My 6 top tips for staying balanced this Mental Health Week
There’s a phrase I like: “where attention goes, energy flows.” This rings true in both my professional life – for attention to detail really is key in surveying – and in my personal life as I balance the roles of husband, father and friend. Since 10–16th May is Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK, I wanted to share the ways I bring awareness and attention to my own mental health and offer my top tips for staying balanced through times of challenge and change.
We’ve all been affected by the events we are living through, and as someone who has had some pretty major challenges of my own – from losing a child and having dyslexia to going through a mid-life career change – I hope to bring some light to the topic of mental health and let people know they’re not alone and needn’t suffer in silence.
At the bottom of this blog I’ve listed some charities you can reach out to in case you’re struggling, including Lionheart for whom I’m a mental health ambassador.
Here are my 6 top tips for staying balanced this Mental Health Week:
Exercise: from walking to dancing to cycling to gardening, time and again I’m reminded of the important relationship between our physical and mental health. I think a healthy mind needs a healthy body to live in, and find that even moving my body a little bit can have a profound impact on my mental state. The key for me has been finding things I enjoy and fitting them into my work-life schedule so they are sustainable: such as making time for an early morning mid-week walk with a friend or ensuring I get to my regular dance class. We’re all bombarded with new information and challenges like never before, but regularly raising the heart rate and working out until we sweat is one of the best ways I know to throw off stress and anxiety.
Eating well: a huge part of maintaining mental and physical well-being comes down to what we eat and drink. When possible, I like to eat the veggies grown in our garden or the seasonal produce that’s available locally. But I’m not puritanical about my diet, and really believe in the importance of giving ourselves treats and rewards especially during periods of difficulty and intensity. I think the secret of well-being is to do our best with whatever we have available, to eat all the colours of the rainbow and to enjoy absolutely everything – but in balance and moderation rather than using food and drink as a crutch. Given what we’ve all been through in the last 18 months, it’s understandable that many of us have been eating and drinking more or differently to help get us through, but with the longer and warmer days of summer ahead, it’s a great time to bring things back into balance and re-cultivate healthier habits
Relationships: never before have our personal and professional relationships been so important to our mental health. From family and friends to the clients in my business, I think it’s so valuable to listen and relate to people on a human level. I often hear some quite personal stories through my surveying and valuation work, as many people tend to move home following a birth, death or divorce. By opening up and sharing our personal stories – and sometimes our vulnerabilities – we can cultivate deeper and more human relationships and a sense of being seen, heard and understood, which in turn creates a better sense of well-being for everyone.
Creativity and play: Carving out unstructured time for creativity and play can feel like a luxury in today’s busy world, but this precious free time and space can really help us to integrate life’s challenges and let new ideas and inspiration flow. I regularly go to an improv-dance class which gives me a sense of mental and bodily freedom, and also believe it’s important to have an active sex life to keep our sexual energy and creativity flowing. When we feel stuck – which is often how mental health challenges present themselves – creativity and play offer us new possibilities and perspectives that can help us view the world and our challenges in different ways.
Professional development: staying with the topic of flow, I think as humans we are designed to develop and change rather than stagnating and staying the same. Professional development can be a way for us to grow, evolve and become the best versions of ourselves. Sometimes this means we have to step outside our comfort zone and it’s especially important to be aware of self-care during these times – such as when I decided to change career in my 40s and become a chartered surveyor, which was very busy and demanding indeed! Yet there’s something extremely satisfying and beneficial to our mental health about taking a step in a new direction or accomplishing something new – no matter how big or small. So in the spirit of evolution, I am undertaking some professional development myself and look forward to announcing some new services for clients soon.
Getting support: one way I have learnt to take care of myself is to seek help when I need it – whether from family, friends, personal mentors or professional therapists. Many people are prevented from asking for support because they believe they lack time, money or are afraid to be seen as weak or vulnerable... Yet with 1 in 4 people experiencing a mental health problem of some kind each year, this is an issue that affects us all – perhaps via someone we know even if we don’t suffer with it personally. There are many free or low-cost support options to be found if you’re struggling with money, such as reaching out to have a conversation with your GP or one of the charities listed below, or finding a low-cost student or trainee therapist to work with. Whatever you do, try not to suffer alone or in silence. For there’s little more important than bringing awareness to and investing in our mental health – after all, it forms the foundation of all other aspects of our life.
Here are those charities I mentioned in case you need to reach out:
Lionheart: a charity that supports RICS professionals and their families.
The Samaritans: a charity aimed at providing support to anyone in emotional distress, struggling to cope, or at risk of suicide throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Mind: a charity that offers information and advice to people with mental health problems.
Hope you found this useful and would love to hear what works for you!
Will be back with the next Area Guide to Crystal Palace very soon - watch this blog!
Roo x