Take time for you and celebrate Queensland Mental Health Week

It’s time to take time.

The theme of this year’s Queensland Mental Health Week is ‘take time for mental health’. We’ve got some tips for you about how you choose to spend your time. During lockdown recovery and working from home it might seem that you’ve got more time than ever. If so, here are some pointers on how to use that extra time to improve both your mental health and your sense of achievement.

1: Find some ‘me’ time and keep calm

Yoga is a great way to do both these things. We have wellness magazines like Yoga Journal and Women’s Health Australia available through our eresource, PressReader (free for Queensland members). These magazines can guide you through new yoga routines as well as give advice about general health and fitness. Or you might like to trial one of the online yoga classes on offer from another eresource, Kanopy (free for Queensland members). Whatever your choice, State Library can help you to keep calm and find some me’ time.

2: Read

Reading is said to have a greater impact on your mental health than having a cup of tea or even listening to music. If you can’t click and collect a book from State Library you can use our many ebooks to read online. We’ve searched the catalogue and tagged a whole series of #mentalhealth ebooks just for you!

3. Take up a new hobby

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again, hobbies help to stimulate your brain and get you thinking in all sorts of creative ways. Want to learn to play an instrument? Our ebooks have courses for beginner’s guitar. Curious about craft? We have ebooks for that too.

4. Exercise

Exercise releases endorphins which in turn make you happy. Gale Health and Wellness has 722 exercise related videos including exercise for better sleep and exercise to relax. If you live nearby you might even choose to walk (or run) to State Library for your exercise! Just make sure you book a space first.

5. Help others

Whether you choose to help a family member, a friend or to volunteer, helping others boosts your mood, and theirs too! In the time of COVID there are less face to face volunteering activities available but State Library has many online volunteering opportunities that will help you contribute to our community and make our collections, including our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander collections, more accessible. Just look under the ‘Contribute’ heading of our Library from home page to help us out.

So that’s five ways to spend your time wisely and to take time for yourself. Whether you want to cultivate calm or get your heart pumping, State Library is here for you and however you want to spend your time. Take care of yourself this Queensland Mental Health Week and remember State Library is always here to help!