How going out travelling makes me feel good about myself

Good evening everyone, and I hope you've all had a great week! Without sugar-coating things here, I'm just going to be honest and say that I have been reluctant to type on here lately. Mainly due to being too occupied with my life. Going into more detail on that, I have recently been working at Challengers on Wednesday's, doing Maths every Monday & Tuesday, and I am please to announce that I will be working every Thursday & Friday at my new job soon...!

However, I have been trying to fit in my love for travelling in between. Meaning on the days I have nothing planned. 

For as long as I can remember, I have always been a keen lover of travel, which is why I feel like talking about how travelling makes me feel good about myself.

*The above picture was taken from my most recent trip up into Oxford, I had taken so many that it was hard to pick just 1😂*

Whenever I get the chance to go out & explore somewhere where I haven't been to before, my mind gets a boost of motivation by wanting to know what will be awaiting me. In other words, it gets this sense of excitement.

Even when I typically spend all day walking around a place, my mind experiences a feeling of pleasurable lost by taking in every bit of scenery. It's like I'm actually living in a daydream where I am conscious of what I am doing.

Furthermore, going out travelling to different places makes me feel good about myself, as it provides me with a sense of adventure. Not to mention that I feel more powerfully independent. Best of all, I feel positive & free knowing I am doing what I love!

*I began this post on the 26/1/24, but didn't finish it until the 29/1/24*

Conversations In The Community Review + Key Takeaways (A MIND accredited online course)

Hello all! As the above title states, I will be distributing what I have learned, as well as include some key takeaways/points from an online course that I have managed to complete recently.

A little backstory for you here, I was working at my MIND store one day back in July, and I happen to glace up at a poster which was advertising an online course associated with MIND. Me, being the curious-minded person I am, only decided to scan the QR code on the poster to see what the said course (in the above title) was all about. Then me, also being the scatter-brained (sometimes) person that I am, only managed to get through 1/5 modules the next day, before ending up not getting around to doing it again until a week ago.  

*This was the only convenient picture I could find on the internet*

What was the online course about? Conversations In The Community is purely about educating people about the best ways of beginning, flowing & ending conversations with other people. And this can be having a conversation with anybody at all, regardless if they are struggling with their mental health or not. Moreover, this course goes into fish tank depth about the pros & cons of forming a conversation with somebody in the community. (I'll bullet point them later in this post)

How did the online course provide me with useful information? The online course provided me with a lot of tips of how to make a good & effective conversation. The information had also stated that it is important to bare in mind no conversation ever HAS to be perfect, as there isn't such thing as a 'perfect conversation'. The useful tips had included respecting the person's or your own boundaries, never ask leading questions, always remind the person that your there for them & try to show interest.

Would I feel more confident about starting my own conversations In the community? In a word, definitely! To further extend my reasoning, I will now remind myself to always begin a conversation to anyone by using open questions, like: "Hiya, how has your day been today?" or "Hey, how has life been for you lately?"

What are the pros & cons of forming conversations?

Pros:

• Finding a suitable environment
• Allowing the person to take their time
• Asking open questions
• Reminding the person you'll be always be there for them
• Respecting your person's privacy 
• Giving yourself an appropriate time

Cons:

• Being insulting
• Comparing your person's struggles to everyone else's
• Asking leading questions that will make your person feel uncomfortable 
• Not showing interest
• Violating your person's privacy
• Not going through the flowing & ending process in the conversation

What have I learned? As I have mentioned earlier, I have learned that any form of conversation doesn't NEED to be perfect, as long as I make the effort to actually make any form of conversation at all. And as long as the person I am having a conversation with is satisfied with everything, then I will be more than happy.

I have also learned that conversations are more effective when you allow your person to have their preferences. This is to provide them with empowerment that will make them feel comfortable & secure prior to a conversation. An example of this could be allowing your person to convey the conversation in a wide open green space, where they feel more comfortable by knowing that nobody else is going to invade the private conversation.

Finally, I have learned that you are entitled to setting your own boundaries when it comes to finding the most convenient time to form a conversation with somebody. This is important because you must consider you self-care before thinking about beginning a conversation with somebody. Especially when you know in advance that you are going to be having an emotionally draining conversation with somebody who is fighting depression.

Conclusion: Even though I was inattentive towards the online course when I have first started it back in July, I have found it really interesting & enjoyable throughout when I had eventually got my inattentive self round to getting through the rest of it, and managed to complete it on Wednesday. (The day before my birthday!) After doing the course, I feel more confident about forming conversations with people whenever I go out & about into the community. Although I know in the back of my mind that is easier said than done, as I still consider myself to be a shy person when having a random conversation with anyone out in the community. That being said, I can easily just shrug it off, and just focus on making conversation.

If anybody would like to develop better conversation forming skills when out & about in the community, I definitely recommend doing this course! Direct access link: https://www.conversationsinthecommunity.org.uk/

An introduction to MIND Side By Side

Evening all, and happy Friday! I hope you're all looking forward to celebrating Christmas this year, however you may choose to celebrate it. 

In contrast, it is important to bare in mind that some people out there may not choose to celebrate Christmas due to certain issues they could be dealing with. An example of this could be their mental health. I, for one, can totally relate to this, so I know how it feels to be overwhelmed during the run up to Christmas. Let alone on Christmas Day.

Whilst still on this subject, I have just recently signed myself up to the MIND Side By Side community scheme. Although I have only discovered this community scheme within a short amount of time, I can already provide a useful introduction about it to anyone who is also considering to join up as well.

What is Side By Side? Side By Side is an online community group, where people all over the world can connect with one another. Going into more depth, Side By Side creates a sole purpose of supporting people who are battling mental health. (Myself included)

How does using Side By Side make me feel? Overall, I would say that using Side By Side helps me to feel relieved, by being allowed to express myself freely with other people without any judgement. That being said, I feel like I can relate to other people on the community site by developing an understanding of what they may be going through in terms of their own mental health. Every story is different & interesting to say the least. Whenever I use Side By Side, my mind breathes with relief, as it casually puts itself in timeout by knowing that it is going to get a well deserved break from reality. Making an effort to connect with other users helps my mind to unload all of the piling stress that cannot seem to disappear. This is purely because talking about how you feel to someone helps my mind to get rid of its load of excessive & repetitive thoughts. And in most cases, prevents them from reoccurring.

*I began this post on the 22/12/23, but didn't finish it until the 23/12/23*

MIND, you are amazing at what you do, and never give up... Ever...

Happy Saturday all! Hope you're all enjoying it so far, as for the rest of this week. I know I haven't been paying much attention on here lately, as I have been too occupied with my coursework & my jobs. 

During this time, I was disappointed to see on MIND's social media that the UK government has let down people's mental health, again... Although I do not consider myself to be somebody who requires support from any mental health professional who may have a degree of some sort, but I do consider myself to be somebody who cares about mental health being taken into consideration. Especially when it comes to people suffering from their mental health by having no one to turn to, as well as to seek professional advice. Read about it here: https://www.mind.org.uk/news-campaigns/news/uk-government-shelves-the-mental-health-bill/

Because I am a part of MIND'S workforce, I feel like it's only right if I speak up on behalf of the company/charity. Not just that, but also because I truly appreciate everything they do in a bid to fight for mental health.

MIND, if you're reading this, (or if you ever read this) I just want to say that I am a massive fan of what you do in your workforce. Whether these may consist of encouraging people to get a membership, volunteer or even create partnerships with work companies, you're doing a grand job with getting more people involved in fighting for mental health. That being said, you wouldn't be recognised for who you are, as well as what you do to this day if it hadn't been for any of those above things.

Let's also talk about your campaigning, as I can clearly see that you would happily go above & beyond to achieve. This also includes people happily going out of their way just so they can help you with the campaigning. This is obviously a inspirational success in a lot of people's eyes whenever they view these campaigning events on the media. Just a shame the government do not take this seriously...

On that note Charles, how come you didn't think to mention all of this in your speech last Tuesday? (7/11/23) I mean, it's not like this is a rocket science situation that will just fix on its own, this mental health crisis has to be dealt with by actually putting the mental health bill into action. Words cannot even begin to describe as to how shocked I am that this has been not been sorted out for the past 6 years now, and the UK government think it's okay for people's mental health to go unnoticed in this country?! 

All I can really say at this point, is that something HAS to be done in order for the UK government to put the mental health bill into action, and to ensure no one's mental health gets ignored. But until then...

Keep on fighting for mental health MIND.✊🏻💙

   

 

Why looking after your mental health is important during the autumn season

Well, October has come around again as quickly as that. Which also means that autumn has officially begun, and those longer nights will be slowly drawing as we head towards winter.

As the title says, I came across this post on the Samaritans Facebook page, and thought that I would share what I have seen on here, so you all can get a glimpse of it as well. Although Samaritans had actually shared the post from another blogging website, called: MentalHealthUK.

Rather than break this bit down into rhetorical question paragraphs, I'll just insert my personal insight, which will explain what I like to do during the autumn period.

First off, I try & make an effort to go out exercising as much as possible during my spare time. This is mainly because I want to keep myself in good shape when the temperature turns colder. But also, I like to do this to keep my mental health in sanity mode.

Whilst on the subject of mental health, I like to keep myself occupied with different things as well. All of which can vary from writing, blogging, drumming, cleaning or even trying out a new hobby. 

It is important to be mindful of your mental health during autumn, as it's easy to just sit back by hardly wanting to do anything at all. To extend this point, this could be down to you suffering from seasonal affective disorder as a result of feeling uninterested in life due to the colder months & those longer nights. This is why keeping yourself busy as possible will help destract you from feeling unactive.

I think that's everything covered for this post now. I hope you've all found this piece of advice beneficial to you, as well as to myself, and I shall hope to publish again sometime next week!

Animals have a life too

Sort of a quickie for tonight, as I'll have more bigger content coming soon...

Whilst out on my walk last Saturday, I saw something which had strongly caught my attention. It happened to be a set up dog play area.

As soon as I saw it, I immediately thought to myself: "It's so heartwarming to see our furry friends having the same kind of fun as us human beings". 

Why the sympathy? I'll tell you this... Dogs are proven to be the most loyal pet any human being could have. They have the 24/7 dedication to look out for us, obedience and trust. With those things said, dogs do all that hard work just to become a loving member of someone's family/household. Which is why I think it's only fair that dogs should be allowed to let themselves free as a reward for everything that they do for human beings.

After all, a healthy dog is a happy dog.🐶

*Excuse the poor quality of this picture*

This was the dog area I had captured whilst out walking last Saturday.

I'm thinking about working on my self-care throughout next week

*A bit of inspiration from TheAutismDad blog*

As I've had a great day walking today, it gave me enough positive inspiration to go out walking throughout next week. I thought it would be a productive way of occupying myself, in a bid to keep healthy & active, as I could really do with the fitness kick.

Not only that, but there is psychological reasoning behind my intended self-care. As soon as I go back to college the following week, I have to go in EVERYDAY to do Maths & English exams, (hopefully the last time having to do them) with my usual lessons in-between. It will be a HECTIC week, but I'll sail through it, like a calm breeze.

Just in case if there are any walking fanatics out there reading this, let me give you the lowdown about the mindful benefits of walking in the outdoors. Especially in the sunny weather, I can think of literally nothing better to do than spend my day going on long walks. This is a psychological effect on the brain's hormone called "Serotonin" which helps your brain to boost its mood, therefore, has a domino effect on your mood. 

Here's the source link if you're curious to find out more: https://www.healthline.com/health/depression/benefits-sunlight#_noHeaderPrefixedContent 

Good things are coming...😁

Yes, I've got various things to look forward to within the next few weeks! I say few weeks, but these things could may well run up towards April.

This is what set my excitement tone for today!

However, I intend to keep it that way, by keeping myself sane and being productive with my time during my week off college.

That means I will not be doing any blog work for this week. I always remind myself to limit the amount of screen time I have. Too much blue light can cause headaches.

I'm sure many of you out there can relate to this, as we all need to take an essential time out from the internet world, so we can prioritize our mental health on the productive side of life.

All in all, have a great week everyone!

P.S HVD💘

YOU are NOT your thoughts

Evening all, hope you're having a decent weekend so far. I've been fairly proactive this week. (Obvs being the courtesy of course work) Also doing planning about what my next post should be. Hence, it gives me a valid reason not to be spending time in my train of thought.

In reference to my previous post - See here: Does living in your thoughts help you escape reality? I'll be explaining how your thoughts does NOT define you as a person. I'm sure those of you reading may think you are not alone in this too. Which is why I want to put my message out there to raise a common talking point.

When your mind thinks about a scenario, in which, it recurs in your head over and over again, until it gets to the point where you PREDICT it may eventually happen one day. STOP RIGHT THERE! It is only a thought. It will never come true, as it will never exist and be brought to life.

*In comes the simile & metaphor language* 

Your mind is like a magnet. Don't let it become into a disc player.

Everyone has the capacity to be a successful productive person, meaning, you don't need to be constantly dependant on your thoughts. They don't choose how you get to live your life, as your ambitions are the right candidates for that job description.

I think that sums up my powerful message.

To put my message into shorter and more basic terms - Always believe in your ambition, not your thoughts. These are both significant differences to how you choose to manage your mindset.

This is EXACTLY why psychology is needed to put these messages out there into the world, so everyone can understand one another. I like to think I have the milk of human kindness.💞 

Common decency, right?

Anyway, I'll let you enjoy the remainder of your weekend. Ta ta for now!

Does living in your thoughts help you escape reality?

A fairly quick, but interesting post tonight.

As the Rhetorical Questionized title says, I've pretty much more or less spent today 'Living in my thoughts'.

Only because today was a purposely nothing day, so I thought thinking would help me to keep my sanity.

Don't take the above sentence the wrong way, as just casually thinking can very easily turn into overthinking. If you can relate to the stresses of overthinking, then you can understand my point of view.

To justify my unexplained reason in the 3rd paragraph, I felt like thinking about my good times in the past. This helps me to take a momentarily break from my present reality, as I think about my successful moments that were worth applauding for. I like to use moments like these as self motivation fuel.

Furthermore, I utilise that break from reality, in order to stop any negative thoughts come into my head, and potentially, waste my day feeling worried about silly scenarios which will never happen.

*A pictured definition of what my mind was like today*

One thing you all need to bare in mind is, your mind is like a magnet, in which, it has the capacity to play tricks on you. 

Best feed it with success and positively, regardless of how you want to take a mental break from reality.👍🏻👍🏻

There is always a light at the end of every tunnel

Just a quick one for today.

For all of you out there struggling with life right now, be sure to read this...

If you suddenly fall into a hole of Anxiety or Depression... and you feel like you can't find a way to escape it. Keep a special message in mind... as this is what I like to think when I have a down moment.

There will ALWAYS be a light at the end of every tunnel, regardless of what your struggle is. Struggles are a part of learning in life, but NEVER take struggling for granted, meaning it's never around to permanently stay.

If anything, you can use your struggles to help you learn to improve on yourself. Trust me, I guarantee you will feel so much better once you embrace the struggle!😁

Just a little something for #WorldMentalHealthDay

Hello peeps, hope you've all been healthy and well recently, especially on a day like today. Why? Because today (10/10) is World Mental Health Day.

Why the occasion? As mental heath can impact one on a day-to-day basis, without even acknowledging that it's even playing inside your mind at all. With that said, you could say it's like living with a demon inside your mind, which somehow got trapped in there and can't get out - Making people feel down.

This is why I feel like talking about the reality of how Mental Health works and why, so I can ensure people that they are not alone in relations to this.

Now, in case if you're new and not aware, I have always had an interest with how different minds work and why they work the way they do, hence I became hooked onto psychology. However, when I was much younger, (probably up until 15) I didn't even know the term was called psychology. I actually got hooked onto it when I was 17.

 

DEAR SELF... 

You are absolutely bloody amazing of who you are and what you've become. Your Mental Health is just there to sometimes tell you that you're not good enough, therefore, making you feel anxious and miserable all the time. Never let it define you as a person.

However, the reality is you are smart enough to know that these thoughts are just lies to make you feel guilty.

You have many people that care about you, to ensure you are doing alright. Always check on them back to repay the same human kindness.

You know you're exceeding in life, as you have a planned future ahead of you. Just keep yourself focused by constantly finding that self-motivation you've never had before.

Knowledge the fact some people like to put you down, as they have no understanding of the impact of Mental Health. In this case, YOU are your only limit to success.

Cherish every loving moment with friends/family or even if it's on your own, as it can may well have a good reflect on your life, as well as Mental Health.

Never, ever, EVER feel like you can't interact with anyone, just because your demon thoughts are taking over your mind. Talking will always be the solid reason why people feel motivated the way they do. You'll never know... it could may even save somebody's life.💜💜💜

Why does eating a variety of different foods give you different thoughts?

Hello one and all! It's good to be back blogging once again.

Only because I've been keeping extra priotized with revision for my course this academic year lately, which can be quite full on at times.

Anyway, hope you're all doing well and enjoying the autumn so far.

This is a topic I've been looking into this week, so I thought about distributing it out to you guys, as you may find it interesting, as well as being able to take away some learned information too.

Now, you're probably thinking to yourself: "Why this picture?! It looks crazy!"😂

But... I can only assure you, this is a pictured definition of what foods THAT person is thinking about, when THEY'RE in a calm mood.

As for myself, I like to think about egg when I'm in a calm mood, as the taste of it makes me feel healthy and nutritious. It's also good for you in general.😊

What thoughts go through your mind when eating different foods?

Let's say, you like to crave on pizza, therefore meaning, eating pizza gives you these good thoughts that you never want to let go, such as: "Ahh, this is the life. I hope it never ends"

The problem is, if that inner message keeps on repeating itself over and over, it will eventually tell your mind, that pizza is the only thing keeping your happiness sane. It then becomes an addiction. You can choose to do this with any type of food.

In contrast, try another piece of food which make you experience a more positive emotion, such as nostalgia. You may like to have something, you haven't had since you were a kid, and it happens to be something you liked to eat a lot back then. I also like to do to this from time to time, and it feels so refreshing to your mind!

Or, you might want to feel energized, by eating a banana, cereal or even a protein bar. (Grenade) These foods will tell your mind to find a way to be active for a long period of time, so your mind will therefore tell you to use that fueled energy, by running it all out. I guess you can refer this as to hyperactivity.

Final conclusion: It is always a good thing to experience a variety of thoughts and emotions, when having different foods, as they keep a steady line on your health and wellbeing.

Just in case if you're not familiar of the saying: "Eat well for less" This is the definition displayed on the iconic food plate.

I've pretty much covered everything now.

Thank you so much for taking your time to read through my extensive post. Please do feel free to comment down below or talk to me in person.

Have a great weekend!

My helpful research source: Food and Mood