Our body is like a vehicle, it gets us from point A to B. The brain is an important part of that vehicle and requires maintenance, work and exercise. Like anything without maintenance our brain, and so our thinking, can become a bit worse for wear at times. In hindsight we may look back and wonder why the hell we didn’t take better care of our brain and maintain our mental wellbeing. Check in with yourself, maintain yourself, if you’re feeling low, feeling flat look at what’s going on in your life that might be kicking you down. Reflect on past maintenance. What strategies you used to get through rough times, what was within your control? You’ll hear from some ruffnut ‘mechanics’ and the tricks they use to keep the cogs of the brain turning so they get through rough times.

****The advice in this podcast is of a general nature, and not an excuse for not seeing your GP or medical professional. There’s some handy links over at the Mate helping Mate website to learn more about resources you can access. If you need to talk to someone right now give Lifeline a call on 13 11 14.

We’re bloody grateful for all the support we’ve received to make this podcast possible, including the show’s sponsors the The Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network (MPHN) and their ‘Empowering our communities’ grant which is the federal government's way of walking the talk; demonstrating their commitment to supporting families and communities living with the impacts of natural disasters. The program aims to support suicide prevention and encourage rural communities to seek out mental health support.

This podcast is also brought to you by the NSW Department of Primary Industries. Through resilience building activities, they support primary producers experiencing natural disasters.

This podcast is by Room3, a production company that work with charities and for-purpose businesses.

Finally, you can keep in touch with John Harper and Mate Helping Mate over at matehelpingmate.com.au