Take a Mental Health Break
Be Kind to Your Mind
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and May 9-13 was Mental Health Week. NewPath therapists created 3-to-5 minute mental health breaks to promote the importance of prioritizing self-care.
Prioritize Your Mental Health
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and May 9-13 was Mental Health Week. Created by Mental Health America, this national holiday has been observed during May since 1949. Millions of people show support via media, local events, and screenings. Nearly 1 in 5 (more than 53 million) Americans currently struggle with mental health issues.
NewPath Child & Family Solutions (formerly St. Joseph Orphanage) is a premier behavioral health, specialized education, and child welfare agency. NewPath ignites hope and changes futures by providing access to and results from expert specialized and comprehensive trauma-informed care. During Mental Health Week, NewPath continued its mission of supporting and promoting self-care and prioritizing individual mental health. Daily 3-to-5 minute video sessions were hosted and shared through collaboration with NewPath therapists.
NewPath invites you to set aside a few minutes to prioritize your mental health and take a break. Use these videos as a guide and starting point to explore new avenues of self-care.
Take a Mental Health Break
Day 1: mindfulness journaling
Mindfulness journaling offers multiple benefits to your mental health, such as:
- Managing anxiety
- Reducing stress
- Coping with depression
- Prioritizing thoughts, fears, and concerns
- Tracking daily symptoms and feelings
- Recognizing triggers
- Providing an opportunity for positive self-talk
- Identifying negative thoughts and behaviors
Day 2: Utilizing DBT SKills (dialectical behavioral therapy)
What is DBT and what are DBT Skills?
DBT or dialectical behavioral therapy can help you learn to cope with difficult emotions. DBT comprises four primary skills; mindfulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and emotional regulation. Today, we focused on mindfulness, and Emily led us in a mindfulness exercise.
What are the benefits of practicing mindfulness?
- Decreased depression
- Increased emotional regulation
- Reduced anxiety and stress
- Better memory
- Cognitive improvement
- Stronger relationships
- Better physical health
Day 3: Grounding Activity
Grounding exercises offer multiple benefits to your mental health, such as:
- Managing anxiety
- Reduces inflammation
- Decreases stress response
- Improves sleep
- Relaxes the body and mind
- Reduces the feeling of being overwhelmed
Day 4: GUided meditation
Meditation (solo or guided) offers multiple benefits to your mental health, such as:
- Gaining a new perspective on stressful situations
- Building skills to manage your stress
- Increasing self-awareness
- Focusing on the present
- Reducing negative emotions
- Increasing imagination and creativity
- Increasing patience and tolerance
- Lowering resting heart rate and blood pressure
- Improving sleep quality
Day 5: Positive Affirmations and Mantras
Positive Affirmations and Mantras offer multiple benefits to your mental health, such as:
- Motivate you to act
- Concentrate on your goals
- Change your negative thought patterns into positive ones
- Influence your subconscious mind to access new beliefs
- Help you feel positive about yourself and boost your self-confidence
Additional Mental Health Support
While self-care is essential in maintaining positive mental health, it’s okay to reach out for help. You don’t have to make this journey to recovery and growth alone.
NewPath’s community-based (outpatient) mental health services play an integral role in our continuum of care. Diagnostic assessment, pharmacological management, community psychiatric and support treatment, behavioral health therapy, and transition-age youth services provide an opportunity to assist youth at any level of need.
To get started in services or ask questions about services, please contact us by filling out the below form.
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