I walk my dog every day
• I try to stay way from my phone after 9pm
• Etc

2. Now, go through your list and highlight what still feels really helpful to you. Draw something like a big shiny star next to these strategies to celebrate your efforts!

3. Then, highlight what you’re doing purely out of habit, and, what perhaps may no longer be having a positive impact on your wellbeing.

4. From there, take one long breath and ask yourself, “what else would be helpful for me?”

Don't think too deeply, allow yourself to capture whatever comes to mind, regardless of how unrealistic the idea may seem!

And repeat this question to brainstorm a list of new activities, strategies, routines, that your intuition naturally brings to the surface.

5. Take a look at your new list. Is there anything you can implement this week?

~

If you found this post helpful, make sure you've signed up for our newsletter HERE to ensure you don't miss out on these mental health resources in the future.