Be Kind, Be Mindful - BE A MONSTER TRUCK!

It's fitting that we should be launching our website and blog during World Mental Health Week. It was during a fight with my own mental health that QTY was born.

Therefore sharing experiences and tactics for maintaining your mental health is a subject that lies very close to my heart.

I don’t pretend to be any expert in this. To be honest I am not sure there is a “one size fits all” solution to this. Its a very personal thing in my opinion. Only you know what your triggers are and what causes you to feel uneasy. But when the “wheels came off” for me - which is how I like to refer to my mental health awakening (more explained below). I wanted to share some things that helped me.

The first thing that happened was that I realised that there was a problem. Being in poor mental health was a completely alien space to me.

Talking Therapy

I didn’t feel like I had the tools to understand how I was feeling and so I was referred to NHS Talking Therapies. Getting the right type of therapy and a therapist that works for you might not happen at the first try. But when you do start to trust the process, talking to a professional can help you to break down what is bothering you. They can help you learn and develop coping strategies and techniques to identify when you are starting to feel vulnerable and what you can do to start to heal. My therapist was fantastic. She definitely worked out that I had a wild creative imagination from the outset and so my coping strategies included meditation and visualisation techniques.

examples are;

• Putting worries or issues I can’t resolve at that moment in time in my “mental freezer”. Visualising putting them in a freezer and closing the door - helped me to put things on “ice” in my head until I was in better head space to handle them and prevent me from going down that downward spiral to nowhere.

• Visualising and measuring my mental health by being in my “monster truck”. If I feel vulnerable or start to feel like “the wheels are coming off”, I beef myself up mentally by getting in my Mental Monster Truck, which makes me feel protected and the strongest thing on the road. I would visualise where I needed to go or what I needed to achieve in my Monster Truck and manifest getting there!

Exercise

Sometimes I would feel like doing absolutely nothing but these were the days that I made sure I took the dog walk, did yoga or pilates. 20 minutes of something was better than nothing and it works wonders to bust those demons out of the way.

Avoiding Energy Vampires

Those around me can really have a huge affect on my mental health. My best friend introduced me to the term “energy vampire”. It resonated with me immediately. If my mental health was feeling poor or I knew I would be easily affected by someones opinion or behaviour I would just remove myself from the situation until I knew I was strong enough to deal with it again.

Journals

Writing my Journal and having “regular chats with myself”. - At one time talking to yourself might have been seen as a sign of poor mental health, but I have learned it’s actually a great tool for me to process my thoughts and talk through my problems. Like a therapy session without the therapist. Journaling works fantastically for me as well. I have an app on my phone now that allows me to take voice notes, pictures, write things etc. Its a great way to get my emotions out without the risk of oversharing with anyone and is my safe space.

Ultimately, there is always a solution. Light at the end of the tunnel. You just have to find out what works for you. Don’t be afraid to explore and talk to people about mental health. Once I actually opened up to the idea that I was unwell, that was when my recovery began and I was overwhelmed by how many other people around me were also in their own battle.

It is personal and it is your battle, but you don’t have to battle alone. As I have said, this blog post is not meant to offer any great insight into understanding your mental health, but I do hope it helps raise some awareness with those who read it. I can’t think of anything better than someone reading about my journey, helping them to start on their own road.

Finally, its not ever a one time fix. I used to always think “If I just sort this out, or if I just do that, Ill be happy, we will be happy” - No, everyday presents new challenges, some good, some bad. But, now I know there is always growth to be made, something new to learn and a new experience to be had. Looking at it like that means I don’t chase those high’s anymore and I have a calmer approach to handling challenges.

I am still working on it, still evolving and still driving my Monster Truck…

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