Set an ‘Attitude of Gratitude’ to Balance Mental Health this Holiday Season

Set an ‘Attitude of Gratitude’ to Balance Mental Health this Holiday Season

Entering the second holiday season with Covid brings a new set of challenges for how we balance our mental and emotional health, considering yet another adjustment to our changing public health landscape. This year feels more purposeful in our month of giving as we enter the Thanksgiving season with the aim of healing and regaining some ground under our feet.

The fact that there are two lived realities to contend with complicates matters. Individuals who are vaccinated and are planning gatherings with friends and family are in a different position to navigate the holidays than individuals who have chosen, for their personal reasons, to remain unvaccinated. This aspect of the endemic phase of Covid-19 is something we will continue to grapple with as we celebrate and move into the new year. While the lived realities of how we go about our daily lives may differ depending on our physical safety measures, there are mental health and emotional steps that we can all practice. By focusing on several modes of love-in-action this season we can also increase our resilience amidst stress and tragedy, while building community ties that are essential for our personal and social welfare. 

Creating an ‘attitude of gratitude’ as a guiding principle is a powerful tool to bolster our mental, emotional and spiritual health, which feeds back into the community building aspect of our personal growth – fostering meaning, happiness and enriching relationships. 

Acts of kindness build a community web of support and help raise our happiness meter.
This month of giving begins with Veterans day, an important day to give thanks for the enormous sacrifices that military families carry for us. As well as Giving Tuesday campaigns for raising awareness and financial support for the multitude of programs that aim to help those in need. A focus on gratitude this month shines bright within us as we strengthen our community through loving actions, big and small, that also increase our own sense of well-being through happiness and connection that comes from spreading kindness. We have seen people step-up in creative ways to support each other in times of crisis. The pandemic has brought out our better angels in many corners of the world. An article in Frontiers in Psychology points to several “silver linings [which] revealed sources of strength that included finding a sense of community, closeness, gratitude, and a belief that the pandemic may spur positive social change.” Acts of kindness generate the greatest amount of emotional healing and community connection. 

Love and gratitude towards acquaintances, neighbors and passersby in our life, can also come through simple acts, such as smiling at everyone you pass by throughout your busy day. Thanksgiving week is not simply time to be with family. Especially for those who are not traveling this year but want to have a fellowship gathering for the holiday, consider a small Friendsgiving feast. It would be healing to spend the holidays amongst whatever sense of community is available to you within the safety measures that you are comfortable with. Perhaps setting up an outdoor neighborhood potluck to connect individuals who would otherwise celebrate alone. Or consider supporting the most vulnerable in your area through sharing your talents or simply your time and presence, if you are able to safely. Through these actions that help us build our support systems beyond that of friends and family units, we begin to see the role of community in a new light. Now these terms, love and gratitude, are so broad they have room for myriad forms of relationships that enhance our well-being, especially when we extend that love to ourselves. Self-love is an important aspect of being able to give love to others in a healthy manner. And for individuals who are struggling with depression, the connection with self-love is often lacking. This study views gratitude and well-being in a psychotherapeutic setting. But self-love encompasses a broader concept, as well, as we look at wellness from the perspective of self-care.

Self-care in the context of balancing our mental health during the holidays means giving ourselves the time we need to relax, recharge to manage the hectic schedule of work demands, family life and holiday preparations. Fitting in moderate exercise, eating a balanced diet, getting proper sleep and carving out time for leisure activities such as reading, sitting by the fire, giving long hugs, taking long walks, reflecting during quiet moments or filling up on music and dancing whenever possible, are all important aspects of self-care. There are countless outlets that can provide you a recharge. Laughter is a wonderful remedy, of course, but not everyone is in a festive mood. It’s OK that you do not feel OK. You are not alone. Too many of us are experiencing grief.

Seek professional help if you need support to manage grief at this time. Contact 

https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org or call 1-800-279-8255 if you need immediate assistance.
For a free consultation to learn about various cutting edge mental health treatments for depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and other mental health challenges contact one of our professional staff at 1-833-542-3030 or https://ketaminehealthcenters.com

Mending hearts and managing grief when faced with an empty seat at the table makes the holidays especially difficult. If you are not experiencing loss, help those around you with your presence, simply offering silent support is what is most needed. You can help someone find solace by finding a unique way of remembrance this holiday season. Below are a few examples of how to pay tribute to a loved one that encourages a personal touch.

  1. Build a Centerpiece.
  2. Set a Place at the Table for Them.
  3. Attend a Service of Remembrance.
  4. Create a Memory Table.
  5. Share the Memories You’re Thankful For.

Lastly, but perhaps most importantly as we enter a season of reverence, is remembering our spiritual connection to traditions and ancestors. The essence of traditions in our social makeup is the source of universal love and our larger communal web of humanity, experienced uniquely and intimately with our families. Our personal experience of these traditions gives us a direct connection to our ancestors, our motherland, and oftentimes elucidates our place in nature. Create those nature-focused moments in our downtime, or an electronic-free day to create quiet space that helps us balance holiday demands with deeper meaning-making experiences. This is a perfect year to begin new traditions that harness energy stemming from new perspectives taking shape during the pandemic. Holidays always represent a mix of memory-making and energy-draining scenarios. It is important to read our emotions and give ourselves the permission to escape it all with our quiet moments of stillness that rejuvenate and reconnect us with a deeper sense of self. That quiet moment in front of a fire, or at dusk immersed in the beauty of a sunset, can provide the energetic refueling necessary to come back to your surroundings with grounded focus and openness. A spiritual connection to traditions or sacred space can provide a similar energetic recharge when we immerse all our senses and let the joy of the season fill our spirit. Peaceful holidays from Ketamine Health Centers!

Mental Health Check-ins Provide a Critical Gauge for Preventative Health

Mental Health Check-ins Provide a Critical Gauge for Preventative Health

Mental Health Awareness month in October comes at a time of year that allows us to think about how our mood and our state of mind affects our physical health. We can better gauge our emotional health along with our physical state of wellbeing, as we enter autumn and begin to feel a change in the rhythm of our environment, and perhaps within ourselves. Our nights become longer, our days shorter, just as we pick up a quicker pace rounding out the year.

We strive in our busy day to eat well, to find time to exercise as best we can, to sleep well when possible, and hopefully to make time for meditative moments. It is not easy fitting these things into an already hectic schedule while juggling life. Even more reason that preventative health is so important for us today, given the degree of stress that many of us live with. We are encouraged to schedule a preventative yearly physical to help gauge our health. Visiting with a primary care physician is crucial to help catch health problems early on. The same is true for mental health check-ins. 

Personal mental health check-ins can be done at any time. And should be part of our routine to bring in reflection and introspective thinking into our contemplative practice, or as part of our centering routine in the evenings. This helps us gauge how our mood affects us throughout the day, or how it might vary with the seasons. Our mood affects our interactions with others and the way it manifests physically affects our overall health. Awareness is the first step in addressing areas of concern.

A body scan at the end of a long day can help you identify areas that absorb stress. And with awareness you can focus on those areas to change how your body mitigates it. I raise my shoulders when I am stressed which leads to deeper knots in my neck and back. With greater awareness during hectic moments, I roll my shoulders back and relax my neck, and try to breathe through the agitation, which helps reduce the physical effects of my emotional state. Engaging the parasympathetic system through breathing helps reduce my stress and refocus in more productive ways. We know that increased levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) can lead to hypertension, headaches, fatigue, irritability, intestinal problems, and chronic anxiety. A nightly body scan can help you identify your zone and with awareness correct what you can work on.

There are also important questions to ask yourself often: How am I coping with my day? Am I releasing stress and anxiety in a healthy way, or am I self-medicating? Coping mechanics come in many shapes and forms, some good, some hazardous. Managing chronic stress or pain can easily lead to habits such as substance abuse, among other high-risk behaviors. Left unchecked, these scenarios can heighten mental disorders that one may be predisposed to or lead one into depression, or possible suicidal ideation if never addressed.  

At Ketamine Health Centers, we encourage you to have a comprehensive mental health check-in as part of your preventative health routine. A Licensed Mental Health Provider conducts an in-depth depression screening at our clinics that can help you identify possible mental health concerns early on, and provide tailored treatment options if necessary. Contact us today, or call us at 1-833-964-9750, to set up your mental health check-in at one of our clinics throughout Florida. 

Together we can build a stronger community by checking-in with our friends and loved ones this season. It is more pressing than ever as we navigate a new normal. Let us each take preventative health a step further to ensure a happy and healthy season of change. 

Summer Sets ALIVE & Well

Summer Sets ALIVE & Well

Let’s pause for a moment.

Reflect on where you find yourself, right now, rounding out summer and down-shifting gears.

Together, let us have a moment of silence.

Now, take a deep breath through your nose. Inhale long and hold that moment quietly, at the top of your breath. Exhale slowly emptying yourself of all that is unnecessary.

I hope this summer sees you surrounded often by nature. In backyards, on porch fronts, or at the nearest water source. Count your blessings if you found yourself in, near or under water at any point this summer, soaking in its healing qualities. So many of us did as we visited our majestic National Parks, renewing and replenishing ourselves.

I give thanks each day for living near beautiful preserves. And I feel grateful for unexpectedly climbing to the summit of Stone Mountain just a few weeks ago, while enjoying a weekend immersed in nature. It reenergized me to the core. Our natural world provides us with the most direct connection with the energetic source of life, and water ties us to its life-giving properties.

We replenish our spirit and our bodies at a physiological level when we engage in outdoor activities, or no activity at all but soaking in the healing tones that intimately connect us to the energetic world. Eating the seasonal fruits and vegetables in these natural settings help us balance our mind, body and soul. Even simply sitting outside for lunch once a week at your workplace provides solace.

Let’s make space for breathing deeply and intentionally each day, preferably outside. Breathing ties us most directly with our environment and marks the most effective path for our self-healing when done right.

Breathe through your nose, straight into your lungs. Breathing through your nose naturally aligns your spine and lengthens your body to draw in greater energy and generate more expanse, and by extension more confidence and self-love.

Simply by breathing deeply we create greater resilience to calmly face life’s challenges when we establish a balanced body (through nutrition and physical health), mind (through positive behaviors and attitudes) and spirit (by creating one’s purpose and simply breathing deeply). With time we learn not only how to manage, but how to thrive in those moments that move us to develop ourselves more fully and create our happiness, while navigating pain and suffering.

Ketamine Health Centers provides targeted wellness services through its partner at Alive Wellness Group, helping clients to boost their immune system and incorporate a holistic approach to mental health. A robust mental wellness lifestyle focuses on the mind body matrix and the importance of establishing healthy pathways. Breathing practices, meditation and nature therapy are important aspects of wellness that help us reduce stress, balance our busy lives and strengthen our spirit.

A personalized wellness assessment and nutritional enhancements can propel you into a synergized routine this coming fall that will further enhance your self-development and help you build resilience as we continue to face many challenges together.

Contact us today for a free wellness consultation. Allow yourself to feel ALIVE once again!

 

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