By Kirsty Elliott-

Using this consciousness sin a positive way that yields progress generates a positive feeling and energy that always points to a brighter future.

 Many people struggle with their thoughts and feelings. Some feel isolated and are unable to share them with others because of the fear they will not be understood or will be seen differently or negatively. As human beings,  we can sometimes be overwhelmed by our circumstances or the perceived wrong treatment of others towards us. Negative emotions can eventually accumulate and become a mental health issue. Statistics show that 1 in every 4 people suffer from some level of mental health.

Surprising, isn’t it? Many of us picture mental health sufferers as only people who talk none sense to themselves or who make funny sounds and noises with no organised or coherent thought process that leads to  anything meaningful. In actual fact, many ordinary people suffer from some sort of mental health problem.

 A few years back, I was feeling overwhelmed by my emotions, to the extent of needing a therapist. I was having whirling thoughts, panic attacks, feeling that I couldn’t cope with life anymore, feeling out of control. She asked me if I had heard of mindfulness, to which I shook my head. She gave me a shell to look at and asked me to describe it. “It’s just a shell” I responded. Really? look at it properly, she urged. I started to describe its colour, feeling silly at first.

 I talked about its texture, the marks on it,  it’s size, how it felt in my hands. I didn’t understand the point of this exercise initially, but the therapist was trying to show me how often we ignore what’s around us. We are too busy stuck in our heads, thoughts and feelings, that we forget to really notice things and our surroundings.

She recommended a book to read – “Wherever you go, there you are” by Jon Kabat-Zinn- a wonderful book I found illuminating. It gave me a fresher outlook on myself and on things.

Slowly allowing myself to notice the beauty in simple things I had ignored for so long, I altered my perspective of things. The  fresh smell ofliquid , the feeling of warm socks on, on a cold day, the smell of burning incense,  and even the smell of books helped me appreciate things differently. Fresh air on my face, autumn leaves and the beautiful colour and  Old buildings with beautiful architecture I had never looked at or noticed before, suddenly gave me a different feeling.

 Smiles from strangers that I had barely acknowledged because I was so busy listening to distressing thoughts suddenly gave me an internal lift. Many people walk and operate with a hardened and stiff mind because of lurking negative thoughts in our mind that form the basis of our inner voice.

The negativity and pain of my inner voice in past times always dictated my mood.I had to make a conscious decision to reframe my mindset and act on my renewed outlook on life, things, and people.  Our inner voice is our daily commentary. It is absolutely imperative that we listen and monitor our inner voice and check that it is being helpful and kind, rather than negative and unhelpful. Otherwise it is like having a negative friend around you all the time running you down. It will inevitably drain your emotions and affect your self-perception, and ultimately your motivation. Our own thoughts can be as damaging as other people’s thoughts.

In a counterproductive attempt to  evade the distractions of our discomforting thoughts and emotions, feelings, some people give in to the temptation to over -eat, or over drink, failing to acknowledge that this form of escapism is temporary and avoids confronting the central issue by turning it on its head.

Sometimes it is good to just notice the temperature of the air around you, the nearby sounds, and observe your thoughts go by like clouds or passing buses. Without trying to judge them or change and act on them.

Another useful approach to living a mentally healthy life is having a gratitude list. Write a list every evening of the nice and positive experiences you had that day. Don’t focus on the negative experiences, only solutions to negative experience matter, all else should be viewed as a passing phase in need of a positive way forward. Below is a brief list I wrote:

– I found a gorgeous orange leaf on the floor, so I picked it up and took it with me.

– A ladybird landed on my hand out of nowhere in coffee shop today!

– I had forgotten how much I love James Bay, it was lovely to rediscover some of his songs.

– I ate a yummy vegan chocolate brownie today, it was so tasty I really enjoyed it.

– My mother and I sent silly photos to each other, and had such a giggle! It felt so lovely to connect.

Once they have been written , the list should be looked at once more. Put those experiences in the “bank”. That’s what I call it when I acknowledge a nice experience. Any compliments or nice experiences sit well in the mind “bank” by writing them down or being grateful for them. I can be richer this way in terms of shifting my perception to a more mindful, grateful, happy and glowy existence. You create your reality, with what you choose to notice and what you choose to focus on.