10 Days for Mental Health Free Online Course - Day 7

Today we’re going to help you to find ways of bringing some positivity into your life.

Gratitude

The importance of feeling grateful has long been held in high regard as a helpful tool to good mental wellbeing.

It’s been scientifically proven that you are far more likely to be a happier person if you are able to make a list and write down with pen and paper anything that you feel grateful for that day – even if it’s the tiniest thing.

So today we would like you to write your own gratitude list - write down absolutely everything you feel grateful for in this moment. And to help get you into that frame of mind first, we have a meditation for you that focuses on gratitude and helps to give you a bit of grounding and energy at the same time.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is a brilliant and increasingly popular technique used by mental health professionals. It helps stop your thoughts from spiralling out of control – especially if you are prone to rehashing past events that you can do nothing about now, or needlessly worrying about the future and catastrophising about stuff that probably will never happen.

To find out more information on the benefits of mindfulness, take a look at our page What is Mindfulness? for all the details on the practice.

So to start you off on the mindful path, we have a ‘Mindful Body Scan’ to help you focus on the present – in this case how your body feels at this present moment. See how you can use it during your day to bring your awareness and focus on your body instead of letting your thoughts run away with you.

Walking in Nature

Nature is great for mental wellbeing. Many Japanese corporations now send their employees out into woods for mental health days where they just walk and sit in nature as it’s been scientifically proven to aid mental wellbeing and help focus and productivity.

Try and get out in nature as much as you can today – even if it’s just to a local park. Walk slowly and mindfully, and really look around, focussing on the trees, flowers and plants around you.

And as a bonus, here’s a wonderful meditation that incorporates a guided country walk to a secret garden. So even if you can’t get to nature for real, you can always visit it in your imagination here.

So we wish you luck with the techniques today and we’ll see you tomorrow for Day 8.