5 Mental Health tips while on a Gap Year in Israel
It’s already mid-July which means that many recent High School graduates are going to be packing their bags for their year abroad.
While their friends are driving with their families to different Universities around the US, Gap Year students will be flying solo to their desired destination for the next 9 months.
Many of these Gap Year students will be living independently for the first time in their lives!
Life is very different when you’re living independently. No one’s waking you up for class, or cooking your meals, or doing your laundry!
But you get to live with friends, explore new landscapes, and grow as an individual.
A gap year in Israel is an especially unique experience due to the historical & Spritual significance of the land, the depth of the culture, and the beauty that the land offers.
Whether you’re going to Yeshiva or Seminary, Kibbutz or Ulpan, Year Course or Aardvark, one things is absolutely certain – Mental Health needs to be more than just a conversation, it needs to be prioritized.
Many of the issues that many young adults in their 20’s and 30’s experience can be attributed to not learning proper mental health skills and tools to take care of themselves. Independent Living isn’t just about learning how to cook, communicate, and bank – it’s about knowing yourself in a deeper and more connected way. It’s about prioritizing your Mental Health so you’re more capable of everything else that’s being required of you.
Here are 5 tips to take care of your mental health while on a gap year in Israel:
(FYI these tips work beyond the next 9 months too;))
1. Meditation and Mindfulness
A Gap Year can be very fast paced. Meeting new friends, coordinating studying, exploring, and weekends.
Taking 15 minutes to stop and connect to your breath can have positive ripples throughtout the next few hours of your day.
Going for a walk or run with your thoughts in Gan Sacher in Jerusalem, or along the Beach in Tel Aviv is a great way of mindfully processing all of the newness you’ve been experiencing.
Finding local teachers to connect with for meditation, yoga, and minudfulness is a great way of creating community and connecting to the culture while taking care of your mental health as well.
2. Journaling
Our thoughts move a mile-a-minute. When we are in a new situation it is more difficult for us to sit with our thoughts. When we are forced to wait for our hand to catch up with our thoughts, we tend to slow those racing thoughts.
Whether you’re a ‘pen-to-paper’ or ‘finger-to-keyboard’ – any form of journaling can be helpful.
It doesn’t have to be words either – it can also be any form of creative expression which allows your thoughts to slow and become more focused. Keeping an Art Journal with friends that you contribute to regularly is another great idea.
Allow yourself the time and space to process while you write/type/paint. Go to a beautiful lookout, inspire yourself within this land.
3. Create a Schedule
Gap Years allow for more freedom; travel when you want, come home when you want, eat, sleep, study When. You. Want.
The trick about freedom though, is knowing that freedom can also be a trap.
Freedom isn’t the absence of rules or restrictions, it is the acceptance of self in time and space.
Knowing what you need for you to live your best life.
The freedom to know that you require 8 hours or sleep. Or 3 full meals a day. Or the need to study 4 hours a day. Or that doing yoga is a necessity, daily.
Whatever it is that you need in your life, schedule it in a way that you prioritize your needs first. This will allow you to live more presently in your life.
4. Build a Support System
Make friends. Connect with someone that you would normally overlook. Be vulnerable. Hold space. Laugh deeply. Ugly cry. Be.
The more you show up in your life with authenticity, the easier it will be for you to create a group of people who care for one another. Having friends we can count on, and a community that you feel connected to are two of the biggest indicators of a long life and happiness.
Show gratitude for the new friends in your life. Allow others to trust you and open yourself up to trusting others.
5. Reach out for Help
Gap Years are not always rainbows and butterflies.
Being in a new experience and out of our normal routine and people can be a catalyst or trigger for many young adults.
Seeing a therapist to process difficulties, new or old, will allow you to more deeply enjoy your Gap Year and beyond.
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I think it’s funny that our society calls the year between high-school and college a, ‘Gap Year’.
The status quo and expectation for an 18 year old graduating high school is that they must go straight to university, and in 4 years become proficient in whichever field they choose a career in.
It’s anything BUT a Gap Year. It’s a year full of exploration, curiosity, travel, learning, friends, experiences, growth, confidence, and even wisdom.
Humans are experiential creatures. We prefer to experience an idea than just think about it.
Taking a Gap Year is about moving from the passenger seat to the driver’s seat of your life.
