How to Take An Effective Mental Health Day
Decide how to spend your day.
The key to knowing how to take a day to care for yourself, is being able to tune and a feel what would truly be a nourishing activity for your mental health. Physical health supports mental health. So whatever you choose to do on a mental health day should also be supportive to your physical health. Our lives tend to be fast, so a mental health day for most people would include slowing down, creating space. Design your day to have more of an “allowing” flow to it rather than a “forced” rigidity. Also it is highly recommended to spend significantly less or no time on your phone and devices during this restorative day.
To decide how you’ll spend your day, begin by tuning into yourself - take a few deep breaths, settle in, feel your belly and feel your breath. See if you can feel from within what would be the most supportive to your mental health. Imagine different activities or practices and feel how they feel in your body. Ask yourself….
Is it most supportive for you to be active or slow? Do you need exercise and movement of the body or do you need to be more restful? Will being in nature support you most right now? Will taking time to yourself be the most nourishing? Is it best to reflect on your life and your inner process? Or is it best to simply clear your mind and BE? Could meditation be supportive? Could journaling be supportive? What about listening to some peaceful music with a cup of tea while spending time with your pet? What about nourishing your body to support your mind through cooking yourself a delicious and healthy meal? Perhaps cleaning your home or mowing the lawn would be the most supportive right now? Or maybe it would be most supportive to be creative?
Essentially you want to explore many options and FEEL into them, don’t try and overthink your choices for the day. Tap into your inner wisdom and inner guidance system through the felt sense of your body.
Make sure to tend to your body. Movement of the body is generally supportive to your mental health, tune into what would be the best movement for you right now. Do you need to climb a mountain on a big hike in nature? Or maybe it’s best to do some breathing practice or gentle stretching or qi gong at home? Or a simple walk in the park, smelling the flowers along the way?
Once you’ve decided how you’ll spend your mental health day, clear your schedule and make any necessary preparations.
During your mental health day, Be Present.
However you choose to spend your day, be present. Feel your breath. Bring your awareness into the NOW. Explore the power of calming the mind by bringing awareness to the experience of your body, your senses, your environment and your inner emotional state. Whatever you choose to do, see if you can create some to calm the mind and cultivate peace and joy within. It’s ok if that’s not available right now, simply notice what you are feeling.
Allow insights to come forth into your consciousness. Perhaps by creating some space during this day, you’ll see some changes that need to be made in your life. Maybe you need to set some new boundaries with people or with your time. Or maybe you see now more clearly that you need to be more disciplined with certain health practices. Or maybe you’ll realize how important it is for you to spend time in nature. Whatever insights come, take note! Write them down, solidify your new insights in your mind on how you can improve your overall well being. After your mental health day, you can plan how to bring these insights to life.
To Conclude Your Day
Give gratitude to yourself for taking some time and space to slow down and care for yourself. Well done! Reflect on what activities or practices felt most supportive. Take some time to feel and notice how different you feel after taking this day for yourself versus how you felt yesterday. In the coming days, notice the impact of this mental health day. And remember to put to practice in daily life any insights you received during this day. Taking a mental health day is not only about the day itself but also about resetting your mental state, nurturing your emotional resilience and supporting your mental health in the long term.