5 Things That Comfort Me When I’m Feeling Low

So with all this lockdown stuff my mood has been a bit of a up and down rollercoaster ride. Over the years, I’ve developed my “mental health toolkit.” When I notice things are going down hill here are some things that give me great comfort.

Walks

I enjoy going for walks with my dog Mango especially in the nice weather. With lockdown I have found that I’m on the screen for a much long time. However if I was at college I would be doing dance classes and moving around a lot more. I find taking Mango on walks helps me not only get exercise and fresh air but helps with clearing my head and staying grounded. Lockdown has really made me realise how doing exercise really does help me to lift my mood back up when I’m feeling low. Going on walks helps me cope with my anxiety I find if I’m not doing much exercise my worries can build up more causing me to worry and not wanting to do much.

Just Watching The Telly

When I’m feeling low I can find comfort in watching something. As much as I love watching new shows theirs nothing better than rewatching shows that you love. When I feel low I find my concentration levels are a bit all over the place and I can’t focus. When this happens I find it hard to read a book. Which is why watching a TV show I’ve watched before is so good. It’s like I can finally rest and let go giving my head time to breathe. Like self care and love for my head. Some of the TV shows I love watching repeatedly are:

Miranda
Once Upon A Time
Downtown Abbey
Fresh Meat
Bridgerton

Making Plans

When my head feels all over the place one thing I like to do is write down and make a list of things I need to or want to do and achieve in the day. Writing it down helps me visual see what my head is trying to tell me at one hundred miles an hour.

Simple Routines

When I’m feeling low self care is very important sometimes you don’t feel like doing lots of things. Here are some quick, simple and kind things you could do on a down day that don’t take very long.

Put some of your favourite lipstick or lipgloss on
Make yourself a nice hot drink for example a cup of tea or hot chocolate
But some of your favourite body butter/ lotion on
Put on some nice jewellery for example a pair of small shiny earrings .

Looking Forward

When people say look forward it isn’t always about making your career plan for the next 5 years it can also be about daily, weekly things to look forward to. I try not to be hard on myself and but pressure on anything as things can change last minute! However having something positive to look forward to can really help me to try and stay in a more positive headspace. For example setting a day up to meet up with friends on FaceTime or House Party, Doing extra activities such a drama with my drama club on zoom, to buying something nice to eat that I can look forward to eating later in the week like a cheesecake.

What do you find helps your mental health?

What 2020 Taught Me

life, mental health

2020 was the year of change for everyone around the world. From students doing lessons online to having meetings on zoom calls and probably spending more time in lounge wear than we thought we would. The pandemic flipped our daily routines upside down and everything we thought we knew out the window.

I would say I like to have a routine as much as possible as this helps me to manage my anxiety better. The unknown can cause me to feel a lot more anxious, have more seizures and me feel scared of doing daily activities compared to before the pandemic. I might have taken simple tasks for granted for example being able to walk around college to get to class.

I do like doing things that aren’t planned as such but if I can plan it I feel more prepared and relaxed.

As plans changed daily with new lockdown rules. I had to learn to adapt and come up with coping strategies this was hard at times. To be honest it still is now after all of us living with the unknown for quite a few more months.

However from having to take each day as it comes I have learned more about being present being in the here and now. I have also been learning to embrace the little things that bring joy to me everyday . For example having cuddles with my cats or watching a film on Netflix with the family. Maybe without this whole lockdown COVID stuff I wouldn’t have seen or appreciated the small things that make me smile and help me to be positive on a daily basis.

Another thing 2020 taught me was to try and stop worrying about things that needed to be done with a longer time frame. For example I would want to get my college work handed in way before the deadline so I could tick it off my to do list. I like to do lists as it helps me to organise my thoughts. Once everything was done I could then go and do things I enjoy like messaging friends. I sometimes didn’t listen to my body and would fight it as I wanted to carry on but I was tired. Through the pandemic I have tried to not rush doing work as slow and steady wins the race. This has really helped me with my own self care as I am now able to feel comfortable and not guilt for taking a couple of breaks and I have then been able to do better work as a result and I feel calmer with knowing my due dates for assignments.

Due to the pandemic a lot of my after college activities have been online and through social media I have been able to find new projects and groups to get involved with which I may have not found if I didn’t have more time to look for new activities to do as my routine wouldn’t of had the time available. So 2020 definitely taught me about embracing new activities, trying new things and learning new skills.

All through last year was definitely a year no one could have predicted . We definitely saw more kindness and appreciation for one another from family, to friends and from strangers.

Happy New Year! May 2021 be the year of light , adventure and kindness 💜.

My Lockdown Photography Project

life

During lockdown I have got back into taking photos around my garden. Photography really helps me with managing my mental health. I wanted to share with you some of my favourite shots so far!

This photo is a leaf I found near our apple tree.

For this photo I put a leaf on our apple trees bark as I wanted to experiment with the colours and textures the image would make.

This is a leaf I put on some of a apple trees bark. In this photo I wanted to experiment with light and how it hits the ground and surfaces in different ways.

This is a photo of a flower in our garden with a bumble bee.

In this shot I managed to get two bees as I was trying out different angles.

This is a pink poppy in my garden. I took this photo from underneath as I wanted to capture how the raindrops sat on the flowers petals.

This is a quince from our quince tree. I wanted to experiment with the different green tones and textures.

I love this photo because of the contrast between the purple flowers and the red leaves blurred in the background.

Just some white bluebells growing in the garden.

My dog Mango exploring in the bluebells.

Hope you enjoyed seeing some of my favourite shots as much as I did taking them!

Stay Home and Stay Safe💜

The Lockdown Tag

life

Hannah from Luxury Blush created her very own lockdown tag. When I found out about this I was so excited. I knew I needed to take part! This tag has 11 questions and is just a bit of fun and sure to put a smile on your face.

1. Come On, Own Up…. Did You Stock Pile Anything?

I didn’t stock pile anything so it was a bit of a shock to see loads of empty shelves around. We found it very hard to find flour but now we’ve finally got some!

2. Have You Discovered A New Hobby?

One thing that I have done in lockdown is finally getting tropical fish. I now have two tanks. I have enjoyed creating the interior of the tank, finding out fish facts and of course getting them. Having fish is much more of a hobby than I originally thought from learning about plants, community fish, temperature to name a few.I now do really feel like part of the fish tank community. I don’t know if you could say this was a hobby. But during lockdown I am enjoying making and painting my own rabbit hutch.

3. Where Is The First Place You Will Go Once Restrictions Are 100% Lifted?

I can’t wait to see my friends and finally getting back into the saddle for my Saturday morning ride. I can’t wait to see the amazing horses and ponies, instructors and volunteers because boy have I missed it!

4. Lounge Wear Or Normal Clothes For A Of Isolation?

I would say most of the time I wear my normal clothes as this helps me with having a routine I feel comfortable with. Also I feel that it helps me set up my mind for the day ahead.

5. Have You Been Wearing Makeup Whilst Staying At Home?

Before lockdown I wasn’t wearing makeup everyday. However during lockdown I have enjoyed reading skin care books and trying out new looks. I have found that lockdown has given me the time to let my skin breathe helping me with my complexion.

6. How Many Zoom Quizzes Have You Done? And Importantly, Did You Enjoy Them?

I’ve done a couple of quizzes and I really enjoyed them it was really nice to be able to chat with friends and have a laugh. I’m awful at quizzes.

7. Did You Give Into The Hype And Bake Your Own Banana Bread?

This is something I haven’t done but my mum has been very busy making delicious birthday cakes and treats.

8. Were You Still Ordering Takeaways? If You Did, What Was Your First One?

I don’t really eat many takeaways even before lockdown. However I recently enjoyed stealing a little bit of my sisters Chinese takeaway meal .

9. Has Your Blog / Instagram Content Had To Change Since Lockdown?

I wouldn’t say my content has changed loads on my channels. However being in lockdown has given me lots of opportunities to write guest blog posts for other organisations. Lockdown has also shown me that when everything is 100% ok again that I would love to do more modelling shoots and post these photos on my social media platforms. I want to also work with other creatives from modelling to acting to things I don’t even know about yet!

10. Are You Waiting Until The Hairdressers Re-Open Or Have You Cut / Dyed Your Own Hair?

Right now my hair is a the length I would like however when the hairdressers re-opens I will go and probably have a small trim. Personally I can’t wait till the beauty parlour opens up again so that I can get my eyebrows threaded and waxed!

11. Who Have You Missed Seeing The Most?

This questions hard I’ve missed so many people so this answer maybe quite long. I have missed seeing and meeting up with my close friends. I have missed not going to The Theatre Shed and seeing my Shed family in person. I have missed seeing everyone and the horses and ponies at South Bucks RDA. I have missed working on the farm with friends. And finally I have missed not being able to perform on stage with college friends.

Thank you to all you amazing key workers out there and Thank You for reading. Stay Safe💜

Coping with anxiety during lockdown

mental health

Right now life is very strange for everyone across the world. From our daily routines changing to coping with the uncertainty and unknown. As someone who suffers from high levels of anxiety I thought I would share with you some of the things I am doing right now to help me manage my anxiety.

Social Media

Social media plays a big role in modern day society . And now more than ever you might find your using your social media platforms even more because of social distancing. As you can’t go out and socialise with your group of friends. Social media can be a great tool to use in times like these. But remember if your chat starts to turn onto talking about topics you feel uncomfortable about for example Covid- 19 tell your friends that you feel uncomfortable this is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact the conversation will problem turn into story times and they won’t even realise you’ve changed topic so don’t feel guilty saying . Remember your family and friends care about you and the last thing they won’t is to make you feel uncomfortable or anxious!

Another tip I have is make sure you are following accounts on platforms such as Instagram that you find positive, inspirational and put a big smile on your face. If you are finding any accounts you follow hard to look at remember it is ok to unfollow. The last thing anyone wants is for you to have a negative impact from their account!

The News

It’s great that we want to know more about the current situation and what’s going on around the world. However looking at the news all day can really start us to make us feel more tense and make your anxiety a lot higher . To help keep you less anxious but still know what’s going on you could restrict yourself to just turning on the news at a certain times everyday. For example 9am and 8pm . To help you do this you could turn off your news app notifications on all of your devices.

Sleep

This one might seem a bit obvious but the better night sleep I have the better I feel the next day. An alarm in the morning could really help especially when we get that temptation to have a quick lie in. This could become much greater as we don’t have to get ready for the school run or work run.

Exercise

Even though we are stuck at home their are lots of exercise classes you can do online for free and best thing is all the family can do it together!Checkout this blog post of mine for ideas of classes you could do. https://defeatingdisability.com/2020/04/14/things-to-do-in-isolation-part-1-classes-workshops/

Fresh Air

Now guidelines are saying we can now go for short walk or do other type of exercise like running for about 30 minutes. I recommend just spending so time outdoors in the fresh air. This can really help to clear your mind and make sense of all of your thoughts. As well as this the fresh air can help you feel grounded in the here and now.

Healthy Eating

Right now you maybe finding it hard to go to the shops or struggling to afford ingredients. However making sure you eat everyday is very important especially breakfast it gives you energy for the day ahead. A great place I like to look for easy, affordable and health recipes is on Pinterest. Soon I will be showing you how to make some of my favourite recipes that I have found through Pinterest.

I hope some of these ideas helped you if you are experiencing anxiety at the moment. I would love to know any tips you have too. Please pop them in the comments below!

STAY HOME & STAY SAFE💜