Happiful Magazine – Issue 77, 2023
English | 84 pages | pdf | 53.69 MB
Welcome at Happiful Magazine Issue 77, 2023
I can vividly remember the relaxation exercise a teacher introduced to the class, all the way back in primary school. It went like this: close your eyes and take some deep breaths. Imagine you’re walking through a forest – it’s peaceful, and you can hear the sound of birds singing and leaves rustling. You come across a big, beautiful tree, and notice it has a door on the side. You open the door and inside is something very, very special. You spend some time with your special thing, and then you close the door and leave, knowing you can come back at any time.
Decades later, when I worked with a hypnotherapist to try to manage some phobias, they offered a similar exercise, except this time I walked down a spiral staircase, and at the bottom was a cosy room, with the most comfortable armchair. It was completely silent, except for the gentle sound of a warm wood fire.
The idea of these exercises is that they create a mental safe place, somewhere you can always retreat to should you need to escape for a while. For times when the rest of the world feels overwhelming, stress is knocking at your door, and the challenges we face pile up a little too high – a bit of mental respite can go a long way.
But safety, of course, is something that can be found on the outside, too – in people and in spaces. On p44 we’re wandering the aisles of libraries, hearing stories from people who leaned on this community during times of poverty, housing insecurity, and mental health problems. We join those in the gaming community who are putting wellbeing on the table (p56), and on p37 we’ll step inside the cemeteries across the country that are letting their spaces return to nature, prompting us to think about life and our place in the world.
Oh, and if you want inspiration for creating your own mental safe space, flip to p36, where we’re sharing some pastoral fantasies that are guaranteed to transport you to another life. And then turn to our journaling section on p83, where it’s over to you. This month, let these pages be your safe space to learn, feel inspired, and explore whole new elements of your own wellbeing.
Fundamentally, when we have a strong safety net below us, it doesn’t matter how wobbly the tightrope we’re walking on is – if we stumble, we can bounce back up again. So build your net with selfÂknowledge, connection, and compassion. That way, you’ll never have far to fall.
KATHRYN WHEELER GUEST EDITOR
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