Take Action with your Mental Health

YG Counsellor

Stress can look and feel different for everyone. Sometimes the signs are obvious, but other times it can build up quietly in the background without us even noticing. You might go for weeks or months feeling completely fine, only to suddenly realise that things have been affecting you more than you thought.

I’ve personally experienced times where I didn’t even realise I was stressed until someone checked in and asked if I was okay. Taking a moment to reflect made me realise that I had been carrying a lot without properly acknowledging it. That’s why checking in with ourselves, and with each other is so important. Sometimes it takes a simple conversation or pauses in our busy lives to recognise how we’re really feeling.

It’s important to recognise the signs that you may be feeling stressed or starting to struggle with your mental health. These signs can look different for everyone, but they might include feeling more emotional than usual, becoming forgetful, or struggling to concentrate on everyday things.

Taking time to reflect on your day can really help. Thinking about how certain situations made you feel, or how you reacted to something, can sometimes highlight signs of stress or changes in your mental wellbeing that you may not have noticed in the moment.

You might also realise that things you usually enjoy don’t feel the same anymore. Whether it’s hobbies, spending time with friends, or simply having the energy to socialise, stress can affect the things that normally make us feel good. Often, it’s only when we take a step back and reflect that we begin to recognise stress as the root cause.

Now that I’m more aware of my own signs of stress, I’m able to take action earlier and be more proactive with my mental health. One of the things that works best for me is getting outside and going for a walk. I try to do this every day, even if it’s only for a short time, because I know that the days when I feel too tired or unmotivated are often the days, I need it the most.

Being outside helps me slow down and notice the little things around me — the wildlife I can spot, the different birds I can hear, what’s happening in the park, or simply enjoying the sunshine when it’s out. Those small moments can make a really big difference to how I’m feeling.

On days when I can’t get outside, I try to create a similar calming moment indoors. Sitting with the window open, listening to a podcast, and having a hot drink can be a really comforting way to pause, reset, and take care of my wellbeing.

I also keep 5-10 minutes a day for hobbies. When you are stressed, you may lose interest in hobbies or things that you normally enjoy. I will try to ease myself back into them in these cases by putting on my favourite TV show in the background and starting with a few minutes of a hobby and building it back up. This can be a helpful distraction for my mental health as you are thinking about and doing something you know you enjoy that is completely different to your day-to-day work.

Everyone is different, reflect and try to work out your signs and find things that will help to distract and alleviate the pressure of your mental health. Good luck on your journey to take some mental health action.

View from a mental health walk

Kelly

The power of reflection and the art of mindfulness in nature.
Walking up a hill, I take in the view and feel a quiet sense of accomplishment. It’s in these moments that I intentionally connect with the present, using all my senses to ground myself in the here and now.

The view from a mental health walk

What can I see?
What can I hear?
What can I smell?
What can I touch?
What can I taste?

I notice the small details that are so often missed in the rush of everyday life. The textures of leaves on the trees, each one different if I really pause to look. The bark beneath my fingertips, rough, patterned, holding the story of the tree’s years of growth and weathering.
Birdsong layers the air, alongside the soft rustle of branches and hedgerows swaying in the breeze. A squirrel darts through the undergrowth. In the distance, a train passes or cars hum quietly along a road I barely register at first.
The ground shifts under my feet as twigs snap gently with each step. The world is alive with sound, movement, and rhythm.
I breathe in the scent of freshly cut grass, conifer trees, and damp woodland earth. At certain times of year, there may be lavender or bluebells growing freely, untouched except by nature itself.
I feel the cold bottle of water in my hand, the pressure of my shoes against the ground, the texture of bark as I reach out to steady myself or move a branch aside. Even taste lingers, perhaps from a meal earlier in the day, or the sweetness of a ripe blackberry picked along the way.
As I take it all in, something shifts. The mind becomes quieter. The noise of worries, planning, and stress begins to fade into the background.
And when my thoughts inevitably drift as minds do I notice it gently. A small smile, a return to the present moment, without judgement. The mind will wander; that is what minds do. And we can always come back.

This is mindfulness.
This is grounding.
This is connection.

As a counsellor, this is something I return to myself, and something I teach to clients. It doesn’t require perfection or stillness in the mind, just awareness, curiosity, and permission to be where you are. During Mental Health Awareness Week, it feels important to remember that simple practices like this can offer a powerful way to support our wellbeing. Not by escaping life, but by fully arriving in it.