Why January was a good mental health month

As January comes to a close, I wanted to take some time to reflect on the first four weeks of 2018.

And it was a good one. My mental health is in a great place. I feel strong and prepared and ready for the year ahead. My January goals gave me focus and helped me to take small steps towards improving my mental health, and in turn my life.

Here's why January was a good mental health month:

I started going to the gym (again!). We all know that exercise has proven benefits for your mental health, but it's hard to keep the motivation up. This month I didn't pressurize myself. If I got to the gym once a week, that was a victory. And I'd encourage myself to do some squats or ab workouts before bed, just so I could say I did something most days. Rather than feeling guilty about not exercising enough, I focused on doing a little bit whenever I could. I also made sure I went to a class I liked, not one I felt I had to go to, with an instructor I liked. It's a change in attitude to see exercise not as something I had to do, but as something I wanted to.

Time with friends. After realising I was isolating myself and finding socialising hard, I made more of an effort to text friends regularly. Instead of letting weeks pass between contact, I'd message them and see how they are getting on. And I'd record my efforts in a daily tracker to make sure I didn't go more than a day without reaching out to someone. I also got to see an old friend I hadn't seen in nine months, and it was so much fun - like we'd never been apart at all. Definitely a boost to my social confidence.

But I also wasn't afraid to say no. Rather than feeling compelled to accept every social invite, I also said no when I needed to and put myself first.

Drinking enough water. I also kept a daily log of how much water I was drinking. While I'm good at sipping away when I'm in work, I usually neglect my water intake on weekends when I don't have my bottle of water in front of me. Staying hydrated definitely keeps my mind clear and helps me get through each day.

Cooked for myself. I love cooking, but between two jobs I usually don't get a lot of time for it. So instead I started to do meal prep on weekends and freeze dinners and lunches for the week. Always find a way to make room for the things you love in life.

Gratitude jar. Everyone should keep a gratitude jar or journal. Recording reasons to be thankful and gracious is humbling, and always reminds me why I should keep going. This month gratitude extended to friends, hugs, the most amazing homemade gin, and my two-year anniversary with my boyfriend.

Building my confidence in work. I've a rough few months in my work life, with my confidence in the office hitting a low just before Christmas. I wanted to tackle this in 2018, so I started a list. (You may have noticed I love lists and trackers). I kept a record of compliments, comments and positive achievements that happened all month. Reading back over the list reminds me that I am capable, and I am good enough. Don't let self-doubt get you down.

I wasn't afraid to treat myself. January can often be a tough month, and with that in mind, I decided to generously treat myself when I needed a pick-me-up. Whether it was a hot chocolate on a cold, stormy night, a new nail varnish, or a new desk organiser just because, I didn't sacrifice treats just because I had a savings goal this month. Remember that self care also means spending a bit of money on yourself sometimes.

 How was your January? Did you find that your January goals helped your mental health this month?

Until next time,

5 Good Things This Week

Today I am reflecting on the good things from the past seven days, and showing gratitude for what the universe has sent my way. With mental illness, its important to acknowledge that good days still occur and that the little things often play a huge role in our mental health.

5 Good Things:

1) Spent time designing and updating my bullet journal because being organised and feeling on top of things makes me happy.

2) Work was super busy on Thursday BUT I had an absolutely amazing day in the office anyway, and felt so proud of myself by the end of the day for staying on top of and managing everything that was thrown my way.

3) Went to a bookstore and lost a lot of time wandering around, discovering new books and picking out all the ones I'd love to own some day.

4) I cooked! And not just one meal. I made a healthy salmon stir fry, I made scrambled eggs and kale, I made a mean bolognese. Cooking calms me (even in a hot kitchen), and I love eating something I've prepared from scratch. Here's to more home cooked meals!!

5) I had a very chill day off on Saturday. I grabbed coffee with the boyfriend, had lunch in front of the rugby, and curled up in bed with a book and my favourite TV shows. It was the perfect way to spend my only day off in the week.


What were your 5 Good Things of the week?

Acts of Gratitude

"Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." - Marcel Proust

Never underestimate how inspiring a simple act of gratitude can be.

As I struggled to find appreciation this week, I was reminded that gratitude is not something we have to feel. While the self-help books continually urge us to be grateful for what we have, they often miss the bigger picture. Sometimes what we feel and how we act don’t have to be in sync.

Gratitude is a way of expressing our appreciation for the journey we're on. It’s easy to spout gratitude rhetoric.
“I’m grateful for the air I breathe and the spring in my step.” 
Who really wakes up first thing in the morning and thinks that?
My first thoughts are, “Thank God I didn’t sleep in and miss my alarm.”

Rhetoric is meaningless without grateful acts to back it up. So even though I have been feeling crap, alone and pretty ungrateful for my mental illness, I have shown others how much they mean to me.

Embracing Gratitude

For Appreciate the Journey month, I am turning to gratitude to foster my sense of appreciation.

Being thankful has long been lauded as an important tool to find contentment and happiness. The self care books are full of gratitude tips. It has popped up as a main theme in Self Care for Life, 50 Ways to Yay, Gratitude, Change Your Life One Day at a Time and The Flourish Handbook.

Today I'm going to look at two of these books and find ways that I can foster more gratitude in my own life.

50 Ways to Yay! by Alexi Panos promises to be a transformative tool that brings happiness to your life. With 50 practical tips, advice, missions and reflections, the book has a lot to offer. One of these tips is choosing to be grateful. Panos talks about a state of true gratitude and training your brain to find more of it. "Happiness is created by a moment-to-moment choice to be grateful."

Gratitude by Dani DiPirro is full of tips on how to show gratitude at home, work and even after a tough day. Mixing inspirational quotes with illustrations, it's the perfect go-to guide for finding happiness. The book suggests that the benefits of gratitude are enormous; and can even promote a healthy body. The Top 10 tips at the back of the book are my favourite, and I have summarised some of my favourites below.


Taking the tips from these two books I have compiled this list of how we can foster more gratitude -

- Keep a Gratitude Journal - write down three things you are grateful for everyday.