Recommended Wellbeing Resources
A recommended collection of wellbeing resources and activities that helped me/are helping me in my wellbeing journey.
Disclaimer: I am not suggesting that everything listed below will apply to everyone but choose what relates to you and you find helps you. I am also always interested in hearing from people on what helps/helped them in their wellbeing journey- so feel free to send me a message via the contact form.
How to stop the cycle of worry/anxiety/negative thoughts
READ A GOOD BOOK
The Book of Overthinking (By Gwendoline Smith).
A recommended read for anyone who suffers from anxiety, ruminating, worry and catastrophe thinking. The book teaches you how to reframe your thoughts through cognitive behavioural theory. An easy and helpful bedtime or commute read.
How to Tidy Your Mind by (Anna Barnes)
Helps you identify and reduce the causes of your mental clutter. Mental clutter is anything in your head that takes up time and energy, and when there is too much the mind becomes exhausted.
I will add some further recommended reads in due course.
Relax and Recuperation
BOOK A GETAWAY
You are never to busy for a break. I went on a spa break to Greece, Corfu in winter this year. A few days away in beautiful surroundings does wonders for the mind, body and soul! Please feel free to message me if you want to know the name of the luxurious resort I stayed at - can't recommend it enough. Will upload some pictures to a new blog soon.
You are what you eat
MAKE HEALTHY SMOOTHIES
Its so easy when we are busy working to neglect our diet but if we don't fuel ourselves with nutritional food and drinks, our energy soon becomes depleted. I have made smoothies a part of my daily routine (note they are not a substitute for meals) I list one easy and tasty smoothie below which you can make in a nutri-bullet:
frozen pineapple chunks
spinach
banana
grated ginger
one spoon of vanilla protein powder
a teaspoon of tumeric
almond milk
You don't owe anyone anything
Curate your inner circle/friendships
By this of course I don't mean you break all friendships that you have but its been a good exercise for me to revaluate who I bring into my inner circle. I am a definitely guilty of letting too many people into my inner circle but as I am learning to make healthier boundaries for myself, I am choosing whom I want to form part of my inner circle.
Life Admin
DECLUTTER YOUR LIFE
One thing that helped in preventing me from dwelling on bad past memories was to have declutter sessions to remove any items, documents, clothes, photos etc I possessed which I no longer needed or didn't serve me. Its so easy to hoard things we think we may need or don't want to get rid of, but in fact they only prevent us from moving on or feeling good about ourselves/our experiences. I am keeping this quite generic in terms of how and what I decluttered in my life because its something I hope to touch on in a future blog when I am ready.
Clear the mental fog
MEDITATION
Incorporating even a few minutes of meditation in the morning or evening as part of your daily routine can help to centre yourself and calm your mind. If you are not one of those people who can meditate in silence, try a guided meditation on YouTube or some calming music in the background.
Maintain your mental and physical health
DAILY WALK OR RUN
Since the pandemic hit and access to the gym was not always a given, it has encouraged us to take advantage of our surroundings and go for daily walks, jogs or runs. Breathing in fresh air, increasing our step count whilst we work from home and keeping fit, the benefits of this activity are endless. Never think you are too busy to incorporate a 30 minute slot in your daily routine. For me personally, I like going for daily walks, jogs or runs as it is some me time and I can switch off from everything that is going on mentally.
You are not alone
SEEK HELP WHEN YOU ARE SUFFERING
Don't neglect your mental health - you wouldn't let a physical wound go untreated so apply the same action to your mental wounds. There are many amazing organisations/health professionals you can contact in the first instance, when you or a loved one are battling with your mental health and some even offer emergency support such as local crisis teams which are funded by the NHS. I list a broad range of organisations/charities below in case you are or know someone suffering with mental health issues:
- Mind
- Bipolar UK - helping people with manic depression or bipolar disorder
- The Samaritans - confidential support for people suffering with distress or despair
- Calm - campaign against living miserably
-Young minds - for young adults and children
- Rethink
- Anxiety UK - If you have been diagnosed with an anxiety condition
- No Panic - support for sufferers of panic attacks and OCD
- Refuge - advice on dealing with domestic violence issues
- Rape Crisis
If you don't feel comfortable talking to a stranger, try to confide in your family or friends first or even your GP.
Seeking help is a sign of strength.
Glow up
SKINCARE
In the last year as part of my self care and wellbeing journey I have invested in good skincare. I am not one for expensive brands and I was introduced to the Ordinary Skincare, Avene and La Roche- Posay by my sister and they have been a gamechanger in improving my skin (i sometimes suffer from hormonal breakouts) and part of my morning and nighttime pampering ritual.
The products I use in order are:
La Roche-Posay Soothing Lotion - 200ml - use as a toner with a cotton pad all over the face and neck area
The Ordinary -Marine Hylarounics - 30ml - apply a few drops to face after toner and before creams
The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid - 30ml - apply a few drops after the Marine Hylarounics
Avene Tolerance Extreme Emulsion - 50ml - apply as a cream after the Hylarounic Acid
100% Organic Cold-Pressed Rose Hip Seed Oil after the above (only at night time)
If I am suffering from a breakout, I use a a few drops of the Ordinary Niacinamide -30ml, before applying the creams in the skincare ritual above and it reduces the flare up.
Remain present
MINDFUL COLOURING
A very inexpensive but highly effective activity. I bought an adult colouring books from The Works but you can find them even in Poundland/Home Bargains etc or amazon. There are around 50 pages in my book and each page takes around 30-60 mins to colour as being a perfectionist I like to ensure there is no white space. Whenever I have racing thoughts or feel myself zoning out I colour a page. Seeing the different colours on the page also enhances a better mood.