Mental Health Tool Kit and Practices

The current health care system constraints will require us to search more and more  for information and support.
Not just for our physical symptoms but are mental emotional symptoms as well.

A study completed in 2020 – demonstrated that the average under 18 yo was waiting an average 2.5 years for help with anxiety!
Disturbing!
If you are reading this blog – you may be curious or are seeking better mental health and balance.
This substantiates the misunderstanding in this area of our health and the necessity for discussion let alone access to proficient help.

We all need support at different times as we navigate all the stages of a human being!

Our life span covers physical changes and challenges with maturity and together with our experiences – well, let’s say there is a broad range of  how and what we think and feel over a life time.
And these emotional challenges can be uncomfortable affecting our immunity, hormones, digestion, sleep, performance mentally and physically,  essentially everything!
Physical symptoms can be linked to our mental and emotional health.
Directly and indirectly.

Visit my Live with Linda – YouTube for an active discussion on Preparing a Mental Health Tool Kit AND more details!!!!
https://youtu.be/u8usCNBTtgM

12 Practices to add to your Mental Health Tool Kit

1.  KNOW when you are in a funk!
What does YOUR funk look and feel like?
How deep does it need to get before you are compromised physically?
2.  Experiment and Learn  various practices and lifestyle changes.
I do not imply with drugs, food, alcohol, gambling, shopping, excess exercise, procrastinating, excuse making, sleeping or napping, etc
Notice if these are your go to!
Assess. Are you doing constructive life style changes properly, at the best time of day, intense enough, to vigorous, MINDFULLY? etc.
3.  Create structure – where possible. This gives  a sense of control and satisfaction.
For example, making the bed every morning, taking a daily homemade lunch.
Starting small with a single thing – to avoid overwhelm and
pressure!
4.  Completion – Big on satisfaction and a positive “at-a-go” thinking. Improves confidence and esteem.
Pick one thing a day or in a designated time frame that is reasonable and do able.
5.  Breath Awareness  – one of the simplest treatments for tension and overall reset.
Inhale nose Exhale mouth Inhale nose Exhale mouth Inhale nose Exhale Mouth – all with force and depth then Inhale Nose  Hold for count of
8 seconds then a longer slower 12- 16 second exhale into a state of relaxation and awareness.
There are many examples of Breath Awareness. Pranayama in yoga.
6.   Movement and Exercise – this essentially means flow. Flow with the times, the feelings, take in surroundings.
Creates awareness, because you can’t move through space and time without noticing. Where are my feet, what are these sounds,
how does my body feel. This then connects us to our mental emotional feelings and we shift. Flow is good.
7.   Think/ don’t think – over analyzing does not produce shift but feeling does. Start by plugging into a different thought process that feels good.
If you are told to not think of grizzly bears that’s all you may end up thinking about. So Switch it to something that feels better like maybe panda
bears or teddy bears. Notice how this shifts you emotionally.
8.    Time and Patience – give yourself and tell yourself this feeling is here and to shift it will take effort, time and patience. Like instructing a
computer – it isn’t always instantaneous. Often what worries us or creates anxiety are gone in a moment, hour, day, week…do you remember
what you were concerned about this time last year?
9.    Meditation and Prayer – consider the foundation is acceptance not surrendering.
Seek guidance and wisdom to overcome challenging issues.
10.   Nourishing food, good digestion – affects your brain via the detoxification process of exchanging the intracellular fluids of the abdomen with the
cerebrospinal fluids that hold and bathe the brain. This occurs at night. An in flamed or “toxic” brain will be aggravated if the fluids it is
exchanging with hold allergens and metabolic byproducts that are not healthy.
11.    Engage all the senses.
Scent – aromatherapy, essential oils, (Lavender, spearmint and other blends) the smell of good food cooking!
Sight –  nature, beautiful art, photographs around your desk
Hearing – music, water fall sounds, soothing rhythms
Touch – massage, acupressure/puncture, steamy baths, showers, saunas, comfy bed, chair, sofa
Taste – noticing the flavors in a favorite meal, snack
Intuition / Proprioception – where are you really in time and space? do you feel grounded connected to the earth? What is your intuitive
self saying needs to be done, addressed, changed? Take the time to feel your response to an idea.
12.    Supportive Remedies  – maybe these are medicines, too. Be aware of sensitivities and allergies to substances meant to support and heal.
Teas –  lemon balm, ginger, honey, cinnamon, chamomile, oat straw, nettle, lavender etc
Herbal and Homeopathic Formulas – personalized to your circumstances medically ( other disease conditions present with or without
pharmaceuticals) and situational ( tired and wired, exhausted, anxious, angry, sleeplessness, frustrated, overwhelmed)
Prescribed pharmaceutical medication – may have a place in certain circumstances or maybe a preference.
Review their long term effects with your medical doctor. Reassess regularly every 4-6 weeks.
Vitamins, Minerals, Oils – for times of depletion as a result of chronic worries, anxiety, stress and depression.
**** Consult with a health care practitioner you trust and have built a relationship with to assist you in choosing best formulas suited to you
and your situation!
**** Listen, talk and share – develop a relationship with at least one person that is prepared to listen –  we don’t need people to solve our
problems. A good listener allows us to hear our own best solutions.

Thank you for reading this blog – it is important to have some knowledge before we are in a crisis.
Remember to watch the YouTube version! https://youtu.be/u8usCNBTtgM
Awareness is good medicine – build your personal mental health tool box with processes to soothe your heart and mind.
What works for you may not be the ideal for someone else.
Practicing self care or self protection will feel less foreign when you actually need the tools to reset and rebalance in stormy times.
LKND