Mental Health Awareness Week – Self care

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As you may have seen on social media and in the news, this week is Mental Health Awareness week. Whilst its great to bring the topic of mental health to the main stage – mental health awareness should not be confined to one week out of 52.

The pandemic has been a challenging time for many, and the impact has been felt far and wide. The magnitude of the loss and the trail of devastation is clear for all of us to see. There is also a community of people who have been impacted by COVID. Those who were having fertility treatment, who were preparing themselves physically and mentally to try and achieve their

This week, I asked a few of our fertility clinic partners to provide me with their thoughts on how people should prepare themselves for treatment from a self-care perspective. Here are the thoughts from the wonderful Marna from Herts & Essex Fertility Centre.

Self care

Take care of your physical and emotional wellbeing. If we eat well, sleep well, move well and think well we will feel well. Be kind to yourself and to others. Accept yourself, love yourself and have compassion with yourself and others. Be comfortable with who you are – don’t compare your insides with other people’s outsides. Change the things you can and accept the things you can’t to be content.

Mindfulness can help to improve self-care. It is a consciousness of being in the present moment, being aware of your surroundings, your existence, your feelings, your breathing and where you are right now in your life – not yesterday or last year and not tomorrow or next year but now.

Meditation is another form of self-care and a way to quiet the mind. This life-enhancing daily ritual can help you to reduce stress and anxiety and it’s beneficial for wellbeing, health and happiness. You can learn to be completely present in the moment, letting go of your thoughts, worries and achieving calmness through meditation. Quieting your mind for 5-10 minutes a day can provide hours of stress reduction. A worry or feelings jar can also help to let it go.

Positive Mental Attitude (PMA)

Attitude is a choice. And so is your reaction to everything that happens to you. When you make the decision to maintain a positive attitude, no matter what happens, your brain looks for ways to make that happen. Positive self-talk is crucial for personal wellbeing and happiness – it keeps your mind set balanced. The good news is that you can change your negative self-talk to positive self-talk but the key is repetition, repetition, repetition.

Gratitude and Generosity

Start a gratitude journal and write down three things that you are grateful for, every day. Share it with someone if you wish as that makes it more powerful and strengthens your feelings of gratitude. As part of your gratitude journal, write down and do acts of generosity. It could be something as small as picking a flower, writing a thank you card or visiting someone who is quite lonely. Or it could be something bigger like buying someone a gift, helping someone with cleaning, gardening or buying groceries for someone who is less fortunate than you.

“When you direct your focus toward gratitude, you’ll find true joy and fulfilment”

Tony Robbins

Activate Gratitude – When you activate gratitude and practice it in your life, you’ll notice that there is more and more to be grateful for every day.

You can’t be angry and grateful simultaneously. You can’t be fearful and grateful at the same time. Gratitude is the antidote to anger and fear.

And when you live in a beautiful state like this, you have more to give. You no longer focus on what you lack, and you no longer feel like you don’t have enough. In this state, you will always find ways to share your abundance.

Want to get in touch?

If you’re considering fertility treatment and or Surrogacy TwoDadsUK has a clinic partnership with the Award Winning Fertility Clinic, Herts & Essex.