The Chill Pill Exercise

Listen to this five-minute audio where I talk you through the chill pill exercise:

Living with a mood disorder or mental health issue is really difficult. You can feel on top of the world one minute and down on your luck another. It’s hard to know how to deal with such a wide range of feelings, emotions and moods when they can quickly change.

When you start to understand and recognise your triggers and warning signs, you’re more likely to make a conscious decision on how to address how you’re feeling, rather than blindly reacting to it.

One of the biggest weapons in your toolkit is your own personal chill pill. You need to build your chill pill yourself. It is entirely personal to you.

It might include: a cup of tea + half and hour exercise + 10 minutes meditation + a diazepam or extra medication.

Or it might be: a hot bath + some essential oils in a burner + your favourite hoodie + a chocolate biscuit.

Or even: an hour-long walk + a cuddle with your dog + 10 calming breaths + a rant to your best friend.

I can’t tell you what your chill pill needs to include. You need to sit down and think of a time that you were feeling rubbish, sad or angry, lonely or stressed. Now write a list of what worked and what didn’t to make you feel better during that time.

You can create as many chill pills as you need to. You might have one for stress, one for sadness, loneliness etc.

Writing down your chill pill should help you assimilate it into your toolkit. But you could also write it in your phone or stick it on your fridge, or better even create a physical toolkit with some of these things in. Grab a bag and add your biscuits and meds + your favourite book. Write some notes to yourself and add those too. You can then grab your bag and work your way through it in difficult times.

Good luck with your chill pill. Let me know how you get on! J x