A big part of mental health is being honest about how you feel. Purely positive thinking encourages you to ignore or push down negative feelings, which leaves the problem to grow worse.

This quick quiz is a good way to start thinking about areas of your life that might be contributing to stress or worry without getting too deep.

Write these 7 areas of your life in a list

• Career
•  Money
• Health
• Friends & family
• Romance
• Personal Development
• Fun
• Your surroundings

In 30 seconds or as quick as you possibly can, give each one a score out of ten for how satisfied you are with that element of your life.

Are there any surprises? Are some lower or higher than you expected? Could you explain to someone why you scored as you have? Have you got any plans to improve these scores?

Challenge 2: Find peace of mind

Many people start thinking about meditation when they feel stressed. Which is a bit like deciding to go the gym when your most tired & unfit. Meditation doesn’t have to mean 15 minutes of Oms and deep breathing. It can be 60 seconds of calm to ‘get your head together’.

This challenge is a good way to start with meditation that only lasts 60 seconds. All you need to do is listen to 5 sounds.

It works best in a quiet environment, but you can build up to practising in noisy places. After finding it hard to focus, I found this technique worked for me. I’ve since taught it to my meditation teacher last year and to a fireman who’d been struggling with meditation for 2 years, so it’s great for beginners.

1.    Find a quiet(ish) space

2.    Close your eyes

3.    Pick out one sound and name it e.g. the fridge fan

4.    Listen to that sound for 5 seconds

5.    Keeping that sound in mind, pick out another and do the same again

6.    Keep doing it until you have 5 sounds in your head

7.    Listen for as long as you want to

How do feel now? Take a minute to think about how you feel and if you brain feels any clearer or more energised. Meditation is all about practise, so don’t feel frustrated if it doesn’t feel right the first time.

Challenge 3: Unwind or energise your body

There’s a well-known connection between the body and the mind, but we often think it’s mind over matter but It can also be matter over mind. This interesting Ted Talk shows how your body language could shape how you behave. Amy Cuddy on Ted Talks

Try these three steps, designed to make you brain feel what your body does.

You might feel self-conscious doing some of these movements but give them a try and as the saying goes if it looks stupid and works then it isn’t stupid. 

1. Smile for 8 seconds. This is supposed to tell your brain your happy and release chemicals that make you feel that way. For an extra authentic smile, press your tongue into your teeth when you try it.
2. Wonder Woman for 8 seconds. Stand up with your chin up, legs apart and hands on your hips. Like Wonder Woman. This is designed to make you feel confident and happy.
3. Have good posture for always. Sitting up straight will help you to breath properly and to get rid of niggling back and neck pain.

Challenge 4: Picture Perfect

There’s some good research to show that visualisation, whether that’s practising something or visualising your finish line is a very effective way achieving your goals. Imagining practice is almost as good as actual practice.

This challenge is a quick an easy way to create a vision of your objectives, helping you to avoid distractions and temporary temptations.

I like to use Pinterest for this, but if you don’t use Pinterest writing it in a book, cutting pictures out of magazines or painting a picture are all good alternative.

Write out your perfect day including:

• How and when do you wake up?
• What’s for breakfast? Where do you eat it?
• How do you spend your morning? Who with?
• When, where and what do you have for lunch?
• What do you do in the afternoon? Who’s there?
• How do you go from afternoon to evening?
• When, where and what do have for dinner (aka tea)?
• How do you spend your evening? Who do you spend it with?
• When do you go to bed? Where? Are you alone?

Once you’ve pictured your perfect day, create a mood board with pictures from it. Here’s an example of mine. https://uk.pinterest.com/larrysbrain/my-perfect-day-lawrence-alexander/  

Challenge 5: Get your breath back

This challenge is all about using your breathing to influence your feelings and your thoughts. By take long deep breaths, especially breathing out, you’re telling your mind and body that you are in a slow moving safe space and guess what? It believes you!

Try these two breathing tricks based on therapeutic breathing and yoga practices.

Powder Power

1. Imagine your desk is covered in a fine blue powder. Like icing sugar or chalk, it covers your whole desk
2. From front to back, keep blowing the powder off your desk until it is completely clear. Try long breaths that push the powder away
3. These long breaths slow down your breathing and help create a more calm mindset

Balloon Bodies

1. Imagine your body is one big balloon
2. As you breathe in, the balloon expands, inflating it until it I stretched, taught and round
3. Let your breath out, as you do, all the air leaves the balloon. The balloons go floppy – your arms, shoulders and face all deflate
4. Breathe in again to inflate & expand
5. Breathe out to deflate & relax
6. Try this 3 or 4 times