Embracing Life In Lockdown

This whole quarantine situation is a funny old thing isn't it? I don't mean funny ha ha, I mean funny strange.

Some people are really struggling with having to stay at home - while others are sailing through it with relative ease.

I personally have good days and bad days - mainly good if I'm honest. I'm finding lots to keep me busy - there's always college work that has to be completed (being a trainee counsellor). I've been so busy writing essays and assignments lately but somehow amidst all of that, I have also done something that I have wanted to do for a very long time:

I've written a book!

It's not the contemporary fiction novel that I always dreamed of writing - but it is the book I needed to write.

It started with an article about The Practice of Gratitude that I was going to post here - but before I knew it, the idea came to me to write a few more articles about other practices and then link them all together and before long, I had written an entire book!

It's not War And Peace or anything - but it is an absolute labour of love.

It's a book about positive mental health and how to not just survive this lockdown period, but how to embrace it.

I feel very strongly that we must all stick together (metaphorically speaking, of course) and believe that we will get through this. Even when hit with extremely difficult challenges, there is always hope for better times to come.

I wanted to write something for those who are teetering on the edge and hanging on to their sanity by their fingernails. For those who are feeling lost, desperate, unsure and unmotivated. I wanted to offer some simple suggestions of ways to alleviate these feelings - to cast a glimmer of light into the shadows and let them know that they are not alone.

As a counsellor (in the final stages of my training), I am working with clients, some of whom are suffering anxiety brought on by being shut in their houses and it's quite a strange situation. Probably for the first time in history, therapists and clients are experiencing the same anxieties over a shared experience. Although everyone's experiences are of course different. counsellors are not exempt from this situation. We too feel anxious and concerned and we are trying to help others who feel similarly.

So my book is a small offering in the grand scheme of things - if you’re looking for a new doorstop then this may not be it!

It’s a quick read designed to help motivate readers and to gain a better understanding of why mental health is so important. It’s full of tips and suggestions on ways we can focus on the here and now and push our anxieties aside.

I am not claiming that I can cure people of their worries and anxiety, and I definitely recommend people speaking to their GP if they feel they need help with their mental health, but I am hoping this might help some. I offer suggestions of how you can live in the here and now using techniques like meditation and mindfulness and how a grateful mindset can help to build resilience and develop an optimistic outlook.

I believe that good mental health starts with a belief that we are worthy of investing the time and effort in ourselves. We need to nurture our mental health the way we do with our physical health and treat ourselves with compassion. Life is pretty hard for some right now, so any way we can alleviate some of our anxieties is a bonus.

If this can help someone, then that is my dream ❤️🌈

It’s currently free to download on Amazon until Sunday 17th May.

Here’s the link 👇🏼

https://amzn.to/2zwZkO2

Stay safe people.