A Message from the Editor,

Sonia Last 📝

If you haven’t taken or booked a break or holiday yet and it’s starting to seem unlikely, find a tree to lie under for a long, luxurious spell of peace.

We’ve known the joys of ‘forest bathing’ since childhood, but it’s recently been ‘discovered’ by scientists and the cosmic and groovy as a source of holistic therapy or a money-making opportunity. Professor Quing Lee of the Nippon Medical School Tokyo has done intensive research on how the forest or green environment promotes health and prevents disease. The benefits are as numerous as trees in a forest and provide free, radical, cutting-edge, green, healing, so I’m off to get lost in the woods today...

Sonia

Sonia Last

Editor

Exciting Development!

Take our new Mental Health First Aider Self-Assessment to test your key skills in active listening; empathy; non-judgemental attitude; compassion; confidence; honesty; openness; emotional intelligence and ability to maintain healthy boundaries. Only you will see the results. It’s a great way to remind yourself of how far you’ve come or where to improve your practice.

You can access the Self-Assesment tool by scanning the QR code below, via the link on our website’s home page, via the Dashboard page of the Learning Platform or simply click here.

In the last quarter we have trained teams in Mental Health First Aid from across a variety of industries and have gained valuable insights from these dynamic and proactive organisations in Investments & Financial Services, Social Services, Voluntary Organisations, Charities, Business Development, Universities and Training Partnerships, Architects and the Construction Industry, City Councils, the Farming and Fishing Industries, Renewable Energy, Scientific and Medical Research and the Gaming and Entertainment industries.

It's difficult to estimate the good we’ve done or the ground we've covered over this last decade, but the level of awareness, education, positive change and traction we are seeing is so encouraging. We dare not take our foot off the accelerator, even though we are making formidable progress in tandem with you all. Every inch is worth a mile in this arena.

When you are stressed out and rushing about, catch yourself on - and remind yourself to stand tall, walk more slowly and breathe more deeply. Give yourself the breath, space and rhythm you need to operate as an autonomous being.

Social Prescribing – this Scottish Government are ensuring that all GP practices have a Community Link Worker who can connect people with resources and services in their community to support their wellbeing. These referrals can provide access to the arts, physical or outdoor activity, learning or volunteering opportunities, social groups, mutual aid, befriending services and self-help as well as support around benefits and legal advice.

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Until next time, be kind to yourself, take a deep breath, and if in doubt — find a tree. 🌳

Warm wishes,

Sonia and the MHScot Team