It’s time for another round-up of my best Instagram illustrations. I’d love to hear which mental health illustration is your favorite!
Reasons to love your body
Self-love is a journey, it doesn’t come easy. In a society that is so focussed on looks, it can be hard to fully embrace yourself, especially if you feel your body has failed you. I struggle with chronic pain, and I often feel angry at my body, but it helps me to remind myself all the good my body does for me, like keeping me alive, the resilience it shows me every single day, and how unique it makes me. My body is mine and it deserves to be loved even if I don’t always feel like loving it, and that’s okay too.
If you struggle with self-love I hope my self-love guide can help you on your journey to embracing yourself.
A positive message during your darkest days
When you are going through rough times, it may feel like you are weak, but the opposite is true: You keep going, looking for better days even though it’s hard. You are showing so much courage, keep reminding yourself of that courage, you’ll get through the dark days, and you’ll come out so much stronger!
Related: 15 powerful mental health illustrations
Mental health matters
Physical health is important for our wellbeing, but so is our mental health. If we aren’t feeling well mentally, our physical health suffers tremendously and vice versa. Take a mental health day if you need one, your mind will thank you.
7 ways to increase feelings of self-worth
Do you want to increase your feelings of self-worth? Try these 7 tips.
A few more tips: Use affirmations to increase your self-worth like ‘I am worthy of love’ or ‘I’ve accomplished many things’. Write a letter to your past self to let him/her/them know that whatever happened wasn’t their fault, and they deserved better. And last, Surround yourself with people that make you feel good.
You may also like: 12 journal prompts to start healing your life.
Non-appearance related compliments
It’s nice to receive a compliment about how you look, especially if you’ve spent a lot of time on your appearance, but how nice is it to receive a genuine compliment about something you did? or something someone admires about you?
This print is for sale in different printable sizes, and there is a greeting card size as a bonus, send it to your friend to let them know how much you appreciate them! Get your digital print here with 15% off.
Mental health reminder
When you feel anxious your mind races with negative thoughts, but when you tell yourself ‘Not everything I think is true’ or ‘Not everything my mind tells me is true’ you remind yourself that these thoughts are not necessarily true. For example, you may experience chest pain during a panic attack, and your mind will jump to the conclusion: ‘I must be having a heart attack’, while it’s far more likely you’re experiencing innocent chest pain as a reaction to the panic attack.
This reminder is also great when you’re learning to love yourself, and your mind keeps telling you negative things. Tell your inner critic to stop, and see how you can reframe these thoughts.
Phrases that can be invalidating
We try to be mindful when we speak and support others, but sometimes an ‘innocent’ sentence can be hurtful to someone else. If a phrase is hurtful to someone, you can try to rephrase or ask someone how you can support them.
Some people use these sentences for gaslighting, for example, when you know someone did something cause you saw it with your own eyes, and they tell you ‘it’s all in your head’ or ‘stop being dramatic.’
It’s okay to walk your own path
If you find yourself walking a different path than you expected, it doesn’t mean you failed. It’s okay to make mistakes; it’s okay to change your mind. You grow through what you go through. Failing doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. You learn from it, and you get to know yourself better.
Mental health art: Depression 101
Depression is a serious mental illness that’s hard on everyone involved. This illustration shows some depression facts and a few tips.
How to indentify your feelings
Identifying feelings can be challenging, but this is how I do it:
- First, I examine my physical response. For example, My heart is beating fast; I have chest pain and dry lips.
- Then I look inward. Is there something going on? What am I thinking? I am stressed for a test, and my thoughts are racing.
- Then I identify the feeling. I put my physical symptoms + thoughts together, and I conclude that I’m feeling anxious.
- The last step is to avoid judgment. My anxiety is allowed to be here. I can continue what I’m doing with the anxiety at my side.
Mental health tips for anxiety
A few tips that can help you cope with anxiety. You have to find out what works for you. A few of my favorite things are: Looking for a safe place, using my senses, and affirmations. Reading out loud is a great way to reduce your breathing frequency and stop hyperventilation!
More tips: How to deal with anxiety and panic attacks.
Self-kindness is crucial for self-love
Allow yourself to be kind to yourself – you are worth it. When you are kind to yourself, you can start growing in many areas of your life. This mental health art is available in print for all patrons in A4/Letter and as a greeting card!
Validate your inner child
Validating your inner child is a great coping tool during stressful times or after trauma. Visualize yourself as a child and give her/him/them the kindness and love they need. Tell them anything you wish you had heard as a child, or what you want to hear now. Inner child work can take some practice, and you might want to get support from a therapist if this is new for you.
Mental health art: Self-love 101
This mental health illustration contains self-love affirmations and tips for you to start your self-love journey!
Take your time
If my mental health journey has taught me anything, it’s that you need to take all the time you need. You can’t rush through healing, and you don’t have to. Take your time and benefit later.
Words of wisdom
A few words of wisdom for you to consider.
Mental health art: Social anxiety
This mental health art illustration describes some ways you can recognize social anxiety. You may recognize a few things – this does not necessarily mean you have social anxiety. If you feel this describes you, and these things keep you from living your life – I advise you to seek professional advice from a doctor or therapist. There are therapies to treat social anxiety that help you cope and lessen the symptoms.
Reasons to live
When you’re going through tough times, it can feel like there is no end to the hardship, but it may help to remember why life is worth living. There is an empty illustration in the resource library and on my Instagram for you to make your own heart with reasons to live.
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It’s okay to set boundaries
Boundaries are a great way to protect your mental health. When something happens that bothers you or makes you feel unsafe – you are allowed to set boundaries. Don’t be afraid to say how you feel or walk away. You matter, and your feelings matter.
Positivity stickers
How cool would it be to get a sticker every time you did something awesome.
How cool would it be to get a sticker every time you did something challenging. No seriously, reward yourself when you do something scary, hard or whenever you need a pat on your back. Be kind to your mind.
Which mental health illustration is your favorite? Let me know in the comments. Join me on Patreon for more exclusive illustrations and printables!
1 COMMENT
Chioma
11 months agoThis is very impactful, thanks so much for this. I like the Inner child illustration