Walking on sunshine: Top mind-boosting tips for Wonder Women

We recently attended a talk by Rachel Kelly about how to build resilience and well-being. What an inspiring speaker! She spoke of her own experience with mental health issues and how since then she has been working to help remove the stigma around mental health. Her specific focus has been on mainstreaming the research about what works in terms of addressing depression.

She has now made it her mission to share her findings far and wide. Here are her top mood-boosting tips that are easy to integrate into our day-to-day lives:

1. Slow down time. Take a moment to be in the moment. Sit upright in your chair, get comfortable, close your eyes, and focus your attention on your breath. Stay focused for a few breaths and open your eyes again. This mini break can really help bring your attention to the here and now.
2. Move. Just 30 minutes of exercise per day has a positive effect on your mood. To get to 30 minutes - simply introduce small extra bits of movement into your day, for example, choose to walk instead of driving or take the stairs instead of the escalator.
3. Eat happy foods. Foods that have a positive effect on the mind include oily fish, dark green vegetables, dark chocolate, and yogurt. Ensure that these foods are integrated into your diet and remember that variety in your diet is also key.
4. Practice appreciation. We love journaling! And one of our favourite journaling activities is noting what we are grateful for each day. It reframes the worst of days!
5. Spend time in nature. A walk in the woods has been shown to reduce pain and diminish stress. Such an easy win! We think that it’s not just woods but any nature experience - a walk on a beach, in a wood, over a mountain - there’s nothing more grounding and energising.
6. Spend time with friends and family. When Rachel asked us to close our eyes and think about a moment in our lives when we were happy, calm, and contented - we all came up with moments that were with either family or friends :-)
7. Learn how to say ‘no’. So easy in theory but difficult to practice. Yet so important in looking after ourselves and staying pointed to our true north. So here’s a sentence to use when you need to say ‘no’: “Yes, I would like to do that but I’m over-committed at the moment”.

Read more from Rachel Kelly in her amazing books - Walking on Sunshine and The Happy Kitchen.

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