8 minute read
Mental Health and Wellbeing Tips
MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING TIPS TO GET THROUGH WINTER
Winter is upon us and with the pandemic restrictions impacting our lives, it is crucial that we look after our mental health and wellbeing. Here are a few tips to support your mental health over the next few months…
About Mind:
We’re Mind, the mental health charity. We provide advice and support to empower anyone experiencing a mental health problem. We campaign to improve services, raise awareness and promote understanding. We won’t give up until everyone experiencing a mental health problem gets both support and respect. mind.org.uk
Mind has a confidential information and support line, Mind Infoline, available on 0300 123 3393 (lines open 9am - 6pm, Monday – Friday).
LOCKDOWN has been challenging for many people, and the situation has caused some big and sudden changes to our lifestyle. You might be feeling more overwhelmed, especially if your mental health often worsens during the winter months or you experience Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
The pandemic has had a huge impact on our lives. Some of us might have found that there were some unexpected perks of lockdown, such as getting to spend more time with family or housemates, finding more time for exercise and getting more sleep. Others might have faced additional challenges, such as feeling more isolated, experiencing problems with health and finances. It’s important to note that there’s no ‘normal’ response to lockdown restrictions. You might be worried about sharing how you’re feeling with a loved one, but if there is someone you can open up to, it can make a big difference. For more information on managing feelings about lockdown visit mind.org.uk/
coronavirus
If you experience a loss of freedom such as being unable to drive or being reliant on others, then this can, again, contribute to feelings of loneliness. Self-care is also really important – try to make sure you maintain a healthy diet and take part in as much regular physical activity as you feel able to do, as well as trying to get a good night’s sleep. Some people find that taking extra vitamin B12 or a Vitamin D supplement is also helpful. You can find tips, including on diet and exercise at mind.org.uk
If you think you might be experiencing a mental health problem or your feelings and emotions begin to impact your day-to-day life, you should talk to someone you trust about how you are feeling. Speaking to your GP is often the best course of action as they can talk you through the best support for you. Mind has produced a guide on how to speak to your GP about mental health. Visit
mind.org.uk/findthewords
Online peer support groups such as Mind’s Side by Side can also be really important for maintaining social contact, especially if you live with a disability that makes it difficult to meet up with people in person.
For information and support on staying mentally healthy at this time, visit mind.org.uk/coronavirus
Our online mental health community Side by Side is a safe space where anyone aged 18 and over with experience of a mental health problem can share their story, connect with others, access Mind’s wider information and resources, and give support in return. Find out more at sidebyside.mind.org.uk
Mind’s income has been affected by the outbreak of coronavirus, largely due to the temporary closure of our charity shops across England and Wales, and the cancellation or postponement of major fundraising events. To help us continue our vital work, donate to our emergency appeal: mind.
org.uk/donate
Mind offers free resources for employers to help improve mental wellbeing. For more information, visit mind.org.uk/work
Author: Stephen Buckley, Head of Information at MIND. mind.org.uk Twitter: @MindCharity Instagram: @mindcharity Facebook: @mindforbettermental -
health
Enjoy an accessible holiday at Island Riding Centre
Specialist facilities for wheelchair users, with optional horse riding
Island Riding Centre (IRC), which opened in 2017, The centre also provides safe on-site hacking and has both an indoor and outdoor riding school. stable management sessions as well as pony pampers The centre is equipped with a para rider hoist capable including rides for younger children. of lifting a wheelchair user straight from their chair onto There is also a viewing café operated by the Wight horseback. There is also an adapted mounting block, Horse Community Interest Company, with all profits enabling two helpers to assist a rider on to their horse. going towards subsidised riding for those with both The centre is an RDA Accessibility Mark facility; staff are experienced in working alongside new and physical and financial difficulties. Plus Island Riding Centre has its very own Changing Places toilet. experienced riders with physical limitations.
Enjoy an accessible island holiday The Gallops is a purposebuilt holiday complex in fifty acres of countryside on the outskirts of Newport, the historic county town of the Isle of Wight.
The ten accessible cottages are set around a pretty courtyard. Each property has low-level threshold entry. They have easyreach showers and sinks, and a range of accessible equipment, including shower wheelchairs and seats, toilet risers and grab rails - plus three of the cottages have downstairs bedrooms and wet rooms.
Discover more about Island Riding Centre accessible holidays and book your own adventure at www.islandriding.com or call 01983 215000 now.
WIN A HOLIDAY ON THE BEAUTIFUL ISLE OF WIGHT
One week stay for up to six guests, including ferry travel for one vehicle. WIN a one week stay for up to six guests, staying in Pegasus, including ferry travel for one vehicle, (excluding school holidays). This prize is worth over £800 - no cash alternative will be given. To enter the competition On Twitter, simply tweet a photo of your favourite holiday ever, using the hashtag #IslandRidingCompetition and tagging @DisabilityRMag and @island_riding for your chance to win. • Competition closes midnight 30 November 2020. Photo of The Needles by visitisleofwight.co.uk While you enjoy your break, try horse riding under • The winning photo will be the supervision of a qualified RDA instructor utilising Island Riding Centre’s para-rider hoist specially • chosen by 10 December 2020. Winner will be contacted within three days. designed to lift a wheelchair user onto horse back. • No cash alternative will be given.
REVIEW SPOT: HARRY
JAY STEELE’S NEW ALBUM ‘BOUNDARIES’
HARRY Jay Steele’s debut album, Boundaries, is hard to place, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The London based artist travels from note to note on a feather light breeze; there’s hints of Chinese influence, African Rhythm, artists such as jazz guitarist Lionel Loueke, the LA beat scene, UK Post-Modern Pop... and that’s without getting past the first track. It should be over-whelming — this strong focus on percussive rhythms — but each track interweaves with a distinct ineffable energy that makes the album fit together as a sonically cohesive body of work. Steele’s strength is in his ability to layer texture upon texture in a way that sounds naturally effusive; you can tell that Steele truly connects with the music he creates.
Stylistically, Boundaries is rich without being all-consuming. It seems constrained — with a clear direction — but Steele’s vocals are often full enough of emotion to almost trick you that this was a first take; an improvised guitar riff in the dark, lyrics spilling out. Occasionally, this constraint can wear thin; in tracks like Precious, it is too highly processed that it loses the edge you find in In The Dream or Work It.
Steele was admirably aiming for a more professional polish with this album, but with Precious you’re left wishing for more raw grit in between its smooth, undulating waves of rhythm.
Steele does let us see a glimpse of a rawer form towards the latter end of the album. Prison Rainbows is full of the same mysterious, emotive narrative that has become Steele’s signature, but his vocals are more wild - it suits him. This slow blues song is the standout of the album, burning with intensity and vigour as its intoxicating electric guitar
Harry Jay Steele is a musician who has social anxiety and generalised anxiety disorder. His latest album, Boundaries, has just been released and writer Chloe Johnson reviewed the album for DRM…
ebbs and flows.
This album as a whole could be described as a night-time cityscape - Wish For One Night is the best example of this. It is simultaneously sonically calm and unreachable, yet its beat is almost fiercely unyielding, the dichotomy results in a powerful track that is equally as fit for cruising under warm streetlights as it is for questioning tough emotional circumstances. In The Dream it is just as sumptuous — layered Alex-Turner-esque crooning meet evocatively poetic lyrics to make an electrically atmospheric track.
Boundaries album’s artwork is a deep blue background with smashed glass pieces — it is fitting for an album that explores what it’s like to feel out at sea, in so many different ways. With Boundaries, Steele is attempting to put back together the pieces of his thoughts; it could not be a more timely release as we all try to figure out how the pieces of our lives fit back together during a global pandemic.
Boundaries by Harry Jay Steele was released by Naim Records on the 30th October, 2020 and is available now.
Author: Chloe Johnson Twitter: @ladychloestark
