Finding Ways to Create Diversity in Our Mental Health Tools

-When you rely on only a few self-care options to use when you are feeling unregulated there is a higher chance something might interfere and cut you off from these resources leaving you high and dry and seemingly out of options. This could be an injury, a change in your relationships, access to certain things like gyms, and parks, or moving away from family members or friends. Any change in our lives day to day in our energy levels or mood has the potential to ripple out and impact the resources and tools we have available to take care of ourselves so it’s good to have a wide variety of options we can access to find help.

“It might be easier for me to tell you yoga, meditation, and mindfulness are the cure-alls for your health but that isn't real and never has been true. I want you to have as many tools and resources as possible to help keep your mental health solid especially when yoga isn't available to you. Here are some of my top go-to tools for when my mental health is dipping and my nervous system needs some help. “

I want to talk about diversifying the tools we use in maintaining our mental health. Things have been ramping up in intensity for me over the past few weeks. I am getting married in exactly 1 month and the wedding planning has added to my to-do lists and my anxiety levels recently. I was saying just this morning how it feels like I am behind on everything, which does not feel great. Summertime weather means fewer students coming to classes, as it always does this time of the year, therefore I spent less time on my mat teaching. This has challenged me to try and take more classes instead of relying on teaching to be the main gateway to my yoga practice. I am not the best at keeping up my practice without the accountability of students. The irony is I know carving out time will help ease some of the stress my body is holding onto, but it always seems like there are 5 other things I should be doing. It is always harder to practice what you preach, and self-care sometimes feels counterintuitive. A misconception many people have about yoga teachers is that we are all Zen all the time but I was drawn to yoga because I need all the help I can get 😹 and a little secret you might not hear from other yoga teachers is... Yoga is not a cure-all.

Yes, it is an amazing practice that can be easily adjusted and changed to help lots of people in many different ways but I cringe every time I hear someone say "yoga can fix that". I look at my yoga practice and my approach to teaching as yoga being just another tool in the toolbox to help manage and maintain life. The problem with assigning it to be the only tool we have or the master tool that will "cure" our bodies or our minds is when we have an injury or we can't access our practice in the same way, we lose touch with our tools and life gets heavier. It is also worth questioning whether there is anything that is a full "cure" or relief from the emotional ups and downs we will feel throughout our lives. I think many of us try and keep such control, a perfectly even keel, on life that we forget emotions are normal and there will always be an ebb and flow of good times and hard times. We don't need to cure ourselves of feeling the full range of the human experience. If you feel like your emotions are stuck in one gear and you can't ebb and flow through them it can be good to look for strategies and help.

I recently was healing from a back injury and wasn't able to teach or do yoga let alone tie my shoes and get dressed in the morning without significant amounts of pain. It was really hard to feel so useless and helpless while giving my back time to heal. I felt guilty that my partner was having to take on all our household work. I felt shame asking for help because I blamed myself for my injury. I felt lots of guilt about having to cancel classes and worried about missing students and having people find other places to practice because I was unreliable. I was stressed about money because I wasn't able to work as much during this time. And if I pushed myself to try and get back into things before my body was ready I would make things worse and my healing time took longer.

I had to utilize lots of different tools outside of yoga to help me through. I got support from my friend who told me "Cancel the class people will understand". I went to therapy and processed the triggers and shame stories I was holding onto around my injury and my body not performing the way I wanted it to. And I had to ask my partner to keep me accountable and not continue to overwork my back and let it heal. Some of these tools I have been gathering over time and some came out of the woodwork unexpectedly when I needed them.

I thought I would share with you today some of the extra tools I have outside of yoga I used during this time and other times of healing. It might be easier for me to tell you yoga, meditation, and mindfulness are the cure-alls for your health but that isn't real and never has been true. I want you to have as many tools and resources as possible to help keep your mental health solid especially when yoga isn't available to you. Here are some of my top go-to tools for when my mental health is dipping and my nervous system needs some help. I am going to try and organize these from high energy to low energy because some days just getting in the shower or brushing your teeth and hair is all you can muster, so we need tools that match our energy levels. It's important to honor our needs, especially during these times. I would suggest writing a few of these down and making a plan for when you aren't feeling the best. Give yourself a road map of options to help you ride the wave and return to steady waters when you can.

-Connect with the outside world-
-Go for a walk outside and get some fresh air.
-Call a friend or family member to chat, and remind yourself you have a community of people available to help and get support from. It is also good to remind yourself you are an important support to others in your life.
-Sit by a window, on your front porch, or in the grass for a few minutes.

-Clean up your space-
-Organize a part of your home or car to boost your mood. A clean physical space can help your mental space.
-Pick up any laundry or dishes in one or a few rooms in your house. You don't have to do anything with the laundry or dishes just get them sorted and picked up off the floor and surfaces. Small steps my friend.
-Clean up yourself 😉 take a shower, wash your face, comb your hair, brush your teeth, and put on fresh clothes.

-Widen your perspective-
-Read a book and immerse yourself in another world for a bit.
-Listen to a book or podcast and remind yourself of other people and other things that are going on in the world. Gaining some perspective on the things we are worried about can be helpful. This isn't to minimize or shame ourselves by comparing our problems to other people's but to remind ourselves everyone is going through hard things and you are not alone in your pain or suffering.
-Scroll through photos and videos from your phone camera or a photo album. Be reminded of the beautiful things, people, and places in your life and the memories you have created.

-Re-engage with your life-
-Start back into an old hobby you used to enjoy. Remind yourself why you loved it.
-Look up photos or videos of other people doing that thing (i.e. sewing, singing, a sport, etc.) and get inspired again.
-Look at old crafts you have made or pictures of yourself engaging in your hobby in the past. Congratulate yourself on learning new things and conquering goals.

-Move Yourself-
-Dance, walk, hike, garden, etc.
-listen to or watch something that moves you. Could be music, a movie, or videos on social media. I have a whole Pinterest board of cute animal photos I look at when I am feeling the need.

-Feed Yourself-
-Cook or prepare something nice for yourself.
-How would you care for a sick child and how can you give yourself that care?
-I read on Instagram the other day that the saying "fed is best" not only applies to babies when discussing breastfeeding vs formula feeding but also when it comes to our own bodies. There are times I don't eat because I don't have the energy to make food or prepare a full meal. Let go of the shame of needing your meals to look perfect and instead remind yourself that "fed is best" no matter how or where that food comes from. Give your body some nutrients.

-Ask for Help-
This one is harder to rank in terms of energy levels but here are the ways I get help from others.
-Taking daily medication and multivitamins.
-Going to therapy consistently.
-Having a support system of several people I can reach out to and know they will show up for me and I can show up for them. This also means you get to be vulnerable around these people. You can let them know how things are really going instead of sticking to the polite "everything is going good or things are fine". Be real with them and let them be real with you.

-Regulate yourself and your nervous system-
- Tone your Vagus Nerve. Lace your fingers behind your head, tilt your eye gaze up and to the right, pause until you feel a release (mine triggers a yawn or my eyes tear up slightly), then look up and to the left, pause again until you feel a release. You can also hum, laugh, or sing to vibrate your throat to tone your vagus.
-Perform butterfly taps. Cross your arms over your chest, place your middle fingers over your collarbone, and begin tapping back and forth from one hand to the other to stimulate the left then right sides of your brain and body.
-Remember to Breathe. Your breath is a straight path towards connecting with your nervous system and finding regulation. Finding someone to breathe with you might be helpful so you can mirror their pace and co-regulate with each other. We are social creatures so finding ways to connect is always helpful.


💖💖💖 I hope you found some tools you would like to add to your toolbox and use the next time you need them. You might consider saving this, adding it to a note on your phone, or sharing it with a friend who might find it useful. As always I am wishing you all the best until the next time we connect.