During the second lockdown in November I decided that I would share some hints, tips and strategies to help anyone suffering from stress and anxiety in these uncertain and worrying times on my Facebook business page – Calmer Thoughts. Some of you may have seen me appearing live on my page every day at 12pm.
When the second lockdown was announced I wanted to find a way to help as many people as possible. So I made myself ACCOUNTABLE by saying I would COMMIT to doing this every day for a month. I completely stepped out of my COMFORT ZONE and it made me take ACTION each day. It gave me STRUCTURE and ROUTINE in my day. Plus, it gave me a huge SENSE OF PURPOSE and that I was CONNECTING and HELPING OTHERS in the process. Every day I talked about why all of those things – COMMITMENT, ROUTINE and ACTION etc. are so important if we want to improve our mental health and well-being.
I also talked (many times) about POSITIVITY and GRATITUDE, about how we are able to ADAPT TO CHANGE, the importance of SLEEP and EXERCISE, why we need to be more MINDFUL and why feeling CONNECTED to others is even more important than ever right now.
After the first week I actually started to look forward to doing these lives, so it didn’t take as long as I thought to establish a new ‘comfort zone’ for myself. They may not all have been perfect, there may have been more ‘umms’ and trying to find the right words than I would have liked, I was even sideways on for a few moments on one as I had to twist my phone round, and I was always late on my weekend ones… (but I don’t think anyone was setting their watch by me – I hope not!!).
But it reminded me that sometimes we just have to take the plunge and have a go. What is the worst thing that can happen…. no one watches?! Which actually might have been a slight relief at the beginning.
So don’t feel you have to be ready or perfect to do something new, JUST DO IT!
If you haven’t seen them, please go and have a look and you can find all 28 Calmer Thoughts in the video section. I would be so grateful if you could ‘like’, ‘comment’ or even better ‘share’ so they can reach more people who might be struggling to cope at the moment:
https://www.facebook.com/calmerthoughts
I have also put them into a playlist on my youtube channel – Calmer Thoughts: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1sDnE_wzBIi07bOZIps9HA
Here’s a little taster: Day 28 – Be kind to yourself
I really hope there are some nuggets of information in these vlogs that will resonate with those watching. We are living in very uncertain and unusual times in this lockdown period, and mental health issues can touch us all. None of us are immune. According to research, 1 in 4 of us will suffer from some form of mental health issue in our life time, and 1 in 6 will experience some form of anxiety or depression every week. The pandemic has proved it’s not only highly contagious but it has had a massive knock-on effect on all our lives in some way, mental health being one of them.
So moving forward, and because I’ve quite missed doing them this week, I have decided to do a CALMER THOUGHT OF THE WEEK every Monday, and in 2021 a CALMER THOUGHT FOR THE WEEKEND every Friday. As the situation intensifies over the Christmas period and beyond with the new increased Tier system replacing lockdown, I think we need these strategies for coping even more.
There – I’ve said it now – so another commitment made!
So please take a look and share with anyone who you feel may benefit or needs help and support at this time. Remember I’m always here if you (or someone you know) needs more individual help to make changes, to feel more confident or motivated, to relieve any stress or anxiety and ultimately to have a calmer mind and ‘Calmer Thoughts’ in order to lead a calmer life moving forward.
I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge THANK YOU to those of you who have been to see me. It can take a lot of courage to send that first email or pick up the phone and ask for help. But for those of you who did, ultimately it was you who stepped out of your COMFORT ZONE and took ACTION in order to make a change. I just guided and encouraged you.
WISHING YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND REALLY HOPING THAT 2021 IS A BRAND NEW START IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE!
Take care,
Amanda