Living with a disability can be hard. Factors like other people’s prejudices, lack of accessibility and systemic failures, can take a toll on your wellbeing. Here are four ways to combat negativity and live on the brighter side of life.
Acknowledge your feelings
The first step to improving your wellbeing is to recognize your thoughts and feelings. In the busyness of life, it’s easy for self-care to get put on the backburner. Avoiding or denying negative emotions can exacerbate them and worsen your mental health.
Acknowledge that you are feeling sad, stressed, angry, anxious or frustrated. Allow the negative feelings to exist without dwelling on them. Remind yourself that emotions are temporary and cannot harm you.
Spend time in nature
Recent years have seen many of us spending more and more time in front of the computer screen and less time outdoors. Research shows that spending too much time in front of a screen is linked to poor mental health in teens and adults. Of course, it’s impossible to avoid screen time completely and digital devices can offer many benefits. However, it’s a good idea to pay attention to your screen use and get outside when you can.
Spending time in nature has been shown to boost relaxation, happiness and subjective wellbeing. Adding exercise into the mix, increases these benefits. You don’t have to live near the bush or a beach to receive positive effects. According to Dr. Razani, “The nature you have access to is the nature you can use.”
Try scheduling in outdoor movement each day. Putting this activity into your calendar increases the likelihood you will follow through. Ideas for outdoor activities include gardening, hiking, exploring a new neighbourhood or going for a bike ride.
Cultivate Gratitude
When you’re feeling down or stressed, it can be hard to appreciate what you have in life. However, research suggests that practising gratitude may be an antidote to anxiety and depression. Giving thanks has been proven to boost positive emotions, increase resiliency and improve relationships. As with any new habit, the more you practise gratitude, the stronger this mental state will become.
There are many ways to cultivate thankfulness. One popular strategy involves keeping a gratitude journal in which you write down things you appreciate and positive events. If you can, try to make it a daily habit, as this will help train your brain to focus on what you have, rather than on what is lacking.
Other ways to practise gratitude include:
Express appreciation to others, either verbally or in writing.
Pay attention to small delights, such as the sound of your favourite song on the radio, the sight of a sunset, the aromatic scent of nature, the feel of a hot shower or the taste of your favourite dessert.
Create a gratitude jar. Using slips of paper, write down something you’re grateful for and place it in a jar or any container you have lying around.
Positive reframing
We all have negative thoughts from time to time, but getting stuck in negative thought patterns can be harmful to your wellbeing. Positive reframing involves looking at a difficult situation in a more constructive way. This may mean that, in a negative situation, you find an upside that you hadn’t previously considered, or else you view adversity as an opportunity to grow. for example, perhaps you made a mistake at work. Instead of dwelling on negative self-talk, try to find a benefit. Maybe the situation prompted you to learn new skills or seek further clarification from your manager.
Positive reframing does not mean denying that your negative emotions exist. But rather, the idea is to avoid letting them overwhelm you and interfere with living the life you want. Like any new skill, this technique requires practice. If negative thoughts persist, consider talking to a counsellor.
If you would like help with combatting negativity, please feel free to contact me on 0426 365 535.