Mental Health
Practices Tips:
- Mindfulness – mindful walking, colouring, sitting.
- Journaling – Write a gratitude journal, writing down 3 things that you are grateful for each day can help with perspective and grounding (rewires positive pathways in your brain!). This App by the Resilience Project can guide your journaling each day.
- Trying something new – knitting, craft, make stress balls out of rice and balloons, paint, draw.
- Self-management – clean out your phone, wardrobe, rearrange your bedroom, sort out photo albums, sort out school stuff, reflect on your purpose or Dyeem Borrmah (Wathaurong language).
- Dadirri – deep, spiritual listening.
Practices Tips:
Crisis support - should you or someone you know be in immediate physical danger please call 000.
Additional Mental Health real time support services include:
- Lifeline 13 11 14
- Beyond Blue 1800 521 348
- Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800
- Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467 (offers 24/7 crisis counselling to people at risk of suicide, carers for someone who is suicidal and those bereaved by suicide.)
- The Butterfly Foundation 1800 33 4673 (8am-9pm). You can also chat with them online here. The Butterfly Foundation supports people with eating disorders and body image issues.
- Yarn Safe (by headspace) 1800 650 690(8am-9pm). You can also chat with them online here. Yarn Safe provide mental health resources and services for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
- 1800 Respect 1800 737 732 (offers 24/7 support If you - or someone you know - have experienced, or are currently experiencing sexual, family, or intimate partner violence) You can also chat with them online here.
- Smiling App. Provides guided mindfulness(body, mind, eating, exercise) You can find details on the app here.
- Headspace App provides guilded mindfulness and meditation programs. You can find details of the app here.
- Batyr You can visit there website here to find lived experience stories of young people struggling with their mental well-being.Find knowledge and skill resources to lead a mentally healthy life
- Beyond blue Instagram page can be viewed here. It has Lots of great articles and tips on how to have a happy and healthy mind.
- Black Dog institute website can be viewed here for amazing resources and support for mental illness and maintaining a healthy state of mind.
- Moodgym website can be viewed here. This is an interactive self-helpbook which helps you to learn and practise skills which can help to manage symptoms of depression and anxiety.
- Head To Health (government initiative) website can be viewed here. The Department of Health have produced this initiative to provide valuable resources about mental health and mental illness.
Physical Wellbeing
Resources to support your physical wellbeing.
Youtube
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Yoga.
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Pilates.
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Zumba.
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Dance.
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GoNoodle Dance.
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Homeouts.
- You can YouTube anything and follow it to get moving.
Social Media
- Keep it Cleaner (Instagram).
- F45 (Instagram).
- Local gyms may have gone online, check them out.
- Save any helpful workouts you find, a lot of yoga sequences/circuits are available on social media.
Apps
- Seven – 7 minute workout.
- Daily Workout Fitness Training.
- HIIT.
- Tabata workouts.
Play
- Walk around your block.
- Play four square / down ballin your driveway.
- Skip.
- Shoot basketballs.
- Kick the footy.
- Backyard cricket.
- Bocce (or improvise with tennis balls and golf balls).
- Set up your own golf course in your backyard (we know how creative your are with recyclable items).
Buddy Up
- Workout with a friend virtually – live Facetime as you workout together, send photos to hold eachother accountable, challenge each other.
- University initiatives: Monash Sport – Active Bodies Online.
- Replace equipment – use items around your home to improvise without equipment (especially if you are aregular gym goer).
- Weights: use milk bottles filled with water , buckets filled with water, pets, Shoot basketballs.
- Disc sliders: container lids.
- Yoga mats: towels.
- Resistance bands: towels, sheets.
- Chin up bar: swing-set.
- Boxes: tables, benches, chairs.
- Steps for elevation: stackbricks, steps around the house, entrance ways.
- Remember: you don’t even need to use equipment, your body weight can provide a challenge.
Sleep Well
Binge watching Netflix is tempting, but it is important to maintain a sleep routine, wake up to a song as your alarm (Smiling Mind under Mental Health can also help).
Eat Well
Just like sleep, maintain a food routine is important. You can still treat yourself, but avoid drinking coffee like it’s water and snacking consistently throughout the day stopping for meals can also help with scheduling study breaks.
Social Wellbeing
Some resources you can access to support your social wellbeing
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Zoom.
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House Party App.
- Face time
- Facebook Messenger groupchats.
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Skype.
- Virtual games – Words withFriends, Draw Something Classic, Connect4, Boggle with Friends, Pictoword.
Spiritual Wellbeing
Support Resources
- Daily Prayer App “A Guide toSpiritual Rhythm”.
- Practice Dadirri - Visit Creative Spirits here or Beyond Blue here for details.
- Connect with your spiritual community, if relevant, practice prayer actively.
- Understand how the internetis bringing comfort to faith communities during coronavirus physical isolation in this article.
Coping with Change
Some simple tips for coping with change and stressful situations
- Healthy Ways to Cope with Change and Stress here
- Take breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories, including those on social media. It’s good to be informed, but hearing about the pandemic constantly can be upsetting. Consider limiting news to just a couple times a day and disconnecting from phone, tv, and computer screens for a while.
- Take care of your body
- Take deep breaths, stretch, or meditate.
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Try to eat healthy, well-balanced meals.
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Exercise regularly.
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Get plenty of sleep.
- Avoid excessive alcohol, tobacco, and substance use.
- Continue with routine preventive measures (such as vaccinations, cancer screenings, etc.) as recommended by yourhealthcare provider.
- Get vaccinated with a COVID-19vaccine when available.
- Make time to unwind. Try to do some other activities you enjoy.
- Connect with others. Talk with people you trust about your concerns and how you are feeling.
- Connect with your community- or faith-based organizations. While social distancing measures are in place, try connecting online, through social media, or by phone or mail.
Support Resources
Lots of the mental health resources have helpful coping with change resources. Here are two we recommend:
Creative Wellbeing
Have a look at the below for some inspiration on how to get started
Covid-19 Information
Reliable sources of information re: COVID-19
