Mariana Thomas  0:00 
Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Mindfully Recharged Podcast with your host Mariana Thomas. This month is Mother's Day and it's also mental health awareness month so I wanted to speak about the importance of cultivating our mental health awareness. I think it's really, really important. I was debating if I should talk about Mother's Day or mental health, and I think it goes hand in hand. So without further ado, let's get to it.

Intro Speaker  0:44 
Welcome to Mindfully Recharged with Mariana Thomas. In this podcast, Mariana brings you mindful conversations with people that will develop and recharge you from the inside out, so that you can increase productivity in your personal and professional life. This is Mindfully Recharged.

Mariana Thomas  1:04 
Welcome, everybody. Welcome to the Mindfully Recharged Podcast. As I mentioned in the intro, this month is not only Mother's Day, but it's also mental health awareness month. This is a very important topic. So let's talk about this because, as mothers and as just human beings, we deal with a lot, and sometimes we just don't pay much attention.

Mariana Thomas  1:39 
Mental wellness is just as important as our physical health and yet, it is often overlooked. We just go through our days or our month, and our years, and we don't pay much attention to our mental health. I'm so glad that there is a month where we can focus on mental health, but let's not forget to do this every single day of the year. When our minds are healthy, we are better able to cope with stress and we are better able to manage our emotions. This can lead us to a more positive outlook on life, which we can all benefit from, and also we can improve our relationships with other people and our relationships with ourselves.

Mariana Thomas  2:52 
Mental health is also often ignored or dismissed as unimportant but the reality is that it is essential to our overall well-being. I mean, I don't think we can be well without having really good mental health and that is why we need to stay aware when it comes to this. So having that mindset of I'm going to take care of my mental health is important. So cultivating your mental health needs to be at the top of your priorities. I believe that successful women and men know this and take steps to cultivate their mental health.

Mariana Thomas  3:54 
So here are four reasons why you should do this as well. Let me go back a little, even though I said men and women that are high performers, I believe that everyone is looking to perform is looking to be successful. So if you are already there you feel successful, continue to take care of your mental health and if you are on your way to success and on your way to perform, please pay attention to this.

Mariana Thomas  4:32 
So here are four reasons why you should take care of or cultivate your mental health. The first one is it can help us improve our mood and our outlook on life. And I think I mentioned that in the beginning.

Mariana Thomas  4:57 
The second reason is that it can help us to better manage our stress and anxiety. So I mentioned stress in the beginning, but anxiety is something that I believe a lot of people suffer from but not everyone speaks about it.

Mariana Thomas  5:20 
The third reason is it can improve your focus and concentration because you're not worried about being anxious or stressed. Just now being in a better and good mental and stable mind.

Mariana Thomas  5:40 
And lastly, it can help you build resilience in coping with skills in the face of difficult situations. One thing that we all face is difficulties, right? We are faced with different situations every single day and sometimes we expect those and sometimes we don't. So cultivating your mental health means that you need to take care of yourself emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

Mariana Thomas  6:21 
And these four reasons and why we should do those should be a way to start. So make sure that you pay attention to this. This episode is going to be short and sweet because I want you to know that if you are not sure when to start, there are many resources available to help you get started on this path to better health and better mental health awareness.

Mariana Thomas  6:54 
There are therapists, there are counselors, there are psychiatrists, and there are coaches. They can help you to develop a mental health coping mechanism, or they can create a roadmap for you and develop a plan to improve your mental health. In addition to that, there are many online resources as well. Okay, there are support groups that are available to help you through tough times.

Mariana Thomas  7:26 
You know, sometimes people just kind of drown. I think it's like being in a pool and nobody's coming to rescue you when you're drowning but you have to look for it. You have to scream and say, "Hey, I need help.". So look for those resources, many groups can support you on that. Seek out the resources that you need, and make tending to your mental health a priority in your life.

Mariana Thomas  8:00 
Another thing that we need to keep in mind is that you can cultivate mental health and wellness when you include things like practicing mindfulness like meditation and this type of thing. Those are the things that I help my clients with. One of the things.

Mariana Thomas  8:25 
Eating a healthy diet is also important for mental health. Get regular exercise, and it doesn't have to be a killer workout at the gym, where you'd spend three, or four hours. It doesn't have to be like that, just a minimum of 30 minutes a day, doing something that you enjoy. Yoga, Pilates, movement, just go for a walk at the park or around your neighborhood, whatever it is to get you moving, or even simple movements inside your home can help.

Mariana Thomas  9:03 
Spending time with your loved ones. It's very important. I was trying to pet my dog today. He was not having that. He is part of my family. He is a loved one. That is one way for me to de-stress just to spend time with my dog pet him give him a little love and spend some time doing something completely different. Right?

Mariana Thomas  9:31 
Getting enough sleep. This one is one that I found myself trying to stick with and trying to practice more intentionally because sometimes you can just allow other things to steal your sleep time and to steal your attention. So you should be putting that time into resting. So resting, sleeping, and getting enough of that is important.

Mariana Thomas  10:12 
Perhaps the most important thing is to be aware of our mental health, and take the steps to protect it. I will say one particular exercise is to ask yourself, "How am I feeling?". When you get up in the morning, and you're doing your morning routine, whatever your morning routine is, ask yourself the question, "How am I feeling today?", and become aware of your mental health or your state. Okay, how are you feeling? What do you need? What do you need for yourself? What do you need from yourself that you are not giving yourself? If you notice that you're struggling, don't be afraid to ask for help. Find a friend, find a family member, and mental health professional. They can help you and they can allow you to release whatever it is. All those resources are available to many of us, and we do not use them.

Mariana Thomas  11:32 
So please keep in mind, that taking care of your mental health is essential to living your best life. It is essential to living your best life. So I want you to do this with yourself today. Commit to doing what you can to nurture your mind, your body, and your spirit. This is so close to my heart because like I have been telling you throughout many, many episodes is that I was preaching this, but I wasn't doing this for me.

Mariana Thomas  12:17 
So I needed to conclude that no one was going to come to my rescue. Even though I was drowning in the pool by myself, I needed to scream and I needed to do something. I needed to take action.

Mariana Thomas  12:38 
So I hope that you pay attention to this and if you are going through stress, overwhelm, burnout, whatever that is, you can do something or you can ask for help. You can find resources that can help you to become more mindful of your mental health. Become aware first and take those actions. You have to take care of yourself to take care of others.

Mariana Thomas  13:12  
So I hope that this was something that resonated with you. So thank you for listening. I hope that this episode has inspired you to think about ways that you can cultivate your mental health. If one of those things did not resonate with you, please write back to me. Ask for more help, "What else can I do? Where can I go?", and I will assure you that I get back to you. Please take these steps. 

Mariana Thomas  13:45  
Taking care of yourself emotionally, mentally, and spiritually is the key to living a joyful and productive life. If you'd like more information on how to live a mindful and energetic life, I will encourage you to download now my free guide. It's a mindful and energetic living guide that is there in the show notes. Go ahead and click on that. Download that and start practicing some of those beautiful things that are there that you can do so easily every single day. 

Mariana Thomas  14:27  
So thanks again for listening. I hope you share this episode with your friends and family. Short and sweet. I will see you in the next episode. Bye-bye!

Mariana Thomas  14:43  
Thank you for listening everyone and don't forget to go to the show notes and click to download your FREE Mindful and Energetic Living Guide. Also, don't forget to share this podcast with your friends, your families, and everyone up there. I want to get this out there to everyone. So thank you for your support, and I'll see you next week.