Self Care
Take an active role in your own health, well-being and happiness, particular in times of stress, prolonged stress and trauma.
You have four bodies to consider the well-being of: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Each can effect the other.
The five ways to Well-being…
Connect
Connect with the people around you. Family, friends, colleagues, neighbours. At home, work, school or in your local community. Think of these as the cornerstones of your life and invest time in developing them. Building these connections will support and enrich you every day. Connect also with the non-human Peoples: Stone (mountains, oceans), Plants, Standing (Trees), and Animals. Mother Earth. Connect with your inner child, heal and champion them. Connect to spirit, your guardians, guides, helpers and ancestors.
Be Active
Go for a walk or run. Step outside. Cycle. Play a game. Dance. Exercising makes you feel good. Most importantly, discover a physical activity you enjoy and that suits your mobility and fitness. Moving the physical body, helps support the emotional body which is part of the connective tissue under the skin. Stroking the skin can help release trapped emotions from the emotional body. Other therapies such as massage, acupuncture, EFT etc. can support you.
Give
Do something nice for a friend, or a stranger. Thank someone. Smile. Volunteer your time. Join a community group. Look out, as well as in (are you being nice to yourself?) Seeing yourself, and your happiness, linked to the wider community can be incredibly rewarding and creates connections with the people around you.
Take Notice
Be curious. Catch sight of the beautiful. Remark on the unusual. Notice the changing seasons. Savour the moment, whether you are walking to work, eating lunch or talking to friends. Be aware of the world around you (external) and what you are feeling (internal world). Reflecting on your experiences will help you appreciate what matters to you. Being in the present moment, where the mind is with the body, brings a sense of inner peace and safety. The mind sometimes needs a ‘doing task’ to be present, ask it to use your 5 senses to tell you about the experience of the here and now. Take notice of your other senses such as intuition, foresight, trust, empathy and so on.
Keep Learning
Try something new. Rediscover an old interest. Sign up for that course. Take on a different responsibility at work. Fix a bike. Learn to play an instrument or how to cook a favourite food. Set a challenge you will enjoy achieving. Learning new things will make you more confident as well as being fun. Find out more about your hidden self, your unconscious. What limited self beliefs do you have about yourself? What are your gifts and talents, are you following your inner compass. Psychoeducation and shamanism can support this learning.
Researched & Developed by New Economics Foundation
Risk factors to good mental health
Circumstances: e.g. Poverty, Isolation, sickness
Experiences: e.g. family mental illness, bullied, abused, trauma, stressful life events, risk taking behaviours
Common Features of Good mental health
Making the most of your potential
Engaging with family/work/community
Ability to learn
Ability to feel, express and manage emotions (positive and negative)
Ability to form and maintain good relationships with others
Ability to cope with & manage change and uncertainty
Do you use the self harm cycle as a coping mechanism?
Increase your…
Protective Factors
- Improve your relationship with yourself, and with others
- Ask for help
- Improve your problem solving skills
- Improve your decision making skills
- Improve your self worth
- Get involved in your community e.g. make friends, volunteer to help others, join sports groups
Resilience
- Learn new or improve your skills to cope with life stressors (emotional, social, financial)
- Learn or improve on your networking skills
- Learn or improve your resourcefulness
- Education itself – keeping learning
Emotional Freedom Technique for self care
Georgina McBurney 