surviving april showers
Spring has sprung but if you’re in the Northern parts of the US (and many other areas but this is where my knowledge of weather patterns lie), it has felt a lot closer to Winter than many of us would prefer. This blog post will be focused on some of the basic strategies people can work on to boost mood. I will note up front: some of the descriptions may read a little like “Just be happy!” - obviously there is a lot more to mental health than just one strategy. Additionally, I will continue to acknowledge that many of our stressors are systemic and it is not just about a change in perspective or thinking positively. With that in mind, it may help to approach these ideas from the lens of “What can I do to get through this (and maybe keep up the fight for change?!)”.
As previously mentioned, this will be a very broad and generalized list of ideas. The theories behind this list are related to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), positive psychology, a humanistic lens, social/behavioral learning and mindfulness. See my “therapy techniques” tab for more info on some of these lenses of therapy.
Essentially, these strategies are aimed at examining:
a. the strengths, skills, interests and so forth you may already posses or be able to re-discover
b. giving some attention to how your thoughts impact your feelings and thus your actions
c. taking gradual steps to implement changes that work best for where you are at
What these are not meant to be:
a cure all or the only answer to your needs
a way to ignore the difficulties and engage in toxic positivity or over-clinicalization of yourself and others
a way to shame yourself into “just being better”
If you notice yourself falling into the “not meant to be” patterns, it may be a sign that you need to pause and recollect, seek out someone - clinician, spiritual leader, life coach, supportive peer - to more deeply understand your road blocks or reconsider the reasons for engaging in these strategies. Endless reminder here that the above notes and the below strategies are nowhere near an exhaustive or all-encompassing list - if it doesn’t work for you then perhaps you will find your answer elsewhere (and that is okay and should be normalized!).
As with all posts, this IS NOT meant to be a replacement for therapy (a privilege if you have time, money, can find someone with an opening, insurance, etc.). In acknowledging the hoops people have to jump through to get support in this health system, I offer up these blog posts and use my Instagram account mentalhealthandmtns to offer up some tools so people feel they have something to start figuring out their needs.
links to Amazon are affiliated!
Positive Daily Activity Planners/Visual Planners
Tear away, open-faced daily planners allow you to map out your week. Yes it can take some time, but noticing longer days, when you may need rest, when you may need a pick-me-up and, for some, writing it down for a little supportive (not forceful) accountability can be helpful. These strategies are typically aimed at boosting mood.
Noticing Your Thoughts
CBT uses the visualization of a triangle to help you recognize any connections between your thoughts, feelings and actions or reactions. Clicking the button below will lead you to the “products” tab of my website and a worksheet I use with clients - I enjoy using these worksheets because it highlights and encourages you to think about what happened before (or the antecedent) and then your reaction - which can encompass thoughts and feelings! - and finnnnally the consequence. Consequence in this situation is more of the outcome - it doesn’t mean punishment. There is an additional part that allows space for you to think about what you can ask for, change in yourself, change in your environment (etc., etc.) to increase feelings of regulation or resolve in future situations. These strategies are typically aimed at decreasing anxious thoughts, increasing self-esteem and/or increasing mood.
This worksheet is also under the “products” tab of my website. It helps you organize your thoughts (more instructions on worksheet). Ideally, finding helpful, true thoughts will guide you to feeling less anxious, sad, etc. As a reminder: this doesn’t mean “positive vibes only!”. When I use the word helpful, it may mean telling yourself “This is absolute crap and I can make it through this”. or “This is absolute crap and I am creative - I will find a way to fight it, but first, ice cream.”
Another worksheet you can find under the “products” tab or by clicking the button below. There are a few pages and different steps to the activity. The basic premise: notice what’s bringing you down, identify what “fills you up” and then identify the steps you have in your control to work towards where you want to be!
Step-by-Step and/or Chunking + Prioritizing
Habit trackers can be a useful way to start small and practice towards a larger goal. For example: if you have noticed that movement makes you feel better but it is hard to find motivation for a long walk or focusing on yoga for 30-40 minutes, you could start your work towards something different with slowly getting up earlier, turning off work sooner or moving for 2-5 minutes (ranges are always nice!), until you are more naturally at that big, huge goal you initially thought about. Another route for change may be having multiple options and marking off where you got each day to notice your natural average. Simply put, it is a nice way to visualize where things are at and/or motivate or add fun to following through with something new or different. People with attention and memory that are very cued can benefit from this visual reminder of the self cares or daily tasks you’re getting done (because sometimes our tough feelings are related to forgetting and working extra hard to track everything in our mind).
Finding a nice to-do list can help with chunking and prioritizing. Again, visual cues are great encouragement and reminders for the brain (decrease that mental load, babbby!). Chunking means breaking down large, daunting tasks into more manageable pieces - this way you can better appreciate the progress of all you are doing, too. A common example is covering up all of the questions on a homework sheet except for the one your or your child is working on. Prioritizing can mean being more mindful to pause and think about what tasks have a deadline, which feel most important, which are more fun for your brain and so forth and then listing them out. I always encourage color coding to give your brain some extra feels! These types of planning are typically aimed at decreasing anxious feelings and overwhelm.
Mindfulness Options
We’ve all probably become familiar with mindfulness. Many of us think of it as shutting off all our thoughts or deep breaths. While that is part of it, I’ve come to learn and appreciate that it is more about the work of noticing and bringing oneself back to - yes breaths, the present moment, the task at hand and so on. If you notice yourself needing to slow down, be more focused, decrease wandering thoughts or find yourself feeling most regulated when you’re breathing deeply - below are some helpful tools. None of the below links are affiliated - just anecdotally useful.
Smiling Mind - This is a free app with great guided breathing, body scan and other mindfulness activities. I’ve had great success with using this with people of all ages and parents have shared it with their kids’ teachers - who report that it has been great and inclusive for classroom activities! Click the link for more info.
Yoga Pretzels have been a fun and engaging activity in sessions. Again, doing something with your children can also benefit you and help increase mood (if yoga and mindfulness are for you). Allowing children to choose some is great, there are partner ones that bolster connection and trust and it can be regulating to follow the step-by-step guidelines. Mental health impacts people of all ages!
Lastly, no specific links here but more a couple parting thoughts: using resources such as Pinterest (not affiliated) to look up breathing exercises and Progressive Muscle Relaxation scripts can be helpful, too. Many apps and programs from Calm to Peloton (again, not affiliated or sponsored - just examples) have mindfulness prompts and programs. Each person will have a different perspective and preference on music, voices, styles and so forth. I encourage you to try a handful - especially if you’re interested but not feeling the first couple you try - until you notice what works for me. Personally - I noticed I just enjoyed or participated to support friends and coworkers and now after a few years I’ve learned that I actually really enjoy certain types of music and types of body scan (like visualizing a warm bubble as I breathe!). Mindfulness can be helpful in decreasing anxious spirals, used to focus on gratitude and compassion, decrease racing thoughts or increase focus. This last statement is a very broad blanket statement that is fueled anecdotally and by reading and learning throughout the years - if people voice interest I’d be happy to go out and find some specific articles that have helped me.
Stay Cozy Out There,
E
