06 Nov The best non-therapy therapies
I’m a huge fan of therapy.
As someone who’s sat on both sides of the desk, as a therapist AND as a client, I’ve seen how it can change and even save lives. It certainly saved my life (several times).
But as I’ve matured over the years, I’ve come to understand that therapy doesn’t always take place, or doesn’t always need to take place in the consulting room.
Sitting across from a qualified professional, conversing one on one, is not the only way to change the way you think about things, break bad habits and create more happiness and better mental health.
It is one way; but it’s not the only way.
Happiness, resilience, calm and confidence can be found in many pursuits; and today I wanted to invite you to think about a few “non-therapy’ forms of therapy, a few non-traditional ways of finding new ways of thinking about and doing things that might then allow for new ways of feeling about and living life (ideally, with more positive emotions such as happiness, and more positive experiences such as connection and success).
So, let’s get to it …
- spending time in nature has been shown to boost psychological wellbeing, including happiness. There are several reasons for this but one is that in nature, we see perspective. The enormity of a mountain range, the power in a wave, the changes in the seasons can help us see that much of what we experience is impermanent and that change, ebbs and flows, are normal parts of life
- learning new things, including studying history, can also help us understand perspective, in a different way, and more so, to become more open minded. The more we learn the more we often realise how much we don’t actually know and open-mindedness can then lead to mental health and happiness via tolerance and humility
- And listening to music is another of my favourites, and one I know that’s shared by many others, which can help by creating a form of meditation. Often, when we’re listening to music, especially a live performance, we’re very much in the present moment. And there’s not doubt that living in the present brings health and wellbeing benefits of enormous value
There are many more but the point is not to list ALL the possible non-therapy therapies here. My point is to encourage you to think about ALL the various ways you can feel and live better, all the numerous paths you can take to happiness and life satisfaction!