Overview

Life can be challenging, and taking care of your mental and physical health is more important than ever. There are lots of resources available to help you prioritise your wellbeing.

Wellbeing and support can come from many different places. For some people, this might be a community group or cultural network. For others, it might be their faith or spiritual practices.

Visit the NHS website to find NHS talking therapies for anxiety and depression in your area.

This webpage offers a range of resources, but there are many other forms of support available. We encourage you to use your existing networks if they are working for you.

If you're looking for relaxation exercises or audios, or information about understanding and managing your mental health, you can find tools and support from the NHS mental health services, your local hospital, and other reputable organisations.

Resources for mindfulness and relaxation

• Relaxation techniques are designed to help calm the body and mind, and to reduce physical tension.
• Mindfulness is about paying attention to the present moment with openness and curiosity.

While mindfulness can sometimes feel calming, its main aim is not to relax you, but to help you relate differently to your thoughts and feelings.

Here are some resources that explain both approaches and offer guided exercises. You might want to try a few different types to find what works best for you.

• The NHS explains what mindfulness is.
• You can try our guided relaxation and mindfulness exercises
• Talking therapies Southwark has relaxation, breathing and mindfulness exercises
• South Glasgow Wellbeing Services have information, audio resources and exercises about mindfulness
• Bangor University provide a list of mindfulness audio downloads

Apps for your mobile phone or tablet

• Insight Timer– is a free library of mindfulness and relaxation exercises, as well as sleep stories

These 2 apps offer relaxation resources for a cost, but both offer a short free trial:

• Calm
• Headspace

Resources to reduce anxiety and stress

These resources are designed to help you manage your anxiety and stress. Some are especially for certain communities or experiences.

• NHS information about finding calm amongst the chaos and 10 stress busters
• NHS Scotland’s anxiety self-help guide
• Minds’ information about treatment and support for anxiety and tips for managing stress
• Healthwatch Southwark has a Black mental health service directory
• Mind in the City, Hackney and Waltham Forest offers  Support for members of the African and Caribbean community, to address issues around racial trauma
• The Centre for Clinical Interventions has anxiety self-help resources, including information sheets and worksheets
• The World Health Organisation has a stress management guide in various languages with audio exercises
• Our information about needle phobia and overcoming your fear
• Queer Minds is a peer support service for LGBTQIA+ people (aged 18+) who live, work or play in Lambeth and Southwark

Resources for chronic pain

You can use trusted resources to help you understand and manage chronic (long-term) pain. Types of information available include:

• self-help tools
• expert videos
• mindfulness techniques
• general advice

Here are some resources that you might like to try to see what works best for you:

• Mouth, jaw or face pain, and other unpleasant sensations
• Flippin' Pain
• NHS Ayrshire & Arran’s videos about pain and mindfulness for pain
• University College London’s self-help resources for pain management
• Live well with pain’s resources for people with pain
• The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy’s resources for pain management

Torbay and South Devon’s ReConnect2Life is an interactive programme which helps you to learn more about your pain and how it affects you

Self-compassion: a key tool for pain management

• Watch this video for a great overview of compassion-focused therapy (CFT), Understanding the 3 Systems
• Self-Compassion have some guided exercises
• The Happiness Trap has a free app (with optional paid extras) offering videos and exercises based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), to help with values-based living and unhooking from thoughts.

Resources for sleep

These resources give information about:

• the science of sleep
• how much sleep we need
• causes of sleep problems
• tips and techniques to improve your sleep

There are lots of online resources to help you with your sleep problems, but these are the ones we find most useful:

• NHS information about sleep problems
• NHS Scotland’s self-help guide about sleep problems and insomnia and sleeping better
• Patient have information about insomnia ,including causes, types, and treatments
• Mind have lots of information about sleep problems

Talking therapies Southwark have films about how you can improve your sleep:

• Part 1 – The science of sleep
• Part 2 – Techniques to help improve your sleep
• Part 3 - Relaxation

This book has lots of information about improving sleep, 'Overcoming insomnia and sleep problems: a self-help guide using cognitive behavioural techniques', by Colin Espie.

Local and community-based support

• Together offers service to support Black carers in Southwark. 
• East London Out Project is a holistic lesbian and gay centre that offers a range of social, emotional and support services to LGBT communities.
• London Friend offers support specifically for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, intersex and queer people, in and around London.

Support for parents

• Mood Cafe has information for parents and parents to be.
• Mind runs Mindful Mums, that provides free, peer-support wellbeing groups for pregnant women and new parents (up to baby’s first year).
• Mind also runs the Being Dad Group, a free wellbeing support project for expectant and new fathers, to help navigate the challenges of fatherhood.

Resources for self-help

There are a range of online self-help resources to help you manage common mental health problems that are not covered above.

Self-management is helpful for many people, but remember that it is always OK to contact your local services for support.

• The NHS has information about improving your mental health with a mind plan and online self-help cognitive behavioural therapy techniques
• NHS Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear have lots of self-help information
• The Centre for Clinical Interventions has information for looking after yourself and for looking after others
• Mood cafe has information and advice for ageing well, including worries and dementia
• Good Thinking offer digital mental health and wellbeing support for Londoners
• SignHealth have BSL signed films about mental health
• The National Autistic Society have resources explaining how autism can affect someone’s mental health

Page created with funding from the Guy's and St Thomas' Charity.