The Wellbeing 5 Project
Alex Grace
Living Pretty Happy
The Mental Wellbeing 5
5 Simple Questions to help with mental wellbeing with answers from Experts, Thought Leaders, Campaigners & Advocates
Alex Grace
Alex is a well-being advocate, writer & (soon to be) coach (in training). She is the creator of “Living Pretty Happy”, a website to “enlighten, encourage, aid & empower you to live your happiest life possible.” Living Pretty Happy is an award-nominated blog and a finalist in the Lifestyle Category of the UK Blog Awards 2019.
Alex describes herself as “a student of well-being – constantly learning, trying, evolving.” Her blog provides a safe space with no judgement, just encouragement and motivation. She encourages people to take responsibility and ownership in life (as she has done herself) and to put themselves in charge of making it happen.
Find out more about Alex
The Mental Wellbeing 5 with Alex Grace
1. What is your favourite quote, anecdote, proverb or experience that helps with mental wellbeing?
Alex: Personally, I love affirmations & mantras. I use them daily. Simple positive self-affirming statements help to override any negative beliefs that crop up and bring me to a better mental space.
The mantra I always find most helpful is ‘I trust myself; I trust life. Everything is unfolding in perfect timing’. Taking a moment to breathe & repeat this helps calm any anxiety I may feel, especially when I’m feeling overwhelmed.
2. What is your top piece of advice for mental wellbeing?
Alex: Consistency is key. Once you work out which practices work well for you, practice them consistently. That is, try not to only turn to them when you’re finding things tough or equally not only doing them when you’re feeling happy and things are going well. Try and find a balance that works for you.
Being proactive and – as much as possible – consistent, will help you take better overall care of your well-being.
3. What is the one change in the world that you would like to see? (in your area of wellbeing or in the world in general or both)
Alex: I would like to see more education in schools relating to mental well-being. It would be great to see children being taught simple but effective techniques, such as mindfulness, so that achieving healthy mental well-being is a proactive process from childhood rather than a reactive process in adolescence/adulthood.
4. Which resources (books / websites / videos etc) for wellbeing would you recommend?
Alex: Kimberley Wilson’s How to Build A Healthy Brain is a great read. It’s easy to follow, informative and science-backed, and shares small steps and changes we can all make to the way we live for better long-term brain health.
Nothing in it is designed to scare you, more positively encourage you on the way to better mental well-being.
5. What’s the one thing that always makes you smile?
Alex: As a mum & wife, I should say my husband and kids and they do make me smile daily I’m happy & grateful to say. But something that really warms my heart is when I see other people doing good for each other.
Like Sir Captain Tom Moore raising millions for the NHS or Sir Tom Hunter donating £1 million to dementia charities on behalf of Paul Harvey, the composer with Dementia who made the news (and the top of the iTunes charts) recently. Witnessing altruism always makes me smile – and maybe shed a happy tear or two!
Bonus Question! Is there anything else pertinent you would like to add to the conversation?
Alex: I would always advocate for anyone not to be fooled by the simplicity of some of the actions we can take to improve our mental well-being. Things such as mindful colouring, using affirmations, staying hydrated or journaling. Yes, they are simple, but equally, they can work wonders for your well-being.
Additionally, you need to give these things time to work, especially when it comes to practising mindfulness. Whatever you try, give it more than a couple of weeks to realise the full benefit. Keep going, you never know how well it may work for yo
Further Exploration - Alex Grace
Website: Living Pretty Happy
Alex's website containing blog posts covering; Well-being, wellness, beauty, happy travels and happy days. Also includes information about Alex and the site, how to get in contact and affirmations and mantras
Article: Improving Well-Being: The Key to Being Happy?
Alex's thought provoking article discussing what well-being is, how to go about improving it and whether it makes us happier
Social Media - Follow Alex & Living Pretty Happy Below
More Mental Wellbeing 5 Interviews Below
More Mental Wellbeing 5 Interviews
With answers from experts, thought leaders, advocates and campaigners to help with mental wellbeing