This is a term we hear often, along with co-design, co-develop, co-deliver and sometimes to make it even more confusing, to different groups and people it can mean different things! One observation the author of this blog often makes, is, ' 'Why does...

Sometimes during the winter when the clocks have changed, we can feel very low in our mood, maybe even depressed, we may find we just don't have much energy at all and that we just can't be bothered.  There is a condition called Seasonal affecti...

 The first and most important thing to start this blog with is if you are reading this and thinking of suicide, then please, talk to someone now. These are some numbers which may be useful Useful numbers Alcoholics anonymous T: 0800 9177 650 SOB...

On international Yoga day, we thought we would share a wee flier we co-produced with a local yoga teacher Anne on why should I do Yoga? We asked people what they wanted to know, and Anne put together the wee informative tips sheet. There are man...

The power of affirmations on self-talk. We shared previously a blog on the power of poetry and affirmations, which included sharing copies of our confidence affirmation cards online. To celebrate the new poet laureate being appointed and also the the...

We often feel hurt or confused by how others have treated us, or things they have said to us. How often do we really pay attention to the things we say to ourselves, because, we are listening. We all have an internal voice, now, it can be kind and co...

Safe Space Workshop Session THREE '' What creates the conditions for safe spaces within groups and why tensions can sometimes arise'' Thank you to everyone who has accessed sessions ONE and TWO of the online training. It's great to know so many peopl...

So many people enjoyed this blog so we made a video of  'The Coorie' with Hilda having great fun doing the voice over! View the video Okay some of us; and we know who we are, know we need to exercise more, eat more healthily, get out in the fres...

Thank you to everyone who has accessed session ONE of the training. It's great to know so many people are interested in helping create psychologically safer places in informal and peer-led groups Session TWO and all the sessions can be used in many w...

What do we mean by kindness? Do we mean: Consideration, generosity, friendly? Do we mean acts of kindness where maybe we offer assistance to someone, or do a 'good' deed, or do a favour with no thought of reward? 'Too often we underestimate the power...

Kind people care about other people. Kind people often put the needs of others before themselves, they can see the pain or unhappiness around them and want to try and do something that makes a difference. They don't do it for the glory, accolades or ...

Sometimes it can be very overwhelming all the problems we can have as individuals and the pain and suffering we see on the news others are struggling with. Then the additional worry of what is happening to the environment, seeing parents are in tears...

An introduction to session ONE of the training, more sessions to come . The aim of this FREE online training resource is to share ideas on actions which may help create psychologically safer places in informal and peer-led groups. The resource can be...

We have five basic senses: sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch .  The sensing organs associated with each sense send information to the brain to help us understand and perceive the world around us.  We can learn to use our senses to prom...

COPEScotland were very grateful to see a tweet @drsbutler and @PoetrySociety about a piece in the Guardian @guardian about the impact of Poetry on mental wellbeing. We constantly work with the voices of lived experience to find new and better ways to...

Now sometimes we don't feel very much like laughing, sometimes we don't have very much to laugh about. However, research has shown, our bodies can't really tell the difference between a real laugh and a fake one, so it responds in the same way, it re...

As discussed in previous items, it's important to find someone who is a good listener. More and more is being done to raise awareness of the fact there are people who care. The Samaritans are running a campaign ' Small Talk Saves Lives '  Carneg...

Previously we spoke about how many of us say we are fine, when in fact we are not, and we covered some of the reasons why we may do that. We also covered if you are having thoughts of suicide how important it was to tell someone , we cannot emphasise...

Following our last piece on 'What if you're not fine, in fact, you are thinking of Suicide' we are delighted to see the new Suicide Prevention Action Plan for Scotland The vision is supported by the key strategic aims of a Scotland where: People at r...

We spoke about how all of us at times can reply, yeah everything is fine when sometimes it is far from fine.  There are many degrees of things not being fine if you feel your life is at risk of suicide you need to talk to someone now .  Als...