Wellness Tools that Work

Most of us have a hard time distinguishing how we feel till we get extremely low. It doesn't have to be that way. If you open yourself to how you're feeling you can almost always catch it before you get to that really low place.

Wellness Tool Box...

One of the first things you'll want to do is make yourself a wellness tool box, one that you can carry with you all the time works best. I use an address book type that I have divided into 3 different sections and I will explain the sections as I go through this blog to help you get a better understanding. That being said, again YOU can use whatever works BEST FOR YOU.

In your tool box you can have sayings, words of encouragement to yourself, quotes that make you feel good, pictures that make you smile, and so on. Get my point here? THINGS THAT MAKE YOU SMILE AND THINK HAPPY THOUGHTS! For instance, my section one has words of encouragement (example: Important, Proud, Recovery, Positive, Victorious, Unforgettable), quotes like the one I have on my pages right under my title, sentences of encouragement (example: "I am important", "I believe in myself", "Smiling daily will make me feel better"), lists of things I want to accomplish in 6 months time (I go over these every 6 months and see if I have accomplished them),I even have 3 pages of fortune cookies that pertain to my recovery (I know they are full of shit, but they make me feel good when I read them), and a list of books I want to read. Yours can have ANYTHING that makes you HAPPY when you're feeling down!

The second part of my wellness tool kit has 20 pictures of things I love and like. Pictures of my son, my niece and nephews, my grampy, and lighthouses. Those are all things that make me smile. You don't have to have pictures in your toolkit, the pictures just remind me of what I have when I feel blue.

The third part of my toolkit is probably just as important as my first part, contact information. This is information that is very much needed when I feel I am heading for a crisis. My psychiatrist, my therapist, Wellness City, NAMI, 3 friends, a suicide hotline, DSBA, and other people that I will call when feeling blue.

AGAIN, yours can have anything you want in it, these are just MY wants.

Wellness Music


I LOVE my music. But then I noticed most of my favorite music made my depression worse, so I switched to another genre, again I had problems with the music. SO I went on a mission searching for songs in my favorite genre that didnt depress me or make me think bad thoughts. Low and behold I found some.

As I started listening to these new songs I have noticed that I don't get as depressed, but I don't sing at the top of my lungs either like I used to. With this music I am calmer, but the music is just like "blah" to me as to where I used to sit there and think of the music. Even though I like this new music and I don't get as involved with it, I find it calming and soothing. I don't have the bad thoughts racing through my head, but then I really don't have any thoughts with it.

So yes, calmer, more up beat music is a good thing! Try listening to it and see if you don't get some of the similar reactions.

I'm done rattling on as my mind is exhausted tonight due to school work, trying to find a job, and everything else I have going on. LOL

But I will add my grateful list for today....

1) I'm so very grateful it didn't rain today.
2) I'm grateful for the fact that I may have a job as a CPSS
3) I'm grateful for the great job that I have been doing with school.
4) I'm grateful to Kim for allowing Pearl and I to talk to her tomorrow about possibly holding our first peer 2 peer class at wellness city.
5) I'm grateful for getting to speak at the NAMI executive meeting next tuesday.