3 of the Best Ways to Support Your Mental Health
Often women come to me knowing that something is missing from their life but they don't know what or how to go about fixing it to feel more happy, confident and fulfilled.
So in light of this and the fact it's World Mental Health Day on 10th October I want to explore three tips with you.
They are 3 of the best tips, backed up by research, on how to look after your mental health.
1. Learn to understand and manage your feelings
2. Talk to someone you trust for support
3. Try new things & Plan nice things to look forward to
Helping women to make a plan of action to support themselves to have good mental health is fundamental to any coaching course or program that I run.
So let me tell you more about how I help women in these 3 areas and how you can help yourself too:
Learning to understand and manage your feelings
Awareness of how you see yourself and how you're feeling in day to day life is key to your mental health.
I encourage you to check in as to whether you are being your own biggest cheerleader or your own worst critic.
A good way to start to do this is with a new notes page on your phone or a lovely notebook. Note down any negative thoughts and feelings you have about yourself each day. Then practice reframing them into more positive thoughts.
It's super important to talk to yourself with kindness and compassion as you would to your own friend or child. So I love to recommend rituals and routines to help you explore this and more.
Trying out different tools and techniques like the one above will help you find out which you enjoy and which help you the most. It's amazing how much better you can feel about your life and yourself when you are clearer on what you're feeling and why.
Taking some time to get to know what you enjoy and what's important to you is so empowering and really lifts your mood too.
2. Talking to someone you trust for support
It's a real relief to share how you're feeling and why. Straight away you'll feel more at ease because you'll feel less alone. And it allows you to process your negative emotions which is so powerful as it means you can learn from them, let them go and move on.
Life is so busy and you have so many roles and responsibilities that you can find it easier to have a coach to partner and chat with who is available to talk to you consistently and regularly rather than a friend or family member.
And it's not just because of the logistics. It's also impartial advice and because as a coach I'm trained to listen, really listen, and to guide you to reach your own decisions rather than give you set solutions. You are the expert of you.
With coaching you're being supported. But you're also being guided and empowered so you can coach yourself in the future.
By learning more about yourself you will find you stick to doing the things that help you the most. It's amazing to find what you need that also gives you joy and energy.
It's a gamechanger as you no longer feel like you're just trying to fit in the things that are deemed to be good for you.
Me time and self care is NOT about feeling you have another thing you 'should' do. No one wants another thing to tick of the list and get done. That isn't fun at all!
3. Try new things & Plan nice things to look forward to
If you're not happy with your life and yourself right now, know that you can change things for the better.
Start thinking and believing that you can improve how you think and feel and how you spend your time and energy.
Think about what bothers you most right now and come up with a few new ideas to try out. Jot them down on the notes in your phone or in your notebook.
For example, if you feel like "I don't get any time to myself."
Take yourself to a coffee shop or out for a walk. Take a book or a journal or listen to an audio book or a podcast or the radio even.
If you need some help to do it, book in some time to do it together with another person or a group of people.
Committing to someone else really does help us to make it happen. Even if we don't make time to do it in advance we will do it in the time we have booked to be together and either way that is OK. We've made it happen! Hooray!
I hope that these tips have helped you.
If you'd like more help from me you can book a call with me here, come and chat to me on Instagram here.
If you're interested in being part of a group of women that are working on this together then you can join my Vision Board course and Dream & Do community which is full of women who are looking to live a life they love. You can find out more here.
If you would like to read more about the mental health foundation click here
Happy World Mental Health Day,
Rebecca
