Hey guys and gals and welcome to another edition of my Movember series!
Before I get into this one, I want to thank the people who already donated to my Movember team. Reaching the goal of 100 euros is getting ever closer and you all know the reward 👨🏼🦰 A few of you reported that you’re unable to check out with any card. PayPal seems to be working, though, so try that instead.
After last time I covered the physical actions you can take to improve mental health, today I’ll share some specific tools and resources to get your mind in a state which will help you get over depression, anxiety, and panic attacks.
Meditation & Guided Walkthroughs
Dismissing meditation with “I can’t do it“ is a common initial reaction for people who haven’t tried it or didn’t make a serious attempt. Myself included. And I won’t lie, it’s hard. Just try to close your eyes and switch off your mind for 30 seconds. Pretty difficult, huh?
Did you notice how despite your best effort to simply stop thinking, an endless stream of thoughts still go through your mind. Just like it does all day long, yet most of the time you’re just not aware of it and so often your brain gets drowned into useless or even toxic thoughts and opinions.
Meditation is a great tool that will help you become conscious of the overwhelming stream of thoughts and switch off when necessary. It’s like a gym for the mind and as such you can only get better with practice.
How do you get started? There are so many ways and techniques that it’s hard for me to answer. My recommendation for a beginner would be to go through guided meditations first and you could find many in apps such as Calm or Balance, which are, however, paid. There are some you can find for free on Spotify and YouTube as well.
I also feel like my absolute favourite way to meditate is a technique worth sharing, because it won’t come up during your research. That is to listen to one particular song that I love during which I’d just sit back, breathe and appreciate it, letting everything else disappear from my mind.
My songs change – at one point it was Look for the Good by Jason Mraz, my current one is Jungleland by Bruce Springsteen. Pick your own song and try it out. Let it be a positive one though! Then play it, sit comfortably, take deep breaths (the 4-7-8 technique I mentioned last time, maybe)… and that’s it!
Now, certain situations require something more specific. For example sometimes my panic attacks were so severe I really needed some outside help. That’s how I found guided walkthroughs.
Here’s the one I have downloaded on my phone and have ready to be played any time I need it. Again though, there are hundreds of others out there, aimed at specific problems (e.g. social anxiety, extreme stress, etc.). A great podcast that also has some walkthroughs is the Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris. So certainly check it out.
Journaling
The best way to get something out of your head is to lay it down on paper. Not only that, but it also pushes you to dig deeper and understand yourself and what you’re going through to a better degree.
Journaling may be as simple as picking the pen (or keyboard) and just pouring your heart out – this is what I do. If you need prompts or something more structured I would recommend the 5-minute journal.
You can do it in a separate notebook, on your laptop or wherever else you choose. I use both a notebook and an online diary – Penzu. No matter how you do it, make that your own personal space and don’t write anything unrelated there.
Here’s a bonus (that’s not really journaling, but could make you feel better) – the Jar of Awesome. At the end of each day write something positive that happened in your life that particular day. Then put it in a jar (or a box). Accumulate your experiences and on the days when you feel down just open the jar and re-read them.
Therapy
Ok, this isn’t for everyone. Not all mental health problems require the aid of a professional. Sometimes all you need are supportive friends that you could talk to (just like I do – seriously, you’re amazing!). But other times it’s simply a must! Why though?
The major reason why therapy could help you is that your behaviour is in general influenced by unconscious aspects of your mind and thus outside of your control. With the help of a trained therapist you could better understand why you do what you do, why you react to certain things in a specific way, and why some situations make you feel a certain way.
In other words, therapy will uncover the roots of your problem, making you aware of it, helping you accept it, and as a result becoming able to regulate it. If you’ve been through any major traumas, had problems in your family as a kid, regularly suffer from panic attacks or sever depression, consider yourself to be in a dysfunctional relationship or find it difficult to moderate impulses (e.g. for alcohol, sweets, sex, etc.), then definitely go for it.
Now, that’s all great, but what was my experience with therapy? I have to admit that I’ve never actually been for one main reason – I couldn’t afford it at the time when I felt I needed it. Will I try it in the future? Absolutely! For now, though, I can’t really recommend anything more than for you to consider it as well.
If you made it all the way through here – I hope that you found something you may apply. Give me your feedback by replying to this email or by leaving a comment. Next up – Relationship with yourself.
Cheers!