MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING
JANUARY IS FINALLY OVER - BRING ON FEEL GOOD FEBRUARY
January always feels like the longest month of the year. Everyone is back to work and school after the festive break, the weather is miserable, the TV is filled with adverts for holidays we can’t afford and we are either battling through Dry January, Veganuary, a diet and fitness regime or punishing ourselves for falling off the wagon and not managing to keep up those challenging New Year resolutions. In short, it can be a very tough month to focus on our mental health and wellbeing.
A great way to shake off the January blues is to embrace Feel Good February. After the excesses of December and the restraint of January it is time for a more reflective month to take stock of the things we appreciate and enjoy in our everyday lives in small quiet ways linked to the five ways of wellbeing:
Learn new skills, practice mindfulness, connect with others, be physically active and give to others.
Learn something new: This does not need to be something worthy or high achieving. For Feelgood February I am encouraging connecting with your childhood self to remember your favourite time wasting activity. Daydreaming? Doodling? Jigsaw puzzles? Painting? Playing with modelling clay? Decorating cupcakes? Re-embrace that activity in whatever way you wish. If you want to make it more grown up now then by all means do, but if you simply want to spend an afternoon colouring in with a new packet of felt tips then do it. Re-learning something about yourself is just as important as learning something new.
‘IF THIS ISN’T NICE, I DON’T KNOW WHAT IS’
Practice Mindfulness: We hear a lot about mindfulness and being present in the moment but it is not always easy to do. The writer Kurt Vonnegut once shared a story about his uncle Alex who was a great advocate for noticing when we are happy - something we could all adopt. Vonnegut talked of simple pleasures such as a cool glass of lemonade on a really hot day, the delicious whiff of a bakery as we walk past or hearing a neighbour playing the piano really well. Upon noting this his Uncle Alex would say out loud ‘If this isn’t nice, I don’t know what is.’ The advice is not to go actively seeking these moments but instead to practise being more adept at noticing them and then to consciously mark them out in a mindful manner. Try moving those subconscious fleeting thoughts of noting nice things into a daily collection of tiny celebrations of mindful moments.
Connecting with others: Taking the power of positivity a step further could be sharing the thing which has brought you joy with others. From drawing someone else’s attention to the rainbow or sunset you have spotted to making a habit of meeting a friend for a ‘positivity fest’ where you each make a point of sharing things which have made you happy or doing something indulgent, fun or life affirming. If you need some prompts to find your positivity then why not seek out a joke, a photo which makes you smile, a clipping of a good news story from a newspaper or magazine or race to be the first to spot a sign of spring. In the same way as a problem shared is a problem halved so a joyful piece of news shared is a joyful thing doubled!
DON’T STOP MOVING!
Be Active: Yes, get moving, but do it Feel Good February style! That could be kitchen dancing, getting out the skipping rope, having a snowball fight or building a snowman, jumping in puddles, going bowling, or heading along to your local yoga class. Take a walk on a windswept beach, find your local wild swimming group and join them for a dip or just wrap up warm and get out for a brisk walk around the park. Give to others: Recognising our strengths and qualities is often something we struggle with. A fear of seeming smug or conceited can prevent us from celebrating ourselves and have us being overly modest when others recognise them. A way of working towards changing this can be offering compliments to others when you note something they do well and encouraging them to accept them. A gracious ‘thank you so much for noticing’ can have both the person offering and the person receiving a compliment feeling good.
Have a great Feel Good February - and remember to pack in as much fun in to the 29 days as you can!