[May 2024] Inner Wisdom Newsletter

How to Honor Your Mental Health

May is Mental Health Awareness month, and I want to talk about the importance of caring for our mental health. I have noticed there seems to be bigger energy around rushing, busyness, and even fast traffic! Honestly, I feel it boils down to anxiousness, as if our nervous systems have revved up in some way.

Our mental health is a foundation of our life: how we feel and choose to experience every moment. While what we think and the thoughts we tell ourselves matter, I know that our nervous systems play a significant part in activating our thoughts.

How do you relax your anxiousness from the inside out?

How do you learn to feel into your nervous system and calm yourself physically in your body?

One method is to stay present in activating your Vagus nerve. This is the longest nerve in the body; it is critical to activate because when we do, we move into rest and restore mode from the inside out. When we are in this mode, from a physical sense, we feel relaxed, open, and calmer. Being in this state provides us the opportunity to develop solutions we may never have considered, we have more joy, and we slow down, which supports us in being more present with ourselves. This allows us to honor what our body is telling us.

Here is my practice for activating the Vagus nerve:

Legs Up the Wall – This is an easy exercise to activate the Vagus nerve and calm ourselves. I do this for 6 minutes before I go to bed. When you yawn, you know your Vagus has been activated as there is a deep sense from the inside out that you are relaxed.

Elongated Breathing – Inhale for 4 counts, exhale for 6 counts for a total of 6 minutes. As you breathe, begin to place your hands on your heart and bring to mind what you are most grateful for. This floods your body with chemicals that relax and open your heart - and it feels great!

Working Out – This helps my nervous system release energy and supports me in staying healthy, as well as feeling strong and connected to my body.

Dancing – I practice a dance that is very slow and not going to the beat of the music. It is about slowing down and being really present with my body - turning my mind off and letting my body lead me.

Meditation – This helps me allow "what is" and be with whatever is happening. It is about opening and allowing - not trying to analyze, change, or fix it. It takes practice, but it is worth the time as it helps release resistances we may not even realize are there. It opens the space inside ourselves, which supports us in creating the ability to allow and receive in our day-to-day life.

Listening to calming music or sound bowls automatically calms me from the inside out.

As technology increases, the speed of life continues, and as things constantly change, it is important that we pay attention to our nervous system and take time to reflect, slow down, and do practices that support our mental health and wellbeing. We need practices that support us in being present with ourselves, so we can learn to listen to our deep inner knowing and honor what we need to stay healthy in challenging times.

In keeping our inner cup full, we then have the capacity to support others in need of the same.