May is mental health awareness month, but here, we celebrate the importance of mental health always. I wanted to share these self-help tools for those who struggle. Living a life free of anxiety, guilt, grief, trauma, depression, or imbalance in some way, shape, or form is not real. We all deal with our own form of mishaps. But we have to do more than just deal with them, we have to normalize healthy coping skills, promote a more balanced living, and simply educate ourselves on our own feelings and emotions. These tools are things that I've tried to incorporate in my life. I am not a health care professional, these are just things that have helped me.
Individual Therapy Or Life Coaches-
I found my therapist about 5 years ago on psychologytoday.com and she’s been a huge part of my life ever since. The things that I have been through while seeing her are unspeakable and I don’t know what state I would be in hadn’t been for her support. It’s never too late to reach out to someone. There’s many types of therapy, a common form of therapy that aims to help you deal with stress and overwhelming life circumstances is cognitive behavior therapy. You may be wondering, “how do I chose a therapist?” Well, here are some questions to ask yourself when choosing a therapist - What types of therapy do they specialize in? Do you want the therapist to be a male, female, or non-binary? What type of cultural background would you like the therapist to have, if that matters to you? What is their availability? Do they take insurance?Just like any relationship, make sure to get some background information before hand so you feel as comfortable as possible going into your first session.
EDMR Therapy-
Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing is a type of therapy that is designed to relieve distress associated with traumatic memories. During these sessions, attention is given to a negative image, feeling, or belief and then to a positive belief that would signify that the trauma was resolved with the use of back and forth movement through, tapping, vibrations, or eye movement. During a study done in 2012, it showed that 77 percent of people with psychotic disorders and PTSD found that EDMR therapy helped them and improved their symptoms. (EDMR Therapy: What You Need to Know, Ana Gotter)
Aroma Therapy- Oils can promote healing in so many ways. Aromatherapy can have subtle effects on your body's chemical and energy systems which is why they can be natural remedies to relieve stress and anxiety. Check out @scienceofessentials on instagram to see how you can use oils in your every day life.
Podcasts and Audios-
Dropping Gems with Devi Brown is my favorite spiritual guru podcast who helps you find your higher consciousness. Her podcast is a great resource for when you want to become more self aware and tap into your inner thoughts and emotions.
Meditation Oasis- This guided meditation audio is for any and every anxiety/fear ridden circumstance. Listening to this soothing audio can help relieve tension, anxiety, and stress in real time. I have a huge fear of being on planes and both EDMR and this podcast were tools that helped me get through the flight without having a panic attack.
Miss Mystic with Alea Lovely- For my mystical girlies, this one’s another great podcast for discovering your life through manifestation, spirituality, and practicality.
Pivot With A Purpose with Carla Wilmaris - She’s a girl’s girl and is trying to navigate through life just like you or I do. Her podcast is perfect for those looking for sisterhood and relatable everyday life hurdles. This is one of my favorite podcasts.
IN HINDZSIGHT- This is a newer one on my list. If you need some hella positive self affirmations to hype you up to be the great person you are meant to be, I highly suggest this podcast.
Books-
“How To Do The Work” by Dr. Nicole LePera
“The Garden Within” by Dr. Anita Phillips
“Girl, Wash Your Face” by Rachel Hollis.
“The Happiness Trap” by Russ Harris.
“The Four Agreements” by Miguel Ruiz
There are so many. Personally, I can only read so many self help books, I much rather listen to my self-help podcasts and read books that help me escape. But I wanted to give a few examples for those who may benefit better from reading.
Physical health- Sometimes just burning off some energy, especially the negative kind, can help relieve stress and clear your head. At the same time, your working on a killer body. Sounds like a win win.
Diet- For those who don't know- you pretty much are what you eat. If you eat a bunch of fatty, carby, greasy foods, your body will reflect and your mind will begin to as well. Try thinking of a time when you were down and not feeling great and see what foods you ate that day. See what type of correlation you may find. I'm not going to bore you with statistics but there are tons of studies showing the correlation in having a healthier diet, especially gut health, to having better emotional wellbeing.
Meditation- I mean seriously, we all have to consciously turn off our minds to be able to take in everything that happens during the day. This practice is not easy though, I am still trying to master this. Meditation is powerful and can benefit your body and brain in so many ways like help you better focus, better sleep, control pain, improve self esteem and self awareness, and help you fight addictions. All of these things coincidentally help relieve stress and anxiety.
Hobbies - Find things outside of your everyday life that feel like an escape. This could be painting, hiking, writing, reading, exercise, bike riding, there’s so many options, and they all look different for everyone. If we don’t take our emotions and put them somewhere, they’ll harbor inside of us forever. Always find an outlet for those emotions.
For more mental health resources, visit https://www.nami.org/Home.
Now, let's be clear. You're not going to wake up one day and just start doing all of these things listed above and then be a whole new person in one breath. Putting these practices into your everyday routine takes time and you'll never be able to do all of them everyday. Pick a few that you can see fit into your life and go from there. Make it a goal to do whichever you choose, maybe twice a week then three times, then everyday. It's never too late to take a hold of your life and emotions and it's never too early either. I stress the importance of a healthy brain to my 8 and 11 year old sons and have them doing yoga or mediation with me sometimes, reciting positive affirmations, journaling, all the things to show them that taking care of your body from the inside out is where it starts. It starts with you doing the work.