You’re here! That means it’s Monday, or it’s feeling like one. Don’t worry — Greatist has your back. Subscribe to our newsletter for direct access to Mondays with Minaa, a mental health column by our resident self-care expert, Minaa.
Hi, and Happy Monday!
We’re at the tail-end of the month of May, but I hope you continue doing the work of fostering your mental health through the days to follow. Mental Health Awareness Month is great for breaking stigmas and normalizing discussions about mental health and therapy — as well as pushing for better support structures that honor well-being.
For this to continue beyond May 31st, we have to develop helpful year-round lifestyles. And that calls for resetting the way we observe month-to-month.
For weeks, we’ve discussed so many practical tips and tools for managing your mental health. While important, we can sometimes get so caught up doing the work to “fix” ourselves that we forget to just be and let the new seeds we’ve sown take root.
So, as we close out the month, I encourage you to reset the narrative that healing must always mean doing.
Here are some simple ways to pause this week and let the mental health work you’ve done settle in. Try to consider:
- using PTO or sick time to give yourself a long weekend
- allowing yourself to enjoy an activity without being distracted by your phone or other devices
- going to sleep at an appropriate time that honors your well-being
- delegating some of your daily tasks to others in your supportive network, or hiring out to have them done for you
- swapping a self-help book for a novel
- watching a fictional movie instead of a documentary
We don’t always have to be engaged in healing work to work on our healing. Pausing is productive too. So, remember to pause this week and beyond, when you need to.
With love,
Minaa
