Here at The Wild Gut, we focus our attention and energy on three pillars we feel are critical to living a healthy life both physically and emotionally – Food, Movement, and Mindfulness. Now more than ever in today’s landscape where COVID-19 is constantly in your face, we are realizing incorporating these on a consistent basis is vital. It is vital to the individual as well as those who are affected such as family, coworkers, and friends. While we believe following a consistent protocol of making sure these pillars are being used, we understand times are tough and stress can build even if a person has the best intentions to stay calm and grounded.
An additional method of self-care or looking after one’s mental health is talking to others, which can include mental health professionals. This does not necessarily need to be an in-person visit, rather there are excellent counselors available via telephone that might better fit the current environment we are all living in at the moment. Licensed therapists are available by phone and depending on your circumstances with work, the cost could be subsidized or covered. We would suggest reaching out to your employer’s HR department or review company health insurance offerings.
Being able to talk with another person about highs and lows during this crazy time is important, do not let issues get bottled up and cause your mental health to suffer. We love going for a run or sitting alone in a mindfulness meditation session, but sometimes that isn’t enough and that is perfectly normal. People are meant to interact with others and conversations can go a long way in allowing a person to share their feelings and work through situations and issues causing stress or mental burnout. There has been a stigma attached to mental health in the past, but thankfully society is starting to take notice and realize it is not healthy to keep feelings trapped inside. We are thankful our employers recognize this and have made a point to let us know of options available to us to use if there are issues going on behind the scenes. However, we are aware that is not always the case for everyone and being able to find professionals willing to help oftentimes falls on the individual. That is why we love seeing companies like BetterHelp stepping up and helping those people find and connect with the right people.
Final takeaways: keep looking after yourself both physically and emotionally through healthy foods, staying active, and meditation. But, know there are other options out there to help if you are looking to have a conversation with a licensed professional.
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