I’ve been getting requests, and I want to talk about something GIANT: Mental Health and how to maintain yours from a spiritual lens!
As you all know, we’re living in some extraordinarily dark times right now. This can feel like your life is in shambles depending on where you are and in what situation you’re in. There’s no shame in feeling a toll on your mental health, so don’t be so hard on yourself; it means you need some mental rest and recovery.
I’m here to let you know that I am listening to the voices that need to be heard. I’m listening to all those who want to share their story about mental health and what’s up and how they are moving these times.
I think that it’s safe to say we could all use some upliftment during these uncertain times.
So let’s begin with some GOOD NEWS to break the ice here.
The good news is:
THERE’S NOTHING THAT YOU ARE CURRENTLY BATTLING THAT YOU CANNOT OVERCOME AND WALKOUT 100X BETTER THAN EVER BEFORE.
YAYYY! Right?
No, seriously, that’s amazing news because it means that every battle in our life is happening FOR us, no matter what the hell is going on – it’s happening to teach us some very important lessons that our soul chose to learn while being here on earth.
I hope you are in tune with this – as you are here reading this.
Here’s why this is awesome news: every experience is here to teach us something, and we don’t always have to be so hard on ourselves while we are going through whatever it is that we are battling. When you’re hard on yourself while struggling through mental health, it’s kind of like kicking yourself while you’re already down.
No, no, no.
Sometimes, it helps me recover hopefulness in life if I can see tough experiences through these lenses; that it’s all happening for me. Because it teaches me that it isn’t the end of the world or of myself, it’s merely a giant lesson that the Universe, Source, God, whatever you call it, who wants me to learn and positively shift from this into my higher self.
Now, that’s not to take away the shittiness of your experience or to invalidate your emotions – because yeah – it SUCKS to feel like shit. It SUCKS to feel pain. It SUCKS to be uncomfortable. Sometimes life just SUCKS.
Yes.
But.
Do you know what DOESN’T SUCK?
That some of the best days of your life haven’t even happened yet!
Read that one again.
What ALSO doesn’t suck is the fact that you are here right now, alive and doing your f*cking best, and (more good news) – you’re doing far better than you could ever even imagine.
Even if it doesn’t feel like it.
How I maintain my mental health:
One of the best ways that I can recognize what I’m going through and connect with my soul-self is by reflecting on my day, my week, my life – whatever I’m feeling.
Whatever I have the hardest or the strong emotion towards (especially if negative) is what I focus on while I’m journaling and reflecting on the situation as a whole.
Now, while you’re reflecting, you may have other magic that emerges out of your pen onto your paper – and it may not feel like it’s yours, because simply put; it’s not.
It’s probably the Universe speaking to you and through you and/or your highest self (your soul.) That’s why I love getting things out on paper – not only do I get to recognize the bigger picture, but when I’m in the flow with it, the Universe meets me halfway and gives me what I need to make it both a productive and satisfying journaling session.
Like I FEEL better – what’s better than that?
FUN STORY [sarcasm detected] for you on how powerful writing is:
One time I was working with an energy healer, who was helping me work through all my mama issues (I got lots of mamas and therefore lots of issues, HA!), and, Erica, my energy healer, recommended I write a letter to each of them…
I don’t want to spoil the plot here because this is going to all be in my book, BUT – I did want to say this:
When I wrote out these letters to the mothers in my life, the emotions spilled out of me and onto the paper. I hadn’t realized what I had been carrying deep inside of me all this time that was only bearing down on me and weighing me down.
Us humans carry A LOT in our bodies – check out: The Body Keeps Score, and we often don’t even realize it.
We carry the trauma, the wounds, all the experiences that took power away from us, hurt us, the list just goes on.
That’s why I always recommend inner-healing to everyone I literally know. I’m sure my parents are sick of hearing about it.
We, humans, have the capacity to hold A LOT within us, trauma, pain, everything you can basically name. But that doesn’t mean that we should. Because we all know what happens then – it manifests itself out into disease, negative reactions, addictions, additional wounds, etc.,
So it doesn’t serve us to hold our feelings inside. Okay, now what though? What do I do with this information you may ask…
Good question.
Connections, Connections, Connections:
FIND HUMANS to connect with! Connection, ESPECIALLY in these times, is more important than ever before.
There are TONS of communities online (COVID safety, of course ;)) for everything that you may need. Do not hesitate to reach out to someone you resonate with and share what you need to share. This particular process of releasing alone can be enough sometimes.
I want to take this moment here to open the space for anybody who would like to share something if need be – just send me an email here.
OKAY.
That being said – if you’re also on the other side of this and can hold the space for another, REACH OUT to everyone that you think would like to hear from you. Those who are in need of connection, who may need a listening ear…anything – just reach out.
The entire world has been separated. Some people never even leave their homes.
FIND ways to connect with others! And to those struggling: don’t forget that whatever you need is already available for you and around you; the Universe always makes it so. You just have to take the leap and go for it. Who knows, you may be saving your own life.
Connections aren’t just for the outside though; they are for yourself too.
Connecting to our mind, body, and soul is just as crucial, if not more so. It’s how we take care of ourselves and fill our own cups.
Many of us aren’t connected to ourselves, which is why I always recommend journaling. People may think it’s silly, but I think it saves my life, so be it.
Your mind:
Connect with your mind through meditation. The way to stop your mind is to learn how to still your mind. How to learn how to still your mind is by learning how to detach from the thoughts running through your head. By merely observing them and letting them float away like a balloon.
Something to remember about thoughts is THIS: We are not our thoughts nor are our thoughts us…it’s just whatever we attach to and believe – and if they stem from a wounded place and are negative or self-limiting, we probably need to patch some of them up!
Meditation allows you to grow conscious of what’s running through your head by learning to give your brain room to breathe and stop running. To just be and relax so you can allow thoughts that do serve (and ground you) to come in.
10 minutes of being aware of your thoughts is all you need 😉
Your body:
Connect with your body through whatever helps you express yourself – dance, yoga, walking, stretching, anything that makes you feel happy and alive and lets you forget everything else.
You can also connect to your body by doing a body check meditation. Which is about putting all of your attention on your body from a relaxed state and seeing where you have tension, pain, etc., and consciously breathing into those areas with intentions to heal. Allow the Universe to meet you halfway.
Your soul:
Connect with your soul by honoring what your heart resonates with and desires. When we say no to what our heart says yes to; we’re deliberating hurting ourselves and stagnating our own process.
If you’re saying “oh, my soul desires that ciggy or that drink,” I’d say – check in with your addictions and why you’re picking up things that only hurt you in turn. Whatcha running from?
Not that I don’t enjoy a glass of wine myself, but you get the concept.
Anyway, do the things that your heart immerses in without much effort.
Pick up a good book.
Connect with nature because nature is NATURAL medicine. It naturally cures you if you allow it to. Let it go and surrender your problems to the Universe and to Mother Earth when you go outside next.
Can’t hurt, right?
To just go on a walk in nature covers taking care of your mind, body, and soul in one! Nature is our greatest ally, too bad some of us have forgotten that as we are cutting down the rainforest, still manufacturing and disposing of plastic into our lands and water, and spreading pollution for our own selfishness while turning a blind eye onto that fact that we are a PART of it, not separate, and the overabundance of resources we take from it – we take from our own selves and future generations.
I’m done with that rant – it’s always necessary to speak up about what your heart cares about with which brings me to our next point…
GET CURIOUS and let your heart fall in love with what you care about:
Read a book or watch something that inspires you – what do you want to know? What do you care about? You know that the internet is full of the craziest things, right? Whatever questions you have – ask! There’s plenty of platforms and blogs that initiate some kind of storytelling and aid for you that you’re looking for and anything else.
I constantly look up spiritual questions of all kinds when I’m suffering from my own inner chaos. Because to me, spirituality is a foundational part of who I am. Whether I was that person before isn’t the important part here – the important part is that I have something to lean on that gives me hope and answers.
What gives you hope? What gives you an answer? What curiosity do you already have within you? Set an intention to find something that will help you in some positive way. That can’t hurt either.
Let yourself be guided towards things that you care deeply about. In my own personal and spiritual growth, I’ve gained a lot of love for our planet and the damage that we are doing to it (You can read my article here on: Climate Change Won’t Heal Itself Until You Wake up to Its Significance.) Find something that you can stand up for and believe in and put your energy into doing what you can to stand up for what resonates within your heart and soul.
There’s so much hope and love in that!
Mindfulness:
When it comes to maintaining mental health, there’s a way to consciously be aware of what we are doing, and being mindful is a skill we can both nurture and grow and feel nothing but better.
Just like gratitude, mindfulness allows us to connect to ourselves while disconnecting from the attachments of our thoughts and inching closer to the feeling of Source within us.
If you’re catching your thoughts and recognize their toll on you, ask yourself: are these thoughts making me feel good or bad? And then just take a step back – who’s that voice behind that thought? How do they sound? Feel? Can they be trusted that THAT thought/emotion is your truth? Does it feel good? No, good – you’ve learned of something that you can let go of.
Try exchanging that thought for something that feels better. But first, ground yourself. You can do this by connecting your feet to the floor and growing conscious of that space. Then imagine roots growing out of your feet down towards mother earth. And when those roots touch Pachamama, imagine light being sent back to you from mother Gaia and allow her to fill your body with that life force energy. That’s soul medicine, my love!
After you’ve grounded, come back to your thoughts that weren’t serving you. And ask yourself, what do I know about this situation that IS general and positive? That’s neutral? Mental health is about observing your thoughts that are beating down on you and putting conscious intention on something else that will help you instead.
For me, it helps to have spirituality because, again, I can rely on my faith to have my back. To know that everything working out for me is all happening for me. Because I know now and having just written my book, we can all learn so much when we can take a look back with the intention of relearning and healing instead of stagnating our process and evolvement by letting what is be affected by ‘what was.’
Dealing with an aggravating and an assaulting mind:
Our own mental health can be abusive. When I’m not paying attention, I’m beating myself up. For example, when I have a thought that comes up and I realize that I am trying to prove myself in (aka not being good enough,) I know that I can take a step back and recognize that I am enough as I am right now. That that voice in my head is the wounded me from the past. I know that I am perfect the way I am and that those are old beliefs are leaving me now because they no longer serve me. They did once before, but not anymore. Thank you. A👏D👏I👏O👏S👏
When you journal and meditate, incorporate nature in your life, and connections that touch your heart, you learn to become aware of how you speak to yourself and your life as a whole. You learn that your mental health is something you can actually control. You become aware that no matter what you have suffered or gone through, in the end, we are responsible for saving ourselves no matter what life hits us with.
Here’s a sentence that I read the other day that has been the foundational aspect of my entire life:
“Struggles are sometimes the best way for us to learn something we need to understand for our life journey.Alana Fairchild
This is difficult to get through at times, but nothing that we cannot overcome in time. When we take a look back as I have over the last nearly 30 years, there’s so much to learn from, so much love to gain that I missed by being stuck in my inner-wounded drama.
My biggest recommendation in all of this is to be SO gentle on yourself while you’re healing through anything and everything.
Growing, Growing, Growth:
Some of the hardest experiences are the biggest lessons. Sometimes we aren’t ready to learn the lessons yet. But when will suffering become too much? When will it take up enough of our time that, instead of succumbing to it, we decide to do something about it? To heal. to learn. to grow.
We learn that, despite all that’s happened, we are the ultimate healers of our life. And when we are ready to identify if we need help, it’s important to honor our soul’s message and honor ourselves through that process – gently! That’s the Universe giving from a place of unconditional love and acceptance. The question is, are you willing to take the help? We cannot do everything alone, nor are we meant to. We are humans and connection is the core of who we are. In our healing process as well.
You didn’t come here to be turned away, no matter how much it may feel like it. Don’t let your stories become who you are. Don’t let them BE who you are. Allow them to teach you what they came to teach, and then allow them out the door. Gently and with an open heart.
Life has a lot to teach us. But once we grow through one obstacle, we can learn that we can grow through the rest of them. And that suffering is no longer a negative choice that we think we have to go through.
We actually can go through shit consciously; more aware of why and what to do about it. And that, my humans, is the better side of life.
The awakened kind of awareness that makes you look at life from a different lens. One that serves you. One that works for you. One that is the one you may have been searching for, I don’t know, for forever?
You can call it awake. I just call it alive—conscious living from the inside out.
Able to see what’s happening within and outside of me without having to attach myself to it.
And when I do, to recognize why and what would serve me highest self.
Either way, it’s a lesson or alignment, but when you get it, it can always be both 😉
Here are some additional practices for incorporating some positivity into your life and promoting the maintainmenship of your mental health:
FIND TIME TO PLAY:
Enjoy the moment for what it is and bring joy and play into it if you can. Life is short, don’t take it too seriously. Play is as important as rest.
GRATITUDE:
Ever felt so happy when you got something amazing? That’s what gratitude feels like if we learn to instill it into our daily practice. By consciously loving something and expressing our thanks for things that made our day, our year, or our life – we fully surrender and accept the unconditional love and fulfillment. AKA – basically – touching Source. The more you incorporate into your life, the better off you are. Don’t fake it either – the Universe knows what’s up. I mean, come on, we can’t fool the Universe, only ourselves 🙂 So practice gratitude; aligning your vibes to that Source frequency allows more of that love in from the Universe herself.
EXPRESS YOURSELF:
No matter how you express yourself – DO It. as long as it’s morally correct. If it’s not, you better take a good look at your trauma, yo. Self-expression is giant when it comes to releasing shit you no longer need to carry within you. Set that intention prior to putting it into practice. Always incorporate fun and big love!
CLEAR YOUR HEAD:
Find an outlet to let the things out of your mind OUT of you. Whether it’s through writing, speaking, etc., LET IT out. Express what you must – so that you don’t have to continue holding that within your body. So that you can take your power away from it. So that you can recognize and ground yourself into who you truly are; a loved and happy soul.
SEEK HELP for your mental health:
If it’s urgent, please seek help. We love you and want you alive to live your best f*cking life. There are countless resources and humans out there about who to talk to and reach out to on maintaining your mental health and thriving despite any challenge.
One of the biggest myths is that we have to do things alone, especially surrounding mental health. I’m not sure if it’s because of the mental health stigma or what – but you’re not here to fight the fight alone. Seek out the people and resources who can help you come back to your soul and see life for what it is instead of how it’s negatively taking a toll on you. Both are a process and a journey, but should not have to be done alone.
Here’s a bit more good news:
There’s so much beauty in this world.
There’s still so much to see.
There are still people to love and fall in love with.
There are still amazing new friends and connections out there that’ll resonate with your whole heart and soul that you haven’t even met yet.
There’s incredible music that you haven’t found yet and that yet to be created.
There are still things left to be discovered by your soul that fully lights you up in the most extraordinary ways.
There are still future animals you haven’t adopted yet that are going to love you so much that you’ll just cry of love in the best ways and learn to accept that into your life FINALLY. (Sorry, that one was to me.)
There’s so much out there that we have yet to experience the magic of.
Don’t miss out by giving in to the moments that’ll take it all away from you.
There’s too much beauty, too much magic left for you to feel.
I love you. Be blessed, ya’ll.
If you have additional article requests, feel free to let me know!
And please, don’t hesitate to reach out if you need a listening ear. I’m in the process of creating a list of humans to listen to, and interview about life and how we are all getting through our journeys. If you’d like to be one of those people, email me, and let’s chat!