“Remember happiness does not depend on who you are or what you have; it depends solely on what you think.
- Dale Carnegie -
As we raise a glass and pass through another New Years Eve and into our second year in a global pandemic there has been a dramatic change in the way we talk about our mental health and happiness.
We used to be all about aiming high, hustling and pushing through and now we talk about the importance of rest, self-care and connection for our mental health.
Positive mental health has a huge impact on our physical health. Our heart health, body weight and sleep all improve when our mental health is optimal. There are repeated studies that demonstrate that a womans experience of her own menopause depends on her attitude towards this natural hormonal change with women who view peri-menopause as a negative process experiencing more and stronger negative symptoms in the process.
Yanikkerem E, Koltan SO, Tamay AG, Dikayak Ş. Relationship between women's attitude towards menopause and quality of life. Climacteric. 2012 Dec;15(6):552-62. doi: 10.3109/13697137.2011.637651. Epub 2012 Feb 15. PMID: 22335298.
The truth is that neurons that fire together wire together. This means that thought pathways that we travel along daily become our outlook on life and our worldview or as neuropsychologist Rick Hanson states “lasting mental states become lasting mental traits.”
The care and curation of our personal mental health needs to be a daily priority for all of us BUT especially for empowered midlife women who are family matriarchs, cross generational carers and mothers.
We can begin the journey of caring for our mental health with baby steps starting with only only minutes each day and building into.
Here is my three step starter plan for bringing more joy and calm to your life.
1. Turn off the news. News media is in the business of click bait and managing your reality. Human brains are wired to respond when they sense danger or threat and so news media gravitates towards violence and negative bias in it’s reporting. All of the good news stories go under the radar. Screening this constant low of negative information out of your life will bring you peace on a daily basis.
2. Begin a Gratitude Practice. Spend five minutes each evening thinking about your day and everything you are grateful for from the last 24 hours. When we make a practice of focussing our appreciation on the good stuff in our lives we wire in the pathways for more appreciation and gratefulness. A regular gratitude practice helps to relieve stress and eases pain. Taking five minutes each day to feel grateful improves your physical health over time and can positively change the brain function of people experiencing depression.
3. Get outside and walk in the fresh air. Taking time everyday to walk outside even for just 15 minutes reduces stress in the body especially of we can get near nature and greenery, even if we live in a city. Walking boosts circulation and promotes oxygen supply to the brain, it reduces stress in the body and has a positive impact on the microbiome of our gut. Repeatedly studies have shown us that our microbiome loves for us to take a walk during the day. We now know that the majority of the serotonin, our happy hormone is found in our gut and that the health of our microbiome directly impact our happiness and mental health. Getting up and walking your microbiome daily is a fabulous way to build happiness and health in your body.
Taking a few minutes each day in a consistent routine that supports mental wellbeing during a time in life when you experience significant hormonal change or during periods of hardship, keeps you grounded and free of anxiety. Mental self-care will support you to build an empowered matriarchal mindset that will help you to prioritize yourself at midlife and make positive choices for yourself.