The Blog.
3 bonkers decisions I made for my mental health, that have changed my life.
This week Big Love Movement turned 3. Three years since we were about to go into lockdown, I decided it would be a fantastic time to get Big Love Movement off the ground. I saw it as a nudge from the Universe and it worked, we’re still here and growing.
This week marks the Spring Equinox, a time of new beginnings and a New Moon. I love this time of year but until recently I had no idea how significant it was to me…
Restless nights, reacting to stress, and learning how to regulate yourself, even when you can’t sleep!
If you want to change how you are feeling; your emotions or the stress cycle you are experiencing whether in trying to fall asleep at night or at any other time of the day you need to change your physiology. The best and simplest way you can do this is by altering how you are breathing because your breath has a direct impact on your nervous system, they are linked.
Mindfulness as a form of pain relief?
Where you place your awareness is where you place your energy. If you are in pain where are you placing your attention? On your pain.
When you focus on the pain you are feeling, the feeling of pain gets amplified.
This can be exhausting and suddenly your pain is not only physical, it’s emotional too.
Mental health is not as simple as good and bad.
On any given day a stressful experience can knock you off balance and that can be internal or external, it won’t always be obvious to everyone else to see.
This is why mental health is not as simple as good or bad.
Awareness, empathy, compassion and resources are what we need so we can help ourselves and each other move through the inevitable challenges we face and rise when we stumble.
Easing self-doubt and not feeling good enough.
Are there days when your mind simply won’t shut up?
Do you get stuck in your head and start to doubt yourself?
Are your thoughts often racing so much it’s hard to keep up?
The thoughts you have, especially self-critical ones, play havoc with your well-being changing how you breathe, and the way you behave and impacting your mood. Your breath gets faster, your chest feels tight and your stomach ends up in knots. These physical changes in your body are reactions to your thoughts…
How to create self-care habits you stick to?
Making time for yourself isn't easy, even though you know you need to. Let’s be honest, knowing what you need and when you need it can be a challenge. It’s easy to keep pushing on when things need to get done and get swept up in the fear of not having enough time. With all that you are doing, where are you giving yourself space to be restored, feel energised, uplifted and reconnected?
Feeling a shift in balance? It’s an equinox…
It’s the Autumn Equinox, (in the Northern Hemisphere) the time of year when we sense the shift in the seasons, our moods and our lifestyles… It’s when plants and trees are slowing down as sunlight decreases to get ready for the colder season ahead. We too are being called to slow down and turn inward but how we choose to do that nowadays is somewhat confusing in today’s hectic modern world.
Vibe high, get your hopes up!
When we say, “don't get your hopes up”, it’s almost like we are limiting our own belief in things being better, in things improving or something changing for us. Let's all agree that getting our hopes up is a rising of our vibrational energy. The energy within us is what influences our mood and the way we are in the world. When our vibration is high, we feel more switched on, we feel alive, and I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to dull that down.
Courage emerges from the depths of your fear
I want to say I didn’t have a plan and that people didn’t call me mad but neither of those things is true. There was definitely a plan and people definitely called me mad, bonkers and brave. On a side note, I think brave is the polite way of saying “You’re mad”, or maybe, “You’re mad but you inspire me anyway”. All I knew was something had to change because I was so stressed.
New beginnings.
Being present, even with the uncomfortable feelings, created space for me to be honest with myself about how I was feeling.
When I make space to feel my emotions, from that place I can take inspired action.
Inspired action allows me to change how I am feeling and begin living on purpose.