I’ve worked in the NHS as a health coach since September 2019. During that time, I’ve coached hundreds of people to improve their health outcomes. I get referrals from the GPs or nurses for all kinds of problems. A lot of people are referred for their excess weight, for high blood pressure, for high blood sugar, for joint pain, for loneliness, for sleep issues, for stress. All of these conditions affect mental health in some way. Daily stresses in life are 100% guaranteed, but how we cope with these daily stresses is a skill that can be fine-tuned over time. It’s a practice. And we get good at what we practice. Sounds simple, and it is. That doesn’t mean it’s easy. So, if we’re focusing our attention on the negative stuff in life, that will become our default thought pattern. Our brains will become naturally trained to remain on the lookout for negative stuff and negative thoughts.
I spent the whole year of 2017 in India and Nepal. During that time, I had three separate weeks in monasteries, attending lectures given by various monks. One explanation from a monk that has stuck with me about the mind that it’s “like a drunk monkey that’s been stung by a wasp!”, meaning that we’ve not much control over its patterns. But it’s our task to try to harness or train this wasp-stung, drunk monkey to the best of our abilities! This, coming from a professional in the world of self-compassion, meditation and peace, was very reassuring to me. Even monks struggle to get a grip of their minds, but as they’ve put in thousands of hours of reps, they’re clearly a lot better than the average person!
If we’re not professional monks, how can we improve our mental health then? One practice that’s commonly mentioned from our Buddhist friends to many psychologists today, is a simple gratitude practice. This could be done any time of day, but I get the benefit the most at the end of each day by reflecting for five minutes on the top three things of the day. No matter what has gone on in the day, we can always notice or list three positive things. I find writing these things down more powerful than just thinking of them.
Like the monks putting in the reps each day with meditation, the more minutes that we can dedicate to a simple, positive writing exercise like the gratitude list, the better we become at it, and the more skilled we are at noticing the good things in life. You may also like to consider other writing practices, answering questions like: “What am I looking forward to today?” or “What went well today?” By paying more attention to the positives in life, the more minutes we’ll have in better mental health. If you, for example, have about 20% of your thousands of thoughts each day as helpful, positive or constructive, could a gratitude practice make this a higher percentage tomorrow?
Meditation
There are so many types. Rather like sport, we all have our favourite ones. So, trying different styles of meditation could be a useful way to find out what works for you. You could use digital devices on an app, such as Calm or Insight Timer. It could also be good to have meditations that you don’t have to use a device for, such as a breathing practice or using a mantra, like transcendental meditation. This way we have a few options to turn to. And if your phone is a source of distraction, or even addiction, opting for meditation style you can do without technology could be very helpful. I like doing breathing meditations in the morning, then using an app for a five-minute meditation later in the day.
Physical activity
is a simple, practical action to improve mental health. A lot of people who are referred to me for anxiety or depression don’t typically spend too much time outside. A simple walk in nature is one way to calm the body and mind. Being in a green space has multiple benefits—you’re away from digital stimulation, you’re getting vitamin D, and you’re hearing natural sounds, which increase calmness. One suggestion to enhance the experience of walking in nature is to write down the best features of the walk when you get back to home or work. This way, you’re practising the art of fine-tuning your senses—picking out any favourite features of the walk, be that something you saw, smelt, heard or felt or tasted. If walking isn’t your thing, choose a physical activity that does float your boat to turn to in the moments of negativity.
One guy I follow on Twitter, Dan Go, said that he “spoke to a psychologist the other day who, when his clients felt anxious, had them do body weight squats to failure before helping them. More times they stopped feeling anxious or were better equipped to deal with it. Reminds me that exercise is a free form of therapy.” An interesting start to a therapy session!
Intense physical exercise is a ‘state-changer’. If you’re feeling low, a short sharp burst of a workout can be another tool to turn to. Similarly, another way to quickly get out of your head and into your body, is changing your body temperature with either a cold shower or a sauna. Bursts of high or low temperatures are a favourite of mine to get me out of negative thought patterns. The cold produces so many feel-good hormones after the exposure that it’s like a natural high for a few hours after the experience.
Eat real whole foods, in their most natural form
What we eat affects how we think, how we feel and what we look like. On that basis, it would make sense to choose the best foods that our time and budgets can afford. A book by Dr Chris Palmer called ‘Brain Energy’ is a fascinating read. Dr Georgia Ede is another psychiatrist who’s had amazing results in her practice using the keto diet with her patients. Feel free to check those doctors out on podcasts or Youtube
Sleep
I rarely speak to patients or clients with mental health concerns who are all sleeping well, and are in tune with a natural circadian rhythm. More often than not, mental health problems are not helped by poor sleep. If you’re not getting outdoors in the mornings and lunchtime to get adequate sunlight, then your sleep pattern will probably be out of sync. Then at the other end of the day, if you’re exposing yourself to a lot of screen time in the evenings, you’re telling your brain it’s still the daytime, which will disrupt your natural sleep cycle. So, reflecting on how we can realign our sleep times could help to dramatically improve our mental health. If we have a good night’s sleep, we’re more likely to make better, healthier decisions during the daytime. We’ll be less prone to reaching for quick pick-me-ups like an extra cup of coffee or a processed snack and we’re more likely to exercise.
We’re all a work in progress and we all have mental health challenges. Having a variety of tools in your mental health toolbox can certainly be helpful, as depending on where you are, how much time you have, who you’re with etc., there will be some things that are more practical to turn to. Of course, there are many other options available. Being proactive with mental health is something that I’m getting better at. I also think that when you’re in a good place, it’s just as important to keep doing the things that make your mental health stay like that. As when you stop doing the things that make you feel well, it stands to reason that you may dip and drift off track. I hope these thoughts have given you some things to reflect on or try out at home or work.
I’ve now gone part-time with the NHS, so I can go upstream and into businesses. My aim is to help coach staff to proactively prioritise health in and out of the workplace.
In health,