5 Foundational Practices to benefit your Mental Health

Foundational practices to benefit mental health:

• 1. Sleep
  • The importance of a restful sleep for physical and mental health cannot be understated. Sleep deprivation impacts our brains ability to regulate emotions. With a lack of sleep, perceived stressors become amplified, leading to an inappropriate stress response. Furthermore, while we sleep emotional experiences are processed, letting go of what is deemed not important and integrating what is. Sleep disruption is associated with mood disorders, including major depression disorder and PTSD.
  • Tips to improve sleep
    • Sleep hygiene
      • Be consistent with bedtime and waking time (even on weekends!)
      • When the sun goes down:
        • support the cycle by reducing the brightness in our space once it becomes dark outside. This might look like lowering the brightness if our lights are on dimmers, or not using overhead lights and instead utilize lamps or candles for light in the evening.
      • 60-90 mins before desired bedtime
        • further to reducing light exposure: no electronic use at least 60 minutes before bed. Also, this reduces the extra stimulation right before bed, so that you’ll getting the zzz’s as soon as you hit the pillow.
        • Establish a night time ritual: maybe it’s having a bath, reading a book, some meditation or light stretching. Maybe it’s enjoying a cup of sleepy time tea. Journalling. Find what makes you look forward to this time in the evening, and creates the transition from your busy daytime self to the your relaxed, sleep master self.
      • Ensure the you have a dark environment for sleeping – no night lights, lights through the windows or door, no flashing phone or clock lights.
      • Bedroom is for 2 activities, and 2 activities only (can you guess?) 1. Sleep. 2. Being intimate.
  • For further information on how to maximize your sleep, check out my previous blog posts here and here.

• 2. Nourishment
  • Nutrition is important for supporting the energy producing pathways in our bodies, neurotransmitter production and supporting overall health. The general rule I give patients in terms of nourishment is always aiming for more vegetables – about half the plate is vegetables, then a protein, a healthy fat and a starch if desired. Be sure to integrate a wide variety of vegetables for the nutrient and fiber diversity. More diversity means more gut microbiome diversity, which makes for a happy gut which is turn supports brain health. Furthermore, be sure to check in with yourself how often you are eating. Symptoms of low blood sugar can mimic those of anxiety. Also, the foods you consume can impact the way you feel (that sluggish feeling after a fast food burger, am I right?) Everyone reacts individually to various foods – check in and pay attention to potential foods that is impacting your mental capacity.
  • If you are feeling more anxious and ungrounded, consider adding in energetically grounding foods, such as:  root vegetables (literally from the ground) including carrots, parsnips, beets, sweet potatoes, and oats. Furthermore, healthy fats are an important component of a healthy diet – think nuts and seeds, avocado, olive oil.

• 3. Nature time
  • Get outside in nature. This could include sitting by the ocean, exploring the mountains, sitting amongst trees, whatever you have access too. If you can smell and hear the nature, even more benefit.  Physically being in nature has been shown to decrease cortisol, the stress hormone. Taking that a step further, time in nature has been shown to increase positive affect, happiness and a sense of meaning and purpose in life. Time spent in nature shows a decrease in incidence of  psychiatric disorders such as depression, ADHD and anxiety. I recommend daily nature time, whatever you can manage – 5 minutes or the entire afternoon.

• 4. Movement
  • Exercise benefits mental health in a few ways. Exercise releases several neurotransmitters including serotonin, dopamine, acetylcholine and norepinephrine, which helps with relaxation and good feels all around. During times of exercise, the brain has an increase in oxygen uptake and blood flow. The benefit of exercise goes beyond the physiological effects. It also provides a distraction and promotes self-efficacy. When you are exercising, you are focused on that activity and, at least for the time being, you are distracted from the negative circumstances contributing to mood disruption. And exercise is challenging, and by doing it you show yourself that you are capable! Enjoy those moments of accomplishment and confidence! A typical recommendation for activity level is 150mins/week, and if you can manage to break a sweat, all the better!

• 5. Connect with others and disconnect from screens
  • Yes, we are doing a lot of socializing time via screens during this time. I encourage disconnection from the scrolling on the phones and replacing with purposeful, conscious effort for social connection (ie a video chat). Connection with others is important. About half the population reports feeling lonely sometimes or often. A common symptom of depression is retraction from social engagement, which is turn leaves us with feelings of loneliness, reinforcing the symptoms of depression. Conversations with others can serve as distraction, or can be therapeutic if you take the opportunity to share your experience and be supported.

• Bonus tip: Ask for support
  • Taking care of ourselves is a lot, and we don’t have to do it alone. It is important to reach out to a health care professional, such as your naturopathic doctor, for an assessment and appropriate support. This could include include talk therapy, behavioral therapies, correcting nutritional deficiencies, and supporting neurological physiology through nutrients, herbs or medications.

• Provincial Health Information Line. HealthLinkBC: Call 8-1-1 or visit www.healthlinkbc.ca.
• VictimLink BC. Call 1-800-563-0808 or visit www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/justice/criminal-justice/victims-of-crime/victimlinkbc.
• Child Abuse Prevention Website: Helpline. Call 310-1234 or visit www.safekidsbc.ca/helpline.htm.
• BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services. Call 310-6789 (310 Mental Health) or visit www.bcmhsus.ca.
• Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention Centre of British Columbia. Call 1-800-784-2433 (1-800-Suicide) or visit http://crisiscentre.bc.ca.
• Here to Help. Visit www.heretohelp.bc.ca.
• Kids Help Phone. Call 1-800-668-6868 or visit www.kidshelpphone.ca/Teens/Home.aspx.