Movember 🥸

23 Nov

We’re far into November and for some, that means we’re well into Movember; the annual moustache growing fundraising event that supports men’s health projects around the world.

The event highlights the vital need for action and discussion around men’s mental and physical health, and there are some brilliant practical resources from Movember about starting these conversations. 💭

Check out the links below to explore these Movember resources, and some other great organisations.

As a former Mental Health Mentor, a practicing Counsellor, and the daughter of a fisherman, here are some of my thoughts too. 😅

Where to start?

With any skill we learn, a lot depends on what kind of guidance we have, as well as how and where we are learning those skills.

With this in mind, the skills we develop around taking care of ourselves can be especially responsive to the examples we see and the messages we receive about what is ok and what isn’t.

If the skills we have aren’t enough to support us to feel ok or to help us to navigate a particular situation, there is always scope to adapt how we can look after ourselves in our own way; just like we would with other skills over time.

Why talk?

The principle behind ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’ speaks to our human need for connection and community, but it also speaks to perspective.

Sometimes, not talking means we see things in black and white or through the lens of our most difficult thoughts and feelings. This isn’t an objective perspective.

Bringing another person in not only allows us to be supported, and to offer support in our turn, but it opens up different angles on what’s going on.

Talking with another person can create movement around something that feels really stuck or overwhelming.

The principle of ‘better out than in’ is also true. 😅

This is because holding things in and not talking or addressing something doesn’t mean it goes away, it just means it’s been pushed away and is still there with you.

If there’s a crisis or emergency, sometimes this is necessary, but most of the time (or later on) it’s helpful to talk over what you’re experiencing with people that you feel comfortable with, so you can process things in your own way.

This also helps to consider what else could be supportive, so you can build yourself a self-care toolkit that assists you in doing what you need to do to feel better.

Change is possible

Our experiences at any time of life and their impact on us are not set in stone.

The neuroplasticity of our brains allows us to continually change and adapt to what we need, which pretty much means that we are what we do.

Any choice or change we make may feel a bit like taking the ‘road less travelled’, but over time, that pathway will become easier to navigate, and even if we go down the old path a few times, the vital thing is that we are still building that different path and adapting to a new way of doing things.

It’s also helpful to think about why you feel a choice or change needs to be made, so that whatever you decide on is coming from a place of what is important to you and what you need in your unique circumstances.

What next?

Check out the resources below to explore what could be helpful to you. 💙

Movember - conversations:

https://conversations.movember.com/en/

Movember - mental health:

https://uk.movember.com/mens-health/mental-health.

CALM - general questions:

https://www.thecalmzone.net/explore

Andy’s Man Club - local groups:

https://andysmanclub.co.uk/

Men’s Health forum - health questions:

https://www.menshealthforum.org.uk/male-health