5 Tips To Look After Our Mental Well-Being In Hard Times

During these difficult times it is very important to look after our mental and physical well-being, starting by paying attention to our negative emotions and thoughts.

One of the first things people experience during hard times is anxiety and insecurity, due to feelings of uncertainty.

In Italy, where the virus struck with fury, 80% of the population needed help to cope with the situation, according to surveys done by CNOP (Consiglio Nazionale Ordini Psicologi). According to the ONS (Office for National Statistics) in the UK, almost 50% of the population had reported an increase in their levels of anxiety, and in the USA a survey done by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found an increase in psychological distress from 3.7% in 2018 to 24% in 2020 — and the list goes on.

The point here is to improve our coping mechanisms and be prepared to face whatever is coming toward us.

I will give you a few tips to boost mental wellbeing and have some tools to go to when needed.

Tip One:

Acknowledge a negative emotion you might be having, replace it with the opposite emotion: for example, if you are feeling unrest, replace it by calmness by recalling a time where you experienced this positive emotion. Stay there as much as you can, feeling calmness in every cell of your body until the negative emotion is gone. This short exercise requires a bit of effort, but we are powerful creators and we can do what we want when we have the will to make a change.

Tip Two:

Keep a journal. Writing has several mental health benefits, because it helps us to reflect on our emotions and actions, and in doing so we are able to find solutions and act accordingly.

Tip Three:

List 10 positive feelings and create 2 mantras with them, then repeat those mantras several times a day. Mantras (words or sounds to help concentrate one’s focus) calm the mind and, through the power of repetition, enable us to change our thoughts.

Tip Four:

Ask for help if you feel you cannot cope alone with your current situation. Often in our society asking for help is seen as a weakness, and this way of thinking has been very detrimental to our well-being. Family and friends can do a lot for us if we know how to approach to them, and mental health services are there to serve you.

Tip Five:

Control your attention. Our attention is like a laser, difficult to direct, however by being aware of where your attention is going, you can redirect it to other things. We are creators, so put your abilities and knowledge to work: write, paint, dance, watch movies, read a novel, chat with friends, create something uplifting.

Bonus Tip:

Do all these activities from the heart, with purpose. Our heart is the place where the energy of love resides.