Mental Health - Part 3
Lifestyle Support
Our brains can get stuck in certain patterns, like staying in a stressed mode unnecessarily. Experts, like Dr. Gabor Mate, believe that our brains are wired for stress as children, and other experts believe that the level of stress hormones felt in utero can determine how we feel stress we feel as adults.
For example, if your mother was feeling very stressed when she was pregnant with you, your little developing body had more of these stress hormones in your bloodstream. If those hormones were chronically high, then your body may believe that that’s the proper setpoint…setting your stress hormones a bit too high.
So, in a nutshell, your temperament for feeling anxiousness, worry, and stressed was probably wired into you when you were very young and done unconsciously. Your wiring isn’t your fault at all, it was caused by circumstances that were totally out of your control.
But! We can change how our brains are wired and how we react to different circumstances! THIS is in our control, and these lifestyle techniques can help enormously.
If you’d like to learn more about how generational patterns affect your overall health and learn ways to release these patterns, check out Dr. Gabor Maté’s book, “When the Body Says No”. It’s a favourite of mine.
My reluctant first experience with meditation:
My first experience with meditation was in 2012. For years earlier I would listen to the meditation habits of many of my clients very enviously, but I never felt I had the time to do it myself. (I was a single woman without children, so yes, I DID have time, but I chose to believe I didn’t).
In 2012 I got a job working in a team at an integrative cancer care centre. The team believed we needed to practice what we preached so it was written into my contract that I would join our team’s morning mediation each day I was in the office (which was 2 days per week).
Finally, I “had time” to meditate (a.k.a. it was forced upon me).
I find meditating in a group is easier than solo, so this was a good introduction for me. It was just 20 mins, 2 days per week, and I noticed a HUGE difference pretty quickly.
Before this experience, I was very high-strung/high stress, but I thought this state was “calm”.
(if you’ve met me in person and feel like I’m still pretty high energy/high strung…ya, I am, but I’m DEFINITELY calmer than I was before and I’m now aware of my high energy state :)
After a few short months, I felt like my whole system had reset to a calmer state. I could finally see why people would comment that I seemed stressed when I thought I was calm.
I also found that the calmness I practiced during meditation was easy to find inside my day. If I was feeling anxious before a talk or stressful event, I could just close my eyes and take a few deep breaths and find that calm state.
Honestly, it was life changing.
After that job ended, I committed to meditating every day for at least 15 mins. I did that for just over 2 years before I felt I needed to switch things up a bit. Right now my body prefers moving meditation (Qi Gong or a walk in nature).
Meditation –
The goal of meditating isn’t to be perfectly calm and at peace…it’s to find that calm space over and over again. You’re practicing at feeling calm so you can find it during a stressful moment.
Every time you feel your mind start to spin or think, all you have to do is stop and focus back on your breathing. Every single time you do that you’re creating a new neuropathway to calm.
And the best news, research has found that you receive the benefits of meditation the very first time. You don’t need to practice for months or years before you start feeling the effects!
Meditating for at least 15 mins is best to bring your body into a fully relaxed state, but even 5 mins (or even 1 min) is helpful.
Mediation helpers – guided mediation can be easier, and there are a few good apps that can help:
- Headspace – this app has 10 free 10 min mediations to teach you the basics. They’re great :). If you like those mediations, then you can unlock 100s of them with a monthly fee.
- Mindshift – this is an app that’s more than just a mediation app. It helps you check in and learn more about how you’re feeling. It also has some very short relaxation meditations for free. I haven’t used it too much yet, but it looks like an overall mental wellness app.
- Chopra Centre – every few months they release a free 21-day guided mediation cycle. They’re great, I always join in on them :).
Moving Meditation (Qi Gong, Tai Chi, etc)
If you find sitting still very difficult, then a moving meditation might be up your alley. These are traditional techniques that can be extremely beneficial for our mental health and energetic health too.
Our site has a few of my favourite Qi Gong YouTube videos and many cities and towns have regular Tai Chi groups where you can learn the technique and practice it in a group. I love watching a large group do Tai Chi, it’s really beautiful.
Forest Bathing
Japan has done a lot of research on the Forest Bathing (called shinrin yoku). They’ve found that our bodies relax when we’re around trees, and blood tests have shown that our stress hormones go down after about 15 minutes around trees.
This research has inspired many new parks to be built in cities throughout Japan. These parks are filled with trees so the city buildings are hidden, and employees are encouraged to spend time in these parks every day.
There are a few theories as to why trees affect us so beautifully. Some feel there are essential oils secreted by the trees that calm our stressed-out system. Others feel it’s the quality of the air. And some feel it’s nature itself that calms us down.
Personally, I don’t really care why trees feel so good, I just spend time with them :)
Circadian Rhythm Support
Sleep is an important part of our overall health, including our mental wellness. But, our current lifestyle wreaks havoc with our wake/sleep cycle (a.k.a. our circadian rhythm).
The blue tinted screens we watch at night, the lack of sunshine on our skin, and our high cortisol levels all day long can reduce our natural production of melatonin and cause us to have disrupted sleep. Happily, supporting our circadian rhythm is pretty easy :).
Use “Night Shift” on your phone, computer, and other screens –
Our eye/brains confuse the blue-tinged light that comes off our phones and computers for sunlight and in the evening, this can keep us up. Today, most phones, computers, and screens have a handy little tool to shift the colour of the screen from blue to a more orange colour in the evening.
It’s usually found under the “Display” section in the settings and you can set it to change at a certain time or at sunset. You can also switch the white background to black in the evening for sensitive eyes.
Give your body some natural sunshine at the beginning and end of your day –
This is one of my favourite habits and is extra helpful if you feel groggy in the morning. It’s also really easy :)
When you first wake up in the morning, step outside and let the morning light touch your skin and enter your eyes. Your brain recognizes the quality of early morning light as a sign that the day is beginning. It’s extra helpful on especially early mornings.
Bonus – do it again in the evening.
Jump outside around sunset and let your brain/eyes see the end of daylight. This will help to lower your cortisol level and ramp up your melatonin production. Plus…you get to see the sunset, which is always a lovely way to end the day <3.
If you have any questions, jump to our private Facebook Group or the Ask Lisa page :)