As I sat in the garden listening to the wind in the trees and the birds singing, with my dog lying in contact with my leg, (to alert him, if I dare move) my brain often goes to a place in which I create analogies to explain things that feel pertinent to share.
Thinking positive mental health, which for me, is an everyday continual task, I visualised a picture of a large vertical tunnel, with an equally long ladder attached to its side. As you can imagine the bottom was a long way down and very dismal, dark and unappealing spot with the top opening out to light, sunshine and maybe the hustle and bustle of everyday life.
To create personal context, I have been in the pit at the bottom when my brain was unable to read, unable to notice danger and implement safety behaviours, were I felt numb and could not make decisions of any kind…. but hey, I am been at the top too, and all the wonderful feelings that occur in that mental space too.
But I only found out how to manage my mental health through reflection of what I had experienced in travelling up and down that ladder, and it is those small daily behaviours that both help me to climb and also to alert me when I am slipping.
But every action has to be a deliberate one, and the actions are different for each individual. I can only implement them whilst I am ladder bound however the more I take notice and implement the positive actions and acknowledge what the negative, unhelpful or draining ones are, the more I remain on the ladder. From the depth of the pit, it has be interventions beyond the ‘self’ and include medical support.
My actions can be as small as noticing/caring about what I look like before I leave the house, washing my hair, creating time to eat, making eye contact, watching nature… to name a few. This arms me with the ability to notice when I don’t do things and to notice when I need to do more. It is an internal gauge of self-care, emotional well being, positive mental health, me time.
Where are you on the ladder? What small thing could you do to move up a rung? Make a declaration of these things with a supportive friend, colleague, neighbour. This gives them permission to give you a nudge when you are perhaps slipping and helps to uphold commitment to your own self care.
justwanttobeayummymummy 