What

What are you doing to take care of your mental health?

For many of you, it is the summer holidays, so what better a time to consider what you are doing to take care of your mental and emotional health?

Now, if you are anything like I was 5-years ago; you might have a glass of wine on an evening, occasionally hit the gym (like, once a year!), or maybe you sit outside and read your book once every blue moon. The truth is, we all know we should be doing more to take care of ourselves, but we get stuck, claim to be “too busy”, lose the motivation, or even just forget!
 
It can be tough knowing what to do, or how to fit it in – so here are my top tips for taking care of yourself this summer:

• Set your alarm 15-minutes earlier than you would normally get up and start the day with a morning meditation. I recommend using ‘Insight Timer’ (this is not a paid promo!) as they have over 15,000 fantastic meditations for every occasion. If you’d prefer, you can just search “Short Morning Meditations” on YouTube.
• Ditch (or reduce) the caffeine by going decaf or no-caf. For many of you, this is just too big a sacrifice – but as a former barista, trust me, it is NOT as good for you as you might think it is. Decaf capps, lattes and flat-whites are just as tasty! Check out this article, but only if your open to changing your perspective: https://www.caffeineinformer.com/harmful-effects-of-caffeine
• Switch the TV off 15-30-minutes earlier on an evening and pick up a book, chat to your friends or partner, perhaps even listen to an audiobook or meditation. Again, check-out this article if you’d like to understand why: https://www.stronginstitute.com/resources/sleep-hygiene-tips-for-the-rei-sleep-program/habits-that-support-optimal-sleep.html
• Get more exercise! Go swimming, join the gym or a regular class, or even a morning/evening power walk. For some, this could be way out of your comfort zone – so instead, take some small steps to increasing your daily exercise. When I first got back into fitness, I started doing some longer dog walks, making the most of my garden and following high-impact, 10-minute exercise videos on YouTube.
• Practice a self-therapy! A few years ago, I learned about EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), but for me to tell you more about it, you need to have an open mind! EFT is a simple therapy that takes less than 5-minutes to learn, but can make the world of difference if you practice it for just 10-minutes a day! Check out this super short ‘how to’ video to find out more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOVTPtQEVKA

 
Let’s put a stop to the excuses and look after ourselves. In the words of my wise mother, if I was to offer you £10,000 to take care of your mental heath better, would you do it?