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Welcome to My New Mental Health Blog

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    Keep Moving!

    May 4, 2020 by

    By Anita Manley It has long been known that exercise improves your mental health.* Exercise causes your body to release chemicals called endorphins, which make you feel good. The feeling is commonly known as a “runners high”. Regular exercise has… Read more

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    Communication during COVID-19

    April 13, 2020 by

    By Anita Manley I am married to a wonderful man, who happens to be over the age of 70, putting him at a higher risk of not recovering if he were to get COVID-19. Therefore, we have been self-isolating (me… Read more

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    Knitting as a Wellness Tool

    April 6, 2020 by

    By Anita Manley For those who know me well, you know that I am an avid knitter. In fact, this year, all my family received knitted items for Christmas. I enjoy knitting immensely and find that it helps to calm… Read more

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    A Journey Towards Forgiveness

    March 31, 2020 by

    By Anita Manley I have learned a great deal about forgiveness over the years. Having struggled with a severe and persistent mental illness for most of my adult life, I have learned how to forgive and how to ask for… Read more

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    Mental Health and COVID- 19

    March 16, 2020 by

    By Anita Manley The times are changing quickly, and we know now to self-isolate and only go out when absolutely necessary, wash your hands frequently with soap and water, don’t touch your face (especially nose, mouth and eyes), cough or… Read more

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    How Winterlude helps beat Winter Blues

    February 10, 2020 by

    By Anita Manley Every year in Ottawa, ever since I can remember (I lived here as early as 1986), there has been an urban winter celebration in Canada’s Capital Region. It is called Winterlude. This year, people from far and… Read more

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    My Jasmine Plant

    January 27, 2020 by

    By Anita Manley I have finally come to accept that winter is not my friend. Once the sun starts setting in the late afternoon and the weather gets cold and grey here in Ottawa, I turn into a couch potato… Read more

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    Therapy Fish at The Royal

    January 24, 2020 by

    By Anita Manley Let me tell you a story about Billy and Bella – the Betta Fish. For approximately two years, Billy the Betta, Volunteer Therapy Fish, swam around in his comfortable bowl on the counter of the Winter Garden… Read more

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    Living a Life with Purpose

    January 14, 2020 by

    By Anita Manley We recently lost a good friend named Gillian. She passed away suddenly at the age of 75. Her celebration of life was the best I’ve ever attended and many others agreed. People were laughing and some dancing.… Read more

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    Reflections on the past decade

    January 2, 2020 by

    By Anita Manley For me, 2010 began being totally estranged from all my family and friends (including my two teen-aged daughters) and living in a women’s emergency homeless shelter. I was sad, lonely and angry that my life had turned… Read more

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    My New Happy Lamp!

    December 16, 2019 by

    By Anita Manley Years ago, around 2005, when I was younger, working full time and was a half-time parent, my psychiatrist suggested to me that I purchase a S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder) lamp. I had all the symptoms. Once the… Read more

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    Be Kind.

    December 2, 2019 by

    By Anita Manley When I say Be Kind, I am not talking about only being kind to others, but also, Be Kind to yourself. It is so true that we do not know what goes on in other peoples lives… Read more

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    Let it go!

    November 25, 2019 by

    By Anita Manley Perhaps you are now envisioning me breaking out into the Frozen theme song! And, I’m OK with that. A couple of weeks ago, I was speaking with a good friend and colleague about some things that happened… Read more

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    Suicide Intervention

    November 18, 2019 by

    By Anita Manley A couple of weekends ago, I took an intensive and emotionally exhausting training session for suicide intervention called ASIST – Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training. I am now certified. I did not write a post last Monday,… Read more

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    Surround Yourself With Positive People!

    November 3, 2019 by

    By Anita Manley Along my road to recovery, I have found that surrounding myself with positive people has really helped improve my state of mind. Firstly, like attracts like. Positive people are fun to be around, and they always point… Read more

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    The Importance of Setting Goals!

    October 28, 2019 by

    By Anita Manley Setting goals and accomplishing them, has been a very important part of my recovery, and still is. There is nothing like putting a check mark next to something on your goal list and thinking – next! What… Read more

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    Why Women’s Mental Health?

    October 21, 2019 by

    By Anita Manley I volunteer as a peer facilitator in the Women’s Mental Health Program at The Royal in Ottawa, ON, Canada. I am always amazed by people, even women, who ask: “What is so different about women’s mental health?”… Read more

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    Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

    October 14, 2019 by

    By Anita Manley I’ll be spending the day with family. Singing, jamming and eating. I am cooking a turkey, making stuffing, mashed potatoes and garlic buttery beans and cherry tomatoes with apple pie and ice cream for dessert. We have… Read more

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    The Importance of Sleep!

    October 6, 2019 by

    By Anita Manley I have always needed a lot of sleep — more than my peers, it always seemed. When I was first diagnosed with a mental illness back in 1997 (at the age of 32), and was prescribed medication… Read more

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    Book Recommendation – The Four Agreements

    September 23, 2019 by

    By Anita Manley The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz is a small but hugely insightful self-help book. This book provided me with four simple guidelines to personal freedom. Yes, they are simply laid out and very clear, but these… Read more

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    Making your bed… and other routines.

    September 16, 2019 by

    Routines are so important to me that I consider them a part of my self-care. A few years ago, when I had been recently discharged from The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Care Centre and was very happily living in my… Read more

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    Who inspires me?

    September 10, 2019 by

    Since launching this blog, several people have asked me “What made you decide to write a blog?” For many years, I had been toying with the idea. I journal regularly, and the thought of writing a blog appealed to me.… Read more

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    Building stronger connections…

    September 2, 2019 by

    Written by Anita Manley Within the past year, I attended a Family Support Group at The Royal in Ottawa that covered the topic of validation. Although this communication skill was not new to me, the session reminded me to use… Read more

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