3 things...
Morning everyone!
We both hope you are having a great week so far
Yesterday was World Mental Health Day, a day to remind us that one in four people will suffer from mental health conditions in their lifetime so this is not something that we should shy away from talking about. When we created SMASH our vision was to focus on mental health as much as physical health and we have been doing this over the past few months by practising gratitude, using positive affirmations and concentrating on the present moment, remembering there is No Day But Today. We hope that all of you have seen some improvement since we launched the first class in the summer and will continue to come to classes and read our emails for tips and inspiration. If you have noticed any changes and would like to tell us about them then please do email back or let us know in club! We love receiving your feedback and we rely on this to make SMASH better and relevant to all of you
Back to today and this month's focus - gratitiude. Following Saturday's email, this week Sam and I have been reaching out to our closest friends and family to ask them 3 things they are grateful for each day. We have used different topics - Sunday was 3 things you grateful for from your childhood, Monday was 3 thingsyou are grateful for about work, Tuesday was 3 things you are grateful for regarding where you live and today we have asked them for 3 people you are grateful for from your family. The responses have been really nice to read and, knowing some of our friends and family involved, have probably taken them out of their comfort zone when doing this exercise. We believe this works though and we point back to the comments made in Saturday's email where we stated that many professional studies show gratitude has a positive impact on mental wellbeing. If you feel you are using the same answers when practising gratitude, why not use the focus points/questions above or create your own? This will help you to really think about your answers and make the exercise that little bit more beneficial.
A couple of responses from us -
Yesterday - Sam "I am grateful to live in a safe area where there are scenic routes for me to do my awesome runs"
Today - Ashley "I am grateful for my Dad. As an adult I can understand some of the mistakes he made when I was a child but I know he was a loving and caring father and I miss him every day. I wish I could tell him now how grateful I am for him".
What are you grateful for?
Have an amazing Wednesday and in honour of World Mental Health Day yesterday, if you know someone who is struggling (even if you only have a suspicion) then why not take the time today to just simply and sincerely ask "How are you?"....
Sam & Ashley
