Mental Health Week 2022

Five Ways to Wellbeing: #3 Take Notice

Our mind has a natural tendency to wander. It is constantly chattering away. When it starts to think about the past too much, it can lead us to feel depressed. When it starts to worry about the future, it can lead us to feel anxious. What is the solution? We know that coming back to the present moment – and re-focusing on the here and now:  what you can hear, see, smell and feel – helps us to feel calmer, reduces stress, and can improve our mental health and wellbeing.

Mindfulness

Being attentive to the present moment is a state known as mindfulness. Mindfulness is, unfortunately, often misunderstood, and overplayed. However it is an incredibly important part of helping people to reduce stress, and maintain good mental health and wellbeing. In fact, mindfulness has been adapted for use in the treatment of depression, and is particularly effective in preventing depression relapses. It can also help reshape our brains (learn more here: https://youtu.be/m8rRzTtP7Tc) 

How does Mindfulness Work? Researchers are not entirely sure. It is proposed that being more mindful helps us to better react to difficult situations, to recover more quickly after negative emotional experiences, and to see difficult thoughts and feelings as just temporary. Research also shows that being more mindful makes us less likely to ruminate and worry about the problems in our life, and to savour the positive experiences. It also helps us to be kinder and more compassionate to ourselves. All of these are valuable skills for mental health.

How to Take Notice

• Be curious. As you go about your daily activities – as you walk, eat lunch, wait for the tram, or even get stuck in traffic – take notice. Be aware of the world around you. Notice what you see, close your eyes and notice the smells and sounds. Notice the taste of the food you eat, and the air moving past your body as you walk. Notice the sun or rain on your skin. The sensation of heat or the cold. Notice the presence of others – their smell, touch, voice, smile or laugh and your reaction to them. Try not to judge any of these experiences as good or bad. Instead, take a step back and try to examine things like you are a curious scientist, or a child seeing things for the first time. 
• Be aware of your own thoughts and feelings as they arise, without getting lost in them. Try and notice what you are thinking or feeling. Try saying to yourself “I notice I am feeling a bit sad.” Or “I notice I am having a lot of thoughts about work.” Noticing how you are feeling, or what you are thinking, without getting lost in your thoughts or feelings can help you keep calm, think more clearly, and take action to better cope with difficult situations. 
• Take time to notice what is good in your life. This is a called “practicing gratitude”. You may want to write down the things you are grateful for in a journal or in a note in your phone at the end of the day. Like any skill, gratitude takes practice. But, over time, I find that people naturally begin to see the more positive side of situations – which is not only beneficial for your own mental health – but for the people around you too. 
• Practice noticing at work. When you work in the same space, it can feel like nothing changes, but they do. Try the following: buy a new plant and notice each day how it changes and grows; notice how your colleagues are feeling or acting; vary your lunches and snacks; take a different route to or from work or go somewhere you’ve never been on your lunch breaks. 
• Engage in a formal mindfulness practice. To learn to be more mindful, you do not need to have lengthy meditation sessions. But you do need to practice. Just a few minutes focusing on your breathing and your body can reduce cortisol and adrenalin levels and change your whole day. Try apps like Calm, Headspace, Smiling Mind,  or Insight Timer

Read Article #4: Five Ways to Wellbeing: #4 Keep Learning