Things like “self-care” and “mental health” might have seemed like very abstract concepts or buzzwords just a few months back, but a couple of months of self-isolating in a global pandemic will change your perspective on a lot of things. I feel very fortunate that just by coincidence I’ve been researching these very things as part of my art practice over the past couple of years, and have a growing list of little things I can do that I know will reduce my stress and increase my happiness. A few weeks ago, I was inspired by a friend to start doing a series of live videos to share some of these simple self-care tips.

One very inspiring bit of information: according to “The How of Happiness” by Sonja Lyubomirsky, our happiness levels are split into three parts. 50% is our genetically determined “set point”, and a surprisingly low 10% is based on our external circumstances (ie. income level, physical health, relationship status). This leaves an astounding 40% that we can actually control in our daily lives by what we do and how we think - how powerful is that?!

With this in mind, I created 24 videos with EASY tips that I’ve learned through research and self-experimentation. They start off VERY EASY, for those days when you’re low on motivation and everything seems hard. And then gradually they get slightly more ambitious, for those days when you’re feeling ready for a tiny bit more effort. I’ve uploaded all of these videos, and you can watch them on my website here. The very first one is an introductory video, in case you’d like to watch that first. The videos were originally live on my Facebook page, so if you want to read and/or write comments that’s the best place to watch them: click here for my Facebook Live videos.

I hope you find these helpful :) Please feel free to share with your friends and family - you never know who might need a little boost today!