What's Going on With Ourselves: Checking on Our Physical and Mental Health

This has been such a weird month for me. There’s a ton of physical and emotional ups and downs, and I'm wondering why I'm feeling this way. I’ve heard from clients and others that they have had experiences like this. If you have had this experience, it can be frustrating dealing with a dip in your mood and feeling physical symptoms such as exhaustion. 

When considering how to navigate these feelings and check in on ourselves, I think it’s beneficial to examine what may be happening. By understanding what’s going on, we can figure out how to navigate it. This isn’t a one-size-fits-all guide, but rather some suggestions that can help.

So when we feel off, it’s good to check a couple of things:

1. Is this mental, physical, or both?

2. If Physical things to check:

• How’s my sleep? Am I getting enough sleep? Is it consistent?

• How's your eating? Are you eating enough that gives you energy?

• Have you been to the doctor? Got any checks on blood, vitamin levels. Thyroid

• Are you getting proper health checks according to your body?

• Do you take substances, and how much?

• Are you exercising or getting some form of activity?

1. If mental things to check:

• What are your feelings? Is there an emotion arising that is being affected by your thoughts? (anger, sadness, embarrassment, shame, jealousy, disgust, etc.)

• Is there something that’s on your mind?

• Is there something making you feel depressed? 

• Is there something making you feel anxious?

• Are you feeling overwhelmed? What's making you feel that way?

• Are you isolating yourself?

• Are there people you want to reach out to?

• Are you feeling overstimulated? By what?

These are just some things to check into to help navigate where you are at. Suppose you have a hard time asking yourself and finding out these things. Remember to give yourself space to process if you can’t think clearly, and also consider reaching out to a professional therapist to help navigate some of these thoughts.

There will be times when we feel off, and it’s beneficial to understand our bodies to help identify our needs, whether they are physical, mental, or both. It’s ok not to know immediately, but even being able to figure out what it’s not can also help. It’s good to be in tune with our bodies to help address our emotional and physical needs to support the quality of our lives.

Cultivating a Mindfulness Practice: The Park Bench

We’re in a time of great unknown. If you have anxiety, it might be ramping up right now. If you’re someone who has been fortunate enough to not count anxiety amongst your feelings/experiences, you might be having your first taste of just how consuming it can be. Anxiety often plays to our fears of the unknown, exacerbating them into the worst-case scenario, pushing us to live in some scary future we can’t control.

And, right now, as we wake up every morning, trying to discern the difference between clickbait media and public health information so that we have some semblance of what our next day, week, month, or several months might look like, it’s hard not to get lost in the unsettling unknown.

If you’re in therapy right now, especially at Gather & Grow OC, it’s likely that your therapist has been spouting the benefits of mindfulness practice! Right now is an especially important time for us to stay present and release attachment to what we can’t control but we know that’s easier said than done! Mindfulness is called “a practice” for a reason, it’s a tool you have to take out often and utilize so that it’s accessible when you need it. Many of us utilize it in our own healing journeys and engage in other wellness practices that remind us this work is challenging but worth it!

If you’re new to mindfulness, or are familiar but would like to deepen your practice, this exercise is a simple start. Try it out and journal a bit about how you feel afterward. Being able to harness our thoughts when there’s a lot going on in the world is always going to be a useful tool!

In it together,

Traci

Co-Director, Gather & Grow OC

Being Mindful About Mindfulness

Life can be so fast paced and stressful, sometimes we aren’t mindful about certain things such as what we say, do, or even experience. Mindfulness is the act of being present in the moment and being able to observe your feelings and thoughts without judgment. We can get so caught up with the million tasks and things around us we can completely stumble on our own productivity. 

So what can we do when this happens? Maybe try some mindfulness activities to help stay in the present and keep your thoughts clear. Meditation with mindfulness scripts can be a good way to keep your mind at focus and ease. Another idea is mindfully doing activities and focusing without multitasking such as eating, driving, walking, and even showering. Mindfulness breathing activities are also a good way to steady your nervous system and help you be mindful of the moment.

Here are some links to some mindfulness scripts and activities you can use to help jump start you into a more mindful life!

https://www.thepathway2success.com/10-mindfulness-activities-you-can-try-today/

https://psychcentral.com/blog/1-minute-mindfulness-exercises/

https://www.innerhealthstudio.com/meditation-scripts.html