Toolkit

This list is not all-inclusive by any means, but includes a pretty thorough list of tools I have learned to manage anxiety and mental health. Throughout life no one really informed me that managing mental health is important. It seems we are only beginning to understand the importance of maintaining our mental wellness. Growing up, I often felt powerless over what was going on inside my brain and body, but through reading many books, going to a few therapists, and having the burning desire to have some control of my life, I came to realize the more I do to constantly maintain my mental health, the easier it becomes to stay in a healthy mental state. The hardest thing to realize was that there was no magic switch to turn to make everything change and I would be a happy, positive, successful individual. It took me a REALLY long time to realize that the maintenance is a constant need and I have to continuously do healthy things for myself to stay in a positive and healthy mental state. I gathered many of the tools I have learned in here as a reference. I don’t use all of them, but knowing they are there to reference always helps me, especially when one tool isn’t that effective at the moment.

Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.

- Robert Collier

Reading

Practicing Gratitude

Practicing Mindfulness

Curiosity - Continuous learning

Cognitive restructuring

Affirmations

Daily Meditation

Yoga

Running

Exercise in general

Painting

Managing positive self-talk, minimizing negative self-talk

Journaling

Practicing The Miracle Morning S.A.V.E.R.S

Body scans/tension relief

Listening to music

Listening to positive vibrations (I use YouTube)

Therapy

Guided meditation

Selective avoidance (deliberately avoiding situations or people that cause added stress)

Sleeping enough

Acupuncture

Decluttering

Spending time in nature

Going for a walk

 

Massage

Focused breathing

Filling your social media feeds with positivity

Prayer

Knitting, braiding, sewing, etc.

Being around positive and uplifting people

Playing with children or pets

Doing an enjoyable activity

Cooking

Laughing

Smiling

Playing calming games (Brain Yoga)

Coloring

Watching things (wildlife or people)

Hiking

Photography

Acupressure

Gardening

Turning off the tv

Disconnecting from all electronic devices

Power poses

Watching TED Talks

Watching funny videos on YouTube (I love game show bloopers)

Positive visualization (visualizing a task going the way you want)

Truly engaging with and listening to someone (instead of thinking while they are talking)

Create goals and break them into small and manageable steps

Practice, practice, practice