Calming and grounding exercises
Simple practices to settle the body and mind when distress runs high.
Journaling Through Healing: A Simple Practice for Inner Work
Use journaling to support therapy and emotional processing, with a step-by-step guide for beginners.
Writing Your Way to Wellness: Journaling as Daily Mental Hygiene
Journaling is not only for therapy. As a daily habit it can help you manage stress and stay grounded.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
A simple technique of gently tensing and then releasing the body's muscle groups in turn, to release physical tension and calm the mind. A practical tool for stress, anxiety and winding down.
Slow, Paced Breathing
A simple breathing technique that slows the body's stress response and eases anxiety, tension and panic. Something you can do anywhere, in a few minutes, to help your body settle.
The 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Exercise
A simple, quick technique that uses your five senses to bring your attention back to the present moment when anxiety, panic or distress pulls you away. Something you can do anywhere, in a couple of minutes.
Lifting low mood
Small, doable steps that gradually rebuild energy and motivation.
Behavioural Activation (Doing to Feel Better)
A practical, well-evidenced approach to low mood that works from the outside in: gently rebuilding activity and small rewarding actions, even before motivation returns, to lift mood over time.
Being Kinder to Yourself (Self-Compassion)
A practical skill of treating yourself with the same kindness you would offer a good friend, especially when struggling. Counters the harsh inner critic that fuels depression and anxiety.
Journalling and Noticing the Good
Simple writing practices, from putting feelings into words to deliberately noticing small good things, that can ease stress and gently lift mood. Free, private, and easy to start.
Sleep and rest
Habits and techniques that help you fall asleep and rest more easily.
Building Better Sleep Habits
A set of practical, evidence-based habits that support good sleep. Helpful for occasional poor sleep and a useful foundation, though longer-lasting insomnia needs more than habits alone.
Working with thoughts
Ways to notice, question, and reshape unhelpful thinking patterns.
Catching and Checking Your Thoughts
A core CBT skill you can practise yourself: noticing the automatic negative thoughts that fuel anxiety and low mood, and gently questioning them, so they hold less power over how you feel.
Scheduled Worry Time
A simple, surprisingly effective technique for chronic worrying: setting aside a short, fixed time each day for worry, so it stops flooding the whole day. A practical tool for an anxious mind.