Random acts of kindness, giving and mental health
I am writing this blog just a couple of days before Christmas and goodness me, what a year 2020 has been!
Christmas is generally a time of giving gifts and many people this year will be unable to spend time with loved ones and give their presents to them in person. This is really sad as for many people, the joy of giving gifts is in people’s reactions to their surprises.
It is for me anyway.
So, I thought I would spend some time looking into giving and random acts of kindness and consider how they can help our mental health. I also wanted to give you some suggestions so that if you fancied having a go, you can get some ideas.
Giving without expecting anything in return
Where a random act of kindness differs from normal present giving, is that you do it without expecting anything in return. So whereas at Christmas you all give each other gifts, the key aspect of a random act of kindness is that you just do it to be kind! You can even do it anonymously just to make...
Building a connection with nature for better mental health
There is more and more evidence coming out that nature has a really positive impact on people's wellbeing and their mental health. For many people though, nature is not an important part of their lives.
In a study done by the National Trust and Derby University they found that only 19% of children regularly notice wildlife, 57% of adults rarely or never watched the sunrise in the last year and only 27% of people regularly watched the clouds.
All of these activities are completely free and have been shown to make us feel good so the question is, how can we improve our relationship and connectedness to nature?
Noticing nature
There are a few simple ways that you can simply notice nature more often in your everyday life. This simple awareness can be built into whatever time suits your lifestyle from noticing nature before you get into your car in the morning to organising family walks.
- Watching the wildlife, the easiest is often noticing the birds
- Listening to bird song
- Smelling...
PODCAST - How to Build Happiness
Following on from the episode last week, I share with you my tips for building happiness in your life. Instead of the scales or the gym, here are some practical psychological tips that you can start doing today to build more happiness in your life.
Listen to this podcast episode on Spotify
PODCAST - Positive Steps to Well Being
Welcome to 2020!!! I know that there are going to be HUGE amounts of podcast episodes on new years resolutions and goal setting. So, I have brought you something a little different!! Here are my top tips to positive well being both mentally and physically. If you aren't into resolutions then here are some suggestions that you can incorporate into your everyday life and make 2020 the year for better mental health.
PODCAST - How to find alternative ways of thinking
Following on from previous podcast episodes on cognitive distortions, negative thoughts and how to challenge them is this weeks episode on how to find alternatives.
In this episode I go through each of the distortions or types of negative thoughts and give you ideas and questions you can ask yourself to come up with more realistic and positive alternatives.
Listen to the podcast on Spotify
PODCAST - Cognitive Distortions: What are they and how do they affect you?
In this episode I go into detail about cognitive distortions. I cover what they are, the most common ones that people do and examples of how they can affect your mental health.
Self awareness is key to overcoming anxiety so this episode will talk through all of the most common distortions so that you can consider if these thought patterns affect you.
My FREE cognitive distortions exercise can be downloaded from https://www.anxiety2confidence.com/
Listen to the Podcast on Spotify
PODCAST - Attitude changes for a happy life
It is easy when talking about anxiety and mental health to become very preoccupied with the issue. It is so important that we also consider how we are going to make the changes necessary to improve our lives.
In this episode I talk about the attitude changes needed to be able to live a happy life.
Click here to find out more and see which negative thoughts are holding you back.
Listen to the Podcast on Spotify
PODCAST - Finding meaning and purpose in life
This episode is a big one!!! I am tackling meaning and purpose and how they relate to anxiety.
Crucially there are two exercises included that will help you to find your purpose and meaning in life.
PLUS I am talking about how you can find fulfillment in your job, even if it is a job you don't enjoy at all!!!
Loads of great info and help packed into this episode so make sure you listen.
As always, you can find more information and a FREE negative thoughts exercise at: https://www.anxiety2confidence.com/
Listen to the Podcast on Spotify
PODCAST - The role of adrenaline and negative thoughts in anxiety
In this episode I talk in more detail about how the adrenaline causes the physical symptoms of anxiety. I also talk about what kicks off an adrenaline response so that you can consider what thoughts might be starting your anxiety.
You can find out more about what thoughts are holding you back by heading to https://www.anxiety2confidence.com/
Here you can download your very own list of cognitive distortions and see which ones you do most often.
Listen to the Podcast on Spotify
PODCAST - What is "toxic positivity" and how can we avoid it
The term "toxic positivity" is one that I have seen on social media recently.
This episode explains what it is and how we can avoid turning positivity into a negative thing. We will also be covering how we use positivity in a therapy setting and how you can support friends and family members who may be going through a rough patch.
Listen to the Podcast on Spotify
