I want to invite you to normalize not only the words but also the concepts of mental health development.
Our goal today is to create a life without hesitations or weirdness around the thought of working on your mental health.
I want you to feel 100% relaxed,
Content and confident with this topic.
Our goal is to create the same ease you have around nutrition or exercise.
You might dislike nutrition or exercise,
But chances are you don't feel weird around them.
And that's what we are trying to achieve today,
Making you feel 100% comfortable with your mental health.
Lisa Oliveira said,
Just because no one else can heal or do your inner work for you,
Doesn't mean you can't,
Should or need to do it alone.
So let's do it together.
Now what is mental health?
Mental health is your psychological and emotional condition and I think it is the result of anything you do,
Anything you eat,
Anything you drink,
Anyone you surround yourself with and so on.
It is the result of all your actions and life choices.
I understand that you have been born with a predisposition and I understand that your upbringing and your environment molded your beliefs,
Attitudes and lifestyle.
Yet,
I would like to invite you now to think about mental health as a result of your everyday life choices.
Understanding this concept is the first step to taking the weight out of the term mental health,
To make the term practical and approachable.
Next,
I want to make the argument that physical and mental health are extremely interconnected.
Your body and your mind are one.
One affects the other and the other way around.
They are in balance or imbalanced together.
There's no healthy mind without a healthy body and vice versa.
There are thousands of examples of this,
Like the famous ulcer from too much stress or just feeling physically drained by brain overload.
So accept that mental and physical health go hand in hand.
But let's get back to your relationship with the concept of mental health.
For most of us,
Our mental health is something that we are not bringing to the surface easily.
And maybe also for good reason.
Overanalyzing your mental health and trying to improve your mental health is not something you should do all day every day.
Creating your ideal life and following your path is something you should do every day.
Yet,
When the topic of mental health does come up,
You will benefit from having an open and light-hearted mindset around it.
The topic is usually discussed in such a heavy and serious way that we try to avoid it.
This is the number one reason,
I believe,
That we do not talk about it in a way that makes it easily approachable for us.
Now let's talk about giving yourself permission to go there.
When your neighbor asks you,
How are you doing,
How often do you say something like,
My back hurts a bit,
But all good?
And how often do you answer,
I'm okay,
But feeling a bit sad this week?
No one usually ever shares their state of mind,
Their mental health.
Now why is it so difficult?
And why is it that when you do talk about mental health,
We make it so heavy?
It is not possible and healthy to be able to share it in a more frequent and more light-hearted way?
Now that you understand that for some reason you are taught to avoid talking freely and with lightness and ease about your state of mind,
Let's look at that a bit further.
I would now like to invite you to make a conscious decision that talking about mental health in an open,
Honest and direct way is something that you want to happen regularly in your life.
We often get asked,
How are you doing during your week and would you choose for an answer is up to you.
So the very first thing to do is to jump in the cold water and go there.
Allow yourself to make real answers about your state of mind,
Both the positive and the negative feelings.
At the beginning this decision might feel forced to you,
But the more you practice it,
The more automatic and light-hearted it will become.
Now when talking authentically about your mental health,
I am not saying you should open up your deepest thoughts and feelings every day and constantly dwell in your sorrows and fears.
Just challenge yourself to open up a bit more when being asked,
How are you doing?
Are you feeling a bit unmotivated,
Cheerful,
A bit lazy?
Does the weather make you feel a bit lethargic or maybe excited?
Allow yourself to check in with yourself and share with authenticity.
Over time this will become easy and automatic.
Now you might be surprised how quickly this kind of conversing becomes normal to you and how easy it becomes to show yourself.
When other people become conscious of how you are able to communicate,
They will start conversations with you that are more interesting and more meaningful.
Is it because nothing makes us open up as much as listening to someone else open up first?
You will be surprised what conversations you invite into your life.
So consciously choose to share your mental health.
It can be as simple as saying,
I don't feel so great today.
The next step you might find beneficial is to research and educate yourself about the thoughts and feelings you currently deal with.
Being interested and gaining theoretical understanding is important as they also normalize your attitude towards any topic.
For example,
Imagine you have an allergic reaction to something.
Chances are very likely you look up the specific type of allergy online or you go to the doctor or you research what natural and modern remedies there are available.
You are becoming a detective for your physical health.
Now,
Your mental health will benefit from the same curiosity,
The same attitude.
Mental health is not a mystery.
There are a ton of practices and solutions for all kinds of feelings you might deal with.
I'm certain you will be able to find whatever will serve you if you are interested enough.
Research might not give you the exact answer or tool for you to solve problems,
But you will at least feel that you are in the process and that you walk on the right path.
Now let's talk about today's practical exercises.
The first thing I would like to invite you to do is to write down 5 thoughts or feelings you have when thinking about the words mental health.
Just say to yourself,
In your mind or out loud,
Mental health and write down your observations.
Pause the course now and come back to it when you are done with the first part.
Now I would like to invite you to write down which of these thoughts and feelings serve you and which ones don't serve you.
Write behind any thought or feeling serves me or doesn't serve me.
I just want you to become aware of what kind of thought patterns improve your life quality and which ones might not.
Again,
Pause the course now and write down your observations.
During this week I would like to invite you to talk about your real authentic state of mind whenever you get asked questions like how are you doing,
What's up,
What's going on.
This might be awkward at first,
Especially when the question is meant as a polite greeting.
Nevertheless,
I want you to get used to bringing awareness to your real state of mind and not being ashamed or hesitant to share it.
