We picked a few of our highlights from our last virtual festival, featuring experts sharing their tips for managing your mental health during a pandemic.
1. Hope Virgo sharing how she challenges herself every single day on her journey to recover from anorexia. Hope said "two and a half years ago I decided I was going to challenge [my restrictions] every single day. Whether it's going out to a restaurant I don't normally go to or going to a friend's house and not asking what's on the menu. It's hard work and that's the reality of it - it's something I have to push myself to do. But the more I do it, the better it is for me and my recovery journey."
2. Men's mental health champions, MentalK, discussed the often surprising moments of positivity within lockdown, sharing how they were using technology and social media to re-connect with old friends and speak to family more regularly. Ben said, "this is like the period between Christmas and New Year when we aren't actually doing anything so we can start thinking about stuff. So when things change, what will you do differently?"
3. Freelance Queen's moments of kindness, including collaborating to secure an amazing 10,000 pairs of Crocs to give to hospital teams to support them through their shifts.
4. Heather Wellbeing's advice on coping with tough times by staying mindful. Their key tips included asking yourself "what's going on in my body? How can I resource myself? Resources are incredibly useful whether its a piece of music or a picture of your mum... And allowing yourself to breathe."
5. Jake Mills, founder of Chasing the Stigma, sharing how speaking out about his mental health struggle has allowed him to reclaim his story, support his recovery and that of others. Jake said "by sharing my story the way I was, there was a responsibility to do something with that and there was hope that I was offering to people. Hope that somebody else has been there and come through it, hope that there's somebody else who might be able to help and hope that there's somebody who understands."
We're back in 2021 with plenty more at our wellbeing festival taking place in real life