Mental Health Awareness
This morning I went to a wonderful Movement and Mental Health workshop in my community. It was hosted by The Well For Life, the organization I fundraised for in March and April (more here and in other posts). We had a rain storm right about the time I was going to ride my bike down there, so I waited a few minutes. When I arrived, they were moving things inside. It is Florida, after all. Just because the forecast says it’s not supposed to rain doesn’t mean it won’t. So I offered my hands to help make a little bit lighter work for moving things in.
Movement and Meditation
Once things got rolling again, Clayton from Mindful Movement led us in chair meditations and yoga. As part of that, he had us put our hands over our hearts. Just that… Putting my hands over my heart and holding them there brought tears to my eyes. We continued through the stretches with our hands coming back to our heart as we moved our focus to different places in our body. Each time I brought my hands to my heart, I felt … something. Like a hug. And there aren’t many hugs happening in my life on any given do (so they can trigger tears too).
We then moved into a discussion about why movement is important to our mental health. Dr. LaDonna Butler, the event host, pointed out that sometimes we think about mental health being something we take care of one-on-one with another person in therapy sessions. But really, it’s our lives! It’s dancing to music that moves us. It’s riding our bikes to get places and to challenge our bodies. It’s being in nature
Other Healthy Habits
I’ve been feeling fragile lately because of … well … life. A couple of posts ago I mentioned that I made an appointment to go back to therapy, and I’ve had a couple of sessions of therapy since then. We’re still in the history and getting to know you phase, but just having someone to talk deeply with has been helpful.
I’m also working on reestablishing other healthier habits that help to support mental health. I’ve been riding my bike a little bit more, and I even checked to see if it was possible for me to reach the goal of riding 2022 miles this year. It is, though a bit of a stretch. I rode 17.1 miles today.
I’m also on a rice and bean burrito diet. It’s not really a “diet,” but I’m making up a bunch of rice and bean burritos each week. I end up topping them with ~1oz of cheese when I make them, because I’m not a monster. (just kidding, of course) I started putting spinach on them as well, for some green, and I need to get some more. I generally follow it up with some form of fruit (e.g. red grapes are my favorite). For a snack I’ve been having peanut butter or peanut butter jelly toast.
I know I need to get some other veggies in there, but this has been healthier than my diet has been. When I get stressed, I revert to fast food, either from the grocery or fast food restaurants. So pre-making burritos that have generally healthy ingredients is a start back on the right directly. And I find I like them a lot, especially with some hot sauce. I tend to get bored with eating the same thing all the time, but that hasn’t really been true with these.
The dress challenge
I’ve persisted with this, and I still like the idea of it. Not having to worry about what to wear is nice. Not having so much laundry is nice. I still haven’t purged any clothing from my collection. There’s some things that could go, and I like the idea of keeping my choice of clothing just simple after I come out of this challenge.
Closing out
Wishing you true mental health care in all of the ways you need to nourish yourself.