Are you in need of self-care?

Self-care is all about looking after yourself, and finding the practices, activities and things that help you care for your health and wellbeing. Whether that’s practising mindfulness, creating a prevention plan, or making sure you get enough sleep, self-care can take many forms that are right for you.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is the basic ability to be fully present, aware of where we are, what we’re doing and not be overly reactive to what is going on around us. We all naturally possess this ability, but it’s more effective when we practice it daily. You can practice mindfulness and mediation at any moment. For example, just taking the time to pause and breathe when the phone rings.

However, mindfulness will not do you any good if you aren’t getting enough sleep; going to the gym occasionally won’t relieve much stress if you’re only eating highly processed foods. You need to take care of your basic needs first if you want your stress relief activities to be effective.

Wellbeing activities

Feelings of wellbeing are fundamental to the overall health of an individual. It is our wellbeing that allows us to overcome difficulties and helps us achieve our goals. Past experiences, attitudes, and environmental stressors can all impact our physical and emotional wellbeing.

That’s why wellbeing activities are designed to help us establish what we need to maintain our wellbeing. They promote physical and mental health by supporting people in making healthier lifestyle changes. Activities can range from joining a friendly support group or attending wellbeing workshops.  

Everyone can benefit from this; it’s just about finding the right one for you. If you’re someone who has previously experienced feelings of depression, a wellbeing workshop can provide you with prevention tips and what to do if you feel like those feelings are starting to come back.

Prevention plans

It would be unrealistic to expect people to be happy all the time. As humans, we must feel emotions such as happiness, sadness, stress, or anger. These emotions are usually responses to life stressors, but we all respond differently. When we begin to feel overwhelmed by these stressors, we can be quick to shut our brains down and deny the issue.

These issues will have to be faced at some point, but they cannot be addressed if we are denying them. This is where a prevention plan becomes very helpful. It helps identify your triggers and allows you to know when you are close to them manifesting. Additionally, they are tailored to you and your needs.

For example, you will notice changes in your feelings before anyone else, and your prevention plan can help you acknowledge this as a warning sign and find the techniques for coping with them. You can create your own plan or visit us at the Croydon Health & Wellbeing Space where we can guide you through the process of making your own prevention plan.

Goal setting

Setting goals is a proven way to increase motivation and help you create the changes you want. It can be used to improve health and relationships and even productivity at work.
Learning how to set goals and achieve them can help you live the life you want whilst managing your mental health. This is because it allows you to be in control; you set out your own goals and you decided what success feels like to you.

Some tips for setting your goals:

Set clear and specific goals – Having simple and realistic goals will help you focus and reach them. This could be going for a 10-minute jog, meditating for 10 minutes or making the time to speak to someone about something that’s worrying you.
Start by taking small steps – Break down your goals so they are achievable and manageable.
Get support – We know that it won’t always be easy to reach your goals. That’s why at the Space we have a dedicated team who can provide support or find networks that might be able to help.