A warm hello! You may or may not know me… Either way, I want to invite you all on this journey with me. My aim is to use this new platform which I have put together ‘From One Neighbour To Another’ every month to help normalise the conversations around mental health. As a collective we need to speak and celebrate the highs and the lows, and overall break the stigma. Whether you are living in Brent, another part of London or somewhere across the pond, hello. I hope this article finds you well and will in some ways help either you or someone close to you.
When it comes to our body, it is always good to be in touch with ourselves, and that comes with knowing when something feels unbalanced in our body. A lot of the pain we feel can stem from our mental health. In order to be more aligned, one of the main steps we need to take is healing our minds to therefore feel physically good all round.
The first step I always take is acknowledging whether this feeling is an internal experience, which means is it personal? There is no wrong or right and whichever one has triggered your mental health you have to take the steps of acknowledging, accepting and surrendering.
Although my mental health is mainly from personal experiences, I have understood from a young age that I am an empath, meaning I feel things very deeply around me, I can get easily overwhelmed and I feel and experience exactly what others are experiencing. With this my mental health has been triggered at times, as I mentioned above from external material.
Which brings me onto my first topic around my mental health episode, COVID-19. I believe that we have all in some way felt some form of heavy emotion during this pandemic which has all been triggered from the external. I will be giving you all of my personal tips which have helped me throughout the years and some that I have added during lockdown in order to better my mental health.
This has allowed me to take the next steps as lockdown has started to ease:
Go at your own pace, always! Try not to cram everything in at once. Slow down and ease in gradually.
Read books that uplift you. A personal favourite of mine during lockdown was ‘Conversations With Friends’- Sally Rooney.
Socialise! (Socially distance) with people you feel the most comfortable with.
Connect with your community. Lockdown has given me a whole new meaning to the word ‘community’. The new friendships I have made have built me up in so many ways. You’d be surprised how many like minded people live at your doorstep!
Meditation! There’s various apps for this and YouTube is also brilliant for this too.
Move your body. This doesn’t need to be anything high intensity. A walk around your local park is just perfect.
Start enjoying your own company. Take yourself for a morning run, a solo coffee trip, play your favourite songs out loud or even better have a pamper day of doing all the things you love at your own pace.
Normalise saying “no”. This also comes with if you feel uncomfortable that a friend has not stuck with the Government rules.
Talk to someone you trust. Whether it’s physically or virtually.
Weekly plan. Every Sunday set your weekly plan and your daily intentions. Whether that’s to do with work, your own personal growth or play.
Spend time in the kitchen. Bake and cook wholesome food that is good for your soul.
Learn new skills. Try to switch off the negative brain and have faith in yourself that you can and will accomplish what you have brushed to one side for so long.
Morning affirmations! Look yourself in the mirror and say “Whatever struggles I face today I will handle them with a positive mindset. I will learn and grow”. All in all, never stop being kind to yourself. You are number one. Everything starts with you. You are worthy and are bigger than anything your mind is telling you not. Sending love and peace to every single person as we all go through this transition stage. Be kind and patient not only to yourself, but also to the ones around you. Express your gratitude daily, and remind yourself that what may be small to you is big to another.
All my love
Nicole Jebeli
N.B. I want to make you all aware that the information in this article is purely based on my own personal experiences and research. I am not a qualified health professional, and none of the above is medical advice. The words, resources and advice I give are gathered from my own personal journey and this shouldn’t be used as a substitute for advice from your usual health care professional. If you or anyone around you is feeling low or anxious, please use this link to get further support. Or alternatively the Samaritans helpline is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. You can call 116 123 for free.
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