Just as simple as the title reads. Write down your thoughts, feelings, aspirations, anything and everything that is in your mind.
This is without a doubt, my most recommended action for your mental health. There is something so powerful about putting your thoughts down on a piece of paper and out of your mind.
Looking at it face value, it seems basic and ineffective. “How can writing down my thoughts make a difference?” The truth is you would not know until you do this for yourself.
Nonetheless, I will give you the effect that it’s made for me. I used to journal on an inconsistent basis. I usually waited until my mind would be exploding, for me to finally write. I would notice a small release of pressure by doing this, but nothing too noticeable.
It wasn’t until I made daily thought downloads one of my monthly goals. Everyday that month I would take 10 minutes to “dump out my mind” onto a piece of paper. At first, I would mostly write about what had happened in my day, or if I was having a problem. After several times of doing this, I started dreaming up a big, bold life for myself. I was now using my journal time to plan out my future, figure out what I was doing that no longer served me, and really give myself a life that I want to wake up everyday excited to have.
Doing this small practice has made the difference between an overwhelmed and frantic mind, to a cleaned up, open to new possibilities one. It was filled with so many thoughts, ideas, past regrets, and fails, that it left no room for new thoughts, ideas, possibilities, and successes.
You can think of this concept as cleaning out your closet. You want to add new pieces you love and get rid of the ones you no longer want. In order to get a thorough cleaning of your closet, you need to take every single thing out of it. Once the items are out of there, you can really get in there with your favorite cleaning products and clean the daylights out of it. But the key point is everything must be taken out. Once you’ve cleaned it up, you can start to add back pieces you love and want to keep. And at that point, you can also buy new pieces to take your wardrobe to the next level.
The same concept can be applied to your mind. Think of your beautiful mind as that closet. In order to get your mind “clean” you must take out all those old thoughts, beliefs, and judgements that no longer serve you. And only then, once your mind has been cleared of all the crap, can you add in new amazing thoughts to think.
Many of us can relate to the closet example. But how many of us can really relate to the mind clarity example? It is not an easy feat to look after and strengthen our mental health. We rarely talk about it, each having our own reasons why we don’t.
But I want to start something here, and have a new way of thinking of our mental health, especially as new moms. It is the most important thing you can do for yourself. Really think about it. If you don’t have your mental health, how are you going to show up for those babies? We know as moms we are the foundation for our family. And just like any foundation, we want to be grounded, strong, and long lasting. There is truly no better thing that you can do for yourself.
Give yourself the gift of spending time on you!
