Tag: 2020

After I finished pondering my reflections on the year’s mayhem a question encompassed my mind: how did I not totally lose it? I mean, I could have easily let everything consume me and allow myself to succumb to the tragedy of it all- both in the world and my personal life.

Yet, I find myself surrounded by an eerie mist of calm…

I say eerie because something about it feels fake and alarming, like the climax of a cheap-scare horror film. It doesn’t quite feel real. Maybe because in the past I’ve conceded to staring at such a pessimistic reflection of myself, looking at the world with gloom-tainted glasses, that I never considered the possibility that I could actually take a more harmonious approach to life and my mental health, and draw myself away from such a melancholy bubble. 

I’ve allowed anxiety and OCD to control my mindset to the extent that at times I find it strange to not have these thoughts fog my brain, and I could’ve easily let lockdown become a breeding ground for more destructive thoughts. But I didn’t. Instead, I developed a more positive approach to grounding my thoughts and chaotic mind, which is where this blogs topic really lies after all my babbling. 

Instead of manifesting some complex coping mechanism to help deal with negativities and mental health lows, I kept it simple. Lots of people talk about how half an hour is a good time for an activity, such as walking (or in my case, sleeping), but I felt I needed to compress this further. I settled on 10 minutes to base my techniques. 

I sat with my book of lists (oh I love a list, my favourite list book being Mrs Hinch’s Little Book of Lists) and started listing activities I could accomplish in 10 minutes. Something as simple as a 10-minute activity can help regain some calmness and clarity into the mind and body.

Writing the list was calming in itself, I really recommend doing one at the end of every day to set out what you want to do the next day, it puts everything into perspective and gives you a sense of accomplishment when you tick off a task. 

After the inevitable HIIT workout, yoga session and breathing session, the idea of being restricted to minutes felt too limiting, so I just took the number an expanded. 

I find a good way of deciding which ones to do can be by writing them down on several bits of paper and keeping them in a jar to randomly select one, making it a go-to for when those stressful moments hit.

This is what I came up with (and subsequently found resources for online):

1. 10-minute HIIT workout
2. 10-minute yoga session
3. 10-minute recipe
4. 10-minute walk or run
5. 10 minutes of controlled, guided breathing/meditation
6. 10 second countdowns in your head
7. 10 pages read of a book (if you’re looking for some new reads have a little look at this list of recommendations from The Guardian) 
8. 10 songs to listen to: maybe make a playlist of particularly calming music to have some down-time, Spotify have some great ready-made playlists to suit all your moods and needs.
9. 10-minute clean of a room (I admit, I’ve been sucked into the world of cleaning on Instagram, it’s honestly become more therapeutic rather than a chore. Some good accounts for inspiration are: @mrshinchhome, @lynsey_queenofclean, @twinklecleaningduo and @cleaning_with_mario– warning: you may become addicted to Zoflora…
10. 10 items coloured in a mindful colouring book/sheet
11. 10 items to donate/give away (decluttering a room helps declutter your head I find)
12. 10 to-dos ticked off
13. 10 long breaths
14. 10 minutes self-care (mine is lighting some candles in my room and doing my ritual skincare routine with a relaxing Spotify playlist, followed by a cup of green tea… oh who am I kidding? It’s a gin in front of my 100^th Friends re-run)
15. 10 minutes perfecting a new talent- pick up that instrument you’ve neglected or finish that drawing that you started
16. 10 minutes learning something new ore revising- don’t put it off, speaking from experience it really does more harm than good
17. 10 minutes talking to a friend or family member
18. 10 lines written in a diary (noting your thoughts and addressing them to yourself can really help put things into perspective)
19. 10 minutes playing or cuddling a pet (or any animal that will let you touch it and you have permission to do so)
20. 10 small, slow sips of water- it gives you time to focus and hydrate simultaneously
21. 10 friends or family members to reach out to (if you’re lucky to have that many). Just asking how a person is will no doubt cheer them up and also make you feel better for checking in.
22. 10-minute nap (ok so this one will almost inevitably take longer, unless you’re a complete power-nap master, unlike myself who will be asleep for the rest of the day)

(And, yes, it would be more aesthetically pleasing if my list of 10 was actually 10 points, but what can you do?)

So, there’s my list. It’s not some ground-breaking set of suggestions ready to change your life, I’m not claiming it to be in anyway. It’s what I said at the start: simple.

By taking on short and sweet tasks and activities throughout the day, we can help settle our minds and put those restless thoughts at ease. It doesn’t require tons of discipline, just the willingness to want to help yourself take control if you feel overwhelmed with it all- and let’s be honest, 2020 has given us a plethora of reasons to feel just that. 

Next time you find yourself wanting to hide under your duvet or drown your sorrows into a family pack of chocolate (or if you’re like me, a litre of gin), or if your mind is just simply in override and can’t handle anymore, pick an activity or randomly select one, and just concentrate on that. Let your mind dust away the craziness of life for just 10 minutes and let yourself breathe- we all need to.