đź’źYou are the only one responsible for your health, your mental, physical and emotional health. They are all interconnected.
To optimize your mental and emotional states.
•Are you getting quality sleep?
•Do you meditate, do yoga, spend time in nature. Take time to just be present and just BREATHE deep cleansing breaths?
•Are you exercising, do you move your body in a way the increases your heart rate, to work up a sweat, producing cellular energy. From brisk walking, running, riding a bicycle, hiking, swimming, move or dance to music to put you in a state of joy. Even taking the stairs instead of an elevator.
•How is your “diet”? The food and beverages you ingest will have an impact on your gut, therefore impact your mental health. When my diet is off, or have been eating sugar or gluten, I feel off, less energy, not as happy, my body aches, my knee and arthritis in my finger is painful etc. To me, it’s not worth it. Eating well and taking care of myself (sleep, exercise, yoga, a “clean diet”) has become a priority in my 40’s and now my 50’s. Reversing the damage that I have done. Its all worth it!
Gluten, dairy, soy, sugar and highly processed foods as well as non-organic fruits, veggies, corn and soy WILL affect your gut, hormones and how your body functions as well as contribute to mood swings. The glyphosate in crops, the hormones in dairy and meat products will destroy the good bacteria in the gut microbiome which can influence neural development, brain chemistry and a wide range of behavioral phenomena, including emotional behavior, pain perception and how the stress and immune system responds.
Anxious? depressed? Start with your diet. Gut bacteria produces hundreds of neurochemicals that the brain uses to regulate basic physiological processes as well as mental processes such as learning, memory and mood, 95 percent of the body's supply of serotonin, is in the gut, which influences both mood and GI activity.
I was on numerous antidepressants in my 20’s, Prozac, Serzone, Zoloft to name a few, and none of them helped. I had massive mood swings and after telling my doctor, without asking how I was taking care of myself or what I was ingested (a lot of alcohol) she thought an antidepressant would “fix me”. I hated the foggy feeling they left me with, so I decided to fight, or befriend this naturally. I started walking every morning for an hour, sunshine, a lot of hills to really get my heart rate up and sweat. Started yoga and Pilates and juicing. I felt better within a week of consistent walks, and diet modification, the sunshine helped too. This also helped during an extremely stressful period in my life. It didn’t help my situation, but I felt great and built confidence and mental strength to move through the difficulties a little easier.
Struggling? Start by optimizing the mind and body.
•Do you believe in yourself? Do you set goals and work towards them?
•Do you have kind self-talk or self-respect?
If you want your life to get better, it starts with yourself. You want others to treat you better, look at how you treat yourself first. You set those standards.
•Self-discipline guarantees results. “Success is the ability to move from one failure to another without the loss of enthusiasm”
-Winston Churchill
•Build self-discipline into your identity. What you repeatedly do you become. Small changes in daily habits lead to bigger life changes if done consistently.
You can make a choice, to remain the same and suffer or change. Small changes, day by day, week by week, month by month. A house is built brick by brick, upon a strong foundation. Build your foundation strong and the rest will follow with consistent positive action. đź’ź
