Embark on an exploration of self-care's transformative effects. Together with Lisa Gruenloh we shed light on the essentials of self-care. Discover the rippling impact of mental health not only on our individual lives but on the environment we cultivate for those around us. We unravel the intricacies of nurturing the body and spirit and underscore the vitality of self-care that transcends mere indulgence, grounding it as the cornerstone of a thriving life.
Join us for a session that promises to leave you enriched, equipped, and inspired to lead a purposeful and intentional life.
Visit us at jenniferannjohnson.com and learn how Jennifer can help you build the life you dream of with her online academy, blog, one-on-one coaching, and a variety of other resources!
Embark on an exploration of self-care's transformative effects. Together with Lisa Gruenloh we shed light on the essentials of self-care. Discover the rippling impact of mental health not only on our individual lives but on the environment we cultivate for those around us. We unravel the intricacies of nurturing the body and spirit and underscore the vitality of self-care that transcends mere indulgence, grounding it as the cornerstone of a thriving life.
Join us for a session that promises to leave you enriched, equipped, and inspired to lead a purposeful and intentional life.
Visit us at jenniferannjohnson.com and learn how Jennifer can help you build the life you dream of with her online academy, blog, one-on-one coaching, and a variety of other resources!
Let's talk about self-care. What is self-care? Well, it's the practice of taking care of yourself physically, mentally and emotionally. It's an important time to care for yourself, even when you're busy, and it can help you reduce your stress and anxiety, improve your mood, your emotional well-being, it can boost your energy levels and strengthen your immune system, so you're not getting sick all the time, and it can also reduce your risk of chronic diseases. So what are some tips that you can take away from this podcast that are going to help you practice self-care?
Jennifer Johnson:Set aside some time each day for self-care, even if it's just 10 minutes. Make some time each day to do something that you enjoy and that makes you feel good. I tell you what. I started this for me during COVID and I started taking a bath every single night and I mean every night Epsom salt bubble bath, the whole thing. It's what makes me feel good, it relaxes me. Even if I'm only in there for 10 minutes, it's what I'm doing for myself. Then you need to listen to your body. If you're feeling tired, rest. If you're feeling stressed, take a break. Pay attention to what your body needs and give it what it needs. Then eat a healthy diet. Eating nutritious food gives your body that fuel that it needs to function properly. It can also help improve your mood and your energy levels.
Jennifer Johnson:Getting enough sleep I know I sound like a broken record. We've talked about this before, but when you're well rested, you're going to be better able to cope with the stress and manage emotions. And the experts tell us to aim for seven to eight hours of shut-eye every single night. Then exercise regularly. It's not just good for you physically, but it's also good for you emotionally. It's going to help your mental and physical well-being. And experts tell us 30 minutes a day, and I sometimes only get enough in for 20 minutes. But you know what, If I do it right away in the morning, I start my day off right and I go oh my gosh, I conquered that. I did that. It's kind of like making your bed. If you make your bed in the morning, you are set for anything. You've accomplished something and you are a success that day in making your bed. So work out early if that works for you, and then finally do something that you enjoy. Make time for activities that you really like to do. Maybe it's reading or listening to music, or cooking or walking or baking or doing a hobby, Whatever it is. You have to remember self-care is not selfish. It's essential for your overall health and well-being, and when you take care of yourself, you're going to be able to take care of other people around you.
Jennifer Johnson:Today, we welcome into the studio Lisa Gruenloh. Lisa is a mission-driven entrepreneur with a passion for helping individuals and organizations achieve sustainable well-being and success. She is the founder and president of Purpose Journey Consulting. She does training and coaching as well, and she recently launched a journaling venture which includes a collection of unique writing journals, a subscription box which I think is so cool and a membership community. Lisa is a certified professional coach emotional intelligence coach who has also held leadership positions in a variety of corporate, government and advocacy and consulting organizations throughout the country, including Capitol Hill. That's right, I know from just talking to you in the past. You have done so much and you are such an advocate for mental health. I am yeah, yeah.
Lisa Gruenloh:First of all, thanks for having me here, absolutely. Oh my gosh, is this fun or what? Yeah, you know it's interesting. First of all, big disclaimer I am not a therapist and I'm not like a certified mental health professional. I'm a coach and I'm a trainer and I help people with being proactive about their mental health, so I think that's important. It's very important from the get-go, but I think the world we live in right now. I'm already getting goosebumps, thinking about it.
Lisa Gruenloh:I mean, it is so chaotic and challenging, there's so much human suffering and it's just so important for us to be really aware of what's going on in our mind, with our emotions, and taking personal responsibility for that.
Jennifer Johnson:Something, and I know we're going to talk about how ways to stay mentally healthy in 2024, but before we get into that, literally just something popped into my head and I could reach down into my handbag and grab it to show our audience, but I left my bag in my handbag. I was at an event that you did and this stayed with me. People, this stayed with me. You handed out rocks. Do you know where I'm going with?
Jennifer Johnson:this yes, you handed rocks to everybody. Yes, and you said you were talking about the ripple effect. I tell everybody about that because I'm like this is so simple yet so profound. And when you said you know there's so much suffering in this world and people just don't realize, yeah, but what people also don't realize is the ripple effect.
Lisa Gruenloh:I want you to just talk about that for a second, because yeah, so really, every thought, emotion, choice, action we have has a ripple effect, and the ripple effect starts with us, right? So whatever I'm thinking and feeling has a ripple effect within me, and there's a ripple effect that happens. You know, I think of it as like a circle and I'm in the middle of it, right? And then there's the next circle, which is my family and immediate friends and so on, and then there are the things that we care about, and then you know national and global, and when you think about whether mental health or impact right, because hopefully we're all trying to have a positive impact and that's what that session was all about, but I took it, and so everybody takes it a little bit differently.
Lisa Gruenloh:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So just being more mindful of the impact that we're having around us and it all starts really with our mental health, so just tying those two together.
Jennifer Johnson:Right, I know I totally brought that out from left base. I realize that, right, but it made a profound impact on me, yeah.
Lisa Gruenloh:That's amazing. So when you say that, what changed in you or what changes have you made because of it, like, how have you activated that insight that you had?
Jennifer Johnson:When I get a thought in my head, like if someone ticks me off, right, or I'm irritated about something, I go wait a second, let me think about this. Maybe what was their head, what were they thinking? Or, you know, somebody cuts me off in traffic, I go well, ok, maybe they had a bad day, right. I think about that. And then also, if I'm going to say something about something, I think about the ripple effect that I may have on somebody by saying it.
Lisa Gruenloh:Right.
Jennifer Johnson:So just a simple symbol of a rock made me because you know I could impact somebody else's mental health Absolutely.
Lisa Gruenloh:But what I choose to say, or for worse, exactly. So it certainly ties in, yeah, yeah, totally. And you know the idea is that, like that physical manifestation, right, the rock, the pebble which represents, you know, the ripple that it has, right, when it hits water, it it's again, it starts with us, it starts with us and everything that we do or say has an impact, right, and we can be intentional about that or not, which is my word for the next year, for 2026.
Jennifer Johnson:That's exciting. I went from growth to intentional Very cool. But you know, people can also take that the other way and go OK, well it's, I can make a ripple effect by doing good in my community, kind of thing. That's right, absolutely, yep. So now let's move on. I had to bring that up because that was just so profound.
Lisa Gruenloh:I'm glad that touched you and I'd like people to share those concepts.
Jennifer Johnson:Yes.
Lisa Gruenloh:Resonate with them.
Jennifer Johnson:So, being in 2024, now new year, new, all of us, right? We all go on diet plans and exercise, but mentally right, right? What are some things we can do to stay mentally healthy in 2024? First of all, talking about stress and anxiety, it seems like every time you turn around, someone's like oh, I'm so stressed.
Lisa Gruenloh:I have so much anxiety.
Jennifer Johnson:What are ways that we can cope with that in the new year?
Lisa Gruenloh:So what I don't wanna do is give you a laundry list of things that you can Google right. As we all know, exercise helps Getting good, restful sleep, helps Eating well, right, taking a walk in nature, meditation, mindfulness we know those things. The one thing if I could share, one thing that is so important, is really getting clear on what is it. That is the core root, the root cause of my stress, anxiety and worry, because so often we walk around very unconscious of what we're thinking and feeling.
Lisa Gruenloh:it's like, yeah, we know we have a sense of being stressed out, but and this is where my emotional intelligence comes in, right Really being thoughtful and clear about wow, what am I thinking? What are these patterns of negative thinking that are going through my mind throughout the day? What am I feeling in this moment? Because you can feel bad, label yourself as feeling bad or good, but what if it's really overwhelm or frustration, right? So the clearer we get on identifying our emotions, the more power we give ourselves to do something about it, to take action.
Jennifer Johnson:So basically figure out what your triggers are.
Lisa Gruenloh:And that too right. So that's kind of the next level I mean I'm talking really basic like really just being able to identify the specific emotions that we're feeling, because, like those two examples, overwhelm is a very different thing from frustration.
Lisa Gruenloh:Absolutely, it is or apprehension right, and the same is true for what we tend to label positive emotions, like joy or anticipation, right. Emotions are very complex and we really don't give them their due and we suffer as a result because we're not really clear on what we're thinking and feeling. We're kind of going through the motions and finally, when we can't catch our breath or we're feeling that stress in our neck or something, we're like huh huh yeah, I'm really anxious today. Okay, well, time out.
Jennifer Johnson:Live in the present. Get your journal out there.
Lisa Gruenloh:you go right, get your journal out, get some of those things out of your head on the paper so you can actually see it and be more mindful of what's going on, and mindfulness leads to being present right Like you can't you go.
Jennifer Johnson:I mean, I'm sure we all are guilty of that is you're just going through the motions every single day, doing what you do just cause, oh, I gotta get it done, I gotta get it done, and then you're left with this feeling of like, okay, I did it, but why do I still feel this way? Probably because, again, I was going through the motions, not living in the present, not really. It kind of goes back to if our audience doesn't know what emotional intelligence is right, it's emotional and, in my opinion, emotional intelligence is being aware of how you feel. Is that?
Lisa Gruenloh:That's the part of it. That's the part of it and it's a foundational part of it being emotionally self-aware the self-awareness piece how am I feeling, what is my impact on other people, for instance. But it's also about emotional regulation, being able to manage our emotions and the reactions or responses that come after those. It's also about social awareness, empathy and compassion and also about relationship management. So in relationship management is kind of the benefit of all of the emotional intelligence, because when we're cultivating those skills and they are skills that can be learned, which is exciting- Okay, so that was a question.
Jennifer Johnson:Is that something that I'm just born with or do I have? Can I learn it?
Lisa Gruenloh:if I don't have it, you can absolutely learn it and, just like with anything, people are born with a certain baseline and part of it may be genetic and a lot of it is. It's part nurture, part nature, part environment, part life experiences that can impact those things, but the important thing is that it's these are learnable skills.
Jennifer Johnson:If you're willing, if you're willing, exactly that's the key Right.
Lisa Gruenloh:Right.
Jennifer Johnson:Right, is your closet overflowing? Or maybe your kids' closets are as well, or maybe you just wanna redecorate your house. If you're wondering what to do with all that stuff that you've accumulated, bring it all to true fashionistas, or even ship it to them for free. All you have to do is sit back and collect your money. You can reach out to them online at truefashionistascom. Come into the store or check them out on Facebook or Instagram and that's Truefashionistas. com. Welcome back, friends. We are in studio with Lisa Greenlow and we are talking about staying mentally healthy in 2024. And we were just talking about emotional intelligence and so kind of piggybacking on that a little bit, creating a positive mindset and then also being a support for others who are struggling.
Lisa Gruenloh:Right. So positive mindset, again, it first starts with the self-awareness, right, because how do you even know if you have a positive mindset if you're not aware of what you're thinking and feeling? But if you're looking for ways to cultivate a positive mindset which, by the way, you can do these are all learnable, these are all learnable things and it's helpful to have tools and practices, and one of the very common, well-documented ones is gratitude.
Lisa Gruenloh:Right, having a daily not even daily gratitude practice I mean that's great, but I use gratitude in the moment. If I am having a difficult experience or feeling a little low, my magic pill is gratitude.
Jennifer Johnson:So what does that do? When you are gracious, right, or you're thankful, what does that do to your mind, like, is it like now? I don't want to call it an endorphin or something, but is there, like some chemical that you're it?
Lisa Gruenloh:absolutely does. It does have a chemical response in our body, which is why it's so effective, because it can very immediately shift our emotional and mental state, and so you can use it in the moment. And even more powerful is to really cultivate a gratitude practice. So gratitude journaling, and I recommend yeah, it's great to make lists, that's what a lot of people do.
Lisa Gruenloh:I list three things that I'm grateful for right before I go to bed, and that's fantastic, but I really love encouraging people to go deeper with their gratitude practice and really get specific about. What am I grateful for about myself? What are those character, strengths in me that I'm so grateful for? What am I grateful for in my life? When I think back to where I was five years ago and where I am now, who are the people in my life that I'm grateful for? Have I told them that I'm grateful for them, and why? What is it about that person that makes me grateful to have them in my life?
Lisa Gruenloh:And, if you think about it, that's another way to be mindful and intentional because the more we notice those good things, the good things happening in our life, the good people, the more we tend to bring those types of people into our life and I like to say that and this isn't mine, I just heard it somewhere over the years that what we appreciate appreciates.
Lisa Gruenloh:If you're looking, as a lot of us do, at all the negative stuff and everything that's going wrong, well you can kind of expect to get more of that, because that's kind of what you've trained your brain and some of us haven't trained our brain. We just haven't untrained our brain to do it, because it's really part of the human condition to be kind of wired with this negativity bias. So that's why we have to take personal responsibility for it, because our brains are kind of already wired to be negative.
Jennifer Johnson:That's interesting.
Lisa Gruenloh:Yeah, it kind of sucks, but I can see that.
Jennifer Johnson:People are more drawn to watching the bad news than they are the feel-good stories, yeah yeah, and a lot of it.
Lisa Gruenloh:It's that externally, but I would say it's even more what's going on internally, right? So you think of the negative self-talk If you make a mistake during the day, but you've had like 10 successful. Things happen throughout the day and you go to bed at night. What are you thinking about?
Jennifer Johnson:Yeah, the bad thing Right.
Lisa Gruenloh:Yeah, exactly I was a master ruminator. No, actually I was a master ruminator. I was a master ruminator If something happened during the day, I mean it would run through my mind and I literally have through emotional intelligence and all kinds of other things that I've done in my life have untrained my brain. It doesn't mean that I never think a negative. Right Of course I do. Of course I do, but now I know how to move past that and really call it out for the BS that it is.
Jennifer Johnson:Right, I have been in that trap. I have gone to bed at night going oh my gosh, I don't know if I really liked how I handled that situation. Why did I say that? Why did I act that way? Why did I? Right, yeah, that's right, stop it, you just want to hit yourself upside the head and say move on let it go yeah, and it can be hard to do that, but it takes practice and you get better.
Lisa Gruenloh:The more you extend your self-empathy and self-compassion, the easier it is to do that.
Jennifer Johnson:So I know there's a lot of stigma there always has been around mental health, mental health issues, and we've seen over the years that diminish somewhat. Right, but how can you help someone who's in a position of you know whether whatever mental health issue it is, whether it's depression, anxiety. So how can you be a friend, how can you be an advocate for them? How can you help them?
Lisa Gruenloh:I think one of the first things to recognize is that you know, most of us are not mental health professionals, so we have to understand what our unique role is, and oftentimes it is being a good listener, you know, a non-judgmental listener. Sometimes it can be just doing things. You know the social connection part is so helpful for our mental health. But who we surround ourselves with matters. So, you know, are you surrounding yourself with people who are, who have healthy habits right that help enhance our mental health? And I think you know there could be a time when you recognize, wow, this person might have, you know, a challenge that is way beyond my ability to help and maybe pointing them to resources. One of the things that I did last year or early in 2023 is I got certified in mental health first aid. Oh, there's such a thing?
Lisa Gruenloh:Yeah, there is, and it answers exactly the question you just asked what can I do? And part of it again is that self-awareness is like being able to identify. You know when someone might need you know a little extra help, and they don't know where to go or they're afraid you know or? Ashamed to ask for help. So helping someone seek help you know the right resources is an invaluable thing to do as a friend, but it always has to be with love and non-judgment, Of course, Of course.
Jennifer Johnson:You know throughout, you've been on this journey for a long time. How long have you been in this profession? How long have you been doing what you're doing?
Lisa Gruenloh:So my early career, as you mentioned, I worked on Capitol Hill. I worked in marketing and PR. I was a broadcaster and journalist. You know I have to figure out my gosh.
Lisa Gruenloh:I've always had a lot of interest. But there's a lot of intersection between all of those things. And it was really in 2004 when I went to work for a company, and in 2004, there really wasn't a whole lot of companies out there talking about organizational culture and emotional intelligence, and I just happened to fall into a very visionary company where everybody in our company was trained in emotional intelligence, and so I started on that journey in 2004. And very quickly I was actually facilitating some of those leadership workshops and then I got trained and certified as a coach and it kind of went on from there. But it was really the tools, the learning, the resources that I got in my workplace that helped me do a lot of healing and growing. And that is why I'm so passionate about working in organizations, because, you know, today it's different because there's so much available just on the Internet, right, but the workplace can be such a powerful place for personal growth and the companies, the organizations that are really successful these days, are making that kind of investment in their people.
Jennifer Johnson:That's pretty awesome, you know, in your career, because it has spanned many different areas, right, what are some of the things that you have, like, what are the biggest takeaways for mental health? Like, if you were to tell me Jennifer, these are the two or three things, or maybe just one. It was so profound that that can make the biggest impact.
Lisa Gruenloh:Yeah, you know I go back to personal responsibility and accountability because I think that's where it starts and I think so many people say that you know they want to be happier or this or that. But look, are you really? The big thing for me was when I was finally willing and have the support and tools to look in the mirror right. That can be a really painful process right, I can imagine.
Lisa Gruenloh:You're looking in the mirror and you're really seeing yourself and seeing the potential disparities between who I think I am and who I want to be, and really what's in my heart, versus how I'm behaving in the world, how I'm showing up in the world and how I'm thinking and feeling, and so I think that's where we have the biggest opportunity, and I'm not talking about diagnosed mental health conditions.
Lisa Gruenloh:I'm talking about proactively managing our mental and emotional health. It comes first with taking responsibility and being willing to look at ourselves and our thoughts and our feelings and our actions and our choices honestly and accurately, which is the foundation of emotional intelligence Right and you have to be aware of it, and then you have to actually act on it Exactly.
Lisa Gruenloh:You have to decide, you know, is how I'm showing up in my life, you know, aligned with my values. So that, to me, is the first thing. And then there are just really simple things, like really having a strong sense of purpose and values in your life, because those are the types of things that ground us and give us a really strong sense of identity that can and you use the word in one of your speeches recently about being unstoppable, and I say unstoppable and unshakable- oh, I like unshakable Because you know, there's so many things that can distract us and make us worry, and make us anxious, and that's one of the keys of resilience, right when we get knocked off our center because something happens that we weren't expecting which, by the way, that's life.
Jennifer Johnson:Yeah, I'm going to say, you're right.
Lisa Gruenloh:Expecting that things are going to happen that are unexpected, right, and being able to find where our personal power is. You know, in those situations, again, I take responsibilities like, okay, I might ask myself what do I have control and influence over in this situation and what don't I have control and influence over? Because so often we're so resistant to things that we're we're we're focusing on things that we can't even control. There's always something that we can control, even if it's our own response, right and reaction things. But even more than that, there are things that we can do and action that we can take to move ourselves forward, no matter what we're we're dealing with.
Jennifer Johnson:I like that you put that out there, because a lot of us worry about the stuff that we can't change. Right, and it doesn't matter whether you're going to worry about it. You can't change it, so worry is going to do nothing, yeah worry doesn't do anything.
Lisa Gruenloh:But again, I don't like to label emotions as bad. So I would say if you feel worried, first of all notice it and then explore it lovingly, don't say oh, there I go, I'm judging myself, like there I am worrying again. It's like, oh, wow, I'm worrying again With compassion. Really, you know, think and feel into that sense of worry. You know, think about the like climate change, for instance, which is really giving a lot of especially young people these days, a lot of anxiety because they're going to be living for exactly many more decades.
Lisa Gruenloh:If you think about something that, wow, that is so much bigger than you know what I could impact. Still, you can find ways to impact with your daily behavior, with donating to organizations, with getting involved with you know, contacting your representatives, you know in Congress all kinds of things that we actually can do to affect positive change where we can.
Jennifer Johnson:And I assume that that would maybe try, that would maybe lower that anxiety level for people a little bit, knowing they're doing something it can and you know.
Lisa Gruenloh:Another thing is we have to realize that we're, you know, a single person and you know, when you look at the human suffering that exists on this planet right now and in our own backyard really is staggering, and this really impacts people who have a high sensitivity level and high empathy. And those are the folks like if you have people in your circle who are highly empathetic, yeah, look out for those right folks because and sometimes it's helpful just for people to be able to talk about things you know. And if you have friends who are in certain groups that have been really impact by hate or bigotry, you know, reach out and make sure those people know that you're on their side.
Jennifer Johnson:That's beautiful, absolutely, Lisa. It has been a joy having you on today. Thank you, it's been so much fun If our listeners would like to get a hold of you and maybe talk about your the journaling aspect or really anything, the coaching aspect. How do they get a hold of you?
Lisa Gruenloh:Probably my email. I know that sounds kind of old fashioned, that's okay. Email is still good, Lisa@ LisaGruenloh. com, and my websites are purposejourney. com, purposejournal. com and purposefulscribbles. com.
Jennifer Johnson:Oh, I love it Again. Thank you so much.
Lisa Gruenloh:Thank you, Jen.