Mental Health Matters

Mental Health Matters is here to provide you with weekly tips, resources, events, and methods to help you achieve better mental wellbeing and happiness. This is more important than ever with the ever changing circumstances that we are all finding ourselves in.

Your Healthy Monday Refresh

The Monday Campaigns have several useful tips and tricks for reducing stress and staying positive this lockdown. Click here to view their weekly practice packages, where you can take 3 courses to do with breathing, mindfulness, and positivity. Here is some useful information from them provided below:

Sweet Dreams

1 in 3 people do not get enough sleep. Start you days refreshed with a healthy plan to wind down and get a good night’s sleep.

1. As part of your nightly routine, turn off all electronic devices, make your bedroom a place for sleep only. Looking at bright screens before you try to sleep can make your brain think it needs to stay awake. Avoiding this will cause you to relax in bed quicker and help you sleep.
2. While in bed, try some deep belly breathing exercises.
3. Guided meditation can also help relax your mind and release tension.

Count Steps Until You Hit Your Monday Mile

Walking for more than 30 mins a day can be a great exercise. It can reduce stress, build muscle, and increase your endurance as well as boost your heart’s health too.

Thirty minutes of brisk walking every day can add up to the recommended 150 minutes of moderate physical activity you get every week, even if that 30 minutes is broken up into 10- or 15-minute walks.

This Monday, we encourage you to go on a walk:

• If you have a dog, take him/her for a walk instead of staying in the backyard.
• If you drive a car, park farther away from your destination and walk the rest of the way.
• Taking stairs instead of an elevator is another way to squeeze in a few steps; it also provides an added challenge and changes up your terrain.
• You can even take a walk around your office and hold “walk-and-talk” meetings

Whatever way you chose to stretch you legs, know that you’re helping your body as well as your mind.