Sometimes we can find it a struggle to manage life and we have so much going on in our heads it makes it difficult to stay calm.
When things get a bit too much 4 Mental Health are encouraging us to use the 30-3-30 approach.
This approach offers a number of activities that you can do in 30 seconds, 3 minutes or 30 minutes that will help us to stay calm, focused and able to cope.
30 Seconds
Things that you can do in 30 seconds to help you feel calmer:
- Take deep breaths – breathe in (count to 3) breathe out (count to 5) repeat
- Focus on the feeling of the floor through your feet – take your shoes off if you can!
- Count down from 20 to 0
- Lower your shoulders or ‘roll’ them a few times
- Take a few sips of cold water. Focus on the cooling feeling as you swallow it.
- Send a message to someone you care about via text or social media
- Interact with a pet, if you have one
- Look outside – what can you see and hear?
- Keep with you a photo that is special to you, take it out and look at it
- Think about a happy memory
3 Minutes
Things you can do in 3 minutes to help you feel calmer:
- Listen to calming sounds such as waves or rainfall – there are lots available online
- Cushion yourself with a blanket or pillows
- Make a warm drink, feel the heat from the mug on your hands
- Learn the ‘butterfly hug’
- Spend 3 minutes on having abrain workout using a wordsearch, sudoku, crossword or similar
- Learn a silly fact or activity
- Listen to your favourite song
- Find a new joke and share it with someone
30 Minutes
Things you can do in 30 minutes to help you feel calmer:
- Have a virtual coffee with someone using an online platform such as Zoom or WhatsApp
- Write a letter to a friend
- Phone a helpline
- Exercise
- Colour in
- Watch a TV show
- Read
- Start a journal
- Have a creative hobby such as painting, drawing, writing, playing an instrument or knitting
- Have a relaxing bath