How to Take An Effective Mental Health Day Off
Stress doesn’t affect everyone the same way and taking a mental health day will depend on your own ability to unwind and let go of the stress. Also, everyone has their own way of embracing self-care and addressing their mental health. To make a mental health day successful, it may be key to understand yourself, where you’re coming from and what can affect your mental state. What are the thoughts driving your mind and so your behaviour? Do you have control over them or do you let them control you?
You may think thought patterns don’t affect your reactions to certain events but let’s ask some questions before you answer:
Do you feel like you are going to explode whenever something is not going your way?
Do you take on yourself, layer after layer, after you finally the weight is too heavy and so explode?
Do you take on more than you can chew to feel like you are doing ‘something’, to challenge yourself and make you dependable, and prove that you belong, prove your worth, or that you can be loved?
Do you struggle to fall asleep because thoughts are raving in your mind at a time your brain should be switching off?
Do you pretend everything is okay and don’t let go of your emotions, so nobody can see the real you, the authentic you?
Below, we are listing a few secret tips to help you focus on you and your thoughts, and how your thoughts are affecting your day and your mental well-being.
1. Get a good night’s sleep
Sleep is of the utmost importance. If you don’t get a good night sleep it is very likely you won’t have a great day either. Probably tired, and unfocussed, you may simply feel like slouching in front of the TV eating bad food, thinking you deserve it because it is your day off. On the other hand, you will feel a lot more energised after a good sleep and wanting to do all the things you cannot do because of work or other commitments.
2. Set your intentions for the day
Use your diary to write your intentions for the day, like you would for any other day. Starting with setting plans or goals for your day set the tone for the day and will help you feel balanced and more grounded — more focussed. The day won’t seem so scary after all, even if you need to catch up with emails or important calls.
3. Take time to have breakfast
Breakfast should be considered like the first thing you do when you start your day at work. You get organised, you get your paperwork ready, and you finally catch up with reading emails and messages. Now, think of it when you are preparing your breakfast. You are creating a pile of information that will be delivered to your cells. Are you cells able to understand what you are intending to tell them or do they need to decipher the code? A donut and coffee doesn’t supply the right information for your cells to function. This is consider in a way like you would encrypted mails. If you do not have the translator you won’t be able to read that email, and therefore, the information within that email is useless.
So how do you expect your cells to support your health and your overall well-being when you feed them ‘useless’ foods?
Focus on a fat-rich breakfast using ingredients healthy like avocado, nuts and seeds. Avoid any types of processed ingredients. And avoid skipping breakfast altogether, especially if under a lot of stress or anxious. You need to balance your blood sugar to be in control of your energy levels throughout the day.
4. Gentle exercise
You can choose to exercise before or after breakfast, or at any other time of the day that suits you best, so that you can work on the production of those feel-good transmitters. Exercise can be anything that increases your heart rate and makes you sweat. You should still be able to catch your breath. There is the sweet spot for optimum health. If you haven’t exercise in a while, start by exercise at home (using any app or online tips and short videos to help you), then go on long walks and then increase the regime to a more confident and faster pace.
Seek nature and sunlight frequently through your day. Going outside to exercise in nature is your way to hit two birds with one stone. Although, we would recommend to not hurt any birds in the process.
5. Engage in stimulating activities or mental work
If you had a good breakfast and have organised your thoughts and your day, your mind should be light and free to welcome any stimulation that is healthy and constructive. This is your mental health day and if it is a day off, then artistic creativity should be exercised. It can anything. You can start on a huge puzzle/jigsaw if you don’t think you have a fibre in your body that is artistic. Drawing, painting, or even DIY qualify as brain stimulation. Reach deep inside your subconscious and reach for that meditative state to allow for inspiration to flow. You may want to direct your thoughts with a short guided mediation session so that your brain reaches the right waves.
This is also a good time to engage in some robust problem solving or reframing, otherwise you may spend your evening turning over these things in your mind, which will negate all the good you are trying to do on your mental health day and, therefore, impact your restfulness and sleep.
6. Eat Lunch
Time for a balanced meal. A light lunch packed with vegetables of as many different colours as possible is ideal. You can mix it up with a few cooked, baked, roasted or raw. It is up to you to even use vegetable leftovers and make a frittata for example. You will satiated and satisfied for a while. It will also help you keep control of your energy levels by avoiding any dips that you may encounter after large meals, especially those containing grains and dairy, or both. Read Energise to know why this happens.
7. Socialize
What better than meeting up with friends and socialise. The more laughter the better. This is your medicine. So, make friends with people that makes you feel good about yourself and support you, and help you to grow as a person. Avoid any negative people that only focus on the negative, or complain constantly, or those who enjoy criticising others in a bad way or put others down to make themselves feel better, and laugh at their expense.
Look at friends as a glass of pure water. It will energise you and oxygenise your cells. Toxic friends will poison you like a toxic drink would.
8. Do something that makes you feel good.
This is the time to pamper yourself. It could anything. An hour at a spa or a massage or a manicure, as long as it makes you feel on top of the world, looked after, and relaxed. If reading a good book and submerged in a story is your thing, then so be it. Make sure to not be disturbed.
9. Dinner time
Dinner is usually a time where the entire family is united. spending time together and preparing food is an ideal exercise to reconnect with foods and educate your children about the power of healthy eating and family values. After all, we are animals and we are better when we are part of a pack — social interaction is vital for our well-being. Disengage from your mobile phone or other electronic devices, or game consoles, and spend valuable time with your family. These should not be around you around dinner time. This is family time. Ask your kids how they day went and show you truly care so that they are ready to open up. Do not criticise or raise your voice if you feel irritated by what they say or have done — this is your own reaction, so just make sure to stay in control of your own emotions. Otherwise, they might be reticent to ever talk about their day.
10. Time to switch off.
When everyone is in bed, it is the ideal time for you to reflect on the day, and open your journal and checkup on your intentions. Did you do all the things you intended to do?
Then, write in your journal three things that are grateful for. This will help you focus on the positive and not the negative. Remember that the last thought on your mind as you go to sleep will be the first thought on your mind as you wake up. So, make sure it is a thought that is serving your mental well-being and not damaging it.
Also, write in your journal anything about the day. How you felt. What upset you or made you laugh. This is an exercise to understand your emotions, your thought patterns and find better way to focus your energy on. For example, if you understand that in some particular instances you concentrate on unhealthy thoughts, and allow those to monopolise your mind, you may think that you energy may be best used elsewhere, and so keep those thoughts under check and discarding them if they do not serve your current state.
Lastly, reflect on the day and take with you in your sleep all the positivity, make that light guide your dreams and make that mental health day the most positive thing you can ever do to yourself. And so, you’ll be more inclined to have regular mental health days every month for example or anytime it is needed.
If you need a little nudge to help you sleep, then mindful breathing or meditation are great too.