Mindfulness - The Ginger Quiff

Mental Health Awareness Day 2019

October 10, 2019 By neilho27@sky.com

Once again, Mental Health Awareness Day/Week has crept up us. It is still a shame that we have a focus like this on Mental Health, that it isn’t yet something that is fully accepted into society and people can speak openly in social or work situations without others judging, outwardly or inwardly, or experiencing feelings of guilt or embarrassment. Having said that, I know there are inroads being made and the more people that do feel they can speak up, the better. More and more organisations are seeing the benefit of having policies around Mental Health and making workplaces safe spaces where people get the support they require rather than being judged or labelled as lazy, or an absence statistic that needs dealt with.… Read the rest

Mental Health Awareness Week 2019

May 13, 2019 By neilho27@sky.com

This week (Monday 13^th to Sunday 19^th May) marks this year’s Mental Health Awareness week.

I am conscious that I haven’t specifically written about mental health, either my own or in general for some time, other than referencing it in the music I write about. It makes sense then that I throw down a few thoughts to play a small part in raising awareness of this important week.

I do believe we have come a long way as a society in being able to confront social issues often thought of in the past as taboo subjects, including Mental Health, but we still have a long way to go.… Read the rest

Mental Health Awareness Week 2018

May 14, 2018 By neilho27@sky.com

Today marks the start of Mental Health Awareness week (14th – 20th May 2018), so I couldn’t let it pass without a blog.

You’ll know by now if you’ve read my blogs that I’m passionate about raising awareness of mental health, a passion that stems from my own experiences.

My own mental health and that of others has been fresh in my mind in recent days and weeks.

From a personal perspective events have conspired to test my resolve. Events that in years gone would have seen me crumble, letting my negative thoughts in and letting them win. A time where I would have catastrophised every situation visualising the worst possible outcome, filtering out all potentially positive outcomes to paint a bleak picture of the future.… Read the rest

Accept Yourself

April 15, 2018 By neilho27@sky.com

“When will you accept yourself?” (Morrissey, The Smiths, 1983)

Despite what the start of this blog looks like, this isn’t a music post. It doesn’t actually have anything to do with the Smiths or Morrissey per se, but everything to do with that lyric. It says a lot to me about my life.

I’ve had a number of conversations recently that has brought this to mind and I took that as an opportunity to post this blog.

Talk about your Mental Health

At work I have recently joined a team of Mental Health and Wellbeing Champions with a remit of raising awareness of mental health in the workplace.… Read the rest

Meditation isn’t just for Hippies!

August 26, 2017 By neilho27@sky.com

Meditation? – It’ll never work for me!

If you’re anything like me, when someone first suggested meditating to help me deal with my anxiety & depression I laughed.

At the time my mental image of meditation was of someone sitting cross-legged on the floor, arms outstretched, middle fingers touching their thumbs and chanting “ohhhmm”. Nothing like stereotyping eh?

Of course, I was wrong. I know it won’t work for everyone and not all meditations work for me either. Everyone has different strategies to deal with their own mental health. Meditation is only one of the tools in my box too.

What works for me?

… Read the rest