A relaxing morning

People drop into your life, people drop out of it. Some appear just when you need them and it feels like you’ve known them for years. A kind word, a helping hand, a smile – it all goes a long way when you have mental health issues (and I still hate that phrase!)

One of these people has helped me more than she will ever know. I only got to know her through the blog, she suggested I contact ‘Havin’ a Laugh‘. The group assist with the promotion of positive mental health in Sligo through Outdoor Activities, Connecting People and ‘Having a Laugh’. They subsidise adventure, wellbeing and life-enhancing activities to people in therapy for mental health related reasons.

“If you are in therapy and are located in Sligo or one of the surrounding counties, Donegal, Leitrim or Mayo you can access the service as follows:

Tell your therapist you would like to gain access to some life-enhancing activities through the Rennafix Service. You may browse the Getting Active page to help decide which kind of activities you would like to try.

Your therapist must contact them to get you signed up –  rennafixgroup@gmail.com

Once you are signed up you will have access to 175 activity tokens, (1 Token = €1)”

There are so many fantastic experiences listed on the website and it’s wonderful to have something positive to look forward to. Dealing with depression and anxiety is hard going, some days are better than others. Some days are like trudging through mud and it’s hard to deal with it.

My therapist contacted the website and I received my tokens and chose to go for a seaweed bath at Voya in Strandhill yesterday. To be honest I didn’t want to get out of bed when I woke up but I made myself do it. I arrived in Strandhill early and as Shells Cafe wasn’t open I went for a walk.

It was only going to be a short walk as I really wasn’t in the humour but I ended up in Culleenamore.

As I walked through the Shelly Valley, home to a pre-historic shell midden, I was just blown away by all the nature that surrounded me.

It was like I was in a whole other world and it was just me and nature.

The walk did me the world of good as I marvelled at the beauty that is there all the time but sometimes we just don’t see it.

As I arrived on Culleenamore Beach it was just me and the jellyfish, with the majestic Knocknarea Mountain looking over me.

I feel so very blessed to live in such a special part of the world and even though I’m going through a tough time I need to make an effort to get out and actually look at all the beautiful things around me.

After my walk I relaxed in the seaweed bath. If you’ve never had one I’d really recommend it. The seaweed makes your skin and hair feel so soft. You let your cares wash away as you are immersed in the hot water listening to the waves crashing on the Wild Atlantic Way. It’s a little bit of heaven.

So a sincere thank you to my new friend and also to Havin’ a Laugh – what a great idea and so needed. If you are in therapy for mental health and feel like this is something you’d be interested in finding out more about you can visit the website here: http://www.havinalaugh.com/getting-support.html