How do you like zen apples? A guide to using mindapples to boost your mood

I’ve mentioned previously in a blog that Avecto are currently supporting local mental health charities and trying to promote positive mental health around our offices. I wanted to explore the concept of the mindapple (mind-ap-´?l) and how everyone can use them to improve your own mental health whether it’s to cope with a stressful day at work, bereavement, or even clinical depression – there’s a mindapple to help everyone.

According to The Guardian: “Stress and depression look set to double in a generation, mental ill-health already costs the country around £77bn a year.” Never has it been a more important time to promote good mental health and self-coping methods.

We are all familiar with the phrase “an apple a day keeps the doctor away” well, mindapples are allegorical apples that can keep you in good mental health, as opposed to real apples which are said to keep you in good physical health. This has recently been stretched further by the NHS in England to encourage people to think about their “5-a-day” (traditionally an encourager to consume five pieces of fruit or vegetables every day) but to try and have 5 mindapples on hand for a particularly tough day.

So what is a mindapple?

It is really up to you to define a mindapple, something that would boost your mental wellbeing, soothe your soul, ignite your senses, or distract you from what’s currently weighing on your mind.

I’ve got some examples and personal favourites here:

1) A bubblebath: The warm water is very soothing both physically and emotionally, the bubbles are a nice sensory piece – a reminder of more care free times, perhaps of being young, happy memories. You can even turn off the bathroom light and have a candle on the side – the ambient lighting will give your eyes and mind a break, allowing you to truly relax.

2) A mindful walk: Be it in a park, the woods, across the moors, by a river, or even in a town centre if that’s all you have…. Go for a walk; which is good for you physically, to release endorphins (also known as happy-hormones) which will immediately boost your mood. If you are mindful during your walk you can tap into a completely different world. Take time to notice the sunshine through the trees, listen to the birds singing, watch the rain pitter patter in the puddles, or watch the people going about their daily duties. All of this provides you with a distraction from your own mental state, and also gives you a renewed appreciation for the beauty of life.

3) Turning off the tech: spending a day, an evening, or just an hour away from technology. Turn off your phone, television, tablet, music, etc. Ideally, again, turn off the lights and light a candle. Pick up a book, write a diary entry, write a friend a letter, do some colouring in, play the guitar, or any other creative hobby that you have that you find you haven’t touched since the advent of Netflix and social media.

Whether you’ve had a hectic day, or are suffering with serious mental health issues anyone and everyone can try mind apples to give them a little boost. I would encourage you to explore what your top 5 mind apples might be, and to try and set aside a little time to allow yourself that moment of tranquillity, to self-soothe, and to boost your state of mind. Go on, try it!

If you want to stay in touch with what Avecto are doing to promote good mental health, and other CSR initiatives do check in on my posts on the Avecto blog site and find us on Facebook.