100 Ways to Care for Your Mental Health

Tina: Hey, everyone. I'm Tina

Serena: And I'm Serena and we are the Mental Health Mamas.

[MUSIC]

Tina: Welcome to No Need to Explain. We are so glad you're here.

Serena: First, as always, a quick disclaimer

Tina: We come to not as mental health professionals or experts in the field, but rather as parents with lived experience who are on a mission to normalize the conversation around mental health.

Serena: If you or someone you love is experiencing a mental health crisis, please seek professional support. You'll find a variety of resources in our show notes and on our website noneedtoexplainpodcast.com.

Tina: Serena, it's our 100th episode. Can you believe it?

Serena: Yes, I can. It's been a lot of work, but it has actually flown by quickly. It is amazing to look back at all we have done on this podcast and all of the amazing people we've met along the way that we would not have met otherwise. And I really want to express my gratitude to our loyal listeners out there who keep us going.

Tina: Yeah, so many listeners, literally from around the world. And for each one, we are immensely grateful.

Serena: So this is our 100th episode. And we wanted to do something a little bit different today. We've put together a list of 100 ways you can care for your mental health. There will be a text version of this list as well, a printable version, but we wanted to take this episode to talk through the list.

Tina: And a text version, you're not texting people.

Serena: I?m not texting people. No. Thank you for clarifying.

Tina: It?s just going to be words. We have worked to put this list together using what we always talk about, which is tools from our toolbox, right? And some of these have been there a really long time. And others, we have added along the way. We've gotten ideas from guests and from life, just living life every day.

Serena: Yeah, we are constantly adding to our toolboxes. And thankfully, these are proverbial invisible toolboxes because they would be, you know, Too full. And we hope that you are also adding to your toolbox. This episode is going to be full of lots of ideas. And it might be an episode that you keep coming back to over time. So shall we jump right In?

Tina: Let's do it.

Serena: Okay. So at the top of the list, number one, I'm putting if you are in crisis, please reach out to a professional call a crisis line. If you are in the United States, call 988.

Tina: You you can also text 988. And most of these are not at that level.

Serena: Right.

Tina: So it's good that you put this at the top of the list because it's important. Another is number two, we'll call it number two. How about number two, we will call therapy. Therapy is a little bit of magic. And when you find that right person, it can enhance all of the tools in your box.

Serena: And I kind of feel like those two are, in many ways, the most important and all the rest of these are kind of in no particular order. So, you know, take it, leave it, you know, whatever works for you. So number three is to smile. So there's a lot of research around smiling, even when you're not feeling happy. And I know it doesn't always feel comfortable, but just the act of smiling tricks our brains and to feeling happier.

Tina: Absolutely. And number four, phoning a friend. Serena, you know how important people are to me. You are one of my people and physically talking and being with someone means a lot. It's certainly a tool.

Serena: Next is to do something nice for somebody else. We get a lot of benefits from helping others. And you know, this can be something really small, like holding a door for a stranger to something bigger, like making a meal for a family who's struggling in some way.

Tina: Yes. Number six would be move your body. Whatever that means for you, it could be doing chair yoga. It could be going and taking a walk in the woods, move your body.

Serena: Practice gratitude. So do you have a gratitude practice? We have a really great episode from season two all about gratitude if you need some ideas to get started.

Tina: Absolutely. Next would be journaling, keeping some kind of written record, writing your thoughts down, whatever works for you. And that doesn't work for some people, but it's an idea, right Serena?

Serena: Right. Right. Number nine is to spend time with your favorite four legged friends. Or you know, maybe you have two legged friends, but we're going to stick with the four legged cats, dogs, guinea pigs, lizards, you know, whatever you like, you probably don't like lizards Tina.

Tina: No, I do not know. Not going there.

Serena: If you don't have pets at home, but you like pets, you can go to your local animal shelter to see some animals. And some shelters like our local shelter, even let you interact with the animals. And I would say that it is one of my kids favorite things to do, even though we have our own fuzzy carnivores at home. They still like going to see others.

Tina: Absolutely. Going outside, right, just being outside of your four walls. Here where I live, it's very nice, going for a walk or just sitting in the sunshine.

Serena: Mm. Breathe. It sounds so simple, but you know, have you really stopped and taken a deep breath today? So do it right now, if you haven't.

Tina: So cook or bake something you know how I like to cook and bake very therapeutic. And yeah, love it.

Serena: Do a craft or make art, maybe you like painting or cutting paper snowflakes or coloring. You know, art never, whatever you make, it doesn't ever have to be seen by anybody else or maybe you want to show it all over.

Tina: Another is meditation, which is a little hard for me, I would say, but it doesn't need to be a big deal. So there are lots of apps that are excellent for meditating. Very quick kind of short things. So meditation's an option.

Serena: Do you have, are there any apps that you used Tina?

Tina: I think headspace, I don't know where my phone is right now, so I can't, so I can't look them up, but there are lots of them out there.

Serena: So yeah, I like Headspace. Everybody talks about Insight Timer, which I have not tried yet, but I hear there's lots.

Tina: What about 10% happier? That seems like one that is good. Shine, shine, yeah, home. Yeah, so there are a bunch.

Serena: There are a bunch with, with free content too.

Tina: Exactly right.

Serena: Next is to take a break. We get sucked into the hustle culture to check out our interview with Janelle Pfeiffer in season three. It is okay to take a break for a minute or an hour or whatever you need.

Tina: Absolutely. Say no to something. We talk about this in our compassion resilience curriculum. We talk about setting boundaries and making sure that you can say no to people.

Serena: And say yes to something. One of my favorite books of all time really is Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes. It really shifted how I look at opportunities that my life and I really recommend it especially for those introverts out there.

Tina: Take a picture. I often do this when something in my world is awesome. And I just think, okay, so I'm going to use the example of my nephew's baby. I held him for several hours and I wanted to remember that. So I took a picture and I just wanted to have that to look back on which I've done. So take a picture.

Serena: Yeah. And so then the next one is to look at photos you've taken. So maybe that's on your phone or maybe you actually have a photo album on your shelf. It's all good.

Tina: Number 20 is clean your space. So I do find that in order to rest, I cannot be in chaos. I need to really kind of neaten things up and even if they're piles of things, neat piles of things, make me feel calm.

Serena: Do a rhythmic activity. It may sound a little strange, but I think of things like knitting, walking, dancing, things where you're repeating something in rhythm, you know, playing instrument, if you do that. So in the book, What Happened to You by Dr. Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Perry talks a lot about how, you know, we're sort of programmed for rhythmic activities as infants, right? We want to be rocked and moved and comforted. And even as adults, these kind of rhythmic activities ground us and calmer nervous system.

Tina: Exactly. They help kind of reset things. And I find it funny that I'm saying this because it?s in someone's toolbox, but I don't know if it's in mine.

Serena: Okay.

Tina: So take a nap. I am not a napper, but I know lots of people who love their nap. And I would say in our episode about the University of Richmond Wellness Center, they have nap pods, which is awesome so go back and listen to that episode.

Serena: Yes. Yeah. I and next would be to go to bed early or at a regular time or consider a sleep routine. Tina might have shared about that on the podcast. You can find it in maybe several episodes

Tina: once or twice or 17 times because it is a big, it's it's looming in my toolbox. So part of my sleep routine is the next one, which is to unplug. Very important, not only for the blue light, but just for whatever's going on, right? Whatever's going on on your computer, you might be working email coming in. We have constant pulls in our world right now unplug.

Serena: Yes. Next we have something lighter to play a game or just play. In other words, do something that has no purpose other than having fun.

Tina: Tea is one of one of my favorite tools, especially in the evening on a cool evening, tea, sipping tea is an awesome tool to calm.

Serena: I have some in front of me right now. So the next one is to pause. So I think this is slightly different than taking a break. You know, just sort of pressing that pause button for a moment in the middle of your busy day.

Tina: Mm-hmm, absolutely. So let's keep with that theme and say, checking in with yourself is something that we have talked about in a lot of our episodes. We certainly talk about it in our compassion resilience course about checking in and acknowledging your own feelings. Excellent self-care and it really helps you move forward with others in ways that are more productive. Don't you think?

Serena: I do. I do agree with that. So just knowing where you are and yeah, being able to move forward in the world. And so then the next one is you might need to let those feelings out. And so in, you know, obviously in an appropriate way. But you know, if you're by yourself or I mean, do what you need to do, right? Cry, scream, whatever feels good to you to get those emotions out.

Tina: Absolutely. And maybe it's a laugh too because certainly I do a lot of laughing when we really might cry and it really does release the feelings. So so we are at number 30. And we had an episode about tapping and tapping is certainly one of the tools that you can use to relieve anxiety and stress.

Serena: Mm-hmm. Yeah, so check out Lauren Fonvielle's episode or her interview on that. I think it also forgive the pun, but taps into that rhythmic thing as well, right?

Tina: Absolutely. Yes.

Serena: Yeah. Yeah. So next is to watch a funny video, a show, a movie as Tina was just saying laughing, right? Laughter is the best medicine.

Tina: Absolutely. You can also check out Cope Notes. Johnny Crowder came on and talked about that brain interruption during the day with a positive message, very excellent episode and something you can subscribe to for very little money, right?

Serena: So yeah, really highly affordable. I actually, my oldest we we subscribed her to that as the gift and she loves it. She shares it with us sometimes. Find some water to visit. And so this could be a variety of different things. There's something very calming about water in general. So if you're lucky enough to live close to the ocean, go for me, please, because I'm far away. But really, you know, any water. So where I live, I don't have the ocean, but I do have waterfalls, which is amazing. You could go to a lake, a river, a stream, or years ago, I worked at a store where we sold these little tabletop fountains, which even that it can be very calming.

Tina: Absolutely. And those are pretty accessible. Yeah. You can buy those in stores. So yeah. Okay. This is one of my favorites. And it's Serena always laughs and so does my mom because I can talk to anyone, but I especially like to talk to and wave to small babies and kids. And I don't know if it makes them happy, but it really makes me happy.

Serena: Next, we have listen to a podcast. There's somebody to choose from. And obviously, uh, thank you. If you're listening to this one.

Tina: Yeah, absolutely. We love, and we love other podcasts.

Serena: We do.

Tina: Number 36 read a book. If you don't know, this is a little known secret that Serena and I know about. And I tell people randomly about this because I love it so much. Some people don't know about Libby, Serena.

Serena: I was just telling some people about this the other day.

Tina: I know, right? So Libby is an app you can get on your on your telephonic device. If you have a library card at any library, at least in the US, you can link your library card to Libby and borrow books for free digital copies on your phone, on your Kindle, on your iPad, whatever you have. So go get Libby, read a book. And if you don't know how to do it, go to your library because libraries know about these things.

Serena: That's right. Ask your librarian and they always know. Yeah.

Tina: All knowing.

Serena: That's right.

Tina: Maybe not all knowing, but they know that Libby for sure.

Serena: They do. They do. Plant something and watch it grow. Um, this is great with kids to do yourself. I personally love getting my hands in the soil, planting, nurturing what I'm growing. And then, you know, kind of caring for it, weeding all the things then enjoying it, whether it's food or flowers or whatever. And if you don't want to get dirty, then buy an indoor plant to add some color and some oxygen into your space.

Tina: Who doesn?t want to get dirty? Oh, I love that. Okay. I guess I'm the third kid. I was always dirty. Um, look up some good news. So in our New Year's episode, we had a bunch of good news. And it was really uplifting. I love doing that.

Serena: It was. It was. And there's actually organizations you can subscribe to to get some daily good news, which is like just refreshing for a change, which brings me to the next one, which is turn off the bad news. Yes, we are inundated with. And I'm just going to say, I mean, it's the news, but it's pretty much always bad news, right? Constantly. Uh, and it's, it's really easy to get caught in that idea that there's nothing good in the world.

Tina: Yes. And while it's important to recognize what's going on in the world, it is very, so I've shared this openly before news, gets shut off in my house. Nothing after seven or eight at night. I just can't. I cannot consume it. So I agree. Turn off the bad news. Find a vent buddy, which you all are for me. I can vent whatever I'm thinking with you. Yeah. So I don't really do that with you all as listeners, but we can be your vent buddy. You can always email us or call us.

Serena: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Yeah. And then the opposite side of that is to be a good listener. Uh, so it feels good to kind of hold space for somebody else. If you don't know what a holding space is, listen to Heather Plett?s episode. Um, she's amazing. Um, and, you know, that that vent buddy, you guys may be that for each other or may there may be two different people, maybe one that you listen to and one that you talked to, um, but you might take turns with a friend.

Tina: Exactly. Um, stretch. It seems simple, but getting out of your chair, if you are at work, um, in a kind of desk job or you sit and at work at a computer for a long time, just get up periodically and stretch your body. Um, takes not very long and really can refresh you in some way.

Serena: Yeah. Make a plan. Uh, so it could be a plan to rest or a plan to do something, just some kind of plan.

Tina: And carving out time for yourself each day. I think we had a mom on recently who said that she gets up a little bit early just so she can be by herself for a few minutes. And I love that idea, just the moment to be by yourself, even if it's not very long.

Serena: It could be part of your plan. Um, exactly. Next is to embrace the season. Uh, so I'm not always easy. I'm just going to say that. And, um, in case you hadn't figured this out, this list just for us, right? We hope it's useful for all of you too, but this is our list. Um, so for those of us who live in, you know, colder climates, it's really challenging during winter when it's cold and dark. Uh, but I really like to kind of shift my habits, the things that I do each season to match the weather. So in other words, winter is the time for, you know, cozy blankets and soup and tea and, you know, maybe sledding or building a snowman. If you like to be out in the snow, if not, just stay inside under a blanket, you know.

Tina: Yeah, embracing the season. Yes. Um, this might seem odd, but I'm going to say sharing your story. We know we hold on to a lot of things and many of us don't necessarily share them. And to be able to share parts of your story is very healing and freeing.

Serena: Absolutely. Yeah. Uh, smell a favorite smell. Um, that also might sound a little strange, but we know that smells hold memories for us. One of the most powerful senses in terms of, you know, our brains, I'm not being very scientific here, but, um,

Tina: well, Bruce Perry, again, he does. Yeah, he talks a lot about that and yeah, for sure.

Serena: So a favorite smell, it might be comforting, rejuvenating, calming, more, right? All sorts of things.

Tina: Absolutely. And speaking of smell, light a candle that smells good. Um, people have their favorites, right? I, I feel like, um, I grew up near where Yankee candle, which is now a whole nation wide thing, right? Um, but there are certain smells that I remember smelling when you visited Santa's village and all those different things. So, so lighting a candle that smells nice is good.

Serena: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, next just to sit in the moment. We spend a lot of time living in the past and in the future, right? It can be challenging to stay in the moment. So sometimes I say to myself, be here now.

Tina: And that brings us to number 50, acknowledge that moment. Um, it might be, so I've talked about this before in episodes. Every moment isn't good, but every moment is not going to last forever.

Serena: Right.

Tina: So good ones don't last, bad ones don't last. And just to be in the here and now moment is important. So noticing the suffering, noticing the joy, whatever that feeling is.

Serena: Well, and I think, you know, we've talked about this before, but I think there's something powerful and just saying, this is a moment of suffering, right? It's acknowledging that and it's just a moment, right?

Tina: It's just a moment exactly.

Serena: You might try writing a letter to your younger self. Maybe you've done an activity like this in school, but, um, you could tell yourself about all the great things you'll accomplish in the future, or it could just be simply how you've made it through all of the hard days, 100%.

Tina: Mm-hmm. Brad Paisley has an excellent song about that. Anyway. Do an activity that you used to enjoy when you were younger. Serena what would that be for you?

Serena: So for me, it would be swimming. I used to swim on a swim team. Um, so there's just something joyful to me about being in the water.

Tina: And I would say swinging. I used to love. We had swings that in our backyard. I still love to sleep. Yeah.

Serena: Next is to check off something on your to-do list and feel good that you've accomplished it. Even if it's something tiny, maybe put something like really an easy win on your to-do list. You could just cross it off.

Tina: Mm-hmm. We had a speaker last year at graduation who said, make your bed every day. It's the one thing you can do right away when you get up. And it's made. It's done. You've done something. So maybe that isn't your thing, but I agree with you. Yeah. That that small, small win. So, um, removing something from your to-do list. So you don't need to do it all, right? Mm-hmm. You don't, or I would even challenge you. Put it on someone else's to-do list.

Serena: There you go. Good point. Rewrite your story. What do you want it to look like? And what's your hero's journey? Right? How are you going to tell your story to others?

Tina: Mm-hmm. One of our favorites is to find your champions. Serena and I have found incredible value in finding our people in the world and really knowing- knowing our journey when we started Serena. I would say we had- we had fewer champions. I'm not sure we didn't have any. We certainly had an identified champions, right? But to let yourself lean on other people is so valuable and to find those people.

Serena: Yeah. Yeah. So in that same kind of idea, join a social media group with like-minded people, right? So you have to choose carefully, but there are lots of different groups out there to choose from. We've talked about, gosh, a lot of different ones on the podcast. The ones that are coming to mind right now are Mama?s Comfort Camp. Lisa Sugarman has the vomit booth, which is like for venting. So if you need a vent space, go there. Resilient AF midlife mamas led by Toby Feldman is another one. Finding Cooper's voice by Kate Swenson. That's a page, but she also has a private group if you connect with her. So there are millions to choose from. Just find the one that feels good to you.

Tina: Mm-hmm. And go somewhere you've never been before. It doesn't have to be expensive. It doesn't have to be a long planned thing, but just go somewhere you've never been before. Maybe to a park right in your city or a coffee shop you've never been to go somewhere

Serena: and take a different route home from school or work or you know, whatever you're traveling between. It sounds funny, but it kind of shakes us out of that. Same old, same old. And we might discover somewhere we've never been before.

Tina: Mm-hmm. Do nothing.

Serena: It's so hard.

Tina: I know, right? But I think as people who live especially and again, we're speaking mostly about people in the US, but we are driven to be constantly busy. You get medals for being the busiest person with a busiest calendar. It's like, no, no, it's okay to sit and do nothing.

Serena: Right. Right. You might try setting a timer to wallow. Oh, that's not a very positive word, but maybe maybe, I mean, because you know, sometimes we have some feelings of, you know, feeling sorry for ourselves. But we don't want to stay there. So you could set a timer for five minutes. Feel those feelings and then move on.

Tina: Absolutely. And create a routine. So we did have a guest, Tall Paul, on last season. I can't remember which season.

Serena: Season two.

Tina: Okay. And he talked about being really clinically depressed and said, when he really established a routine, it really helped him to stay more positive and really like feel that accomplishment. We were talking about before.

Serena: Yeah. Yeah. Use kind words and speaking to yourself. They just liked about this one before. We speak to ourselves more than anybody else. And we're, we're mean. Like, so I, you know, are you saying things that you would say to your friend? Um, check out our episode of Valerie Gordon. She wrote a book called Fire Your Narrator. And this is such like an accessible, easy, quick read. It's funny. And it really helps with silencing that inner critic.

Tina: Absolutely. And avoiding toxic people or situations that you know are not good for you, right? So, um, I think that I always say it, it feels much better to be kind to people than it does to be to get all worked up and be nasty. And I think avoiding that toxic, those toxic situations are, um, yeah, pick your people, find your people and stick with your people, right, Serena?

Serena: Yeah. Yeah. And speaking of toxic, you may consider taking a break from social media. Um, it's a, it's a tricky place, right? I mean, you know, we, we, you'll notice that there's conflicting information in this 100 ways. Part of that is because, you know, everybody has unique needs. So you might be in a group on social media, but you also might need to take break from social media. Um, and it could be a day, a week, an hour, a month, you know, it really, it's possible. And it'll still be there when you get back.

Tina: Absolutely. And, uh, I love the idea of a mantra. Um, I, I have had various ones over time. I, I'm sure I will have more as well. Um, I often say to myself, still, this is kind of a constant is, I am enough because I don't know that I fully believe that. And I think continuing to say it to myself, yeah, is powerful. It's powerful.

Serena: Yeah. Yeah. The next one is to turn off your phone. Again, I know it's really hard. And, uh, or at least try, you know, like reduce the, all those notifications that ding on your phone all the time. You can turn off your ringer, um, so that you're still available. But, um, just, you know, it, it puts us in that busy state of mind, right? It's very hard to relax and take a moment if your phone is constantly pinging at you. Um, so yeah, just consider turning off some of those notifications.

Tina: Absolutely. Seek out light. Um, I am a total sunshine girl. I love the sunshine. I really honestly believe that I'm somebody who needs, I'm much happier in a day that is sunny than a day that is cloudy. Um, and if you don't live in a place as I and Serena still lives there, I don't anymore, but, um, we lived in a place that really did not get a lot of sunshine. And, uh, I had a light box because I just needed, I needed light. So, um, and I think it also speaks to that when I go to sleep, when I go to relax, I turn down all the lights. But during the day, I've got every light in the house on.

Serena: Yeah. Yeah, I've got mine right next to the computer here. Uh, you might give somebody a gift. And I know that sounds like it could be pricey, uh, but it doesn't have to cost anything, right? It could be a note of gratitude. That's a gift. It could be you're helping them with something. That's also a gift. You could bake them something, costs a little bit, but not very much. Um, but regardless, it feels good to give to others.

Tina: One of my favorite gifts on that note, and I, I hate to pick favorites, but it really was such a thoughtful gift is one year when my daughter did not have a lot of money and wanted to do something nice for us for the holidays. She made a, um, grateful jar. So it was just a ball jar. And it had a nice design on the front that she handmade. And every, it was 52 reasons why I love you.

Serena: Aww

Tina: and it was so sweet. I just, it was literally, I still have that. And every day, I got to pick out a different one. So anyway, yeah, simple gift, right? So yes, number 70, we are at seven zero, watch your favorite movie. Um, one of my favorites, I don't know, should I say it? Well don't have a couple of favorites.

Serena: Is it bad?

Tina: No, it's not bad. I don't really watch bad movies. Uh, but I love musicals. You know that. So Mama Mia is one of my favorites. Greece is one of my favorites. I also loved Dirty Dancing, honestly, it's just one of my favorites.

Serena: So yeah, I remember well. Yeah, um, give yourself permission to do something for yourself. Uh, sometimes we just need that extra nudge to take care of ourselves. Um, you know, I love Brene Brown. You can literally write yourself a permission slip if you find that helpful.

Tina: Yeah. So if someone else wrote you that permission, it's up to you do it, right?

Serena: Right,

Tina: I would encourage you to just be, you don't have to be anything to anyone just be for yourself.

Serena: Yeah. Complete the stress cycle. Uh, so this is a concept that comes from author Emily Nagoski and the book Burnout. Um, the idea is that when we're stressed, um, or we've had something happen, right, that has, um, stressed us out, we move into fight, flight, freeze. And we need to do something to move ourselves out of this state back to equilibrium. And the examples she gives us about, you know, when, when we were cave people, right, and you were, you know, chased by a wild animal, you would sort of complete that cycle by running like you would get out that energy and move back to a calmer state. So it often looks like moving your body, right? If you're stressed, you know, walking until you feel some of that stress go away. Uh, some people can get there by meditating. Um, there's really a number of different things you can do. Check out her book. It's amazing. Um, yeah,

Tina: yeah, absolutely. Um, and I found myself doing this a little bit during the pandemic when we were all just by ourselves in our houses and, putting on the same yoga pants. And if I just found myself like getting ready for the day, like I was going somewhere, wearing my favorite thing. And yeah, it just makes you feel a little bit better where your favorite thing and yeah,

Serena: yeah, uh, paint your nails or if you're feeling adventurous, let your eight year old paint your nails

Tina: Put on some jewelry that makes you happy. Um, I have some jewelry that people made for me that made me happy because it, it makes me think of them.

Serena: Um, and, you know, back to sort of the, the outfit dress up or dress down. So like, you know, what feels better, which one will help you feel good as you move throughout your day?

Tina: Absolutely. And incorporate yoga. And when I say yoga, it can be any kind of stretchy yoga, you could do some formal thing or you could do some informal thing. There are lots of them out there for free on YouTube, right?

Serena: Mm hmm. Yes. Yoga with Adrienne. Oh, right. That's my favorite. Anyway, yoga is awesome. Yes. Yeah. Uh, snuggle your people or your pets or your stuffies. Um, just that, uh, you know, that, that feel good, cuddle on the couch, one of my favorite things to do in winter.

Tina: Mm. All right. So, um, Serena, you know, hugging is my thing, right? Yes. I'm a, I'm a hugger and I do, um, I live on a college campus and we are all about consensual relationships and, uh, I, I hug a lot of people here with their consent. Although people don't, so they seem to think it's funny when I ask them is like, is it okay if I give you a hug and they're like, of course, it's fine. So I am, I get a lot of, uh, happiness out of hugs too.

Serena: Yeah. Yeah. Number 81, say hello or smile at someone you don't know. So Tina, I know that you enjoy having conversations with strangers. So if that works for you, do that. Um, but for me, I'd rather just offer a smile or a kind greeting.

Tina: Yeah. I love to talk to strangers. I think people are interesting. So,

Serena: well, I do too. It's just, uh, as an introvert, not my comfort zone, I would say.

Tina: Yeah. No, I totally hear you. I totally hear you. The next is to listen to an audiobook. I am a huge audiobook person and just so you know, as mentioned earlier, Libby has audiobooks as well.

Serena: Right. Well, and I just, I love pairing audiobooks. So something I don't necessarily want to do like chores. You don't have to do that, though. You can totally just sit and listen to an audiobook.

Tina: Well, true, but it does make, for example, driving makes it go, go by much more quick, right? Um, uh, and all the other things to walking, you know, cooking, whatever, whatever you've.

Serena: Right. Right. Eat something warm for your soul. Um, I would say there's something about a warm meal that just hits differently than like cold leftovers out of the fridge, right? So taking the time to warm your food up, um, or enjoy something like soup.

Tina: Yes. And it's winter in our world and soup is lovely. It's lovely thing to have. So, uh, listening to music that really does make me happy and, um, I don't know, maybe it makes everybody happy in some way because there's so many different choices, right?

Serena: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Uh, take a bath or maybe a shower for some people relaxing in the tub like, you know, it's where it's at for some people, right? The self care and the bubble bath. Um, for other people, you know, you might like a warm shower, um, it's invigorating can alter your mood. Some people like, uh, Tall Paul that we mentioned before would take a nice cold shower. I don't do that.

Tina: But, well, and I think they're really bath people and their shower people and people are very opinionated about that. Do what makes you happy. Um, I'm all about the good smells. So, um, it's again winter here. So, drying, uh, hand lotion that smells. I like citrusy smells. Um, but whatever makes you happy.

Serena: Yeah. Number 87, Tina. It's your favorite.

Tina: I bet no one can guess. It is sleep. It is sleep.

Serena: Yes. So, I think enough said sleep.

Tina: Exactly. Um, meaningful connections with others either in person or virtually. Um, we had a good, um, episode on the power of connection. So please go back and listen to that one if you are needing some connection for self care.

Serena: Yeah. Drink a glass of water. Again, this is a simple thing, right? Or drink several. Um, it's calming and regulating and a bonus that you're staying hydrated.

Tina: Yeah. So, don't make it about what other people say. Just drink some water for goodness sakes. Don?t count it. It?s fine. Number 90. Um, eating fresh fruits and vegetables. And again, this isn't about an expectation for what we should be doing. This is a, it does make your body feel good. And I'm just going to say this because I am my open self. It is good for your body in so many ways. Right. Serena, it really keeps you going. If you know what I mean.

Serena: Got it. Well, so Tina, the next one is to find humor in the moment. So thank you.

Tina: Oh, good. Yes. I'm here for you.

Serena: Um, yeah, life is full of challenges. Um, yeah. And it doesn't always have to be serious.

Tina: Silly spontaneous goofy. You can count on me. Okay. So I have to pause from the humor and say this hits very close to home when I say put one foot in front of the other because as much as we giggle and laugh and can laugh at ourselves here on the podcast, there are hard things that we have had in our lives. And literally putting one foot in front of the other is, I mean, it really did save me at times. So that is very powerful.

Serena: Find something to look forward to. Uh, so I used to be a performing musician. And what I found was I needed to plan something for myself after a big performance or I would just have this like crash. Um, so it may not be that dramatic, but it really feels good to know that something is coming, right? That you enjoy. Um, it could be something simple like, you know, a long walk on the weekend. Um, or something big like a vacation that is months away.

Tina: So number 94 is about practicing, I'm going to say intuitive eating.

Serena: Okay.

Tina: So I've been reading this book about intuitive eating. And I think it is very powerful. Um, and I think it goes against a lot of the things that we think about when we think about, um, diets and diet culture and what we should be doing, right? Like the longer we should be doing, we should be eating. Um, it, it's interesting. We might maybe someday have those two women on. It's interesting. Yeah, 10 concept kind of being in, we talk a lot about intentionality. It is a lot about intentionality. Okay.

Serena: Number 95, try something you've never done before, uh, cross country skiing, geocaching, ultimate Frisbee, paper quilling, yoga, can be anything

Tina: nice. And find a support group or at least people who are supportive to you. So it might be just, so I have a book club and I feel like those people are my people. I don't see them very often anymore, but they were my people. I loved seeing them every, you know, informal support group, right?

Serena: Right. Right. Number 97, take a class. Um, so this is kind of like trying something new, learning something new. It doesn't have to be academic, uh, but it can be check out, um, usually local community colleges or recreation centers. They have a lot of different classes for adults. You might be surprised.

Tina: And learn a language. So that, um, my son actually was just telling me that he is learning a language again, just a, a borrowed book from a library and he listens to it. And, um, it's really, uh, he's a paramedic and being able to speak to people who, who don't speak English. Um, yeah, it important.

Serena: Yeah. Number 99 reminds yourself of past successes. You have gotten through a hundred percent of the days so far. Um, and you've probably learned some things along the way. So remind yourself of that.

Tina: And finally, I feel like there should be a bell or ding ding ding or something. Number 100. Keep this episode handy whenever you need an idea or print out the printer friendly version and hang it on your fridge.

Serena: Yeah. We made it 100 ways to care for your mental health. Um, and we, we really hope that you find this list helpful. Um, like I said, we do.

Tina: Yeah, absolutely. We do. And I, we can't say enough about a wellness toolbox, right? Um, it's really, really important that each of us has it and that we pick out the meaningful things. So you have a hundred things. Maybe you pick out the six that work for you and maybe in two weeks, those same things might not work for you. But yeah, so yeah, here's to the next hundred episodes, Serena.

Serena: Yeah. Thanks for sticking with us. If you made it all this way through the episode, um, we are grateful for all of you listening and supporting us. Um, we know you have so many choices out there. So thank you for spending this time with us today. If you like the podcast, leave us a review on Apple podcasts. Uh, if you don't like it, I don't think you'd be listening now, but subscribe while you're there. You'll find more content on our website. Noneedtoexplainpodcast.com. Connect with us on the socials or you can call us like Tina mentioned. Uh, we have a voicemail number, call us and tell us what you think. Um, tell us your favorite tip for caring for your mental health or just call to say hi.

Tina: And this is your gentle reminder to take good care of yourself while you are also taking care of your people.

Serena: Thanks for listening.

Tina:Bye.

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