You need to start taking care of your mental health”

We hear it all the time and of course everyone would love days of eating healthy food, long showers, yoga and a full night sleep, right? That would be a good start to helping my “mental health” and “anxiety”.

What I’ve learned as a mum, with a toddler, and my partner and I both working full time in stressful jobs is that “mental health care” starts with small steps first.

It also starts with accessing supports. Which in itself can be daunting and tike consuming If you had of told me previously that I would go swimming for fun I would have laughed at you.

Cold

Wet

Swimmers

Mirrors

People

That’s a recipe for an anxiety casserole twice baked.

Learning about the Cérge app and starting to use it in local Cafes, then taking our son to some tourism venues and now the pool has made this such an easy transition. I trust the app so therefore I now trust any business on the Cérge app because it shows they actually care. They want to help people feel better and more included which makes them my first choice.

It’s like seeing a rainbow sticker in a business window shows you that business is LGBTIQA+ friendly and having Cérge shows you they are inclusive and care about being as accessible as they can be. It also means they have a website with an Access Guide, Visual Story and Sensory Guide which means I can get any answer I need beforehand usually.

I saw Deception Bay Aquatic Centre had just adopted Cérge , it’s not the closest pool to me but I was happy to drive a bit further as it’s a super great venue and I really enjoyed it. I asked the staff to show me quieter areas for me to be able to bring my toddler. The staff were so friendly and nothing was a bother at all.

The family area is great, it was very welcoming and I have to say cheap entrance fees! I went before work because this is part of how I can add extra self care to my day. The good thing with Cérge is it’s takes a lot of the anxiety and wanting to bail out of the equation.

I’m so glad to have Deception Bay Aquatic leading the way in my local area! Thank you!