How Wealthy is your Mental, Spiritual, Emotional and Physical health right now? What have you done to deposit into your mental wealth box lately? Are you investing in your health so you don't have to invest in your illness?
This weekend I deposited into my Mental wealth by tapping into my CREATIVITY/PURPOSE - I wrote this article - ENERGETICS - I exercised outside - REST - I read a new book - MIND BREAK/SPIRITUALITY - I attended an online meditation group - FUN/PLAY - I put on some house music and danced in the lounge - CONNECTION/COMMUNITY/RELATIONSHIPS - We had my mum and dad over for dinner - ENERGY PROTECTION/ENVIRONMENT - I avoided the news, I can feel BIG time what is happening in the world and I've chosen not to take from my Mental Wealth to view it.
I wholeheartedly believe one of the reasons we have such an atrocious youth suicide rate in New Zealand is because our young people are looking at adulting and are thinking that looks like really hard work and not much fun. They tell me when they are vaping 40g of nicotine a day that they are here for a good time not a long time. My experience working as a School Nurse in an inner city school was witnessing parents having their own significant life curve balls as they collected their sick children. A lot are experiencing the sandwich generation of having dependent kids as well as aging parents and the added responsibility of putting a roof over their heads and food on the table. There is the struggle juggle hamster wheel of being a Carer and the challenge of finding the space to fill up our care tanks to full so that we can achieve everything. There's a sense that there are a lot of people languishing, in life limbo or experience life fatigue with the uncertainty occurring in the world right now. Then there's every chance our kids may head overseas indefinitely, jaded by New Zealand’s high cost of housing and lower incomes.
This can be a recipe for a perfect storm.
We desperately need to stop and take some action now to close down this epidemic of proportions!
Mental fitness is shrouded in shame and stigma. This not only stops people from admitting they're suffering, it also prevents them from asking for help and this makes it difficult to support. One of the most important things we can do around having a mental deficit is to reduce the stigma surrounding it.
Leaders and those at the top of an organisation have an important part to play in destigmatising any mental deficits by speaking openly and often about mental wellbeing and their own journeys when it comes to stress and mental wellness.
Reaching out and connecting with co-workers, friends and neighbours and asking how is your heart today as well as practicing active listening and reflective responding can be of benefit.
Most wellness models teach us that the body is the foundation for everything in life, that without a healthy body, everything else suffers. But I believe we've got it all backwards. The body isn't the foundation of our health. The body is the physical manifestation of the sum of our life experiences. The body is awe inspiringly strong and resilient at the same time, fragile and easy to tip out of balance. When you life is out of alignment with your inner knowing and your whole health is out of balance, your nervous system kicks into stress response and your body suffers.
This is what I share as a Whole Health Nurse Coach in my own business, Heart Place with Nurse Jacqui. I empower and advocate for Carers and future Carers to understand and celebrate their mind to create unstoppable inner-confidence, self-belief and their own self-worth. I do this through 1:1 Coaching/Mentoring, group Coaching, workshops, speaking engagements, podcasts, writing, activism and continued learning with Lissa Rankin MD, at the Whole Health Medicine Institute.
This is more than about self-care, nice things and happy thoughts - they're not enough for me. It's about learning to advocate for ourselves, set boundaries, negotiate our worth and craft a life that works for us.
