It seems like only yesterday there was a big push in the media and amongst celebrities to talk about, and do something about mental health and wellbeing.
When New Zealand went into lockdown on the 25th March there were an estimated 2.6 billion people in lockdown around the world, it’s probably more now.
The more this goes on, it is the mental health of humans around the world which is beginning to concern me more than any virus. I know I have struggled.
So what can we do? Well, I’m not going to suggest an uprising or flouting of the rules we’ve been given, whether I agree with the current approach or not.
But there are things that we should and can be doing for our own mental health and wellbeing:
- Get some daily vitamin D. I used to work for a natural health company for two years and know very well the importance to human health of getting some sunshine on your skin every day. It’s vital to us living and being healthy. Even 20 minutes a day makes an enormous difference.
- Go for a regular walk, run or bike ride (within the rules), obviously stay local… but we need exercise for both our physical and mental wellbeing.
- Ground yourself – get your bare feet in the grass or on the beach, there are scientific reasons this is beneficial to your health but in short it helps reduce anxiety.
- Talk to someone. I’m lucky that I don’t live alone but I still need to talk to someone else from time to time, I find I’ve been keeping in contact with my mum much more recently.
- Take time for yourself, if you’re in a busy household it can be hard to get time for yourself, it can be seen as a luxury – but it’s not, it’s needed. Whatever your jam is, make sure to carve out some time for it.
- Try and keep a routine. This helps your subconscious brain by knowing what’s coming, rather than feeling in chaos due to randomness – i.e. not knowing whether or not you’re going to get dressed today!
- Accept that it’s OK to have good and bad days, you can’t be happy all the time – I know I’ve been very up and down the past two weeks especially.
If you have any tips that you have found helpful, please get in touch and let me know. We’re all in this together.
Stay well.
If you enjoyed this post, sign up for Strategic Sundays to get the latest one into your inbox every Sunday.
(Unsubscribe anytime, I’ll never share your data with anyone.)
