No one has come through the ravages of the past two years unscathed. Even if we might be collectively feeling more optimistic about what lies ahead, the toll that the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on our global mental health is unprecedented in our lifetime. As physical therapists, we know the foundation of our practice rests on the integration of both mental and physical health. With that said, you might have heard that May is ‘Mental Health Month.’  Read on as we honor the continued importance of psychological wellbeing with some quick tips on how to enhance your mental (and therefore, overall!) health.

It’s ironic that there is only one month devoted to honoring mental health, because tuning into psychological wellbeing is an activity that we want to return to again, and again. Kind of like brushing our teeth; we wouldn’t brush once and then think we’re good to go for the rest of the week. With that said, sometimes it’s hard to devote enough time to things, and before we know it, we’ve let go of, or forgotten to engage in something we know helps us to restore our inner sense of wellbeing.

We pause to note here, what gives you an inner sense of wellbeing might be entirely different than what works for someone else. Surprisingly, what worked well for you two weeks ago might not work as well again today. With that said, if you are feeling really low, and not able to find your way out of a spiral, a lot of people do find benefit from seeking help from a mental health professional. If you feel like you’d like to try to focus more on your mental health on your own, but you aren’t quite sure where to start, we’re highlighting two activities below.

We chose them because they don’t take a lot of effort, and they can pack a lot of benefit into a small amount of time. Even if you’ve tried them before, try them again because they might feel different this time around. Both activities are intended to help you to slow down, and to increase self-awareness. Sometimes just checking in with ourselves is the intervention itself. Think of these activities like small steps…with a lot of potential!

Exercise 1: This is an exercise that you can really do anywhere, even on a crowded train. If you are new to this one, we recommend that you try it for the first time when you are in nature.

Notice 5 things you can see. Cast your gaze around, and notice things that you might not normally notice, like maybe the shape of a shadow or the rise and fall of a chest as someone breathes.

Notice 4 things you can feel. Bring your attention to things you are feeling, like what lies underneath your hands, or what the air feels like on your skin.

Notice 3 things you can hear. Focus on the sounds around you. Nature sounds are fun, but even indoors, you might bring awareness to the low hum of an appliance or the distant sound of traffic.

Notice 2 things you can smell. Notice any scents around you, even if they are unpleasant. These might be fresh scents in the air, or more subtle residual smells (like stale smoke), that linger.

Notice 1 thing you can taste. What was the last thing you ate or drank, and can you still taste it?

Exercise 2: Similar to the first exercise, this one can be done anywhere, at any time, but many people find that it is easiest to do at night.  We like to write on paper (maybe a notepad you can leave next to your bed) but anything you use to note things will work.

First, write down three things that went well that day. We leave it up to you to define what that means. You know best what falls into that category, and the more personal you can make it the better. Some of you might be like, ‘nothing is going well.’ We get it, but that’s when you can think outside of the box a bit. For example, did you get to work on time that day? It might seem like a small and obvious thing, but hey, it counts.

Next, we want you to consider how you might give yourself credit for each of the things. Write it down next to the item. So, for our getting-to-work example, you might note something like, I didn’t want to get up when my alarm went off, but I did. Or, I’ve been doing pretty well in packing my lunch the night before so things were ready when I needed them to be this morning.

Try to do this exercise for a whole week. You might be surprised by how your experience of it changes over time.

Even five minutes on anything that helps us to tune into ourselves can make a big difference.  Hopefully, we’ve inspired you to focus just a bit more on mental health today – and to continue seeking resources that work for you, beyond the month of May!

At Beacon Physical Therapy, we support our patients in leading a healthy life and establishing a healthy lifestyle. We’d love to meet you and get you back to doing what you love.