For AMH everyBODY’s Project Worker Deborah McCready, drawing is her happy place. It eases the stresses and strains of the day and helps her switch off for a while.
Like any mindful activity – from walking, to reading or whatever your preference – for Deborah, drawing helps to ‘ground and relax’ her. She turns off her phone and finds an escape in drawing, and she wants all her AMH everyBODY clients and everyone else, to take it easy this Christmas and to try something similar.
Research has shown that art can be a useful and effective way of supporting our mental health. Creating art – whether writing, drawing, painting, embroidery and even colouring – can help people break the cycle of stress, express their inner thoughts and even meditate.
#Day 13 Christmas Breathing Techniques
Day 13 #ElfieAdvent – this is perfect for a Sunday afternoon – take a moment to relax – the whole family can join in! Katrina from the AMH Our Generation team shares some “Christmassy” breathing techniques, a taster of their new 5-8 year old school’s programme supporting children’s emotional well-being! #HealthyMe
Physical activity is often an effective, tangible way you can help to support your mental health. Science has proven its benefits, and from stress-busting and tension control to boosting your mood, exercise is good for you, all round.
And at Christmas, when the stresses of the season can often overwhelm us, it’s a great idea to take a break and get out into the fresh air to drink in its invigorating goodness.
Whether you prefer walking, running, cycling, swimming or even armchair aerobics, there are myriad ways to keep active, even if your mobility is restricted.
AMH’s Aileen McClenaghan is among those of us who likes to get active doing something a little bit different – beachcombing!
Beachcombing – which involves scouring the beach side and surrounding area for its natural inhabitants and the flotsam and jetsam that gathers along and around the waterline – is one way Aileen keeps her body active and her mind invigorated.
Aileen writes a regular blog and here in excerpts below, she explains what it is about beachcombing that has her returning to the shoreline again and again.
“It’s great to get out in nature, it’s good for our mood, our immune system and for our fitness. Being by the sea energises me. It shakes off any tiredness, invigorates my senses and quietens my mind. I can wake up early and head straight to the beach, for a pre-work walk, I can take a more leisurely ramble along the coastal path of an evening, or I can be out by the sea anytime in between. I love looking at the natural light, the colours, the cloud formations.
“I walk, I breathe in the fresh air and I look around me. I see things which belong, and things which don’t. My eyes have become accustomed to spotting the unusual amongst the familiar colours and shapes of our shores. I started noticing sea-glass pebbles; small pieces of glass, smoothed and shaped by decades in the sea. Then, I would find ceramic pieces, also smoothed by the tumbling seas. I became fascinated by the beauty of these imposters and there began my beachcombing in earnest.
“I use sea-glass and sea-pottery creatively; mostly making pictures of people and animals. Sometimes, I can pick up a piece of sea-glass and be sure it’s a head, or a pottery piece and know it will be a dress. Porcelain cup handles become dogs’ tails, clay pipe stems become trousers, bottle necks become lighthouses. The sea has allowed me to be creative and has provided me with tides of jigsaw pieces. Each piece is unique. I love the thrill of finding vintage and rare sea glass & pottery, researching the history, if I can. I know that turquoise glass is rarer than cobalt blue, that black glass is rarely black… and if it’s blackcurrant black, then that’s treasure! Red seaglass sometimes comes from ships’ lights, pink sea glass often comes from cheap dinnerware, mass-produced during the Great Depression era. I’ve found sea-smoothed ceramic fragments of Hartley’s marmalade jars from the Aintree factory, pre- WW1 telegraph pole ceramic insulators, Victorian bottle stoppers, Codd marbles and Cornishware-range pottery, which I remember from my great-grandmother’s tableware. It’s fascinating stuff.
“In the strangest year we’ve possibly had, connecting with nature can help shore up our mental health. No pun intended. Remember when two orcas came up into Strangford Lough? Nature thrives when human activity slows down and the appearance of these orcas was precisely at a time when we couldn’t leave the house, except to exercise. Collectively there was a real buzz of excitement. We wanted to protect them, to help them with safe passage back out into deeper waters and maybe to find out a bit more about these two bulls and their back-story.
“Connections with our seas don’t need to be so grand though. There’s probably a collective noun for beachcombers. Maybe a neckache of beachcombers, or a wave of. Undeniably, there’s a huge element of mindfulness in beachcombing and being by the sea. You are outside and connected with nature; feeling the weather, listening, looking and focusing on one task, without distractions if you’re lucky. No two days by the sea are the same and it’s never tedious. See you at the beach.
This is the day we’ve been waiting for! When everyone dons their Elfie Day gear, takes an Elfie-Selfie and gets into the seasonal spirit with AMH’s new yuletide sprite.
Action Mental Health’s festive friend, Elfie wants everyone to look the part today, so if you haven’t already dressed up, why not use AMH’s handy Yuletide collection of hat, beard and ears (available in our helpful fundraising pack). All you have to do is cut them out and post a selfie on our social media channels: it’s that easy! After such a tough year, it’s a great way to have some fun with friends, family and work colleagues and spread a little happiness– at a safe, social distance, of course.
Elfie is one of our Healthy Me characters, who spends the rest of the year helping our MensSana Project Workers who are supporting children aged from 8 to 11 to learn all about looking after their mental health and well-being in local primary schools.
You might be hosting an Elfie-themed fancy dress day today, holding a family Christmas quiz or party or even a sponsored Elfie-themed walk or run. Whatever way you’re marking the day, our supporters will be happy to learn that they are helping Action Mental Health to support its varied services for people of all ages across Northern Ireland.
All funds raised will help support AMH’s local services. For example £65 could help to pay for a counselling session for a local person who is struggling to cope; £285 could help to pay for a 6 week arts-based therapy programme for a child; £500 could help to pay for specialist training to help people develop strategies for dealing with stress & anxiety; £1000 could help to pay for a resilience building programme to be delivered in a local primary school and £2000 could help to pay for a holistic family therapy Intervention programme for five local families.
There is still time – two weeks in fact – to dip into Elfie’s advent calendar for seasonal snippets of wisdom and inspirational messages and ideas for festive frolics aimed at promoting well-being at a time when some struggle more with their mental health. The advent calendar will be ‘opened’ everyday on AMH’s social media channels.
To support Elfie Day contact [email protected] or call the fundraising elves on 028 9182 8494.
The Our Generation project provides a unique opportunity for communities, North and South of the Border, to work together to halt the intergenerational impact of trauma and to build emotional resilience and peace for generations to come.
This three-year project will run to December 2022 and engage with36,000 children, young people and their key contacts. The project will be delivered in education, youth and community settings across the 5 Urban Village Areas of Northern Ireland and the Border Region Area of Ireland.
The cross border partnership of 7 regional organisations will be led by Action Mental Health in partnership with of Donegal Youth Service, Co-Operation Ireland, Youth Action NI, Youth Work Ireland, PlayBoard NI & Ulster University
Funding for the Our Generation project has been awarded through the European Union’s PEACE IV Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB), match-funding for the project has been provided by The Executive Office in Northern Ireland and the Department of Rural and Community Development in Ireland.
OUR Generation will collaborate with existing community–based initiatives to offer accessible, age appropriate prevention, early intervention and recovery activities delivered on a cross-border and cross-community basis to support the mental and emotional well-being of children and young people. Children and young people will engage in programme design and delivery, including provision of peer support, developing skills and confidence to improve well-being within their communities and act as agents of change, building peace for future generations.
If you can’t do something whimsical at Christmas, when can you? Especially this Christmas, which comes at a time when the world has been gripped by worries related to the pandemic.
AMH’s Linsey Blair has embraced the season by getting an Elf on the Shelf, and ever since, has been enjoying “something a bit daft” with her fiancée. Naming him ‘Walshy McWalshface, the Good Mental Elf’, the little seasonal sprite gives the couple a regular, daily chuckle – and at the same time acts as a catalyst to improve their collective mental health.
“Seeing Walshy McWalshface everyday gives us a reminder that we need to do at least one thing to improve our mental health. Sometimes, it’s a walk down the pier with the dogs, as we are lucky to live by the sea, or cooking a nice meal together. It can even mean just watching something on TV together, that gives us a laugh – but it helps us to stay in a good place.
“During this semi-lockdown scenario, the elf prompts us to focus on happy things and keep us strong!” she said.
The world-renowned Mayo Clinic says that not only does laughter activate and relieve people’s stress responses and soothes tension, in the short term, it also can, in the longer term, relieve pain, improve people’s mood and even help their immune system.
Every year, AMH New Life Counselling’s Elaine Gormley buys a Christmas tree decoration or bauble that marks something important that has taken place that year. Elaine explains:
“If I was on holiday, I’d buy something that has that particular place name on it, as a lovely reminder of my trip. When we got our first dog, I bought a personalised dog decoration for her and when we moved into our house I bought a decoration depicting a house. So now, every year, when it comes that time to put up our tree, these decorations are a great way of being reminded of happy memories and events.”
Elaine also likes to hang fresh holly in the house.
“I like to hang the holly on top of picture frames, then on January 6th, when the time comes to pack all the festive decorations down for another year, we put the holly in the fireplace and take a moment to make a wish for the year ahead. It’s a gesture that is also all about letting go of any negativity from the previous year. We light the holly and all the negativity goes up the chimney and we are left with good intentions for the year ahead.”
Jamie McNulty from the AMH Our Generation Team shows us a fun way to spread some happiness to your loved ones, as this year we could all do with a little extra kindness and cheer!
Today some of our staff have been recommending their favourite Christmas Movies
Elaine Gormley, a counsellor in AMH New Life Counselling:-
I love Christmas but understand it is also a very challenging time. I have a few traditions that I do every year that really make me feel good.
Every year I normally go to the Queen’s Film Theatre (might have to watch it at home this year) to see It’s a Wonderful Life.
If you haven’t watched It’s A Wonderful Life, we’ll try not to spoil it for you but it is a story of hope, redemption and kindness, which teaches us that having someone there for you, when you need it the most, is one of the greatest gifts you can receive.
Although the film premiered in 1946 and initially wasn’t considered a Christmas film – director Frank Capra told The Wall Street Journal, ‘I didn’t even think of it as a Christmas story when I first ran across it. I just liked the idea’ – it has become a staple of Christmas television in the 72 years since.
The film also focuses on the lead character’s struggle with mental health and suicidal thoughts. It’s A Wonderful Life doesn’t shy away from the truth that while Christmas is the most magical time of the year for some, for others it can be daunting, scary and miserable.
But the thoroughly festive and happy ending is guaranteed to bring a tear to your eye!
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues, and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.
Catherine from our Belfast service reminds us of what Charles Dickens had to say
With that in mind she recommends that you spread some laughter this Christmas by sharing films like The Muppet’s Christmas Carol with family and friends.
A retelling of the classic Dickens tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, miser extraordinaire. He is held accountable for his dastardly ways during night-time visitations by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and future. Michael Caine plays the old miser Scrooge with Kermit as his long-suffering but ever-hopeful employee Bob Cratchit, and Miss Piggy as Cratchit’s wife. Definitely a movie which deserves a place among the family classics of the festive season!
Catherine also recommends “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”.
“The Grinch reminds us of the importance of taking notice of who and what we are thankful for at Christmas”.
