Mental Health Awareness Week

Hi there!

This week is Mental Health Awareness Week. I want to remind us all how important it is to slow down, pause, and check in with ourselves.

Here is a practical way to do this; employ the acronym STOP. I use this all the time, personally and with clients and students. 

S T O P

S - Stop

T - Take a few breaths

O - Observe

P - Proceed from a place of awareness, meaning respond to how you are feeling. Ask yourself, what do I need?

When you are observing, you are noticing the interconnected aspects of you:

  • Your physical body

  • Your breath

  • Your mental narrative

  • Your emotions

  • Your energetic state e.g, agitated, restless, lethargic

This can take as little as 15 seconds and gives you a snapshot of where you are at. 

I encourage you to be in relationship with YOU.

Other Questions You Can Ask Yourself

  1. What stresses or emotions am I not addressing?

  2. How am I relating to myself? So often we are harsh and critical.

  3. What is my inner dialogue?

  4. Can we replace judgement with gentleness?

Mental health is as important as our physical health and yet it can remain under wraps. We all wear masks as there is stigma around mental health. It’s okay to acknowledge when you feel off, sad, or anxious. You are human.

This being Mental Health Awareness Week, let’s aim to practice compassion for ourselves as well as for others. Resting is valid. Boundaries are important. Support is available.

Please reach out if I may be of assistance. I offer somatic therapy and will be starting to teach a somatic yoga class on Friday mornings this month at the new 889 Community in Yorkville. Stay tuned for more info on this.

In the meantime, please take good care of yourselves and your loved ones.

 
Lisa MitchellComment