Therapy is expensive.

Very expensive. To the point where one of my favorite things about college was getting the free therapy because I learned after I graduated therapy is expensive.

I am not a professional and this does not work for everybody. Half the time it doesn’t work for me because it takes consistency which is something I don’t always have.

If you think this blog is about how to afford therapy, I would click off right now because this blog post is about making my own therapy.

Mental health is something I have struggled with since my freshman year in high school. I spent years and years not really taking care of myself. Letting my intrusive thoughts win. I felt like I didn’t have anyone in my corner that could understand — that I could voice my thoughts to. Sometimes I still don’t but that’s beside the point.

Now I can manage my mental health better. While therapy was great while I could do it, it is expensive so I’ve had to rely on myself to keep myself out of the dark hole.

I want to share some of the things that help me in case it helps someone else.

Again I am not a professional and if you can get therapy I would try that too.

Before I start listing, I do want to say that in order for these to help, you have to actually do them consistently. Some of you may be thinking well duh, but for me this is harder than I thought.

Journal

Getting your thoughts on paper can help it not fester inside you so much. This could be about your thoughts, feelings, opinions. Sometimes I will even look up a writing prompt. I might make a blog later about mental health journal prompts.

Workout

Here lately I have been slacking on working out because of a change in my work schedule, but I want to get back into it regularly. My goal is to workout at least 4 days a week, but on the days I don’t workout, I still want an active rest by getting at least 8k steps in.

Plan to do things you love

Sounds so simple but sometimes it can be so hard. Especially when you’re in that depressed state, but sometimes you need to make yourself do things that you don’t want to do.

Reflect while in nature

Here lately I have gotten into the habit of sitting out on my porch super early in the morning (like before 6 am), and just taking everything in. This is also a good time to meditate or journal.

Tidy your living space

I have learned that my mental health is worse when my living space is messy. That could just be a virgo thing. If it’s hard for you to clean your whole space, but focus on a small part of it then focus on a different part the next day.

Have a morning and night routine

I feel like I am more put together when I have a morning and night routine. I am still working out the kinks of it, but so far my routine has brushing teeth and face, reading or journaling, meditating, and I have recently been trying to get into the habit of using a facial stone.

Do your hobbies (or figure out what your hobby is)

Before you say watching tv or getting on TikTok is your hobby, I want to advise doing a more active hobby. Personally, watching tv or TikTok all day makes me feel worse because it is an activity that my brain can kind of shut off for. A couple of my favorite hobbies is reading, hiking, video gaming, playing a sport, and dancing. Other hobbies could be painting, knitting, gardening, cooking, volunteering, skydiving, zip lining, rock climbing – anything that makes you happy. Don’t know what your hobby is? Keep trying different things until you find it.

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