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Bressie recently gave a talk in NUIG about the importance of training our mental fitness in order to be able to cope with whatever life throws at you. He talked about his struggles with anxiety and how this has impacted him. Being oppressed is worse thing you can do for your mental health, you need to face it and challenge it. By Bressie introducing us to his mate “Jeffery” he has shown us how he has come to grips with his mental health and taken control. The first thing to do is accept that you have a mental health issue, don’t fear it, instead challenge it as you can control it.

In order to be physically fit you need to train everyday, you just wouldn’t decide to do a marathon and run, you would train and build yourself up. Mental Health Fitness is the same. We need to invest and work on our mental health everyday it’s our responsibility to ourselves!

For Bressie this was what he referred to as the Forrest Gump technique….he ran until the pain went away……..one day he ran 39kms before the pain went away…..but next night he got first night of undisturbed sleep and he realised he has control!! He also realised Jeffery doesn’t like running marathons so he has no more panic attacks at night but still gets unease but doesn’t lead to panic attacks. You can control your thoughts and the impact it has on you, but you have to customise it to yourself and find what works best for you within a supportive environment.

Bressie recommended for mental fitness we should follow these 5 rules for 10days and said you will notice a big change.

The rules are:

  1. Limit TOXIC people and environments – don’t engage where possible, give yourself permission to walk away.
  2. Self-compassion- Be nice to yourself, accept compliments. By being compassionate to yourself you will increase your serotonin levels and we want lots of that. Every night write one thing you are proud of that you done that day.
  3. Gratitude – I’m thankful for ….…. focus on the positive things in your life. When you wake up in the morning don’t look at social media….say 30 Thank You and watch what happens. You define how you start your day!!
  4. 30 Mindful Moments throughout the day – e.g. I’m drinking my tea, I notice the warmth in my hands, I notice the warmth as it goes down my throat/ stomach. These are simple things we do everyday, just bringing our conscious thoughts to what we are doing and focusing on that for a few minutes this helps you to stay in the present and focus on the here and now.
  5. Stop Judgement – By constantly judging ourselves and others is so bad for our health as it releases the stress hormone cortisol and feeds the anxiety. You don’t know what battle any other person is going through so stop judging them as no one deserves it.

Try doing theses 5 rules over 10days and see what changes you notice.

Prioritise it, Be patient and give it time…….it is worth it.

Have you tried it? Let us know how you got on through Twitter @PleaseTalkorg