No bullshit ways to take care of your mental health 🙅🏾
I know I said no bullshit and some of this is gonna sound like bullshit but I pinky promise it’s not!
Satisfying Sparkles
Things that brought a bit of ✨sparkle✨ to my week
Recorded my first ever podcast as a guest with Michelle Rosko! 🤩
Officially became a Notion Ambassador and met a fellow Trini 🇹🇹
Found out that I’m one of two Notion Ambassadors from Trinidad and Tobago, and one of three from the Caribbean 🦄
Last week, I talked about what mental health is, what factors affect your mental health, and how we need to be talking about more practical ways to improve your mental health. Today, let’s talk about no bullshit ways of taking care of your mental health.
Have you ever heard of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?
Psychologist Abraham Maslow theorized that people are motivated to fulfil basic needs before moving on to more advanced ones.
If you take a look at the pyramid below, you’ll see he put those needs into a pyramid to show their hierarchy — you have to start at the bottom, the foundation, before going up and up til you reach the top.
It’s hard to get to the upper tiers if the tier you’re in is shaky. It’s a kind of walk before you crawl situation.
“Sue-Jan, what does this have to do with taking care of my mental health?”
Well, when I think of taking care of my mental health I think of this theory. While there are many humungous things that might be affecting our mental health (racism, poor physical health, financial struggles), sometimes it’s the little things that can make a big impact — like our basic needs.
Our most basic needs as living things are:
Air 💨
Water 💦
Food/nutrition 🍴
Warmth 🔥
Shelter 🏠
Sleep 💤
If you didn’t already notice, these are things that we need for survival and a lot of us neglect these needs first when we’re stressed and overwhelmed. We work through lunch, we stay up late to get shit done, we lock ourselves in air-conditioned rooms.
All of these are related to maintaining a level of homeostasis — balance — within the body. If your balance is thrown off on this basic level, imagine the effects on the rest of your life!
Now am I saying that going outside and breathing fresh air is going to cure your depression? Well, no. But maybe we should give the “go outside and touch grass” folks more credit 😂
When we’re busy putting out fires, it can be hard to return to satisfying these basic needs. So how do we keep up?
This is where the bullshit no bullshit advice comes in.
First, you’re gonna come to a pause.
Whatever fire you’re putting out right now is gonna be there when we’re done with this exercise sis, don’t worry.
Assess your physical body.
What sensations do you feel? Do you have a headache? Do your eyes and mouth feel dry? Is your stomach grumbly or feeling hollow?
Once you’ve assessed the need you have to fill, think “lowest hanging fruit”.
“What is the smallest, most low effort thing I can do right now to satisfy this need?”
Let’s say that need is hunger. The lowest hanging fruit to satisfy that hunger can be throwing a granola bar into your face. Here in Trinidad and Tobago we have a cracker called Crix. Curiously, we call them ‘vital supplies’.
Now that you’ve had your handful of Crix, or granola bar, reassess your body.
How are you feeling now? I’m pretty sure your stomach feels like hollow, you feel just a little more focused and the phone ringing isn’t pissing you off as much.
Usually when you have a basic need met in this most basic, almost insignificant way, your body feels a million times better. For me I tend to want to take a longer break so that I can get something tastier to eat.
My bestie once took me out to Starbucks and the bacon, egg and cheese sandwich and vanilla latte I had made me feel I was reborn oh my god. I felt like my depression was cured (it was not).
Try taking a grab at these low-hanging fruit for a mental health boost
Air 💨
Open a window then sit/stand near it for 5 minutes
Go outside and look at the sky for 5 minutes
Spray a few puffs of your favourite scent into the room you’re in
Water 💦
Take a sip of water every time you get a Slack/Teams ping (or when you hear any other notification)
Get a fun or pretty vessel to drink your water out of (I have a 1.9L ThermoFlask with a straw)
Add fruit to your water
Food 🍴
Keep crackers or granola/protein bars near your desk
Prepare a sandwich ahead of time (you can make it as involved or simple as you like)
Sleep/Rest 💤
Take your lunch when you’re required
Use a pomodoro timer while working (I use the break times to satisfy one or more of my basic needs)
Close your eyes for 2 minutes (or take a 30 minute nap. Reclaim your time bestie ✊🏾)
On top of taking care of everything else as a BIPOC, LGBTQ+ or ND person, taking care of your mental health can feel like a daunting task
But it doesn’t have to be. These small, simple actions can have a big impact on your everyday mental and physical wellbeing in the long run. Remember that taking care of your mental health is a journey, and every action counts 💜