Dial-In: Enhancing Mental Wellness from Within

Dialing-in

If someone were to ask you: “Hey, how are you doing?” what would you reply? Would you conduct a quick self-assessment and then tell them a list of wellness goals you were working towards to improve your mental health? Probably not, and that is perfectly fine. Most people would offer a simple “I’m fine, thanks” and carry on with their day.

But what if you asked that same question of yourself?

...And what if you found that, instead of ‘fine’ you were actually feeling out-of-sorts or mentally drained? Would you take a step back and explore those feelings further?  

We often live our days with a feeling that something is amiss, but can’t ‘put our finger on’ what it is. The looming task of introspection can become more and more daunting as our minds become weary and increasingly distracted with each passing day. When we find ourselves on this downward slope, it can be tempting to address our feelings by ‘numbing out’ with junk food, unmindful mobile scrolling, media binging, and so forth. We live in an age of immense bounty and almost unlimited possibilities, yet a large part of our world today experiences a troublingly high prevalence of mood disorders.

One approach to taking stock of your mental wellbeing is to do regular self-checks, and create a mental list of goals and actions that will help keep your mind on a path of intention. For example:

• Self-check: Today I am feeling disconnected with my personal development goals.  

  Action: Enrolling in a course with a friend and learning something new.

• Self-check: My mind feels scattered and I am having trouble being present. 

  Action: Taking a mental break and challenging yourself with physical exercise. 

• Self-check: I can’t seem to find an energy balance –I’m either hyperactive or exhausted 

Action: Incorporating more plant-based choices into your diet/cutting back on processed or sugary foods.

All of these examples share the same intent – assessing what your mind needs in order to feel more at ease, and exploring the steps you can take towards living a life that promotes your mental well-being. A life that at the end of another long day, feels purposeful and satisfying. When we take a proactive approach to our mental well-being, it can be easier to overcome roadblocks like negative memories, missed opportunities and difficult emotions.

That said, you can’t solve a problem if you don’t fully understand where it exists or how it works.  And that is one of the toughest obstacles in the journey towards self-knowledge, mental balance and emotional intelligence.

As our society expands both literally and technologically exponentially,  we have the tendency to lose connections along the way. The longer the stride, the higher the chance to topple, so our internal strength must be foundational, flexible yet resilient and sustainable.

Setting the stage

Ray + Terry are no strangers to taking deep strides and looking beyond the horizon, but they too know that self-knowledge and inner work take first priority in order to reach success in any capacity. The fundamentals of both mental and physical preservation discussed in Transcend will get you on the right track towards comprehensively better health.

These crucial first steps towards increased emotional intelligence will organically lead to more positive action. In Transcend the next steps are outlined and focus on:

• Relaxation

• Sleep hygiene

• Diet, exercise, supplementation,

• And an unending curiosity about developing technologies.

Following these steps and proactively weaving them into your daily routine, will help foster constructive emotional responses and empower personal agency in your life.

Living Your Balanced Life

Aligning your routine to treat both your body and mind in tandem is essential for maintaining a space for wellness and longevity. Meditation has been shown to preserve mental health, and help you hone your emotional capacity for healthy actions and reactions.

Practicing to see the space and use it when under pressure will lead to a more intentional life. If you take care of yourself, you will be better equipped to empathetically engage with yourself and your community. The more you can trust your own emotional responses, the more resilient you will feel as you handle those necessary or treasured social interactions. Embrace mental and physical balance, and  self-leadership will become your nexus.

Awareness, self-leadership, the ability to communicate effectively with others and have human empathy in a world that is all moving parts, are the key components of higher emotional intelligence. Thankfully, higher EI is considered to come from maturity and experience, as well. Often, just moving thoughtfully through this life will make us emotionally more resilient.

So let’s dial-in today and each day, for Mental Health Awareness Month, so that we may move forward with a steadier base. Our best futures truly depend on it.