Today (October 10th) is World Mental Health Day, where everyone is encouraged to come together to talk about mental health and check in with friends and family, with all sorts of organised events going on over the course of the day, including Tea & Talk, which saw more than 260,000 people take part last year!
The theme for 2024 has been set by the World Federation of Mental Health as ‘workplace mental health’, emphasising just how important it is to address mental health and wellbeing in the workplace to benefit local communities, organisations and individuals alike.
Whether you’re retired or still in the world of work, this serves as the perfect reminder to check in with how you’re feeling, whether you’re stressed out, anxious, depressed, angry or something else.
Negative emotions have a way of spiralling out of control if they’re not tackled head on and talking is one of the best ways of making big issues feel smaller. A problem shared is a problem halved, after all!
Conversations aside, however, there are lots of other ways to give your mental health a boost if you don’t feel like chatting – and mindfulness exercises are a brilliant option to consider if you want to feel more relaxed, less stressed and generally happier overall.
What is mindfulness meditation?
Quite simply, mindfulness meditation involves drawing your attention to the present moment by focusing on your breathing and letting any thoughts that enter your head float away without dwelling on them.
It’s a particularly effective strategy because you can do it anywhere and at any time, no matter what you’re doing. You don’t need any specialist equipment and you can turn to it whenever you’re feeling overwhelmed to help you manage your emotions and get yourself back on an even keel.
To get started, find somewhere quiet and comfortable to sit in a relaxed position, either in a chair with your feet on the floor or lying down on the bed. Keep your arms and hands as relaxed as you can.
Close your eyes and draw your attention to your breath as it flows in through the nose and out through the mouth, noticing the rise and fall of your chest as you breathe. Thoughts will naturally enter your head but the idea is to allow them to do so without judgement and without berating yourself for them.
Each time a thought does pop into your mind, just gently draw your attention back to your breath and the sensation of breathing to help you enter a deeper state of relaxation.
If you’re finding this difficult, perhaps try some square breathing. Here, you breathe in for a count of four, hold your breath for a count of four, release the breath for a count of four and exhale for a count of four. Repeat this cycle as many times as you like. Because you’re counting the breaths, it can make it easier to keep your mind still.
We hope these exercises prove useful if you are feeling a little low at the moment. And, as ever, if you’d like to find out more about home care services in Watford and the surrounding areas, get in touch with the Concept Care team today.
