Now that the lockdown period has been extended for at least 3 weeks, it may be a good time to reflect on how things are going for you.

So let’s check in:

• How is your structure and routine? What is working well for you? What do you want to change?
• Are you keeping physically active?
• How is your sleep? Have you got a regular wake up time?
• Is work and household tasks (and childcare) balanced with some rest and relaxation? And some fun too?
• Are you being kind to yourself? And being realistic in your expectations of yourself?
• Are you being kind to others?
• Are you finding ways to connect socially with others?

Here is a handful of selected resources for this week to keep you and your family grounded:

Mindfulness podcasts from Oxford Mindfulness Centre:

https://www.oxfordmindfulness.org/learn-mindfulness/online-sessions-podcasts/

“Hope cloud” exercise to try with your children (if you have them):

https://youngminds.org.uk/media/2900/hope-clouds-activity.pdf

How kindness during chaos keeps us in control

https://lighthouse.mq.edu.au/article/april-2020/kindness-during-chaos-keeps-us-in-control

Best wishes
Fernwood Clinic Team

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​We hope that you had a restful Easter weekend. This week we would like to focus on positivity, gratitude and hope. First, we want to acknowledge that the current situation is a disaster, so it is ok and normal to be in a survival mode. And this week’s tips are about finding small glimmers of light and hope within this. 

How can we find opportunities within the current restrictions, even if small? What have we now got a chance to do, even if small? Or not do? How can we make the most of where we are at now?

If you need some ideas, here are a few suggestions:

Family time
Now is a good opportunity to get to know our loved ones better and spend quality time with them. For many of us with busy work schedules, prioritising family can often feel like a challenge, so now we have a chance to bond over simple activities, like cooking, board games, reading and walks.

Learning
Maybe there is a skill you felt like learning for a long time, but never had a chance to do. There are a lot of online courses on practically any subject. You can start simple and small and use the basic principles of goal setting: 
https://images.app.goo.gl/qxVLTAPVEZpW22wp9

Declutter
Re-organising your sock draw at this time is a bit of a cliche, however, our environment undoubtedly affects our mood. Reducing clutter, whether physical or digital, and reorganising allows us to feel in control of our immediate surroundings, as well as removes unnecessary stressors as we go about our daily lives.

Reassess priorities
You may find this pause a useful starting point to ask if you are spending your time and energy on things which are important to you and align with your longer term goals and core values. Can you think of an action you can take right now to bring these towards alignment?

Cultivate gratitude
The practice of gratitude is well studied to have a long-term positive impact on our emotional well-being. Gratitude journaling is a popular activity, where you can write down 3-5 things you feel grateful for in the past period of time (e.g. 1 day or 1 week). Gratitude jar is another simple and effective exercise--all you need is a jar, decorated how you want it. You can then put in a paper slip with at least 1 thing per day you are grateful for. When you feel low, you can go back to your journal or a jar for a pick-me-up.

Best wishes
Fernwood Clinic Team

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​We hope you are having a good week and are able to find some enjoyment and pleasure in the small things.

As the third week of lockdown continues, it may be a good time to think about how you are responding to the current unprecedented stresses we face. Herewith a diagram that might help you to think about this. It is very natural to be responding from the fear zone, at least some of the time if not most/all of the time. We are facing an enormous, invisible threat, and significant upheaval. The fear zone is a normal and adaptive place to be for survival. None of us have been here before and we are all afraid.

There is a great collection of mental health resources on: 

http://copingwithcoronavirus.co.uk/self-help-guides.html 

Several of these may be helpful to you or others, especially if you find you are responding from the fear zone more often than you would like to.

Best wishes
Fernwood Clinic Team

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At this challenging time, we wanted to put together some suggestions which will support your mental health over the next weeks and months. We all have unique circumstances, however, we have found that below behaviour changes can help alleviate anxiety, improve low mood and boost our resilience:

1. Reduce news consumption. We are now in the 24 hour coronavirus news cycle. This is a topic that everyone knows and worries about, therefore news outlets are incentivised to produce as much as possible. We are already overwhelmed with case statistics, death statistics, global updates, political updates, human interest stories, speculations regarding vaccines and much more. This is likely to continue and no person can feel on top of it all. It therefore makes sense to limit consumption of news in all their forms, including TV, radio, online news and social media news feeds. If you are worried about missing important government updates, you can sign up to official email alerts here https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

2. Create structure in your day. We have all experienced significant changes to our daily routine. Spending some time to purposefully create a new timetable can give us a sense of control over our lives and also reduce the cognitive resources required to plan each day from scratch. To create a structure, firstly make a list of everything you have to do now (recognising that some tasks may be new). This may include working from home, procuring food and household items, home schooling your children, exercise, virtual catch ups with friends and family, preparing meals etc. Next, prioritise complex tasks, such as work projects, to be done early in the day when your energy is high; this will also create a sense of achievement for the rest of the day. 

3. Stay connected. Quality social connections create a foundation for a healthy emotional life. However, the nuance of living under coronavirus rules means that instead of a social mix of family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances, we have ended up with two very distinct groups: (1) people we live with (perhaps family, love ones or housemates) and (2) everyone else, who we cannot see. The balance here is to recognise that group 1 we see a lot more than usual so it is important to cultivate patience and give each other personal space. With group 2 on the other hand, we need to make more effort to keep in touch through means we have available.

4. Take any opportunity for physical exercise. Exercise has been scientifically proven to have a hugely beneficial impact on mental health, including improved brain function, improved sleep, reduction in stress, depression and anxiety. Now is more important than ever to try to fit in regular, particularly aerobic, activity. As of today, we can still go outside once a day, so if you can, go for a brisk walk, run, interval run (NHS has an excellent Couch to 5k app) or a ball game with people you share your home with. You can also do exercise videos at home, work in the garden if you have one or play active games, such as hide and seek, with children.

5. Adjust your expectations and be kind to yourself. We are all struggling with the pace of change at the moment. You may have had plans for this year which had to be put on hold. You may have had goals in different areas of life which are now more difficult to work towards. Give yourself permission to not be ok. Take things one day at a time. We have not chosen the external events which are taking place right now, but this period need not be all bad if we can be open to adaptation.

Best wishes
Fernwood Clinic Team

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