MENTAL HEALTH - How do you “drive” yours?

Can you imagine being given a car when you’re just a youngster, and being told that THIS is the only car you’re going to have. For your whole life. For keeps. Never to be replaced. Imagine how you’d treat that car...

Would you race it round town? Miss it’s MOT dates? Let it rust? Or would you treat it kindly, maintain it’s shine, ensure it was running well?

Now think about the mind and body you have... the ONLY ones. For your whole life. For keeps. Never to be replaced.

Ok, enough of the analogies. You get the point. 😉. But it’s a good one to ponder; How well do I take care of my body and mind?

We are largely ok at recognising how to take care of our bodies. Nutrition, exercise, alcohol consumption etc. Even if we don’t follow such healthy patterns and practices as we feel would benefit us most, we tend to have a reasonable understanding of what “good” looks like.

So, what does a healthy MIN look like?

Calm, peaceful, untroubled... maybe

Active, alert, questioning... possibly

We can all probably agree on a fundamental point; we could ALL benefit from focussing on keeping our mental health strong. This is not to say that there’s something “wrong“ or “weak“ if we’re struggling with poor mental health... there can be a myriad of reasons, influences and contributory factors to low mood, anxiety and stress related conditions. In the very same way our physical health can flex and change dependent on circumstance, so can our mental health.

BUT, there are steps we can take to build resilience and positivity when it comes to our mental state. No.1 is recognising that our thoughts play a HUGE role in how we feel.

It’s not so much about trying to control your thoughts, as NOT allowing them to control you.

We are prone to spotting potential problems and negative outcomes by nature, but that doesn’t mean we have to nurture this tendency. There are many practices you might like to employ in order to ensure you spend greater time on positive thoughts than negative or unhelpful ones. Let me know if this is something you’d like to explore....

In the meantime, be aware of how you’re spending your focus and time; you may just decide to make a few adjustments to keep you “driving” your mental health in the right direction.

Finding moments of calm

Helping others

Moving you body

Learning something

Connecting with others....ALL help promote a positive sense of wellbeing

be healthy, stay safe