Episode 74: Ways to Improve Your Mental Health

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the show. I was about to record a different episode, and before I hit record, and before I started to get ready to record, I read an article about someone taking their life. A celebrity taking their life, and it really hit me in the gut. You never know what’s going on with someone. Their life can look so picture perfect.

And that’s the thing about social media now. That’s the thing about the media in general. It can paint a very different perception, a different picture of what’s going on internally for someone. And it’s hard to know what this person was experiencing. It’s hard to know what this person was suffering with. You never know.

And you never know why people make the decisions that they make because we are not living in their minds. And for me, I’ve been in bad places, bad mental health states where I don’t want to be here anymore. So anytime I see someone that’s thinking about that or has done the act, my gut, my heart aches for the family. It aches for that person, that soul because it’s hard.

So today I want to talk about different ways that we can improve our mental health.

I think that our mental health is so important to have a high-quality life. We all experience these high vibrational moments in life, and then we experience low moments in life. And that’s the thing about the human experience. We get to feel different things. And by feeling these emotions, sometimes these emotions can overtake us and lead us down a rabbit hole of darkness.

And the emotions can feel like they’re closing in. They can feel like they’re suffocating us. So it’s important that we keep our mental health in check.

And there are several things that we can do to improve our mental health, and one of them is to have social connections. We are not meant to be alone. Now, having solitude and having moments and periods through the day and through our lifetime, where we take solitude, we take time to go inward. We get to be by ourselves is great. It’s healthy. But we’re not meant to be by ourselves all the time. We’re not meant to be alone all the time.

And it’s really important to have social connections because having social connections allow us to experience different things like fun and joy and bliss. But it doesn’t stop there. Someone can have severe mental health issues and be very social. And so part of the social connection is also having friends and family members that you can speak to openly about what’s going on with you.

And if you don’t have a family member or a friend that you can’t speak to openly, what’s going on with you? Then you go and you ask for help, you get support, you talk to someone.

For me, I am always talking to someone. I’m always working through some of the struggles that I’m having, and I’m seeking support. And support looks different for everyone. You might be working with a counselor, a therapist, a healer, or a coach. These are all great resources to have.

Another way to improve our mental health is to stay active. Exercise and moving your body assists in keeping a healthy brain. We’re moving energy, and we want to stay as active as possible. If you’re coming out of an injury or you’ve been having some health issues, there are different ways to stay active. And visualization can also be a part of that activity as well. Any type of movement exercises that you can do will help your mental health.

This leads us to the next way to improve your mental health; to do some sort of spiritual relaxation practice. That can be meditation, breathing exercises, mindfulness practices, yoga, or anything that allows you to relax. Even listening to hypnotherapy on your phone that’s a great way to relax.

Another way to improve your mental health is to find your creative outlet. Being creative is a part of our nature, and sometimes we have this idea of what creativity looks like based on other people’s perspectives. You are a creator and what you are meant to create is uniquely yours. I can’t create what you’re meant to create.

What you create will bring fulfillment and if it’s not bringing you fulfillment, ask what you’re supposed to be creating at that moment in time. One of my very first spiritual teachers said this to me, and it will always stick: “Depression is a cry for creativity,” and I am a big believer in that.

When we’re depressed, our soul is craving creativity. And creativity could mean going into the kitchen and cooking something, creating something with a business, or simply making a painting. It could be having a plant garden. Anything can be creation. And what you’re choosing to create will feed your soul. It will change the colors of your aura and your vibration. And when you are creative, you raise your frequency to attract more of those experiences in your life.

So anytime you’re having any sort of low, and it’s not due to a tremendous circumstance. Meaning let’s say you’re having a low because someone you love just passed. You are meant to have a low at that moment in time. You are grieving. And it is okay to grieve. What is not okay is when that grief overtakes your life, and you just start burying yourself in darkness. And that’s the last thing creator creation wants from you. So it’s time to create.

The next beautiful thing that you can do for your mental health is to eat brain-boosting foods. Our brain is so powerful, and what we put in our bodies to support our mental health is really important. So eating processed junk food is only going to make you feel bad. It might give you a dopamine hit at that particular moment, but it’s not going to make you feel good all the time.

The next thing you want to do to support your mental health is to find meaning in the work that you’re doing. When you have purpose, you are soul-driven. When you are doing things purposely, you are soul-driven. We have many purposes in life, and we’re not meant to only do this one big purpose, one big mission in life.

We have many little purposes all throughout our life, all throughout our chapters. And so whatever you are doing at that moment in time, find something purposeful to do, something that brings you joy, something that gives you meaning, and this will help your mental health.

The other thing that’s really important is sleep. Sleep will mess with you so badly. I was having some hard sleeping issues earlier this month. I’m such a good sleeper. I’ve had good sleep habits for a very long time. And for some reason, I just have been feeling off. I’ve had a cold. I wasn’t feeling good, so my sleep was messed up. I felt delirious. Absolutely delirious.

And if you are having insomnia, if you’re having sleep issues and you cannot get it under control, cannot get it checked, go talk to someone because this will affect your mental health greatly. Have a sleep study done. Go research what can help you to have better sleep. Because our body needs time to repair.

And if you’re tired, pushing through it is only making things worse. You want to make sure you’re getting the proper amount of sleep. And some people think, “I’ll sleep when I die.” No, your body requires sleep. Your human body and your brain require sleep. Hustling is not a part of the process. Your physical human body, you only have one of them. You have one, you have to take very good care of it.

And sleep is so important. I’ve been geeking out on sleep data. For me, sleep is just like water, just like air. We need those to live. We need those. And driving when you’re sleep deprived is just the same as drinking and driving.

You want to sleep. So if you’re not getting good sleep, try to have better sleep habits where you’re going to bed at a certain time. You’re relaxing, you’re turning off your screens, you’re turning down the lights, you’re finding things that allow you to fall asleep easily and get a restful sleep because that’s really, really important.

The last thing I want to leave you with for improving your mental health is to journal. For me, the last time I was severely depressed, I started a journaling exercise. And that journaling exercise allowed me not to go into the deepest, darkest hole I’ve ever experienced because I’ve had one of those before.

And my journaling would allow me to get out some of my fears, some of my angst, some of the things that I was just bottling up so I could release it, so I can let it go, so it wouldn’t continue to make me suffer. And the more that I journaled, the freer I felt in my being. It also allowed me to get clearer on what was going on on the inside so then I could go speak to someone about the things that were bothering me. Because sometimes I really couldn’t articulate it.

Sometimes we think something’s really bothering us, and that’s really not the thing that’s really bothering us. It’s just the thing that triggered us. And so by having a clearer idea and understanding of what that is, then you’re able to seek different support systems to support you when you need support.

We’re meant to be supported and if you do not have a good support system, find one. Please find one. It is worth it because you are a masterpiece. You are meant to be creating things in the world that only you can create with your imagination and your experiences, and you are absolutely divine. You are a miracle.

If you know someone that is suffering from mental health issues or you are suffering from mental health issues and you’re thinking about not being here anymore, please contact someone. Because you are amazing, and you deserve to feel good, and you deserve to feel happy.

We all go through highs and lows throughout our life, and trust me, having a baby two years ago, my mental health has been interesting to witness. Interesting. I’ll use that word because I know a lot more than what I did when I was in my early twenties, and I have a lot more resources and a much better support system in place where I can talk to people about things that I’m experiencing.

And I’m watching my words too. Watching my words give me a better understanding of how my mental health is truly doing. Because if you’re noticing, you’re saying certain things that are like, “Hmm. That’s interesting.” For example, maybe you’re saying, “I just don’t want to do this anymore.” That’s a key indication that there’s time for a change. Like your soul is craving something else or life’s just not worth living. If that’s a phrase that you’re saying, then there’s something else there for you to look at.

Mental health issues affect many people; the numbers and the data are staggering. So wherever you’re at, you deserve to have good mental health. Your family deserves to have good mental health. Your friends deserve to have good mental health. If you have a family member or a friend that’s suffering, encourage them to seek support, to seek help because they deserve it as well.

I hope you found this episode helpful. I’m sending you all lots and lots and lots of love. You are a masterpiece, and you are a beautiful creator that is meant to create something beautiful. I’m sending you a big hug. Talk to you soon. Bye.