Keep Calm and Stress Less

Everywhere we go (and everywhere our parents go), people are talking about mental health.   We wanted to mention a couple of things that can help: meditation and journalling. 

Meditation – We find meditation relaxing.  We started doing it as a family but some of us now have started doing a bit of it on their own. It can be hard to find the time and quiet space to do it, but once you start the habit, it gets much easier to make it a priority.  We find the breathing relaxes us and we have been using the tools when we get stressed with school work/exams/life.  We have been using the application Balance.  It’s really well set up with various modules that teach you how to meditate.   You can choose how much time you want to spend (I usually go for 5 to 10 minutes) and the areas you want to focus.  It will ask you questions about what you are finding hard or easy (don’t worry, it’s all multiple choices and you can often answer that you don’t know.)  The whole vibe of the app is to just by showing up, you are learning and reminds us to be kind to ourselves.  There is a kids area where you can do family mediation.  The little brother G really likes it, especially when it asks you to dance around till the music stops.  What is good is that after the 5 minute family exercise, it asks you to say out loud how you feel or what you are grateful for. 

Journaling – The girls given one of these a few years ago.  We have now moved on to the Teen version of the journal.   You don’t have to write in it every day as the dates are not pre-filled in.   The journal encourages you to come up with rewards for doing it every day for a month or whatever milestone you agree on with your parent.  Every day you write down what you are grateful for.  It also asks to choose (or free form) the emoticon(s) that reflect how you feel that day.  

Every page has an inspirational quote.  A recent favourite is ‘Everybody makes mistakes; that’s why pencils have erasers’ which is a popular saying that I’d never heard but I quite like.  Or another which is ‘What we know matters but who we are matters more’ by Brene Brown. Slay.

You can spend just a few minutes thinking and writing or much longer. It’s a nice way to see the positive in your day and reflect.  When it’s been a tough day at school, with friends or with family, it’s nice to take that time for yourself and write down what has been good, what has been bothering you or how you’re feeling.    Some days it asks you to write your own quote of the day (TBH We’ve been kind of re-writing old ones). They have a pretty good video showing you how the journal works.

Also on their website, happyselfjournal.com, there is loads of content for your parents to look at (if they need convincing). What started out as something mum bought and forced everyone to do has turned into a nice habit and we both fill it in most days.

These are just two ways we found to help us stay chill. What has worked for you? We'd love to hear your experiences and ideas below.