In reviewing these last two years, if I asked you, ‘what motivates you to work on your mental health and wellbeing? What would your answer be?
Thinking about it for myself, I know the significant impact it has on me and those around me. Everyday life is different when I work on my mental wellbeing.
Benefits of Wellbeing
Any internet/research paper will have a great list of the benefits to wellbeing. Can you relate to any of these?
· increased learning
· Increased creativity
· increased productivity
· increase resilience
· improved physical health
· increase in life expectancy
· generosity and gratitude
· positive social relationships
· achievement and so on.
The good news is that mental wellbeing is measurable, and I agree with Martin Seligman, the godfather of positive psychology, it is also teachable.
Recently at work, we had an organisation called, Better Being run through a 1:1 session where we looked at key behavioural indicators which gave me a wellbeing index. There are numerous measurements of wellbeing available.
Well Being Can be measured
In the Be Well Program, there is an online confidential measurement tool that you can regularly take to measure your current wellbeing. It focuses on wellbeing, health, mood, anxiety, and stress.
These are all the key elements that are in the World Health Organisation’s definition of mental health:
‘a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential can cope with the normal stresses of life can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community.’
Before I go on to share one of my favourite practices that support my wellbeing, I would like to share a distinction between mental wellbeing and mental illness.
Distinction between mental illness and mental wellbeing
A mental illness is a health problem that significantly affects how a person feels, thinks, behaves, and interacts with other people. It is diagnosed according to standardised criteria used by physicians and other healthcare providers.
To explain this difference, we know that it’s possible to be physically healthy and still be sick. Think of an Olympic athlete who has a cold. We wouldn't suddenly say that person is physically unhealthy. We would say that they have both physical health and a physical sickness at the same time.
Or the other way around. You may have a chronic health condition or in other words a chronic illness. Does that also mean you will have to be physically inactive? No, I know someone with Diabetes – but she still actively goes for daily walks, attends the diabetic centre for nutrition talks, etc., she is still working on her health.
The same is true for our mental health. For some time now, we’ve treated mental health as you either have symptoms of a mental illness or you’re healthy. In the Be Well Program, we explain that a better way to think of mental health is to consider it is on two different axes. One that splits symptoms of mental illness from feelings of wellbeing. So just like our physical health example, we can have different combinations of mental health and mental illness existing at the same time. This reveals that there is a pathway to growth despite the symptoms of an illness.
If you know of the English actor/writer Stephen Fry, he’s successful in his career, intellectually engaged, and connected. At the same time, he also goes through periods where he experiences mental illness in the form of Bipolar Disorder.
On the other axes, you may not be diagnosed with a mental illness but don’t feel like you’re living your best life or flourishing and may realise that you could stand to improve your wellbeing.
Ultimately, mental health is more than the absence of a mental health condition and working on our mental wellbeing is beneficial regardless of having a mental illness or not.
Mindfulness
The Be Well Plan is a psychological program that focuses on developing healthy mental processes to build mental health. There was one wellbeing intervention in the Be Well Program scientifically proven to be most effective. It was mindfulness. I know it has become a bit of a buzzword and has recently gained popularity. There are many different types of mindfulness.
What is mindfulness?
“The awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally” - Jon Kabat-Zinn.
Most definitions mention being fully present and paying attention to the moment. I think the second part of mindfulness definition is also important. Non-judgmentally.
It’s about having an attitude of curiosity, like being on a train and looking out the window as you watch the new sights in a place you’ve never been before. You observe what’s going on without getting too attached to anything. You have a beginner’s mind.
The Be Well Plan identified many benefits of a regular mindfulness practice which included:
· physical health – for example, lower blood pressure, improved pain management
· Performance – improved attention
· Neurological health – for example, self-regulation, decreased fight or flight response.
Could you identify moments where a regular mindfulness practice could have benefits for you?
Not everyone responds to all types of mindfulness. You may need to try many different exercises and see what works for you. That is what we do in the Be Well Program. Expose you to different types of mindfulness exercises so that you can select what works for you.
One exercise that has supported me with my mental wellbeing is Yoga Nidra. Below are my experiences and some suggestions if you would like to give it a go and see what impacts it has on you.
Yoga Nidra
I love Yoga Nidra as it cultivates the capability of just being. It is a simple process. The word Nidra is translated 'as sleep'. But it relates to the state of nothingness that occurs between waking in sleeping, or to a dreamless sleep.
There is no way of doing it wrong. I have read that it is available for everyone. Some practices are not recommended if you are pregnant or have injuries, not the case with Nidra. The goal is to move into a deep state of conscious awareness sleep, a deeper state of relaxation with awareness. Practiced, lying down on your back, you have the sense that the earth is holding you up.
You effortlessly listen to a guided track, just mindfulness lying down. You get to notice what is going on for you as you lie there. Nidra usually takes about 20 minutes.
I love the feeling of deep relaxation you get. It gives you a chance to learn how to self-regulate. Nidra is a great way to work on your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). The PNS is the relaxation response crucial for healing. The body cannot begin to repair and restore itself, to heal, until we move out of the stress response, which is the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), and into the parasympathetic nervous system.
Evidence shows it can enhance your sleep. (Want to know more check out a book from Charlie Morley – Wake up to sleep)
In Yoga Nidra, you may be watching your breath, moving your attention to different parts of the body, bringing thoughts of compassion to mind, or working on an idea to bring it to fruition.
Suggestions to give it a go.
· The free App, ‘Insight Timer’ has some great Nidra recordings.
· Try this free 20-minute Yoga Nidra Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H0FKzeuVVs
· The Human Kind Studio here in Adelaide and Glenelg has a studio or live stream class of Yoga Nidra. https://humankindstudios.com.au/, they use the Mindbody app to book your sessions. Recommend these classes.
Go on, give it a go, what have you got to lose? I would love to hear about your experiences.
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