{"id":1993,"date":"2020-10-07T20:24:30","date_gmt":"2020-10-08T00:24:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lunarivervoices.com\/staging\/?p=1993"},"modified":"2020-10-07T20:24:35","modified_gmt":"2020-10-08T00:24:35","slug":"world-mental-health-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lunarivervoices.com\/staging\/retreats\/world-mental-health-day\/","title":{"rendered":"World Mental Health Day"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you haven\u2019t been practicing self-care lately, now is another opportunity to get in the groove and develop the good habit of doing so\u2014Saturday, October 10, is World Mental Health Day<\/a>. This year it\u2019s particularly critical for taking time to smooth the metaphorical wrinkles caused by chronic stress and anxiety. Our current crisis\u2014and let\u2019s face it, we\u2019ve been in crisis since March\u2014has been especially difficult for those already suffering from mental health issues unrelated to COVID. And just like compound interest builds up your financial reserves faster over time, compound stress can build up quickly, making mental health management more challenging for those who already suffer.<\/p>\n

So after taking care of your own welfare, if you\u2019re able to reach out to others in need, I encourage you to do so. Share your self-care tips with others or set up small support group to meet regularly. All you need are two people. Being able to see each other\u2014whether in person practicing safe physical distancing or online using a video conferencing app\u2014has greater mental health benefits than talking on the phone.<\/p>\n

If you work in any type of position that continues to keep the economy\u2019s wheels greased, governments running, the lights on, providing caring for others, responding to emergencies, or other front-line work, please be sure to get adequate self-care. Take 10 minutes a day\u2014as often as possible throughout the day\u2014to relax tension, breathe deeply, and clear your mind. And, thank you for your service!<\/p>\n

So what is World Mental Health Day? Sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO), it\u2019s a recognition that millions of people all over the world suffer from mental health issues of all kinds. To increase our awareness and offer a chance to get involved and show support, WHO is hosting a global online advocacy event<\/a> on the day. Tune in from one of their social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, or TikTok, which you can link to on WHO\u2019s website. The event starts at 10 AM, Eastern Time, and is expected to last three hours. You can tune in any time during the event.<\/p>\n

The self-care website, Headspace<\/a> is also hosting an awareness event. Headspace\u2019s chief music officer, the lovely John Legend, has selected some special tunes to help you get in the self-care zone. Headspace has a free trial, otherwise there\u2019s a small subscription fee. First, check whether your employer\u2019s benefits program offers free access to Headspace (mine does).<\/p>\n

One of the ways I practice self-care is by taking a more active role in controlling my negative thoughts. Sometimes I\u2019m like a bulldog with a bone; once a nagging thought is lodged in the jaws of my mind, I don\u2019t want to let it go. A trick I started using years ago to dislodge these nasties, including niggling replays of unpleasant moments in my life, was to say a mantra. My mantras tend to be something like I am love; I am kindness; I am worthy<\/em>, which I repeat in my head over and over until that beggering Little Me stops antagonizing. Now, years later, I\u2019ve gotten so good at shifting my focus that all I have to do to unclench the negative thoughts when they arise is say in my head stop it!<\/em> Really, that\u2019s it. It\u2019s like slapping your mind back to what matters. And what matters ain\u2019t that negative crap.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a quote from the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whom I\u2019ve been reading a lot about lately. This one just perfectly sums up what I\u2019m talking about:<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t be distracted by emotions like anger, envy, and resentment. These just zap energy and waste time.<\/em><\/p>\n

Who wants to waste time on these unhelpful distractions when we already have enough stress to deal with? Again, use your energy to take at least 10 minutes a day for deep breathing, clearing your mind of thought, or listening to soft music or nature sounds. It\u2019s 10 minutes that will pay you back tenfold, and more, in recouping and maintaining your mental\u2014and physical\u2014wellness. Think of it as compound interest!<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for ways to cope with common life issues, check out my new book, The Value of Your Soul: Rumi Verse for Life\u2019s Annoying Moments<\/a><\/em>, in which I suggest different ways of viewing situation, with an eye toward improved coping skills. Take a sneak peek<\/a> at the first chapter.<\/p>\n

Read more about self-care in past blog posts, including articles<\/a> recently published in online magazines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you haven\u2019t been practicing self-care lately, now is another opportunity to get in the groove and develop the good habit of doing so\u2014Saturday, October 10, is World Mental Health Day. This year it\u2019s particularly critical for taking time to …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[39],"tags":[75,76,48,74,73],"class_list":["post-1993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retreats","tag-headspace","tag-mental-health","tag-self-care","tag-world-health-organization","tag-world-mental-health-day"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lunarivervoices.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/ISS_29448_00072.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lunarivervoices.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lunarivervoices.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lunarivervoices.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lunarivervoices.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lunarivervoices.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1993"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lunarivervoices.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1995,"href":"https:\/\/lunarivervoices.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1993\/revisions\/1995"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lunarivervoices.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1994"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lunarivervoices.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lunarivervoices.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lunarivervoices.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}