Hi, I’m Lindsey from FerrisBuilt. FerrisBuilt is an apparel and gift site dedicated to creating awareness around various mental health and self-care mantras. I started FerrisBuilt as a side hobby selling my wood art on Etsy. Eventually, started designing t-shirts around topics I feel passionate about. As my business shifted to a focus on mental health and self-care, I now donate 25% of net proceeds to mental health advocacy programs from every purchase. So far this year, over $2,000 has been donated!

As a Gen X woman, I grew up with an awareness and stigma around mental health topics. It just was not spoken about openly without it seeming taboo. This has changed a little bit since my youth. Society, well, we all are slowly moving more towards talking about mental health issues. However, there is still an underlying stigma way too often. Mental health challenges are personal and can be very isolating, making it much more important to change the stigma. Making it more important to support normalizing mental health and wellness topics. My hope is to help contribute to creating change. Sharing our stories and normalizing discussion of mental health topics to reduce the stigma.

One area that I am focusing on as well as self-care for mental wellness. You can find self-care ideas and topics nearly everywhere now. However, focused on self-care topics around mental health and wellness. In the spirit of that and May being mental health awareness month, I wanted to share some specific ways I like to give self-care for my mental health. My story.

One thing that took a long time for me to learn is that I only talk about my challenges with those that are emotionally safe. While this may seem like an easy concept, it actually in practice is challenging at times. You can learn this emotional safety by listening to yourself. Who feels like a big breath of fresh air to talk to vs. someone who you walk away from feeling a sense of judgment or criticism for your feelings, thoughts, and experiences. Looking for cues, directly or indirectly with body language.

When you start to observe your reactions and feelings, you will very quickly know who is emotionally safe to share with or not. Emotional safety when sharing is important in making sure you can feel supported on your journey vs. more isolated. Some people are more comfortable with a wider audience. Others are just better one-on-one. Find the space that feels emotionally safe and begin there. It’s worth testing the waters every so often and your sense of emotional safety. Who and where you want to share can change with time.

For quite some time, I have also been using mindfulness techniques to learn to observe my anxiety instead of automatically reacting to it. Initially, it felt like it was doing nothing. Honestly thought it was a bit woo-woo, so it took a while for me to truly practice it regularly.

I just kept doing it because all the research and things I’ve read show its results. For me, it finally clicked when I found Floating (sensory deprivation tanks that you go in for an hour, they are in many cities around the world). I could have the quiet and removal of distractions. Somewhere to sit with sensations, thoughts, and feelings and observe them without judgment. With covid, I could not go regularly, so I used the same mindfulness technique. I’ve learned of observing myself and my reactions and thoughts in my everyday life. Now it is part of how I live my life day today. It is not a magic wand by any means, but it is a powerful form of mental health self-care. When you can observe your thoughts, feelings, and sensations without automatically reacting to them. Then make a conscious choice of how to respond.

Take care of yourself, be kind to yourself, and remember you are NOT alone in your journey.

Lindsey Ferris | Owner & Founder

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For Mental Health Awareness Month (May 2021) an extra 10% off with code “MHAD10” at FerrisBuilt. *25% of all net proceeds donated to mental health advocacy groups.