8 Mental Health First Aid Tips
Save yourself in times of distress
--
Practice mental first aid on yourself with these 8 simple steps.
Return to a place of peace and serenity.
In times of distress.
Follow these 8 simple tips to ease your stress and anxiety to return to a place of calm and quiet.
8 Emotional First Aid Tips:
Stop those tapes in your head.
Refrain from playing them over and over. Don’t go down the rabbit’s hole when you are stressed. Avoid your habit of overthinking. Maintain focus on the present.
It all begins and ends in your mind. What you give power to has power over you, if you allow it. livewithmeaning
Breathe.
Practice box breathing. In for four, hold for four, out for four. Breathe from deep in the belly. Continue until you are feeling calm. This deliberate deep belly breathing calms your nervous system.
Deep breaths are like little love notes to your body. Pinterest
Listen to your gut.
What is your gut telling you in times of stress? Pay attention, and steer gut reactions in alternative directions. Be conscious of your thoughts. Transforming negative thoughts/negative emotions into positive thoughts/positive emotions de-escalates the stress response and promotes peace.
Positive people also have negative thoughts. They just don’t let those thoughts grow and destroy them. spiralscience
Find positive lessons and meaning in loss and failure.
Make it game. Take an inventory of daily struggles and look for a silver lining. Journal. Like a snowball rolling down a hill, your positive thoughts will gain momentum. When you look back at the old you, you will be proud of your progress. This is easier said then done but a mindset worth developing.
Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm. Winston Churchill
Be generous with compassion to yourself and others.
A compassionate heart is a healthy heart. For what is the alternative? Sure, we try to protect our…
