My Mental Wellness

Time to Talk from Time to Change is a great reminder that this should be the norm not the exception. We should talk to our friends and family about our thoughts and feelings and our mental wellness. 

It doesn't matter where or when we talk.  It can be a chat over a cup of tea or coffee with one person or in a room full of people who are there to talk.  It doesn’t even have to be in the same room.  It can be on the phone or Skype/facetime/Alexa (or however you video call). 

 What Time to talk reminds me is that lots of people are still nervous to talk about their mental wellness.  I'm deliberately using the term mental wellness because although we all have mental health when I use the words “mental health” people often hear “mental health issues”.  Our mental wellness or lets even say mental fitness is something that changes as often as our physical fitness.  I had a seven-year holiday from the gym and my physical fitness certainly suffered.  I hope that I don’t also take a seven-year holiday from my mind’s gym.  Or indeed am I?  What do I do to keep my mental fitness as close to its peak as possible? 

Firstly I do talk to people about their mental wellness (that’s part of my job) but I also feel that I have plenty of people that I can talk to about my own mental wellness.  This ranges from a close confiding relationship with my wife to genuinely great friends in my personal and professional life.  Talking about mental wellness or even thinking about crafting that conversation can be difficult.  In fact Time to change have some great tips for talking if it’s something you need to reflect on.  Remember conversations don’t have to start on the topic of mental health, they can be about anything and often it’s the things that are happening in our lives that we need to talk about. 

I should probably take a step back at this point and reflect that one of the reasons I feel open to talk is that I understand what Mental Health is.  If you honestly can’t say that you can say the same then this is a great video to explain what it is if I’m not doing a good enough job. 

Our physical and mental wellness are in my opinion completely tied together.  And on that topic I can admit to feeling much better now that I am making sure that I get sufficient exercise.  I’m not a marathon runner and I certainly don’t take it to extremes.  I hit the gym three times a week and I always feel a sense of achievement and also a physical uplift that also improves my happiness.  I suppose on this topic as well I also have my faithful puppy (Tilly) who I have to walk on a daily basis.  Indeed on the topic of Tilly she also helps my mental wellness in that there is quite literally no-one who is happier for me to walk in the room and simply be me.  With a little scratching behind her ears and a game of fetch thrown in at some point of course. 

But then it’s also all of the little things I do.  When I walk Tilly at the moment its dark and at one point I walk through my local park and I stop and look up at the stars and then we always walk towards the beautifully lit bandstand.  So basically, I am mindful.   Using the word mindful can switch people off but let’s break it down into what it is.  Firstly there’s a few different things you can do to be mindful.   

• Mindful breathing – focus on inhalation and exhalation.  I was given an apple watch for my birthday and that really helps me on that one! 
• Mindful observation – taking the time to pause and look at the world around you.  Like I do on my walks.  I have to say I also get an electronic fix that helps with that in the form of the Bing daily images which I have set up on my iphone and chromebook.  I love how they show places in the world that I’ve often never seen and sometimes I even end up looking them up. 
• Mindful eating – enjoy that meal don’t inhale it.  Taste it.  Enjoy it. 
• Mindful exercise – this can be in the form of a class or an app like CALM.  It can also be a sport (an hour on the archery range works for me!) or a hobby like painting or music. 

That leads me to something that’s easy to say but not east to do.  Do I do something that brings me joy?  What does this mean?  Have you got something in your life that you look forward too.  Not the holiday which is ages away but something you do at least weekly.  It can be anything but it’s something that really excites and engages you.  I’ve got a few hobbies that hit that for me.  Which helps to maintain my Mental Wellness. 

Also on the physical side – am I getting enough sleep?  That massively effects your mood.  The national sleep foundation have lots of articles on this topic.  This is another area where I use my apple watch to help me monitor my sleep levels. 

Hydration has been shown to have an impact on mood.  I try and drink water rather than too many soft drinks.  I personally hate tea and coffee so that helps. 

Let's also reflect on work.  I am an office worker.  Lots of my colleagues set themselves up for discomfort because quite simply they don’t make the simple changes to their desks/chairs that will avoid discomfort.  There’s plenty of advice available on how to do it (I’ve written most of it) but for whatever reason it doesn’t happen.  On top of that – how many people sit at their desks and eat lunch or sit on a chair and mess about on their mobile phone hunched uncomfortably.  Why not instead take a walk?  Give your eyes a rest from looking at electronic devices.  Maybe even talk to someone instead of using social media to contact them?  I’m guilty of this and it’s something I’m trying to work on. I’m also working on my work life balance as that’s something that I sometimes too easily let slip. 

I can’t say that I have all the answers to maintaining my Mental Wellness but I can honestly say that I do try.