How can you replace self-harm with another activity?

You can try painting on your arms or legs instead, or writing down your thoughts. Listening to your favorite songs or bands and doing yoga can also help!

listen to music or you can draw. do something to distract yourself from what you are feeling. blocking out the urges helps.

It can help to write a list of 3-5 activities you would like to try next time instead of harming. Keep the list with you or in a place you will see it when you are triggered. Try to use the skill BEFORE you are significantly triggered. Once you use the skill, evaluate how you feel. Did it help a bit? a lot? none? in what way did or didn't it help? Keep track of various skills you try over time and look for patterns. What skills help for what feelings? (what helps when you are sad, anxious, overwhelmed, angry, numb...?) It is very hard to use distractions at the beginning, but only by continually trying will you see any progress. Know you will probably still harm sometimes - that's ok. Ask yourself - why didn't I use a distraction this time? Looking back, was there an earlier time I might've used a coping skill and prevented, delayed, or reduced my harm? Forgive yourself for the times you harm, and keep working on recovery. It's along journey sometimes, but it is 100% possible to start using coping skills more frequently and easily.