Hello amazing Bloom family member (yes, you!) 🌻
We asked you on our stories about your mental health regimen, and what’s helping you deal with the current situation. Let’s face it, this year wasn’t the easiest, but the only thing getting us through is each other, and realizing we have the strength in us to make the right decisions to get better and better.
So, here they are, and we agree with all of the below. ✨
Take care of your mind & soul
Mindfulness, meditation, journaling and deep breathing help more than we can imagine. In fact, it’s hard to realize the impact that these little things have on our mental health before we actually implement them in our daily routine.
We’ve discussed with a lot of you and realized that it’s been quite hard for most of you to start doing this because you don’t have much time, or struggle with a lot of thoughts while trying to meditate or practice mindfulness. Fret not! You’re not alone.
When it comes to the time issue, what we suggest is starting to slowly introduce these to your daily routine, by playing a sleep meditation before bed or doing a really short one in the morning before you start your day. You can even find 5-10 minute meditations.
Regarding overthinking while meditating, we insist, this is SO normal! Meditation is not about leaving your mind blank, it’s about seeing these thoughts as passing clouds or cars, and letting them come and go. Telling yourself not to think will lead to even more thoughts! If you want to learn more about meditation, Headspace Guide to Meditation helped us a lot!
We highly recommend these applications below:
Insight Timer (free)
Patronus (free)
Waking Up (you can request a free 1-year subscription here)
HeadSpace
Chopra
Take care of your body
It’s really hard to start working out if you’re not already! But how about you start doing small things that’ll make you feel good and make you move around? We recommend going on walks during work breaks, it feels so good when the weather is nice also (if you have a dog, that helps too!)
Also, introducing a bit of yoga goes a long way. We absolutely loved the Breath 30 Day Yoga Journey with Adriene, it’s on YouTube for free, and the sessions are quite short.
Dance it off! Dancing is always fun, and it sometimes makes us move and sweat more than we’d imagine, all while having a blast! Put your favorite tunes on and jam! While we’re at it, you can enjoy this fun playlist by our music-obsessed community manager Nour.
Don’t forget to stretch!
Detach & compartmentalize
Avoid the news as much as you can, the important pieces of information will come to you either way! You’re not going to miss out on the scoop of the century by minding your business, right? (We know you know that)
Curate your social media so that you are exposed to uplifting content. Your energy is precious, try to protect it as much as you can by focusing on the good news rather than the bad, and you’ll be aware of the rest either way.
Express yourself
This is so easy to say but it’s something that a lot of us struggle to do, because we were raised in a society that teaches us that being vulnerable and open is a weakness, not a strength.
Also, we tend to get scared of opening our Pandora’s box of feelings, but believe us, when you open that box, you will feel a weight lift. If you swoop some dirt under the rug, will the dirt disappear? No! It will always be there but you just can’t see it. The more it’ll stay there, the stinkier it’ll get! Get that dirt out in the open and throw it in the symbolic trash of life! (Your thoughts are not trash, but you know what we mean!) You’ll learn a lot about yourself by doing that.
Reach out to your support system, or write down all your thoughts and feelings. Cry under the shower! Expressing yourself leads to feelings of relief. The charged feelings within us become less charged.
Goes without saying that seeing a therapist is always a good idea! You wouldn’t hesitate to go to the doctor, and that’s the same way with a therapist. Mental health is as important as physical health, the two are interconnected. If you’re in Lebanon and are searching for free/low-cost contacts, @PsyKarim created a story highlight with a lot of valuable details in there.
A journaling app we love is Day One. Writing with your own hands is great and is more fluid, but if you’re a really busy person who likes efficiency and apps for everything, this is for you!
Implement self-compassion
Your inner saboteur is lying to you! Try to sometimes pay attention to the way you speak to yourself. Stop trying to talk to yourself in ways that you wouldn’t tolerate from others.
Be kind to yourself, and remember that at any given point you are doing your best. We’re pretty sure that if your friend was in the same situation, you wouldn’t call her a loser!
Here’s a great way of fighting your inner critic, shared by Lebanese psychologist Dr. Nicole Nasr.
Practice gratitude
A little gratitude comes a long way. Believe us, you’ll know when you start.
When you start practicing gratitude, you will start rewiring your brain into seeing the wonderful side of things over the bad. Your lenses will change, and you’ll automatically see the world in its beauty. Life is all about the little moments, the journey and not the destination. We know you’ve heard that a lot, but sometimes these cheesy lines are the truest ones… just like YOLO, you really do only live once. 😂
Try to write down or acknowledge in your mind at least 5 things you’re grateful for every day.
Find healthy rituals
Small things that make you feel good, like listening to music, cooking, baking, taking care of a plant, lighting candles, looking at sunsets, knitting, sketching, reading… whatever makes you feel good.
Try to write a list of everything that makes you feel good, and as soon as you have free time, go back to that list and see what amazing options you have to choose from!
That’s it – for now!
Appreciative to everyone who took the time to share, and don’t hesitate to reach out – to us, friends, loved ones, and professionals. We’re all in this together.
Love & Light,
The Bloom Team 🌻