Mental Health Awareness Week, 10 - 16 May 2021 What do our coaches have to share?
“How are you doing today?” We often greet each other this way. But, truly, how are you feeling today? As we go through a time of unprecedented change; signs of stress and anxiety may creep up on us from different directions. Therefore, an “ordinary” greeting can mean a lot more than the ordinary, if it’s thoughtful and sincere, a “How are you really feeling today?”, “Let’s talk about it”; “I hear you”; “We’ve got each other”; can make a huge difference.
According to The Mental Health Foundation in the United Kingdom, the week of 10-16 May is “Mental Health Awareness Week" [1]. In line with this, it is no coincidence that we are seeing more awareness campaigns, quotes, stories, yoga classes, camping and outdoor activities on social media showing the growing importance of wellbeing. In addition to the outdoor activities and exercises we do, what could we say about our inner self? What about our mental strength? Resilience? Mindset? All of these profoundly affect our day-to-day experience - but, are we aware of these things and taking steps to nurture who we are and want to be?
In order to bring more awareness to mental health, the main coaches from FELIZ Consulting: Mônica Zionede Hall, Anita Li and Howard Chim would like to humbly share some thoughts and tips on three key questions. We hope that this article will be insightful to you.
1) Did you do anything different in your routine during mental health week?
2) Have you done anything different during Covid times to help your mental health?
3) What are your top one to three tips for mental wellness? What are the tips that you do yourself and that you may suggest to others, as well?
We hope the answers to these questions will help, possibly by sharing a new tip or practice, or maybe just reminding you of a good life practice. Either way, it’s all good!
Mônica Zionede Hall - Founder of FELIZ Consulting | Chief Consultant, Coach and Trainer
Q1.
To be honest, I didn't do anything different from my normal routine of my Calm mindfulness meditation and my exercise. Having said that, I was so pleased to see so many posts on social media and many sharing, also tips from different people ranging from coaches, psychologists, employers, employees, businesses, artists, writers and all kinds of people. This is all great and I believe it really helps to bring more awareness around the importance of mental health.
Q2.
We can't deny the impact of Covid on our mental health. Some days it is tougher to deal with "not knowing" the future and all the uncertainties. My heart also goes out to so many people that have lost their loved ones during these times and to my family in Brazil, who I miss so much.
What I am doing during Covid times, though, is to keep doing my mindfulness meditation and my exercise, trying to stay in the present as much as I can. I have also done a course last year which was amazing, called: The Science of Well-Being”, on Coursera. I now recommend it to all my coaching clients and friends. Since we are not travelling, I have also tried to fill my life with more knowledge and beauty. I have a goal of reading 21 books this year and I also have fresh flowers at home weekly. Trying to stay more present, spending quality time with my family and friends, doing the coaching and training work I love and enjoying Hong Kong's beautiful nature, hikes, beaches. Where can we find beauty daily? And gratitude? Looking for it, acknowledging, appreciating all we have and enjoying the present. This is important.
Q3.
What are my top tips?! Well… some of my top tips are to: 1) Be kind to yourself. Remind yourself you are doing the best you can in your day-to-day and in your life generally, especially in the midst of unprecedented times like a pandemic. Kindness and compassion towards self are a key start to help us all. 2) Practice gratitude and mindfulness. I have a daily practice where I listen to a mindfulness app called Calm. I do it daily for 10 to 12 minutes in the beginning of my day and it really helps me get started with a positive and grateful mindset. Every day is a new topic, a combination of guided meditation with silence practice. The app also has a prompt to check your mood, and also for you to write 3 things you are grateful for, as well as other wonderful resources. I do it every day and have done it for the past two years. I absolutely love it and feel it has had a positive impact on my mental health and also how I interact with others at home and outside. 3) Have an exercise routine. I go on a run or a walk at least three times a week. Now that the weather is a bit hotter than usual in Hong Kong, I have started doing yoga again, doing it at least twice a week. I use an app called Downdog which allows me to decide the duration of my practice, from 15 to 60 minutes depending on my day. The key is to stay active, as we all know based on countless research studies, because physical activity helps us with our mental wellbeing: healthy body and mind. Another “fun fact” is that I have a habit of doing 21 push-ups daily and an exercise called the Five Tibetan Rites. I do these two quick routines before checking my phone, which also helps me get some good energy up before my day kicks off!
Anita Li - Associate Facilitator, Coach and Corporate Trainer | Master in Counselling | PCC - ICF
Q1.
I have not done anything different during mental health week unfortunately. However, as a counsellor and a trainer, it has been my long-lasting habit to maintain self-care.
Q2.
Covid is, for me, a tough time of change. We needed to get comfortable with technology, online training and working from home, and for me these were big obstacles. I was not prepared for the new norm, and so I went through a similar process as stages of grief [2]. Initially, I was in denial and resistance of the need to learn new tools. Later on, I overcame my resistance by exploring deeper motivations at work. I connected back to my career purpose of wanting to help others and to enhance people's development. I also realized that being in a state of resistance is negative and it affected my mood. So, I have a larger reason to move on and change my mindset. How I do it? I aligned my actions with my motivations, I focused on the purpose of my work more than the process, and now I feel very motivated and positive about the new changes.
Q3.
Before I shifted my career focus from the corporate setting to training and counselling setting years back, I was devoted to work and I did not maintain a well-balanced life. Through my study as a counsellor, I became more aware of this issue and I started grooming other aspects in my life and focused on self-care. One tool that helped me in finding my balance is the wheel of life [3]. I use it to evaluate various aspects of my life, and I highly recommend you try it too! So here are my tips for mental well-being: 1) self-care is important; 2) if we can identify our career purposes with values greater than ourselves, we may find deeper meaning in life and higher motivation; it did for me, and I strongly recommend the same for you; 3) we can learn to accept changes in life. Change may be a frightening thing. If we face changes with acceptance and courage, we may find life to be more fruitful than dreadful. After all, according to an old saying in the Buddhist tradition, “the only thing that is constant is change”. If we can’t stop the waves, we can very well learn to surf. I hope these tips can be of use to others in tough times, and remember, we are all in this together.
Howard Chim - Associate Training Consultant and Coach | MSocSi Counselling HKU (Currently) | MBCT Teacher Trainee OMC
Q1.
For Mental Awareness week, I spent my time working on assignments and projects back-to-back. I found it hard to maintain a healthy routine when work was so intense. I tried my best to maintain exercise (pull ups everyday) and daily meditations, though, and frankly speaking, it helped a lot in keeping me more positive and relaxed.
Q2.
One of my biggest obstacles during Covid times has been social distancing. I miss my friends and I miss spending quality time with them. Although we should maintain social distancing for the sake of our health, why not try other ways? Call them up, have virtual get together and virtual parties. I tried a few times with friends from overseas, and it felt great. Despite not being with them in person and face to face, I can still feel the human connection nourishing my mind and soul. So here is my advice, keep social distancing, but not relationship distancing. Stay connected with your family and friends, it really helps!
Q3.
I have only one broad but hopefully powerful piece of advice for overall mental well-being. Find any habits, routines or techniques that enhance awareness towards your inner self, and incorporate it into your life. There are many sources of wisdom available for us: any form of meditation, mindfulness practice, yoga, spiritual practices. Find those best suited for you and trust your intuitions, let it guide you. I myself do mindfulness meditations (MBCT), gratitude practice (10 fingers gratitude) [4] and yoga practices, some from ISHA foundations and others from online. I spent several years “searching and feeling” for the right practices for myself. It may seem boring, but routine really helps, especially during tough times. So, go ahead and find your practices, build your life with strong mental and spiritual support.
Did you like this article and the tips? Want to explore coaching or training? Please get in touch with us [email protected]
Written by Howard Chim, Anita Li and Mônica Zionede Hall
References:
1. https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/mental-health-awareness-week
2. https://www.healthline.com/health/stages-of-grief#order