The Health and Wellbeing Champions are a community network of people that share issues and create their solutions to concerns in the community. Mental health awareness has been identified as a priority concern to the champions and they have decided to share their experiences, solutions and poems that have helped them.
Poem One:
Unnamed
Written by an Anonymous Health and Wellbeing Champion
Poem Two:
By an anonymous member of the Health and Wellbeing Champions
Poem Three:
Every morning a new arrival.
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honourably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
Written by Rumi, shared by a Health and Wellbeing Champion
It is a very natural thing for us to want to stop painful, negative thoughts and make them go away. However, when we take a moment to allow these thoughts to be present we can start to notice how they make us feel and why. Instead of holding on to them we can choose to let them pass through. ‘The Guest House’ talks about this type of acceptance and shows us that rather than dwelling on the painful thoughts we can let them go and start to create space for positivity.
Experience Piece One
I am usually a very positive person with a strong faith, who was brought up to have the 'stiff upper lip'. When troubles arrived, I’d just get on with it without complaining. As a result, I have, until quite recently, found it difficult to express and share my thoughts during difficult times.
I had three years of chronic pain from 2018 onwards, with visits to various medical specialists, resulting in a diagnosis of an ovarian tumour which had to be removed in 2019, several back interventions, and finally a complete right hip replacement followed with a hip revision in June of this year due to recurrent dislocation. As you can imagine, this took its toll physically but also on my confidence in performing my job as a teacher and required a lot of time at home recovering.
I am extremely fortunate to have a very loving family who have supported me throughout my journey, but I know this may not be the case with others.
There are several ways I take care of myself. I always enjoyed walking and have tried to walk every day I can, starting with a very short distance and building up to 5 miles. Being outdoors allows you to clear your mind and focus on the beauty around you, and you often strike up conversations with new people along the way.
Whilst recovering at home, I have completed my food certificate, and I have been able to provide cakes for the community and various elderly neighbours. I also took up sewing and knitting again, and I am presently busy knitting charity teddy bears for an orphanage in Uganda.
Each week I and a group of my previous work colleagues have met on Zoom, talking about anything and everything for an hour which has been a great help during the lockdowns.
I find that if I can focus on other things, then my own situation does not seem so bad. I have a book by Aled Jones called 'Everyday Blessings' which has been a source of inspiration with a reading for each day, taken from all sorts of cultures and faiths.
Thankfully, despite a recent bout of COVID, I am now well on the road to a full recovery.
Experience Piece Two
I have always had anxiety. I think it started when I was a teenager and has been there all through my adult life. All I wanted it to do was go away. I hated it and wished I was different.
Over the years, I have had times where it hasn’t been too bad and times when it has been completely overwhelming to the point I couldn’t leave the house. I started to avoid the things that made me anxious but then I found the more I avoided things the worse it got, and I became anxious over new things.
One day I went to see a GP. The advice given to me was simple. Be kind to yourself. I thought it was a joke and didn’t see how this would possibly help. In fact, it has stayed with me through all of these years, and it’s what I go back to when I have bad times. I look at the ways that I can be kind to myself and start to make an effort to do small things such as rest, go for a walk, talk to a friend.
Over the years I have tried many things and I find a combination works best to manage it. I try to do gentle exercise, eat better and see friends and family. I read and watch TV but I try to choose positive and uplifting stories. I try to face fears in a constructive way, acknowledge what I am worried about, and then make a plan of how I can do it rather than avoiding it. I have found that having a variety of ways to cope has been good for me and talking to others has been key.
If you are struggling in any way I encourage you to talk, it could be to friends and family but there are also some wonderful organisations that have people who can help you if you reach out.
Interested in joining the Champions?
If you are interested in joining the Health and Wellbeing Champions and making a difference in Salford, you can learn more about the role by downloading the role description here.
Need Help Now?
If you need urgent help please call the emergency services on 999 or the NHS helpline 111. You can also visit Mind in Salford where you will find a list of organisations that can help you further.
Call on 116 123 (FREE) / Email jo@samaritans.org.uk
24-hour crisis helpline (free for everyone). An excellent helpline for when you are in crisis. The Samaritans will listen to you without judgement.