What lifestyle change, wellness strategy/activity or alternative therapy has helped your mental health?

[RioDJ]

I’ve been struggling with my mental health and although I’m trying everything the GP can offer me I want to try some more holistic options too. So far I have thought or yoga and swimming. Thanks

EMDR.
Somatic yoga.
Doing Vidyamala Burch's Mindfulness for Health course (there's a book and CD but doing the actual course in person is brilliant).
Hypnosis.

Gardening for me too.
There was a clump of bamboo in our garden that was gone wild. I ripped it out over the course of a year with a fork and my bare hands. When the bamboo was gone, so was my horrible angry resentful depression.

<eek>

Having a dog to take out every day. Not mundane walking around the block or over a park, but hiking through woods and forests, the countryside etc with not another soul in sight.

Watch out, ClumpingBamboo!

Dog walking, breadmaking, gardening.

My username is actually the consequence of a similar experience — the neighbours' "clumping" bamboo had run over my entire garden, and on a hypomanic spree I ripped it all out. Very therapeutic.

Walking outside, doing YouTube workout videos at home and distance from difficult people.

Reiki was a game changer for me, I've never felt so calm on a physical level before. My nervous system is always in anxiety mode. I ended up taking the courses, level 1 & 2 and do reiki on myself now.

Also (unpopular here!), homeopathy. I starred seeing a classic homeopath when I was pregnant and she found a constitutional remedy that does wonders for my anxiety and depression.

Both of these complement long term therapy. Other things that help, good food and sleep, cutting down sugar and booze... but that's hard if you feel shit.

Gardening, running, walking. Or just sitting outside in a green space. Nature is so important for my mental well-being, as is using devices less (much harder!)

I'm not much of a group exerciser - most people are more coordinated than me so I end up feeling like a tit which isn't what I want from exercise!

I've started doing couch 2 5k again. This year with DH for a change.

I tend to do it in the spring, run a bit in Summer and Autumn and but don't run through the winter. I am content with that though.

I did something I'd never done before every day for a year and kept a record of it. Depends on what kind of depression you have but I had the frozen kind, where I was almost catatonic, sleeping 16 hours a day, often discovering I'd been standing in a fugue state doing nothing for ages. I had anhedonia too. Lots of the new things each day were trials of things that might help lift depression: swimming, yoga, nature walks, meditation, affirmations, podcasts, dancing, laughter yoga, journalling ( which I found very helpful), CBT, tapping etc. But most were just anything i could find that was new. I think it helped activate new neural pathways that lifted the mood.

I'm another one that took up running in middle age. I've never been a runner. I hated cross country at school. If you'd told me back then that I'd take up running in my 40s and (mostly) love it, I'd have given you serious side-eye! But it has not only given me decent cardio fitness, for the first time in a long time, it's given me a community of fellow runners, it's given me confidence to do things I never thought I'd do, it's taught me that being outside in horrible weather doesn't have to be a horrible experience, and it's helping me to manage my weight, my joints and my mental health.

It's also, while not free, a reasonably-priced form of exercise. You need a decent pair of shoes and a sports bra and if you're going to run outside in all weathers you may well need a waterproof jacket. How much other kit you get over and above that is up to you, but reasonably-priced sportswear is available in all supermarkets these days.

Running saved my sanity through the pandemic. If I hadn't been able to get out of my house, away from my family, exercising in the fresh air, I think I'd have had a breakdown.

I'm not worried about my mental health, but something that has made me feel happier in recent years is always getting outside for a walk in the morning (a study somewhere showed that to have any benefit, it has to happen within two hours of waking up).

I feel much, much better if I'm doing outdoor swimming, and I agree with others on this thread - cold-water swimming is more of a mood-booster than other types of swimming. I don't know what it is about cold water, but it certainly has powerful effects.

And just as a general point, I feel much better when I'm doing plenty daily exercise - one walk and one more active thing, like swimming or running, or two walks a day.

Snap! Right down to the attitude prior to trying C25K, which I finished last summer. I now run three times a week and it’s the best thing for my head (and my fitness too - I’d always been exercise-averse before trying C25K). I definitely miss the headspace if I can’t run for a while (e.g. when I had Covid). I honestly can’t recommend it enough, OP.

Agree with others on running/walking, cold water swimming and meditation. Gratitude as wanky as may sound its a proven way to lift your mood.
Taking 2 minutes to breathe and be present throughout the day (I like to go outside if possible).
For meditation I love the headspace app. They have lots of little courses - there's one on grief, handling sadness, recovering from a break up, happiness etc. I've done them all!
Spending time with friends.
I hope things get better soon OP 💜

Positive affirmations really help me, I close my eyes and repeat 'I love and approve of myself, I deserve all the good things in my life, all is well and I am safe'

Even when I don't feel/believe the affirmation I keep saying it and it helps me feel better and calmer.

Riding a bike. I hadn't cycled for years as I have rheumatoid arthritis and it was taking a toll on my joints. I decided to get an electric bike which has been a gamechanger. Much easier to ride, less effort than walking (I live in a hilly place) but still exercise. I've found some lovely places locally which I never knew existed and really look forward to getting out on it. I got a fairly bog standard one from Halfords which wasn't stupidly expensive.

I'd recommend Tai Chi. You don't need to be fit to do it, and it seems very simple, but as you're concentrating so much on doing it, you don't have the headspace to think about everything else. Very mindful.

Undoubtedly, hot yoga. It’s punishing but you build up mental strength and stamina. Yoga releases a lot of tension (and, apparently, emotions we hold in our body). I’ve never felt better after a traumatic few years.

Regular exercise (running for me)

a bullet journal. Keeps my shit together so I am organised with no last minute panics about forgetting stuff.

my kids’ Guinea pigs, I love those little furry potatoes.

Being outside every day makes a massive difference to how I feel. I put a little table and chair in the garden, close to the back door, that is my space. I try to sit outside every day with a cup of herbal tea, leave my phone inside and just sit for 10mins watching the birds and breathing.

I am rather envious of the cold-water swimmers. There is nowhere near me where I could do this and I love cold water! I have found running to help but my knees now really hurt so I think I am going to have to find something else. I walk and cycle everywhere and that lifts my mood too. I tried therapy and hated it. I think it made me feel worse.

I have been avoiding the news as much as possible. I switch the radio off in the car when the news comes on, I don't watch the news on the telly and I steer clear of as much of it as I can online.

There is only so much in life that you can stress about at once, especially if almost all of it is entirely out of your control, and this has really helped me over the last few months.

Waking and then walking the dog we got. Gets me out of the house, fresh air, listen to podcasts.

Cold shower! I try to do at least a 30 second blast in every shower. Something about stimulating the vagus nerve. I just like the fizzy feeling after 😁⚡