So here we are at the end of August. You may have recently come back from Greece / Florida / Glamping / Cornish Coast and now it is time to go back to work and get the kids ready for school. Lots of us believe that we often feel low at this time because of this transition back into the “real world”. However, it is worth reflecting of what happens during the holidays themselves.

During the summer we often have a lot more of “unstructured” time—longer evenings, time away, long weekends and school holidays. Most of us are creatures of habit and crave routine, so as soon as we have all this time on our hands, things can start to become a bit more volatile. With fewer commitments to occupy ourselves with, we may start reflecting on things we are unhappy with in our lives, or ruminate on any underlying worries.

Also, the holidays themselves require a lot of organisation and we often have high expectations of the experience we want to achieve. We hope for picture-perfect days and moments and if those do not materialize, it could leave us feeling disappointed.

It is well known that relationships can become strained during the time away—being constantly together with your partners, family or parents in an unfamiliar environment can lead to tension or disagreements, which is completely normal.

So what can we do now? The first step could be to do a bit of mindfulness practice. Imagine that today you are separated from the past and future by giant heavy metal doors, like a compartmentalized ship in a storm. Focus on the everyday tasks at hand, no matter how mundane. Allocate some time in the day to do a few minutes of breathing and relaxation, acknowledging any thoughts and feelings as they appear.

Secondly, you can reconnect with friends, family and colleagues, share memories and plan things to look forward to throughout the year. 

Lastly, try transferring some of the behaviour during the holiday into the everyday life. For example, if you crammed it full of sightseeing, why not try to do more cultural activities at home on the weekend. You may have discovered some new activities you enjoy and can now use the post-holiday energy to incorporate them into your life. 

Oh and almost forgot, you can also book the next holiday:)

Best wishes

The Team at Fernwood

I was talking to a friend today. She told me that she went through her whole day without speaking to anyone. She called her bank, gone through a recorded line to get her account balance. She ordered her groceries on the internet. She did some freelance work online and via email. She chatted to a friend on whatsapp.
 
Without wanting to sound excessively nostalgic, I couldn’t help but compare it to the world just 30 or 40 years ago.  Throughout the day we would have had little interactions with, perhaps, a postman, local shop assistant, neighbours and colleagues. Our phone calls and post would have been answered by real people. Even the most antisocial of us would have been known by the local community.
 
The world has certainly moved on and technological advances have made practical things a lot easier for us and also allowed many people to work flexibly from anywhere. And yet our emotional health needs have not really changed that much. There is a lot of academic evidence that social support structures like family, friends and community are a key to maintaining our mental health. Human beings are fundamentally social animals—from the moment we are born we seek connections with others to survive and thrive in the world.
 
This is why at Fernwood we aim to provide a service which recognises every one of our clients as individuals. We answer most of our emails within an hour. You can call us for a chat. You are welcome to drop by and talk to us. When you tell us something, we will try our best to remember it—whether it is the type of tea you drink, when you go on holiday next time or your preference for a particular type of theoretical orientation. And of course our therapists consider the bond they develop with you absolutely critical to the success of the work you do together.
 
If you think our team at Fernwood can help you with emotional concerns or difficult life events, please feel free to reach out to us.
 
Best wishes
 
The Fernwood Team