Listen with your Soul. Part 2.
Te taha hinengaro (psychological health) and the importance of a holistic approach to wellbeing.
One in four New Zealanders suffer from depression or anxiety, and 75% of those New Zealanders are women.
You may not experience the following, but the odds are that you know someone who is or has in the recent past…
Woken up, only to feel that you can’t face the day, the people or your task list, and dream of pulling the covers over your head and staying right there?
Struggled to put on an old shirt, pants or skirt, which leads to a spiral of thoughts about how you have let yourself go, or not lived to your potential?
Caught up with an old friend or saw some of their Social Media posts and then started judging your own life and actions?
The Mental Health Foundation found that many adults had been diagnosed with depression at some time in their lives and that women were more likely to have been diagnosed with a common mental disorder.
Every day thousands of people out there are feeling trapped, lonely and overwhelmed, thinking that something is wrong with them and taking all sorts of medications that leaving them numb, lost and confused.
In the first article of this series, we looked at the physical health aspect, te taha tinana, which is the first and most important aspect. We explored how food can affect our physical and mental wellbeing. We mainly looked at how we can combat common mental disorders, depression or anxiety by treating our bodies with respect, moving it and feeding it healthy nourishing food.
In this article we will be looking at psychological health, te taha hinengaro, what causes mental and emotional health disorders and what can we do to support ourselves better.
My holistic approach to health and wellness looks at the person as a whole and follows the Māori model Te Whare Tapa Whā; where the physical health, psychological health, social health and spiritual health realms are symbolised by the four walls of a house.
When any of these four walls of our ‘house’ are not strong or out of sync, eventually we start to feed our mind, body and soul with temporary solutions. We look for ways to numb our feelings by reaching out for unhealthy solutions - “comfort foods”, alcohol, cigarettes or even drugs that can exacerbate the problem. We tend to move less, deprioritise connecting with others and fall into a spiral of negative self-talk.
I believe that wellness is not one dimensional. The mind, body and soul have to be aligned. If one of them is out of sync it can easily impact on our psychological, spiritual, physical and social wellbeing and we start to develop physical and mental illnesses.
Research shows that 90% of people with depression suffered, either in their childhood or in their adulthood, from a distressing experience, which eventually affected their mental, physical, spiritual and social health and wellbeing.
We can feel that something is ‘not right’ and may also feel like we are not our usual selves. Maybe we feel sick, or just run-down, avoiding thoughts, feelings, locations and people.
Our habits may change and we may develop obsessive-compulsive behaviours, avoid eating or overeat, use alcohol or drugs just to forget the distressing experience and to feel in control. Some people fall depressed and do not want to leave their bed and can become very critical towards themselves and others.
Our responses can include guilt, denial, self-hatred, numbness, extreme sadness and mood swings. Many of these feelings are a normal part of grieving and recovering from any trauma, but sometimes these feelings go on for a long time and they begin to get in the way of our daily life.
When these feelings don’t go away and last for months or even years, it becomes a problem, as we keep thinking about the event constantly. We find ourselves trapped in a cycle of isolation, depression and anxiety attacks and we can develop post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD.
Some events can be significantly traumatic or shocking. Some are more likely than others to cause PTSD but deliberate events caused by others can leave people mentally disabled for life. People who are survivors of relentless stressful events such as: emotional or physical abuse or assault or just living in an environment where they never felt safe, seem to show worse symptoms than people who suffered from events caused by accidents or natural disasters.
This experience can also lead to an acute physical illness. The increase of stress levels and anxiety leads to high blood pressure and causes a strong emotional response which then impacts on our mental, physical, spiritual and social wellness.
The effects of these traumatic experiences can be deeply harmful when not treated in time. The memory of the event is being trapped within our bodies and we start to develop symptoms that may vary from one person to another. Unfortunately, this is what happened to my mother. She passed away after eight years of cancer.
Stress and fear increase activation of the brain particularly the Amygdala, which is the part of the brain that process smelling, motivation, and strong emotional responses like fear and pleasure.
An MRI study done by The National Center for Biotechnology performed on pregnant women, infants and adults, who experienced trauma, showed that abnormal working of the Amygdala could lead to various clinical conditions, even in the womb. Babies born to mothers who went through a distressing experience during their pregnancy suffered from developmental delay, behavioural difficulties, autism and even type 1 diabetes.
The Amygdala releases the stress hormones, Cortisol, which makes you react quickly without thinking. It is called the fight-or-flight response, which creates a strong emotional response and it can lead that person’s body to react irrationally and even destructively. The problem starts when the Amygdala releases too much Cortisol, the body then attacks itself and can develop autoimmune diseases and manic illnesses such as bipolar disorders and OCD.
Everyone’s experience is unique and personal to them. I look at ways to stop the negative feelings, the heavy round of self-criticism, negative self-talk and stress. Some of us develop unexplained aches and pains, harsh self-criticism, self-hatred, extreme sadness, irritability and negativity to life, depression and anxiety.
The way we think about ourselves and about our lives then, effects our emotional wellbeing, leading to the way we see, feel, and behave towards ourselves and others. Research has shown that people who blame themselves are more likely to become depressed and/or overly stressed and give up on personal growth.
Imagine stress as having a backpack full of stones that you have to carry around with you all the time. Throughout our lives we accumulate tensions, which are stored in our bodies and can lead to mental and physical illnesses. If the stress is intense, you can feel this clearly, like having a knot in the heart or in your stomach after you have a fight with someone or experience a traumatic event.
When we fully understand who we are, we can then set an achievable personalised health care plan that we can easily follow. By maintaining a healthy mind and spirit in a healthy body, we improve the quality of our lives but most importantly self-love, and self-care.
While working, as a Personal Trainer, at Club Physical Birkenhead, a significant portion of my clients told me that they experienced various levels of mental health issues, including depression and anxiety. Some of them were also on prescription medication. Many lacked confidence, feeling overweight, unattractive and constantly berating themselves.
Having experienced these problems and overcome them myself, I developed a holistic approach and a set of tools to help others combat their pain successfully. My mission is to help as many people as I can to live happy, healthy and fulfilling lives, all day and every day. It's much simpler than you might think to start the process of improving your state of mind.
Here are small actions that will increase positive health and wellbeing:
Avoid eating fast foods and sugary beverages. Drink water to flush away negativity.
Cook at home with high-quality foods with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to help nourish your mind, body and soul.
Regular physical activity is a valuable part of a prevention plan for mental and physical health disorders. Exercise for at least 30 minutes per day. Exercises that involve cross movement that engage both your arms and legs, such as walking, running, swimming, weight training, or dancing can boost your mood, outlook and your physical and wellbeing. Exercise is like a natural antidepressant.
Instead of allowing your mind to wander, put your shoes on and go for a walk outside. Outdoor activities are shown to reduce the symptoms of depression, anxiety and even PTSD.
Try to learn new things that will benefit your self-development in life.
Being present and ‘in the moment’ can boost positive change. Find the silence within and experience life beyond limitation. Try practice meditating for at least 20 minutes per day. Start with 5 minutes and increase slowly. You can use music or just listen to your breath. It will keep you calm and you then you will start to see things for what they are.
Write positive statements about yourself (affirmations) and read them to yourself daily.
Mindfulness is a great technique to help reduce stress. Look at the little achievements you have acquired during the day and be proud of the little things you managed to achieve and by counting your blessings, it will brighten your day.
Visualise how you might see yourself in 10 years.
Use your creative talents. Paint, draw, take pictures, write and express yourself.
Give back and help others. Cultivate a spirit of generosity and promoting active participation in social and community life.
Arrange to meet a friend and talk about what is going on for you. Whānau, family and friends, and the people we trust are our safety net. If we fall we can always reach out.
UpFitNZ believes that wellness is not one-dimensional; it incorporates Mind, Body and Soul. Our holistic approach to health and wellness looks at the physical, mental, emotional and social health of the individual and empowers positive change. We provide holistic services including: Personalised Nutrition plans; Personal Trainer exercises; Life & Lifestyle coaching; and Mindfulness techniques. All these work together to overcome depression and common health issues.
My qualifications in fitness, nutrition and coaching alongside my personal experience enables me to work with clients, guide and support them to get in touch with the importance of their health and wellness.
Learning how to control depression and anxiety can help you to grow and to change. We will assess your health and wellness and develop personalised achievable health care plan for a better future for you and your loved ones.
In this article we explored the taha hinengaro, mental and emotional wellbeing and how it affects our bodies and our social and spiritual wellbeing. We also looked at how it can lead to depression, anxiety and other physical and mental disorders if it hasn’t been looked after properly.
In the next article we will explorer the taha whānau, family health, of the individual, and how it impacts on our physical, mental and spiritual health and wellbeing. The wellbeing of individuals is bound up in the wellbeing of their communities.
Love, Peace and Harmony to you all.
Sources:
https://nutritionfoundation.org.nz/healthy-eating/adults/maintaining-a-healthy-bodyweight/adults
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/nutritional-psychiatry-your-brain-on-food-201511168626
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/the-brain-gut-connection
