Be kind to yourself this Mental Health Awareness Week
To mark this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week, Dr Elaine Beaumont (pictured), Lecturer in Counselling & Psychotherapy at the University of Salford, shares her top tips on why kindness is so important for our wellbeing.
Elaine says: “One of the most important things we can all do for our own wellbeing is to learn to be kind to ourselves, to be your own best friend rather than your own worst enemy.
“We can all do with giving our wellbeing a boost at times. As this week is Mental Health Awareness Week and the theme is kindness, it is the perfect time to reflect on how we can best do this.”
Elaine has written a new book with Dr Mary Welford, 'The Kindness Workbook: Creative and compassionate ways to boost your wellbeing', which is due out later this year. The Kindness Workbook teaches the skills of problem-solving using guided imagery, mindfulness, mind maps, vision boards, letter-writing, music, physical activity, drama and art.
The book is aimed at young people, and has been illustrated by Phoebe Munday, a young up-and-coming illustrator.
Elaine explains: “One of the ideas we discuss in the book is how you can create, and add to, your very own Kindness Box. This could be used to store photos of places, pets or people, lyrics, playlists, vision boards, quotes, beads, soothing and calming objects, letters, pamper products, and anything else that will help boost your wellbeing. The Kindness Box may help you during the course of your kindness journey and in years to come, especially when you find things aren’t going to plan.”
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