MAY IS MENTAL HEALTH MONTH

Mental Health America founded Mental Health Awareness Month in 1949 and has led the effort every May to promote mental wellness nationwide. Throughout this May, the therapists at Present Awakenings will share ways they have more good mental health days.

Stacy Rhoades shares how she helps herself have More Good Days:

"Most of us know that engaging in a mindfulness practice is highly beneficial. Research has shown it can reduce stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms; make chronic pain conditions more manageable; improve focus and concentration; and much more. Mindfulness is also vital treatment for trauma symptoms – although then it’s usually referred to as Grounding Techniques, which fall under the mindfulness umbrella – to help disconnect from past trauma and regain present focus. A lot of times when people hear mindfulness they think of someone in silent meditation simply observing their thoughts, emotions, and/or body sensations (or maybe even putting them on a leaf in a river or a box on a conveyor belt and letting them pass by). Despite years of practice with these kinds of mindfulness exercises, I have never really become a fan of them – beneficial or not – which makes them feel like another chore and harder to motivate myself to do. 

However, given the right anchor to focus on, I can be a big fan of what DBT refers to as Participate Mindfulness exercises: where you fully get immersed in an activity. Think of an athlete in a “flow” state; their cognitive brain has stopped talking and they are just one with doing. My cognitive brain likes to talk (as cognitive brains like to do), but there are some activities where it will kindly take a backseat and just enjoy the ride. My favorite way to engage in flow state mindfulness is wheel throwing pottery. Making a piece on a pottery wheel is best based on touch and muscle memory, and once you’ve done it a few hundred times, if you can turn the talking part of your brain off and just do, the results get even better. It’s also a solid four sensory grounding experience involving your sense of sight, touch, smell, and sound. And it’s messy and dirty and can really invoke your sense of imagination and  play – especially if you focus on the experience and not the result – which I try to do for at least part of the time every time I throw.

I’ve thrown pottery on and off throughout my life starting back in high school, but I’ve been away from it for a while now. This Mental Health Month while reflecting on what adjustments I could make to have more good days, I decided it’s time to get back into it. I’ve signed up for a class at my favorite studio with an instructor who I thoroughly enjoy to help me tune up my skills and get back into the “flow”. 

Learn more about Stacy in her bio.

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Get additional ideas, information, and resources to promote your mental wellness and recognize May is Mental Health Month with Mental Health America.

Also, check out their Resource List which includes great crisis, mental health, and wellness resources.