What does it mean to be healthy overall?
I talk a lot about physical health on this blog, but honestly you could be the healthiest-looking person on the outside, but still be unhealthy in general.
We are creatures made of both mind and body, after all.
Your mental and spiritual health will manifest itself in your physical being, and vice versa. So if we are to discuss being the healthiest version of yourself, we have to take into account all aspects of health.
I want to address this topic in three parts - mental, spiritual and physical mind-body connection. This is Part One.
Let's begin with mental health.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mental health is “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community."
Now, I will not pretend to be an expert in this arena - that's a dangerous road to go down and is beyond my scope of practice. I also do not have the expertise to talk about mental health diseases and disorders, which is a category unto itself and would take much more than a small blog post by a fitness trainer to address.
I do think it's important to discuss overall mental health, especially while we're all navigating the COVID-19 reality.
The WHO's definition is interesting when you apply it to the current atmosphere, given that "normal stresses of life" doesn't begin to describe what we're going through.
But this is a test of our overall mental health - resiliency when there is no precedence.
Am I comfortable and self-aware of my own abilities? Am I able to work productively and fruitfully? Am I contributing to my community in some way? I think about times in my life when these traits were truly lacking, and its eye-opening how much that spoke volumes about my unhealthy mental state.
I really love that contribution to my community is part of being mentally healthy. It's acknowledgment that we need each other, and we contribute to each other's well-being. I ask myself: how am I able to deal when my normal sense of community is stripped away?
My personal attempt to stay mentally healthy includes the following:
1. Learn new material. I took a couple of online courses (you can audit so many courses for free nowadays, including from top universities) and I'm trying out new things in the kitchen.
2. Stay in touch with loved ones. Technology has made this really simple and it seems like such a small thing, but it really does affect my continued sense of community. No matter how introverted you might be, you are a person and you need other people.
3. Continued spiritual practice. I will expound more on this topic in the next post, but this just illustrates how it's all connected, health-wise. Even if you don't consider yourself a religious person, you have a belief system that describes your "spirituality."
4. Practice gratitude. I talked a bit about this in a previous post.
5. Work out. Yes, this does contribute to your mental health. You don't need to go crazy to get the mental benefits of physical movement. Remember, we were made to move.
6. Do things you enjoy. A lot of the above tips are things I like to do, but there's also the fun stuff - going for walks in the sunshine with my husband and dog. Reading. Watching Netflix. I love to feel productive, but a good binge of Brooklyn Nine-Nine episodes is also contributing to my mental health.
What do you think? What are personal things that you do to nurture your mental health?
Articles to consider:
The Importance of Community and Mental Health
31 Tips to Boost Your Mental Health
The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention has a section under their COVID-19 page that includes a section on Stress and Coping that may be helpful.