Top 10 Tips for Mental Health Awareness Month

Be kind and compassionate to yourself and others.

You are not alone; 1 in 5 adults living in the U.S. has a mental health condition.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and if you are living with mental health challenges, I want you to know that you are not alone. I've had the privilege of coaching, teaching, and facilitating wellness sessions over the past four years, and I can say that I don't know anyone who has not been affected by mental health challenges in some way. 

If this is you, you are not alone. 1 in 5 adults living in the U.S. has a mental health condition, and those numbers have continued to rise over the past few years.

Did you know ...

• Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S.; 48 million living with anxiety

• 21 million living with major depression

• Millions live with post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia.

• World Health Organization has recognized burnout as a disease;  2/3 of full-time workers deal with burnout.

• Chronic periods of stress and anxiety negatively impact the immune system. 

The good news is that there are things that we can each do to take better care of ourselves, build resilience, and feel empowered to take control of our health.  

Ten things to support your mental health

1. Be kind and compassionate to yourself and others.

   We are often more unkind to ourselves than to others. Our inner dialogue can be ruthless and damaging. Practice self-awareness of your words, and choose a different, kinder thought in the moment. Also, give others grace and compassion because we do not know what they may be going through. 

   2. Get professional help 

   Seek out a mental health practitioner. Many organizations now offer these services to their employees. Take advantage of available resources or seek a referral from someone you trust.

   3. Get some sunshine to boost your mood. 

   There is a reason we feel better when we're outside. When we get proper sunlight, our bodies produce vitamin D and release more serotonin, boosting our mood and helping both anxiety and depression.  

   4. Try to get 7-9 hours of sleep each night.

   Sleeping 7 -9 hours is ideal for us, and sleep and mental health are closely tied together. When we sleep, our body rests and recovers. When we do not get enough sleep, especially REM sleep, the brain doesn't correctly consolidate positive emotional content, which is tied to mental health disorders and their severity. Sleep is now understood as both a cause and consequence of mental health problems. 

   5. Surround yourself with loving people you can talk to.

   We all need a tribe of loving and supporting people to talk to and share our concerns, especially when they're tied to our health. So seek out friends, family, or professionals to talk to. 

   6. Eat well and take care of your gut health.

   The gut is sometimes referred to as our second brain, and our gut and brain are linked through the vagus nerve, which sends signals to and from the brain. It's incredible, but the gut can influence emotional behavior in the brain, and the brain can impact the bacteria in the gut. Therefore, nourishing ourselves by eating whole foods, especially fruits, and vegetables, those rich in omega-3 fatty acids, dark leafy green vegetables, nuts, beans, and lentils, helps to boost our mental health. Also, investing in a good probiotic is essential for gut health. 

   7. Start a gratitude practice.

   Did you know that studies have shown that those who practice gratitude are happier, less stressed, less anxious, and less depressed? I love doing gratitude as part of my morning routine and in the evening before I sleep. When we acknowledge our blessings, we focus our energy on what we have, not what we lack. So try it; you may love it!

   8. Move your body daily. 

   Research shows that people who exercise regularly have lower mental illness rates and better overall mental and emotional well-being. Exercise helps release endorphins that boost our mood, help us sleep better, provide more energy, improve our confidence, and reduce stress.

   9. Reduce stress - yoga, meditation, tai chi, and breathwork.

   I can't say enough about mindfulness practices. They align our mind, body, breath, and spirit. Each of these modalities has been shown to reduce stress and symptoms of anxiety and depression. Mindfulness also trains our brains to be present in the moment and shrinks our amygdala, allowing us to be less reactive. 

   10. Get your blood tested to address deficiencies and get supplement recommendations.

   Several vitamins have been shown to support good brain health. However, asking your primary for a full panel test can reveal deficiencies in vitamins such as Vitamin D, B vitamins, and Folate, which are linked to mental health disorders.  

   Resources: 

• https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/find-help

• https://www.counseling.org/knowledge-center/mental-health-resources

• https://nami.org/Home

• https://www.amenclinics.com

Your Body Is Innately Intelligent

Your Body Is Innately Intelligent

Many of us feel disconnected from that intelligent source, and are overwhelmed and confused by all of the health and nutritional informational available.

I believe that our bodies are innately intelligent, and guide us to making healthy food choices.  Unfortunately, many of us feel disconnected from that intelligent source, and are overwhelmed, and confused by all of the health and nutritional informational available.   

One of my goals this year was to enroll in the Integrative Institute of Nutrition’s Integrative Health Coaching certification program.  I am excited to say that I graduated from the program this month, and am now officially an Integrated Health Coach!  My goal in completing the program was to improve my own life by increasing my knowledge of nutrition, and then to be able to share what I’ve learned with my clients.

My backstory is that I come from a long-line of Eastern European farmers who grew their own food, raised their own livestock, and prepared their meals from scratch.  Even after moving to the United States, my parents and their friends would purchase their poultry from local farmers who raised their animals ethically, and sustainably.   I was raised to understand that we become what we put into our bodies.  

Yet, as I grew, I became a typical kid who wanted to eat school lunches like my friends instead of the ethnic food prepared from home.  I tried Salisbury steak, boxed mashed potatoes, hoagies, ice cream sandwiches, and other lunchtime favorites of the 80s.  Although I was petite for most of my life, I started noticing my body changing in high school, and not in a good way.  

The summer after I graduated from high school, I decided to become a vegetarian, and to begin eating healthy.  The trend at the time was to eat “fat-free”.  My college diet consisted of bagels, cereal, pizza, tomato soup, pasta, french fries, and some fruits and vegetables.  Poor food choices, along with liquid calories, increased my weight to the highest it had ever been. I was also tired all the time, took daily naps, and I didn’t feel great. I was probably nutritionally deficient for all 4 years of college.

After college, I went backpacking across Europe for one month.  The first week into my trip, I ate chicken for the first time in 4 years.  It was hard to be a vegetarian in 1994 in many European cities on a limited budget. So, I ate locally grown food that was available and inexpensive.  My clothes started to fit better, my mood stabilized, and my energy increased.  When I arrived back home I decided to make better choices that would nourish my body.  The year following my graduation my weight naturally adjusted itself to a healthy weight, just by making better food choices.  

Over the years, my weight, and overall well-being would fluctuate based on what was happening in my life.  I was my healthiest when I listened to my body, and nourished it with foods that were medicinal for me.  I felt my worst when I disconnected from my body, and made choices I knew would make me feel sick. I compensated for eating what I wanted by working out harder.  I ran long distance, lifted, did HIIT workouts, and I did power yoga.  I tracked my food in different apps, joined Weight Watchers, went back to the Zone Diet, dusted off the South Beach Diet book, tried Paleo, then Keto, etc. I didn’t get healthier, I just had more injuries, became frustrated, exhausted my adrenals, and raised my cortisol levels.

This year, I decided to take better care of myself by practicing some self-love and acceptance: 

• Stopped tracking my food. I decided to eat when I was hungry, and eat foods that made me feel good. 

• Started to “crowd-out” bad choices by incorporating more leafy greens into my diet.

• Ate less animal products, eliminated sugar, reduced my dairy intake, and experimented with more plant-based recipes. 

• Prepared soups with fresh vegetables and beans, and ate more healthy fats. 

• Stopped intense workouts that were hurting me. 

• Added in a daily, outdoor morning walk where I could think, and enjoy nature.

• Continued with my healing yoga classes. 

• Became very protective of my daily meditation, affirmation, and gratitude practice.

The result is that I am the healthiest and happiest that I have ever been.  

If you’d like to make positive changes in your health,  and stop the vicious cycle of dieting, I’d love to work with you.  Together, we will identify your health and wellness goals, examine your barriers to success, and teach you how to establish life-long health habits. 

Contact me for a free consultation.