Small Changes in Self Care Add Up for Mental Health
When all you can muster up the energy to do is sit on the couch in a blanket-burrito browsing internet memes, try sitting outside in a blanket-burrito browsing internet memes.
It’s old news to most of us that activity (including things like exercise/movement, gardening, volunteering, and spending time with supportive people and communities) helps improve mood, but the reality is that sometimes the barriers to accessing those things are pretty high.
Instead of setting your sights high and calling anything less failure, set tiny goals that are manageable even when you are feeling your worst.
Instead of big goals like:
- Training for a 5k
- Planting a garden
- Volunteering at a local charity
- Planning a vacation
Set tiny goals:
- Walking around the block
- Watering your plants
- Finding three things in your closet to donate.
- Looking up a park near your home that you’ve never been to, then driving there.
Small, incremental changes, like spending a few minutes tending a plant on your stoop or scowling at pigeons from a park bench, have the potential to create tiny shifts that add up to real change.
For a NYT write up on research on the benefits of being outdoors for 120 minutes a week, visit: How Much Nature Is Enough? 120 Minutes a Week, Doctors Say
Download this Art Below
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Image Description for Screen Readers:
The image set is a two-part comic drawing. The first image is on a dark grey background. In the center of the image are two people. The person on the left is standing, wearing a white shirt and grey-blue pants with matching shoes. They have long brown hair and are speaking. They are saying, “Hey, no judgment, but have you considered going outside?” The person they are speaking to is sitting in a green-beige chair and are covered in a blue blanket, revealing only their eyes and feet. They are responding, “Definitely not.”
The second image shows the same two people outside, with a blue sky and green grass. They are sitting on a wooden bench with metal legs and arm rails. The first person with dark brown hair has changed into light grey overalls and dark grey boots. They are smiling at the second person, who is still under a blue blanket, showing only their eyes, feet, and one hand. They are saying, “Ok. Yeah… This is nice.”
Image was created by Lindsay Braman.
