3 Ways to Support Your Mental Wellbeing

With mental health week upon us, we thought it would be fitting to offer some straightforward tools and reminders to support your mental, but also physical, emotional, and spiritual health & well-being, as no system or body works alone.

 

With that said, here are 3 simple ways you can bring about more peace & equanimity in your life:

 
1. Breathe the breath.

The most obvious one, but worth reiterating until blue in the face. Breathing is the foundation to life; it’s adequately required before water, before food, and before shelter.

Conscious breathing allows us to step into the driver’s seat, and breathe the breath. 

We breathe approximately 17,500-23,000 times per day, and the majority of our breaths are autonomous/unconscious, where our lungs breathe us.

If we allow the outside world to throw us around like a leaf blowing in the wind, we tend to be more overwhelmed, out of control, in fear, and feel like we’re in survival – our breathing pattern can often represent that.

You may find those breaths are shallow, high in the chest, and more rapid. 

Deep conscious breathing allows us to come back to our centre, and send signals to the body that we’re safe; our autonomic nervous system can calibrate and we can bring about more presence & equanimity, where the mind & heart become synchronised, known as heart & brain coherence. 

Conscious breathing is the fundamental pillar to facilitate this process.

Breathe when you’re washing the dishes.

Breathe when you’re sipping on a hot cacao.

Breathe when you’re having an argument with your loved ones.

When in doubt, just breathe.

 

2. Community

Sometimes we need to be alone (I’m looking at you introverts!), but as human beings, we need closeness too.

When it comes to closeness, the science is clear; overall, we feel better when we’re a part of something that extends beyond ourselves. 

That something could be a fitness class and cheering each other on, doing community service, running a business with community activities that extend beyond hitting KPI’s, mingling with other families and kids, creating conscious friendships and safe spaces - you get the picture… 

Community is where we service our need for connection and belonging.

It's where we get to give and receive love.

It's where we feel supported and support others. 

 
3. Harmonise with Nature

Picking the third and final portion of this write up is an all-encompassing reminder that we often think of ourselves are separate from Nature; we say things like ‘gee I should really get out of the house and go into Nature’, and it’s in those moments we forget we are Nature, and we are not separate from it.

For supporting mental & holistic well-being, this could look very simple; for example:

 

Sleep:

Having poor sleep hygiene impacts everyone's mental health tremendously. Sleep deprivation is one of the highest predictors for adverse events & shortening of lifespan. 

Having a regular sleep cycle will do wonders for your mental health.

If you struggle to get to sleep, try some deep breathing, reading, a strong chamomile tea, run an Epsom salt bath, or a natural sleep supplement such as: magnesium bisglycinate or threonate (get health practitioner approval if you have any possible contraindication to supplemental magnesium).

 

Ground your feet:

The health benefits of grounding are very clear in published science, and we tend to think being barefoot on the earth is just basic common sense. 

We are electromagnetic beings on an electromagnetic earth, and we have become accustomed to this modern world – while it has its benefits, one of the huge drawbacks are the over-wearing of shoes, and the concrete/carpeted/tiled floors we stand on. 

This disconnects us from the innate connection we have to our planet and can certainly impose on our mental well-being. 

You don’t have to become a hippie, sell all your shoes and buy a cabin in the woods (unless you want to); just spend some time daily, or many times throughout the week, barefoot, feeling dirt, sand, grass, or whatever terrain is within your environment.

 

Suns out, guns out:

This pretty much goes hand in hand with grounding, but a reminder that we are basically a solar panel with emotions.

The sun's native electromagnetic rays stimulate the synthesis of natural vitamin D3. At least 1,000 different genes governing virtually every tissue in the body are now thought to be regulated by Vitamin D3, the active form of the vitamin, including several involved in calcium metabolism and neuromuscular and immune system functioning. [1] 

We just feel better with adequate sunlight, which certainly improves mental well-being.

Like anything, don’t abuse it, and be mindful of your skin type so you can work with your unique exposure times and reap the benefits of the sun.

Lastly, we would like to mention that if you are in a less than optimal mental state, reach out for support. 

It’s okay to not be okay.

It’s okay to feel blue.

It’s okay to feel like you are completely messed up.

Part of being human means that you won't always feel 100%. 

As always, if you feel as though what you're going through is beyond what you can handle, seek your trusted healthcare professional for support.

 

Don’t forget to laugh, feel, dance, and of course, drink cacao.

 

 

References:

[1] Benefits of Sunlight: A Bright Spot for Human Health

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2290997/