Call 519.803.3025 or 613.803.6390
Mind Full Wellness
There have been considerable discussions, advertisements, chat lines and so forth, in the past 5 years regarding Mental Health. I’m not a big proponent of the ongoing use of this phrase. To me, it feels overused and under defined. So, here is what I think;
I think the repetitive use of this term Mental Health has people rolling their eyes. I think we are ‘missing the boat’ and wonder why ‘stigma’ remains an issue. At the end of the day, we ALL have A mental health – just like A physical health or A financial health, but we ALL don’t have A mental health issue(s). There is a distinction that needs to be made here for everyone to understand and accept the broader view. This may solve some of the dilemmas behind the stigma that is well documented and may in fact, expedite the reception surrounding the mental health concept.
This is how I explain it to everyone:
My belief is that ‘our mental health’ is not a condition but phases in a continuum of health, as it would be for physical or financial health. At any point in our lives, we can be in any one of these stages but it is an ever-evolving journey. Similar to our physical health – some days we have NO colds or headaches and some days we are just physically not feeling well with a sprained ankle, or torn rotator cuff. Similar to our financial health – some days we don’t have ‘2 pennies to rub together’ and some days we have savings in the bank.
Your mental health is similar. On those days when you aren’t feeling the best, we can talk about you taking a ‘mental health’ day off from work so you can take care of yourself – read a good book or meet up with family or friends that can brighten your day. On those days when life is great, we have a skip in our walk and we go about our everyday life.
The medical explanation of Mental Health (medical model), isn’t one that I am going to go into at any length here, but I feel strongly that this is the one that is talked about most of the time in advertisements and social media. Diagnoses like anxiety, depression and PTSD we hear about most often. We need to realize, in these times, that we all need understanding and compassion for these more severe issues just like you would if it was a broken leg or high blood pressure problem, and if this is where you are, please see your doctor or a member of the medical community that can help you.
Mindfulness is the other, well-talked about ‘new age’ concept where meditation, yoga, gratitude practices, to name a few, take us to that ‘Zen space’; one of feeling at peace with ourselves and our lives. This is by no means a complete definition of mindfulness but I hope it is enough to explain my point.
Mind Full is the third phase of my explanation of what ‘mental health’ is for me and where I offer coaching services. I think many of us spend a lot of time in this phase; more often than the other two. If you are having a few days or an on-and-off feeling of being off balanced, more stressed than usual, confused, disillusioned, sad and so forth, reach out for help.
Mind Full Coaching provides you with an opportunity to focus on you and your daily wellness. One of the most important things you can do in life is to cultivate an awareness of your whole self. It can mean different things to different people, but mainly it means that you are paying attention… to you! It can mean that you are actively focusing on and enjoying the food you have lovingly cooked for yourself and/or your family. It can mean that you are aware of any conditioned thoughts that do not serve you, and you are actively working to change those thoughts to be more in line with the healthy mindset you are creating. It means self-development and personal growth.
It can also mean saying NO to things that take away from your joy, and saying YES more often to the things that you love to do. It simply means that you are working to become more aware of your mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health and wellness – also talked about today, as self-care.
Mind Full Coaching Program – taking care of YOU!
Mental Health, Self-Care and Holistic Health all in one amazing coaching program.
I dedicate this coaching for your own personal transformation where we talk about ‘self’. In Mind Full Coaching we dedicate our sessions to taking care of ourselves – something that we don’t always do a great job at. This is for your OWN personal transformation of how you see yourself and making you, the #1 person you take care of daily, first and before others. It isn’t selfish. It’s necessary.
Our life experiences are a direct reflection of our relationship with our SELF. Unfortunately, we are not always loving to our SELF. This 6 or 12-week program provides teachings that leads us to a more profound self-discovery of who we really are and why we tend to love ourselves last. With these discoveries, we can enrich our lives by filling it with joy.