Resilience Strategies — Techniques for Self-Care
COCONINO COUNTY — Mental health is all around us, but, what exactly is mental health? Mental health is a person’s general sense of emotional, psychological, and cognitive well-being. Everyone has mental health every day, but it’s often ignored unless something is going seriously wrong. The best way to prevent that is to pay attention to your mental health even when you are feeling okay or even good.
Notice how your mental health is always changing. Yesterday might have been a better day than today, and that’s okay. Part of being human is moving with your emotions, and knowing when something isn’t going exactly how you want it to, check in with yourself, and reach out to your friends and family for help when you need to take some time for your mental health or don’t know what to do.
As we celebrate Mental Health Awareness Month, please join us for upcoming events!
We will be doing “Wandering for Wellness” Scavenger Hunt in Flagstaff, Arizona from through May 16-21, six riddles to find caches with goodie bag prizes! Also during that week, we will visit five schools and do an interactive hour with the Flagstaff Unified School District’s Afterschool program (FACTS) introducing students to understanding their emotions and how physical activity, meditation/mindfulness, and good nutrition can help them.
In Page, Arizona we will be doing a “virtual” Walk for Mental Health asking people to do 5 walks of 20 minutes
(or more!) between May 14-31. This represents the 1 out of every 5 people who lives with a mental health condition. Once the walks are completed they can swing by the Page office of Coconino County Health and Human Services and pick up a FREE t-shirt or backpack!
Keep an eye out for our Mental Health Monday posts and Self Care Friday tips!
Here are a few tips for taking care of yourself:
Accept yourself as you are.
Write down your daily accomplishments rather than, or in addition to, your to do list. Celebrate those accomplishments.
Create a self-care plan to support your mental well-being in your daily life. Finding joy, connecting with others, helping others, learning something new, and finding spiritual connections on a daily basis can help us flourish.
Learn how to cope with stress with practical exercises like taking a few slow deep breaths, focusing on each of your senses, and trying to be fully present in what you are doing.
Make small goals, taking time for yourself is not something that will happen overnight.
Get out in nature, be present with your surroundings.
If you, or someone you know, are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text “hello” to 741741. You are not alone and someone is always available to talk/text.