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Oh my gosh!!!
So much has happened this past month and is happening this month that I can’t even keep up emotionally! It feels so weird to admit that to myself (and you guys) out loud but it’s the truth. I’ve never been the type of person to handle stress and pressure from demands well, but somehow, I made it through this past month in one piece. I’m also a little nervous about this month and all the activities that I have planned but I’m sure with consistent practice of my wellness routine I will come out of this month in one piece as well.
Here’s a super quick update about everything that has happened in my life up to this very moment. I celebrated Father’s Day, 3 birthdays, and the 4th of July. I also sent out a super important email to my mother agency in search of models for a super cool project that I am working. Literally within a day of sending out that email I was getting tons of models who were interested and wanted to take part in the project.
So, I pretty much spent the rest of June, and so far, all of this month booking models, writing out detail plans for the projects, booking a location for the photoshoot, and even booking a photographer. On top of that of course I had school that I had to do every week, and this lovely blog to attend to for you all. It may not sound like a lot but take my word for it, it was completely exhausting!
I know you don’t want to hear all about everything that I have been dealing with in my personal life as of late, and I promise this post isn’t going to be about that. I just had to get that off my chest because again, it was a lot and somehow, I’m still stand strong with enough oil in the machine to take on more! However, there is a point to everything that I am telling you. Having to juggle all of those tasks as of late really helped me gain a deeper perspective about why it’s so important that we all do our best to stay on top of our mental health. Especially during times when the demands of things that are within our control are trying to have the upper hand.
This past month of my life has really kept me on my toes. All of the hard work that I have been putting into making my dreams a reality took an emotional, and at times a mental toll on me. It took me about a week to realize that I wasn’t putting in enough hours during the day to effectively look after my mental health. As a result, I spent a lot of time stressed, and sleeping during the day and not sleeping at night, because I wasn’t sleeping at night to begin with.
I also committed to getting school work done at the last minute which was another reason why I would be up all night, and I ended up having a hard time managing everything else in my life because I was running on 3 hours of sleep practically every day. I never want to be under that much stress, and experience that much lack of energy ever again. To avoid going this process in such an extreme manner ever again (or to at least try my very best) I’m making an oath and commitment to myself to no longer neglect my mental health.
I think you should make an oath or commitment to no longer neglect your mental health too, and here’s why.
- We lose motivation for everything.
This loss of motivation can be literally for anything. Even something as small as getting up in the morning and taking a shower. Nobody wants to go a day without engaging in some form of self-care, and even if you personally do not consider taking a shower as self-care technique, I’m here to tell you that some of us do. When we neglect our mental health, we are neglecting our very existence. We are choosing to not let ourselves be of importance and that’s never a good thing. Why? Well it’s simple, if we aren’t in a good enough headspace, or in the best shape we can possibly manage if even for an hour, to complete very little tasks that make our living situation comfortable (such as showering), then how in the world can we ever be well enough to take on anything bigger than that?
- It becomes a very nasty habit.
I once heard that it takes 7 days to make or break a habit. I don’t know how much truth there is to this, but what I do know is that when we neglect our mental health it’s very easy to get into a cycle of doing so. We’ve all been there, where we would much rather avoid all responsibilities and just Netflix our lives away. It feels good to be able to be lazy like that, especially after entering adulthood, right? Well here’s the thing.
Actively taking care of your mental health requires energy, time, and effort. All of that together makes a commitment process which I’ll admit can be exhausting at times. So naturally any second of any day we get where we don’t have to put in much effort or energy into something in order to produce ideal results is amazing. Just not when it comes to your mental health because you will actually be doing the opposite. The less energy and effort you put into your mental wellness, the less likely you are to get positive or even ideal results of any kind.
Related Posts: 50 Fun and Easy Self-Care Activities to Add to Your Wellness Routine
If you want to learn more about wellness and what it is, check out my free Live Well Health and Wellness email course!
So how do we fix this? How do we reverse the process of not taking care of our mental health into one where we are? I’ve got three quick wellness fixes that are sure to do the trick.
- Get that daily meditation in.
I know this may sound so silly but I’m telling you, there are some amazing benefits to practicing daily meditation. Some of those amazing benefits include:
- Stress reduction
- Improved concentration
- Increase in self-awareness
- Improvement in mindfulness
- Can improve your immune health
- Increases happiness
- Promotes a healthy lifestyle
The best part about this technique, which is actually my favorite part, is that you can literally meditate for as long or as short of a time period as you would like. So, whether that’s meditating for 10 minutes or for 3 minutes, day or night, in your bed or in the lawn of the park across the street, taking some time in every day to focus on yourself will not only automatically increase your mood, but will promote good health overall.
- Give Yourself Some Me-Time
This looks different for everyone and that’s because it can literally mean anything. Whatever me-time looks like for you, give yourself that time to re-center and recharge. Some of my favorite me-time activities that you may find enjoyable are:
- Reading (have you heard about the new Hocus Pocus book?!?!)
- Putting on a face mask and just relaxing with my eyes closed for 20 minutes.
- Playing outside with my brother’s puppy
- Binge watching some shows on Netflix
- Set those thoughts free
An old time favorite of mines, journaling . I’ve found that when we keep our thoughts and feelings inside, whether they’re positive or negative they eat away at us, especially the negative ones. The positive ones eat away at us because there’s something good that is happening to us, or that has happened to us, and even in rare cases good things that we anticipate will happen to us, and all we want to do is share that with someone. The negative ones eat away at us because there’s something harmful or shameful that we are feeling and we may need to process that information, those thoughts, and those feelings with someone but we are not able to.
This is where journaling comes in great hand. You can literally write down all your deepest secrets and no one has to know about them. Unless of course if you choose to share them with anyone. Good or bad, express yourself through writing and share that with the world when you are ready to.
However, please be mindful to always share thoughts and feelings that may put you in danger or could be considered unsafe.
Mental health is so important as is our wellness. I know it can be a struggle from time to time to practice wellness every day for the sake of our mental health, but I promise you in doing so you will feel so much better. What do you think? Agree or disagree? Do you have some wellness tips you’d like to share with me? If so, drop them below!
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Until next time love bug!
-Xo
Kimora