Simple acts of self-care

Looking after yourself can be as simple as going for a walk or having a bath. It’s not always easy to find the spare time though. These are our top tips for self-care that can take anything from five minutes to five hours…

Be Creative: Practise something you learnt in your Shine course, doodle, colour in one of your children’s colouring books. Let you mind focus on the simple task at hand.

Ask for a Hug: It’s not much, but ask someone you trust and hold the hug for at least a minute, let yourself feel their support and love.

Have a Bath: It can be ten minutes or an hour, but soak in hot water, light a candle, close the door and focus on your body in the water and nothing else.

Go for a Walk: Fresh air is so important and so is exercise. You don’t have to walk far, but breathe deeply and stretch your legs.

Light a Scented Candle: Do you have a favourite scent? If you have a candle that smells great, light it, and just watch the flickering flame for as long as you can.

Read a Book: Instead of watching TV, get under a blanket, against some cosy cushions and read a book. A gripping novel or some self-help, we have a great list here.

Do some Yoga: Yoga is so beneficial for our minds. Find some simple exercises online, and practise them for just five or ten minutes a day.

Open the Window: If you can’t go for a walk, if you don’t even have ten minutes to spare, but need to reset, then opening a window and breathing deeply can really help.

Go to Bed: If someone is watching the kids, take a nap, for one, two, three hours. Sleep is so so restorative, and so good for the mind. Almost everything looks better in the morning.

Stretch: If you can’t do yoga or walk, just stand quietly, and stretch your arms out wide, swing them back and forth, touch your toes, stretch your legs out. Feel your body worl.

Cook: If you find cooking therapeutic, then do some. Just a simple soup or a hearty casserole, something that feeds you, body and mind.

Be Careful with Relationships: Focus on spending time with people who pick you up, not put you down. This is not time for toxic friendships.

Start a Gratitude Journal: Every night, before bed, write down three things that you are grateful for. You’ll be amazed by how much you have to say.

Dance: Loud music, empty room, no-one watching - go! Just throw yourself around with carefree abandon, get the heart pumping, sing along, out of tune, be in the moment.

Turn off Your Phone: Stop scrolling, stop refreshing, just switch off, read a book, breathe deeply, disconnect.

Meditate: Meditation is as important for our minds as sleep. It only takes five minutes, and there are plenty of free or cheap apps you can try. Search on the app store.

Compliment Yourself: Imagine you are your best friend, every morning, start your day by telling yourself something that your best friend loves about you. Be kind.

Drink a Glass of Water, slowly: Keeping hydrated is really important for your physical health, and taking the time to drink a cool glass of water, slowly, can be very soothing.

Buy some Flowers: Buying flowers is a great way to get a bit of nature into your house. They don’t need to be expensive, just a few stems from a florist, put them in a vase and smile.

Say No: It’s ok not to do all the things, go more slowly, only do what you can manage. You must come first.

Managing anxiety or panic attacks…

Experiencing anxiety can feel very overwhelming and leave you struggling to cope with daily tasks and interactions. Here are some ideas on how to look after yourself and help yourself cope:

Try shifting your focus. If you're feeling immediately anxious about something, focus on something small, like the details of a picture or the texture of something you're wearing. If you can, try to keep your thoughts entirely on this one thing, really taking in all the small details. This can help you take a moment to calm down.

Learn some breathing exercises. Controlling your breathing can help counter some of the physical sensations of anxiety and help you to relax. There's an example of a breathing exercise on our page about relaxation.

Try doing some physical activity. This can help distract you from any thoughts making you anxious, and also use up some of the anxious energy you might be feeling. This doesn't have to be playing a sport or going to the gym – for example, you might want to go for a walk or do some physical activity around the house, like tidying. See here for more ideas.

Keeping depression at bay…

Some of these simple suggestions could help you get through the harder days or the longer hours. Just step-by-step…

Look after yourself: When you're experiencing depression, it's easy for hygiene to not feel like a priority. But small things, like taking a shower and getting fully dressed whether or not you're going out of the house, can make a big difference to how you feel. If someone you know can spare an hour to help with the kids, get yourself into a bath, wash your hair and put on some clean clothes. It won’t fix everything, but it will help.

Keep a mood diary. This can help you keep track of any changes in your mood, and you might find that you have more good days than you think. This can also help you notice if any activities, places or people make you feel better or worse. It doesn't have to take much time – for example, some mood tracking apps can be used on your phone.

Coping with the daily reality of PTSD and Psychosis…

It takes time to recover from PTSD and psychosis, allow yourself that time, and be gentle as you heal…

Learn to manage difficult emotions: If you find yourself struggling with strong feelings of anger or anxiety, it can be helpful to think about ways to manage these emotions. See our pages on coping with anger and anxiety, and our page on managing difficult emotions, for ideas.

Learn some relaxation techniques: You might want to try meditation, breathing exercises or mindfulness to stay calm and manage your triggers.

Give yourself time: It can feel frustrating to be struggling with PTSD symptoms, and it's easy to get angry with yourself for not 'getting over' it. But recovering from a trauma takes time, and it's important to allow yourself space to do so. Putting pressure on yourself to get better can end up making you feel worse. Make a note reminding yourself to take time to recover, or ask loved ones to remind you whenever you're struggling that recovery takes time.

Recognise your triggers: Try keeping a diary of your moods and what's going on in your life. This might help you recognise patterns or notice what affects your mental health. If you can become aware of the sort of experiences or feelings that can trigger you, it gives you the chance in future to notice what's going on before you become more unwell, and ask for help.