No-one is going to take care of your mental health but you
Katie Piper stars in Celebrity Supply Teachers and tells Georgia Humphreys why it’s important to teach youngsters to care for their own mental wellbeing
IF THERE’S one thing that has helped Katie Piper when it comes to her wellbeing, it’s “not losing faith in how strong the mind can be”.
The 36-year-old presenter, author, activist and model has been through devastating times – she suffered life-changing burns in an acid attack in March 2008, and has since undergone around 250 operations.
Remembering “how in control you actually are of the mind and the body” is important, she continues, “because sometimes moments of your life are taken out of your control.
“But it’s what you do with it afterwards that will truly count or have the biggest impact.”
Hampshire-born Katie – who has written memoirs and self-help books – is passionate about keeping the conversation about wellbeing open at home, where she lives with her husband, carpenter Richard Sutton, and their two children, six-year-old Belle and two-year-old Penelope.
Now, she has decided to share the relaxation techniques and rituals she does with her daughters on TV, in CBBC’s Celebrity Supply Teacher.
Loosely based around the primary curriculum, there are 20 10-minute episodes covering topics such as science, English, geography, dance, history, and cookery.
Katie’s subject is wellbeing, something which she says schools are “getting a lot better” at.
“At my children’s school, they do meditation, they do yoga,” she notes.
“It was even part of the home-schooling, so I was actually really pleased that we are, as a society, recognising that mental and physical health are very equal.”
Taking over the classroom in Celebrity Supply Teacher, she talks about the benefits of practising gratitude; for example, writing down what you are grateful for each day in a journal, as well as how you can use breathing to calm yourself down.
“When you look back over things like gratitude journals, it gives you perspective, it helps you reflect in a more positive way rather than in a negative way. “That’s why it’s such a good ritual because it’s not just about doing it at that time, it’s about creating the material that you can come back to.”
The last few months have obviously been a stressful and anxious time for everyone. Has Katie been using these sorts of relaxation methods herself even more than normal lately? “Yeah, and I think it’s been really important to be mindful and check in with yourself and go, ‘Actually, what I need to do is stop overthinking this, pause, go out in the garden, have a coffee, breathe or just think about what’s happening today’ – don’t go beyond today.
“It’s just being mindful and checking in with yourself and saying, ‘Am I overwhelming myself? Is it necessary?’
“And that’s the thing – no-one is going to take care of your mental health but you, it is your own responsibility.”
One positive of lockdown is that it has given us “the most valuable currency of all, which is time” she says.
“And, if you’re a parent, time with your children is priceless, particularly if you’re a working parent; you’re never going to get this time to be at every mealtime and every bedtime again.”