Taking Care of Your Mind

Being in good health means more than feelings physically well; it also means feeling mentally well. Today we are more aware of how our mental and physical health affect each other. Setting aside time to focus on mental health is important -- to you and those who care about you. By practicing mind and body fitness, you can nurture your mind, body and spirit in a positive and enjoyable way.

Life is full of change, risks and challenges. Good mental or emotional health helps us find our balance and stay in control, even during turbulent times. But how do we know if we are mentally healthy enough to deal with life's ups and downs? People with good emotional health are aware of their thoughts, feelings and behaviors. They have learned healthy ways to cope with the stress and problems that are a normal part of life. They feel good about themselves and have healthy relationships.

One of the key ways of taking care of the mind is through the maturing of emotions. Emotions interact and motivate thinking, behavior and actions. They affect our physical bodies as much as our body affects our feelings and thinking.  When we ignore, dismiss, repress or jact out emotions, we unknowingly set ourselves up for physical illness. The emotional system (limbic system) of the brain digests and metabolizes experiences. Emotions that are not felt and released can cause both physical and mental illness. The repeated experience and non expression of emotions such as fear, anxiety, negativity, frustration and depression cause chemical reactions in the body that are very different from the chemicals released when you feel positive emotions such as happy, content, loved, accepted.

The development of emotional intelligence, the capacity for engaging in mature emotional expression, resilience during stressful situations, taking risks in pursuit of your relationship, work and social needs are all ways to take care of your mind. Challenging self limiting beliefs and automatic patterns of thinking and behaving also keep our minds active, exercised and healthy.

Mindful Therapies, psychotherapy, cognitive behaviour therapy, hypnotherapy, understanding your personality type, are also effective in all proven treatments for these conditions. If you or someone you know is suffering from poor mental health, contact our office.