Mind of Snaps Podcast

5 Steps to Better Mental Health | Episode 01 - Mind of Snaps Podcast

March 29, 2018 She Snaps Season 1 Episode 1
Mind of Snaps Podcast
5 Steps to Better Mental Health | Episode 01 - Mind of Snaps Podcast
Show Notes Transcript

In this episode, we'll discuss my 5 steps to better mental health and my experiences with each of the 5 steps. I've personally found great success lately in managing my depression, anxiety, panic disorder and insomnia especially.

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Jessy (Mind Of Snaps / SheSnaps)

www.MindofSnaps.com

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Welcome to the mind of Snaps podcast with your host Jessica A. She snaps a popular twitch broadcaster, photographer, entrepreneur and mental. In this and future cast. Expect to fall along with Snap. So she learned more about her mind. The world NFL humans. It could get messy in here, but stick around and you might just learn something as you enter the mind of snaps. Hello and welcome to the first ever mind of snaps podcasts. Here we're going to be discussing a wide variety of topics. But to start off, I'd like to get into something that's a bit more personal and also something that I believe to the incredibly important mental help. As someone who has struggled almost her entire life with depression, panic disorder, anxiety and some u. A d. D and more, I want to be able to help others, to not feel the way I felt in the past. I'm not a doctor, but I have been actively working on managing my mental health, and I've honestly had some great success lately. I wake up feeling good. I go throughout my date, smiling. I feel more optimistic and I dare say even happier. But I know my mental health could shift at any time if I don't keep working on it much like physical health. So that's why I intend to dio. The success that I've been achieving lately has been largely due to some changes I've made in my life, both major and minor. I did a ton of research to continue to do research on the topic of mental health, and I'd like to share some of that information with you now. Well, I do still struggle with my depression and anxiety. It feels like less of an uphill battle lately, so I'm I'm incredibly grateful for that in this podcast and in my YouTube video, Siri's relating to this topic. I'll be getting into the research and information along with what I've learned since or how it's impacted me. But I won't be getting into too much detail about my own personal history. Your story. This podcast is likely to be longer than money future episodes. So the last thing we need is to add to the time by discussing my long life story. If you want to learn more about my history or my backstory, you can learn a bit during my life streams on twitch, including the next mental Health Awareness Discussion stream, which is currently scheduled for March 31st at two PM Central on my Twitch channel at twitch dot tv slash she snaps. There will also be more comprehensive information coming soon enough via an e book I'm writing that expands on this topic a bit more and includes more about me and my struggles and my successes. This first podcast ever is titled Five Steps Towards Better Mental Health, so let's get right into it. Step one in the five steps towards better mental health is get organized. Okay, so when it comes to getting organized, there are a few things that I recommend. Use the planner or to do lists, have a cleaner, tidy home and eliminate toxicity and find joy starting with using a planner. So using a planner or to do list can help you to not feel so overwhelmed all the time, which is something that I regularly struggle with when I get overwhelmed. I tend to find myself wanting to just sit and try to come up with a game plan, but oftentimes I just sit there and stress about all the things I have to d'oh not knowing which to do first or how to prioritize. And then I end up doing nothing. I'll fall sleep. I'll watch a show to chill for a minute, and I'll tell myself that after I take my nap or watch my show, I'll be able to focus and get shit done. It does not work that way for me. In the end, I have learned that by going back to my old list making habits from my corporate life, and by using a daily planner, I'm able to visualize my goals and determine priorities easier. It's also supposedly easier to commit things to memory when you take the time to write and review them, get yourself a quality planner that you can carry around or use your phone if you're not too easily distracted by APS and start creating to do lists either at night before bed or in the morning when you wake up, it's been so, so very helpful for me. It also gives me a chance to feel more accomplished. At the end of the day, I get a chance to go look back on my list, seal the things I've crossed off. And then I tend to feel really proud and excited for the next day, ready to do it again, ready to kick ass on another list. Um, okay, so having a clean or tidy home is also a large aspect of your mental health, and I think it's one we overlook frequently. I read some interesting studies relating to this topic and found that people was clean. Houses tend to be healthier than people with messy houses. In addition to reminding me that I need to finish cleaning my house, it inspired me to keep researching cleanliness and its impact on mental health. There was a scientific journal published in 2010 that showed people who described their living spaces as cluttered or full of unfinished projects were more likely to be depressed or fatigued. People who described their homes as rest, ful or restorative were less likely to feel fatigued and depressed, and they showed much lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol. There was also a Princeton University study in 2011 that found clutter could make it harder to focus on a specific tests. This one I can totally, totally attest to the visual cortex can apparently be overwhelmed by task irrelevant objects, which makes it harder to allocate attention fully and complete tasks efficiently. I know when I'm sitting at my desk getting ready to work on anything even just before I go live on my twitch. Live streams, I get almost instantly frustrated or distracted when my dusk is cluttered. Even just a little. It really drives me crazy. I read this interesting book by Marie Condo years ago, and I've been meaning to read it again. Soon we'll have to add, That's my morning book lists. The book was called The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I loved her explanation and her methodical manner for clearing your home of quarter. But the thing that I really valued the most was the way she explains how to decide what to keep and want to toss. So this brings us to the final point of the first step towards better mental health, eliminate toxicity and find joy. In her book, Marie Condo explained that when you're deciding what you'd like to hold on to, you should be looking at each item individually. Should hold that item up and ask yourself. Does this bring me joy? Joy can show itself in a variety of ways. But if you trust your gut, which is something I'm always advocating, trusting your gut. If you trust your gut, you can figure out pretty quickly whether there's any form of joy associated with that item. Does it have sentimental value? Do you like wearing it? Cause makes you feel good. If you can't easily answer this question, does this item bring me joy? That is probably a sign that it needs to go into the discard pile. So I took this idea of eliminating toxicity and finding joy and applied it to more than just my things. I started to realize slowly that there were countless relationships in my life that didn't bring me any joy, but rather tended to make me feel bad or anxious. And I was around most people or after leaving them. Many of us have people like that in their lives. Toxic folks who we might not even realize are negatively impacting our mental health until we experienced life without them. It's very easy to accumulate these types of relationships as many of us live in the same area we grew up in, and it's likely that you have friends or people he wouldn't have been associating with if you hadn't attended school together, work together or known each other through mutual friends. There is no harm in evaluating and potentially discarding these relationships if they don't bring you joy. If you're having trouble identifying those that you should avoid, think about people who you dread spending time with. Think about the people who you find yourself venting about a lot or people who tend to bring out anger in your more than others. A lot of us know people who know how to push our buttons just right, and it is frustrating whether they are former co workers, friends or even family. There is absolutely nothing wrong with choosing not to associate with them anymore. It does not mean that you should lash out at them or be unkind, So don't don't draft up some super nasty message to send to them right now. Take some time and think about it, but you can choose to kindly move on and stay focused on the relationships that do bring you joy. I've cut down on a lot of these superfluous relationships over the past few years. And holy shit. What a difference, like seriously, holy shit. It is so nice to not be surrounded by people. I feel like complaining about all the time. It's so nice to be in a job that may stress me out but does not diminish my joy. I feel better because I've surrounded myself with more positive relationships. So those are the primary parts of Step one. Get organized, use a planner, keep your surroundings tighty, eliminate toxicity and find joy. Step two in my five steps towards better mental health is get social and try hobbies. Okay, so there are many ways that we can get social and try. Hobbies in some of those ways include experimenting creatively, joining a community. We're just doing something with your friends and family. So let's start with experimenting creatively when it comes to experimenting creatively. There are so many options. There was an interesting study from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, which found that when people engaged in everyday forms of creativity, like making something, taking photographs, creative writing, et cetera, they tended to be more open minded, curious, persistent, positive, energetic and intrinsically motivated by their activities. That part really stuck with me, intrinsically motivated by their activities. These same people also reported a greater overall sense of well being and personal growth compared to their classmates who did less and as a result, thought less. It's almost crazy to me the potential impact of creativity, especially when I learned that it could be used in a therapeutic manner by those who are already suffering from mental health issues. There is research that shows that expressive writing actually increases immune system functioning. How cool is that? Writing can increase your immune system functioning? That's not okay anyways. Another way to experiment creatively is one of my personal favorites coloring. I fucking love coloring. I love coloring. I have been enjoying some of my adult coloring books for years now, but didn't know until just recently that there are studies that show it's actually good for your month. By the way, when I say adult coloring books, I don't mean it in the way adult bookstores mean the word adult. I just mean I'm not usually coloring Disney book. I actually prefer mandalas, and the research that I found from 2005 says that anxiety levels dropped when the subjects were coloring men dollars, which are basically just round frames with geometric patterns inside. Apparently, colored pencils are better than Kranz because precision allows for better focus. I need to buy a set of those, I guess I've just been using skinny markers lately, and they tend to bleed through the pages. So I think I'll be investing in a nice set of colored pencils as well. I did have this one coloring book that I picked up in Sedona, Arizona, that was based on a course in miracles and was actually intended to help you sort of meditate while coloring. Unfortunately, my puppy, Enzo ate it, but before you did, I really enjoyed it. It was nice to have, like a like a simple concept in mind to reflect on while coloring an image created to represent that concept. I know there are more books like this out there, so I'd suggest looking into it. But I really enjoyed that one. Okay, so aside from experimenting creatively, you can also join a community to attempt to get social and try more hobbies. If you're listening to this podcast on the first day it was released. It's likely that you already know the benefits of being in a community because you're probably already a part of the twitch or gaming community that I'm a part of his. Well, there are tons, tons of potential communities out there, though, and I highly suggest doing some research to see what hobbies you have that might have associated communities. I know when I got into martial arts in 2010 I was feeling particularly lonely at the time, and being welcomed into the M M A community was such a boost for me. I made so many friends in my gym I started to feel great about challenging myself, and it was cool. Challenging myself to learn more about these things that we all love so much really brought us closer. So personally, I totally recommend martial arts is a hobby, and for anyone looking to join a community, the Emam A itself is great for your body in your mind and something about martial arts gyms that I like is everyone seems to check their egos at the door they're accepting, and they're welcoming, even if you've never tried to grapple or thrown a punch in your life. Everyone knows it was like to start, so don't feel embarrassed or ashamed or think that you have to get into shape before going to martial arts Gym. Go there to get into shape and while you're at it, make some humble friends when win. Research also shows that interacting with others boost feelings of well being and decreases feelings of depression. The continuous effort that goes into building social connections is a great mood booster. So if you're sitting there thinking about what types of communities you conjoined, that's great. Movies, music, gaming, Anna Mae. Almost every hobby as a community. But don't forget about the communities that you're already a part of, I, your family and your friends. Doing something with your family and friends is wonderful for your mental health. Mental Health America dot net says that people are 12 times more likely to feel happy on days that involves 6 to 7 hours with friends or family. This may seem like a lot of time, but it's really just a day at a barbecue. It's dinner and a movie. Maybe it's a planned activity out in the world. Either way, you can make it happen. Don't allow yourself to become isolated if you can avoid it and doing things with people you enjoy being around it should make it easier to push yourself out of the door more often. It's important to keep forming those social bonds because people with more social support tend to live longer than those who are isolated, according to psychology today. So that's my step. To get social and try hobbies, experiment creatively, join a community or do something fun with your friends or family. Step three in my five steps towards better mental health is probably the longest one, but also one of the most important self care. Self care to me is comprised primarily of these things in no particular order. Water, nutrition, meditation, sleep exercise and air sunlight in nature. Okay, so let's start with water. Did you know that a level of hydration just one percent below optimal can affect mood concentration and cause headaches? Our hearts and brains consist of more water than the rest of our bodies, so we really need it in order to function at our highest levels. A general rule of thumb is to drink half your body weight in ounces, plus more if it's hot out or if you're doing a lot of physical activity. So on hot days when you're exercising, make sure you're adding more to that. One of the best decisions that I personally made for myself was to get a reusable water bottle. I love my continue goes so much it hurts and never leave the house without it. And since I carry a purse, I'm able to latch my bottle onto the strap and I'm I keep it with me Always everywhere. Everywhere I go, I have my contigo. I might pee a lot. Let me tell you, I feel much better. I also keep my continual right next to my bed because I've heard the drinking water right when you get up is a great way to become alert faster. I definitely notice it. I don't know if you do. This is Well, um, if I wake up and I slam water right away, I feel like my brain starts kicking in more than it does if I just go straight to coffee. Not that I don't also drink coffee because let's be real coffee is fucking delicious. That makes me happy inside. Damn, I'm gonna feel makes more. Anyways, According to the British Journal of Nutrition and the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, dehydration can impair your short term memory functions as well as the recall of long term memory. I don't need any more reasons to forget things, So I'm gonna keep hydrating staying until my memories. Feeling tired is often one of the first signs of dehydration. So if you're feeling sluggish, go drink water. Better effect. Just go Now I'll wait. Did you go? Did you get water? Cool little movement moving on from water. Let's get into nutrition. Proper nutrition is becoming a controversial topic these days, so I won't be getting too much into it because I don't know shit about shit. All I can say is I know I feel better when I eat cleaner. There was an article I read on mental health dot Ord That said, a balanced mood of feelings and wellbeing can be protected by ensuring that our diets provide adequate amounts of complex carbohydrates, essential fats, amino acids, vitamins, minerals and water that I mentioned. You should be drinking water, drink water. Approximately 2/3 of people who do not report daily mental health problems eat fresh fruit or fresh fruit juice daily, compared with less than half of those who do report daily mental health problems. The pattern was similar for folks to eat a lot of fresh veggies and salads as well. It's advised that you try to avoid eating high sugar foods. Is there quickly absorbed into the bloodstream, which can cause that initial surge of energy? But it leads to an eventual crash, which leaves you feeling tired and lo. I know this feeling. If you have ever attempted to spend a day gaming by fueling yourself with Mountain Dew and Doritos, you probably know what I'm talking about here. When I was learning more about the impact of low quality foods and sugars on your brain, I learned a bit about something called oxidative stress. So oxidative stress is something that happens when the amount of free radicals exceed the amount of anti oxidants. Oxidation then begins to damage. Our cells are proteins and our DNA. It can be triggered by actual stress. Toxins, infections and diet diets shown to be high in refined sugars promote inflammation and oxidative stress. So the best way to prevent oxidative stress is to protect yourselves by providing what your body body actually needs and avoiding things that it doesn't. Multiple studies have found a correlation between a diet high and refined sugars and impaired brain function, as well as a worsening of symptoms of mood disorders such as depression. If you can try going clean for a week or two to see how you feel, have some probiotics on hand. Tuks. They're wonderful for your intestinal microbiome, but like do some meal prepping if it helps, or you can try learning more about intermittent fasting. This is something that I've been doing for a few months now, and I am really enjoying it. I can clearly notice the impact of that's having on my body and on my mind. The second podcast in the mind of Snap Siri's will be dedicated to intermittent fasting because I really feel it's worth looking into studies air showing major potential for fat burning, inflammation reduction, improved rain function, better moods and slower aging. It's really interesting stuff. Look into it now, wait on the next podcast up to you, but but it's interesting stuff for sure. Another aspect of self care that I have personally found to be incredibly helpful is meditation. Well, I wish I had looked into this years ago because I honestly believe I could have saved myself from a lot of pain in my life. You really only need like 20 minutes of day, and some studies even show that as little as five minutes daily can be beneficial. I was blown away when I researched meditation to find out that it boosts your immune system and energy levels, improve your focus, reduces your blood pressure, lessens inflammatory diseases and asthma lessons, PMS and menopausal syndrome, and can even help prevent arthritis. Crazy. Right? That's a lot of potential benefit from something that seems as simple and almost a silly as meditation. I know. When I first heard of it, the image it conjured up was one of someone sitting cross legged on a mat, saying Omo over and over with incense going and I love incensed by the way, this is no dig on incense. It just didn't seem like it was doing anything. I was so, so wrong. I can safely say now when I'm feeling stressed or anxious. One of the first things I do is meditate. It really does help me clear my head and lowers my stress levels. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine found that the relax ation and calming effects experienced from meditation can benefit the mind by helping to regulate mood and anxiety disorders. The Americans Journal of Psychiatry, along with signs direct, the University of Wisconsin Madison and more all found that meditation reduces gray matter density in areas of the brain associated with anxiety and stress. They also found minute increased Grey Matter concentration in areas associated with learning, memory, regulating motions and sense of self. The Art of Living Foundation found that brain signaling in the left side of the prefrontal cortex, which is apparently responsible for positive emotions increase and that activity on the right side, which is responsible for negative emotions, decreased. One of the best aspects of meditation to me is that it helps you allocate your limited brain resource is to the right things at the right time. Imagine what you could do if you could only focus on one task instead of 50. Just just look into meditation. Look into it. It's great. Meditation is also great before bedtime. Which brings us to our next part of self care sleep as a recovering insomniac. I know firsthand how brutal a lack of sleep can be. It's hard to focus. I get angry, easier. I'm emotional over things that wouldn't normally bother me. I just feel lost and overwhelmed overall, when I haven't gotten adequate sleep in a while. Doing research on sleep has brought me to something that I found incredibly interesting. An article on the Harvard Health Publishing website showed some interesting leagues between sleep and mental health. Previously, it was thought that sleep issues were only symptoms of mental illnesses or psychiatric disorders. But now they found that they could also be causing or contributing to them. So people already dealing with psychiatric disorders are more likely to experience sleep problems, and people with sleep problems are more likely to develop psychiatric disorders. Sleep is important. Rem's sleep, especially, is incredibly vital, as studies show it enhances learning and memory and contributes to overall health in a variety of ways. Well, insomnia can impair thinking and emotional regulation. If you're trying to achieve that great sleep and hit room, here are some basic ways to aid your efforts. One thing I like to do is keep my house cool. Overheating at night is just gonna wake you up and leave you feeling frustrated and tired. Get a good blanket, get under it and turn the heat way down. I personally sleep with the house that, like 66 67 degrees. And it seems to be perfect for me if you struggle to get out of bed in the morning when your house cold, get a thermostat, that allows you to program it to go down at night and up in the mornings. Super helpful. Another tip. Get a sleep mask. I got one from Amazon that was like 10 bucks and has these little nose blocky things on it. I don't know little little pads on the nose. It basically prevents all light from coming in. So even if I have my eyes open, I see nothing. You need one of these or a similar blackout mess. Basically, you wanna be able to open your eyes and see only darkness. It really helps me because I think one of my issues at night, aside from my mind wandering, is that my eyes keep popping open and finding new things that can get my brain wandering more. Having no choice but to keep them closed has really helped me to stay focused on my meditations that I can go to sleep easier. You've probably heard this before, but I'll say it again. Another great way to help yourself sleep easier at night is to keep your bedroom free of distractions and use it on Lee for what it's intended for. So if you're not sleeping or making the sex, don't be in your room. Sex cooties anyways. If you're a smoker, first of all, quit. What if you're not ready to quit yet? At least try to limit your nicotine at night. The same goes for alcohol. Nicotine is a simulant which speeds your heart right in thinking's over anxious people. It's just a bad idea. Alcohol. Initially, depress is your nervous system, which is great for falling asleep at first, but eventually the effects wear off and you wake up and usually hella dehydrated to avoid both, if possible, but especially especially before bed affirmations before bed can be great, Though I started this basic routine before bed. Now I meditate to clear my head I put my mask on than I repeat some positive affirmations to myself and to my boyfriend. So we say things like, tomorrow will be a good day. We're gonna wake up feeling refreshed and energize. We won't hit the snooze button. Sometimes we're really specific, and we pretty much like, plan out our days in a positive manner. Other days were very vague and just referenced the entire day as a whole. Either way, I have noticed a very positive change for this. I wake up feeling more refreshed, for sure. And the things I thought over said right before bed are often the first things I think of when I wake up, try it out yourself, see how it works for you. If you're still struggling to fall asleep at night, there's another aspect of self care that may help you exercise. According to the Department of Mental Health and Learning Disability in London, exercise improves mental health by reducing anxiety, depression and negative moods. By improving self esteem and cognitive function, exercising more can improve your sleep, your sex drive, your stress levels, mood weight, cholesterol and more. The American Psychiatry Association now mandates exercise as a part of the prescribed treatment for people suffering from mental illnesses. They require 30 minutes a day. So that's what I've been shooting for at a very bare minimum. Now the 30 minutes doesn't have to be all at once, though it is nice to just get it done and over with you can break it up by doing 3 10 minute walks daily or doing a bit in the morning and a bit at night. Whatever it is that you do, just make sure that you're doing at least 1/2 hour of it daily. Some minor changes to your life can improve. This is, well, start taking the stairs instead of the elevator more often helped. Take the stairs once, then go down and do it again if you have time. I used to do this all the time when I worked my corporate jobs that start to get a little stir crazy. It hit the stairs twice. I might do some calf raises on the bottom step before going up. Do what you need to do. Dance a little while you do your chores. Take your dogs for a short walker on the block, do some yoga. Whatever it is, there are so many options. If you're struggling to think of, think of types of exercise that you can enjoy, you can also check community centers for free and fun activities. Speaking of going outside, though, that brings me to our final point associated with self care, air, sunlight and nature. Mental health America dot net says that being in nature can increase energy levels, reduce depression and boost wellbeing. Sunlight synthesizes vitamin D, which experts believe is a mood booster. I know I feel better when I'm in sunlight. I know a lot of people feel better when there's sunlight. So combined the two, you've got the recipe for a nice little boost of positive energy. There was an interesting study I read that discussed how being outside is great, but the location itself is key. It seems to be incredibly beneficial for us to not only get outside, but to get outside and into some form of nature. So this study from the University of Michigan took some students and gave them all a memory test. Then they divided those students into groups and sent them outside for a walk. One group watched through a wooded park, and the other group walked through the city. When the students came back, they were tested again on their memory. The folks who had walked among the trees did almost 20% better than the first time. The ones that had wandered through the city didn't consistently improve. I thought that was super interesting. Another similar study, listed in the Journal of Effective Disorders, was focused specifically on depressed individuals and noted that walks in nature boosted working memory more than walks in the city. Studies also found that natural beauty can elicit feelings of awe, which is a great way to experience a mental boost similar 20 would feel while listening to uplifting music or viewing newer, interesting art. I think we're we're going to do another podcast in the future on aw specifically because researching it a bit led to some interesting findings, including the positive impact of awe on folks suffering from PTSD. So to reiterate, there are many different forms of self care, but the ones I found to be especially crucial where water, nutrition, meditations, sleep and exercise, as well as getting yourself out into nature for some fresh air and sunlight Now it's time to move on to Step four. In my five steps towards better mental health, Step four is stay busy. So the easiest way for me to stay busy is to have a routine. It's the biggest aspect of it. Having a routine can help you better manage your time and plan ahead. It can also help you to build confidence by allowing you to see progress better, very similar to the way that we feel when we have lists and we check things off of them. Our bodies tend to function better when eating, sleeping and exercise patterns are set to a regular schedule. Our brains have a ton to process daily, so habits can help you regulate daily processes and not feel overwhelmed. All the time. On structured time can lead to boredom, which may make it easier to fall back on old unhealthy habits. I know that for sure, scheduling meals, exercise, meditation, etcetera can be beneficial. For sure. I have noticed an incredibly positive change in my life since implementing a new routine suggested by a book I read called Miracle Morning by L. Ron. It's so so wonderful for someone who would never have referred to myself as a morning person. I am now up every single day between 4:35 a.m. And I'll event in my time. In the mornings before work, I meditate to my information's do some visualization exercises I actually exercise. Then I read a little bit of something that's good for either my personal or professional development. And then I wrap things up by writing in my journal. If you're struggling to journal, which I know I was for a while, try writing down three things. You're great before three things that were funny during your day and three things that you achieved. Just start there. It's pretty easy when you're working with promise. It's a great way to get started. Plus, Web M D says that regular expressions of gratitude can actually help lower stress levels and even improve your immune system. A friend of mine, Lansing has started a bit of a movement by telling everyone constantly to 80. Lt appreciate the little things. So when we do our live streams on twitch and on his channel as well, which dot tv slash Lansing T. V. H. We regularly ask our communities to tell us what they're 80 lt moments are s o What small thing do you have today that you could be grateful for? What kinds of little things can you appreciate? I've noticed many times when people are newer to the community, they'll say things like nothing. I don't have an 80 lt, but after a bit of work on it and kind of pointing out some things that most people we know can be grateful for air in your lungs, food on the table, clean water, basic stuff like that. After a little bit more work, they come back. And the next time they're asked, they wind up with so many a TL teats with Oh, I am grateful for this. I'm grateful for that. I am grateful for this other thing. So basically, the more we focus on the good. In my experience, the more good shows itself. I mentioned affirmations when discussing both my morning and my priestly proteins, and there is a reason for that. I do affirmations all day, talk to myself all day now, but I specifically schedule them for those key moments. According to good therapy dot org's research indicates that nearly 80% of our self talk is negative. Take a moment. Just think about the things that cross your mind there during the day. You'll probably finds that you're right in there. You're probably talking negatively to yourself quite frequently without even realizing it. So why not work on making those conversations more positive? That's where affirmations come in. Affirmations play a significant role in many therapeutic models, including cognitive behavioral therapy, which is a common treatment for depression and also tends to be featured in recovery or rehabilitation programs as well. The common thing that this research shows, along with research from science daily dot com, is that self acceptance truly is a key to a happier, like a great way to achieve self acceptance is to use affirmations to express just how great and capable you truly are. I personally believe very much in the power of the human mind and body, and I use affirmations as a way to remind myself of that. I truly, truly believe we are capable of incredible and extraordinary things. But we talk ourselves out of them so much. Let's try talking ourselves into being great. I think I like that idea. A lot better now. Affirmations and visualization can go hand in hand, and visualization is another important part of my daily routine. A study published in the journal from Tears Inhuman Neuroscience showed that self guided positive visualization techniques can combat negative thoughts very effectively. After two seminars of visualization training and then 12 weeks to practice using visual ization in their daily lives, E e G data showed significant changes to the parts of the brain linked to life satisfaction and visualizing positive emotions. So participants their brains also showed increased connectivity in the temporal lobe of both brain hemispheres, which suggests an increase in a neural transmitter linked to reductions in anxiety and depression. The crazy thing is, visualization is great for mental and physical health. Yeah, you heard that right? Visualization can help your physical help. There was this super interesting study done by an exercise psychologist from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio. He basically compared people who want to the gym with people carried out virtual workouts in their heads. So essentially the dude's going to the gym, visualize their workouts, and then they went and ended the workouts. The other group just visualize their workouts and then did nothing. Both of them visualized them with as much detail as possible because apparently including all of your senses or as many as you can, is key to making the visual ization process better. But the coolest shit happened. The people who went to the gym after their visual ization noticed around a 30% muscle increase, and the people who just visualized it still saw nearly a 14% muscle increase. This is not to say that you don't need exercise. All you have to do is imagine yourself exercising. That's not how this works. It is just a testament to how powerful your mind and body can be when they're both working together. The mind body connection Israel people. It's really all threat. So saying busy keeping a routine It's the fourth step towards better mental health If you're going to create your routine now, try to include meals, exercise, meditation, affirmations, visualization and socialization in that routine. If you can't, to be honest, I'm a little impressed here. We're actually moving through this content faster than I expected to, which is funny, considering that the YouTube video had to be cut into three different videos because I talk so damn much on it. Anyways, we're on the fifth and final step towards better mental health. So my fifth and final step towards better mental health is talk to someone seriously. I cannot stress this enough. Do not ever feel bad because you're hurting and you don't think you can handle it alone. There is no weakness and asking for help. There is nothing wrong with trying to talk to someone when you're going through a really bad times or when you're struggling with your mental health. Talk to a professional with you can. There are even online therapy options nowadays. Still, professional help is more readily available than ever. If you can't do that, talk to a trusted friend or advisor or talk to people in your community. The important thing to remember is that self harm or death are not the answer. It is so easy to get stuck in that mindset and think you're completely on your own. But you're not. Please, please remember that you are not alone. Your life has meaning and is full of all sorts of beautiful possibilities. Nearly 16 years ago, when I attempted suicide, I thought there was no chance of life getting better in the future. Now here I am, in a healthy relationship, doing a job I love. Is my life perfect? No. Am I excited for the future anyways? Yes. I have finally started to truly believe in all the things I'm capable of. And as a result, I'm achieving more and feeling better. Overall, I would never have guessed that I'd find the community that I did. Because I liked playing video games. I would never have guessed that would change or transform my life the way that it did. If you start looking for beauty in this world, you will find it. It exists out there in so many places in so many things and you'll find it faster. I think if you seek that beauty while pursuing your passions, But seriously, please, please talk to me. Talk to a friend, talked to a pastor, talked to a therapist, do whatever it takes because you are worth it. Your life is worth this effort and you have no idea what kind of incredible things you may have ahead of you. In addition to these resource is, we also do regular mental health awareness streams on Twitch. As I mentioned earlier, the next one is March 31st 2 PM Central on my channel, which dot TV slash, she snaps. But there will be more of these in the future as I do them monthly. Come in here more of my story year what I've learned from all my struggles but also come in and share. It's it's sort of evolved into a form of support group Over time. I'm not the only one offering advice, Norm I the only one discussing my hardships. You'll hear from all kinds of people struggling with all kinds of issues, and you'll hear from people who are making positive progress in their lives. The discussions can be hard but incredibly uplifting, and all are welcome if you've never said a word and chat before. If you've never seen any of my stuff before, don't feel bad for only coming in and talking during the mental health streams. I truly, truly want to help in any way I can, and I know my community feels the same. I know what it feels like to be lost and to feel alone. I don't want anyone else to feel that way. I really don't. So if you're hurting, please know that we're here for you. But also don't forget that there is a free help line before. Whatever reason, you don't have access to any of those Other resource is you don't have a person to talk to. There is a free help line you can call 1 802 73 talk 1 802 73 ta lk. You should be able to remember that, right? 1 802 73 Talk If you need someone to talk to unknowns around that help line is always available. Just remember you are not alone. Your life has meaning. You are loved. You conduce this you can that concludes the first ever mind of snaps podcast where we discussed my five steps towards better mental health. To reiterate those steps are get organized, get social and try new hobbies, self care, stay busy and former routine and talk to some Thank you so much for tuning in. I really appreciate everyone being so supportive of this upcoming podcasts and now here we are ready to launch it. If you have any feedback for me, I would love to hear it. You can leave a review on the podcast page, or you can come and hit me up on social media. Let me know your thoughts. You can find me on Twitter at twitter dot com slash mind of snaps Instagram. I'm mind of snaps. I have a YouTube account that will eventually be branded mind of snaps once it's been around for a while on. And then the twitch channel, as I mentioned, is twitch dot tv slash she snaps. So you're welcome to come in at any time. Even if we're gaming and goofing off, these conversations are always welcome. We are there for you. We are here for you. Whatever you want to talk about, whenever you want to talk about it, don't feel bad or weird. Um, thank you again. So, so much. I really hope you enjoy this podcast. Be sure to like and subscribe, and hopefully you'll enjoy more in the future. The next podcast is set to be on intermittent fasting, as I mentioned, so thanks again and have a wonderful day