Green Juice, Exercise and Mental Decline?

Green Juice, Exercise and Mental Decline

By ACHS Student Morgan Smith

You’re active, exercise daily, eat healthy whole foods, the occasional green juice, and limited processed foods, but you still feel lost, unsure, sad, or unmotivated? You’re physically healthy, but your mental being requires some reassurance, some attention, and care. Deepak Chopra believes that each of us can “find the place inside yourself where nothing is impossible” [2]. The only way to find this place is to find wellness in every aspect of life, including your mental being.

You’re Only as Healthy as Your Whole Being

The American Mental Wellness Association defines mental wellness as “a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community” [1]. A low emotional state can impact your social and work life and affect your overall wellness and being. Even if you meal prep and work out six days a week, you can end up burnt out, lost, and overwhelmed if you disregard your mental well-being.

It can be hard to prioritize self-care, stress management, and healthy emotional functioning in this fast-paced generation, but it is essential to your overall wellness. You owe it to yourself to find a place within where nothing is impossible.

Are You Okay?

Mental wellness is a beast of a topic to tackle, but it can be made simple. It is essential to be aware of your mental state. Check in with yourself, face your emotions head-on, no matter how scary it is. Sit with yourself and ask yourself, “Am I okay?” Learn to be aware of your emotional being so you can then care for and tend to it. You must be mindful of how you may be feeling before you can help yourself. A mechanic wouldn’t change the spark plugs in a car before looking under the hood, and a chef wouldn’t add more salt to a dish before tasting the current flavor. So why would you attempt to improve your mental wellness without being aware of its current state?

How Are You Supposed to Improve Your Mental Wellness?

To start simple, you could incorporate mindful practices to begin to understand your mental being. Some mindful practices include meditation, mindfulness exercises, gratitude exercises, and even journaling. Meditation alone reduces stress and anxiety and enhances self-awareness [3]. For you, meditation may mean downloading apps such as HeadSpace or Calm and utilizing their guided meditation courses, or it could mean sitting alone with your thoughts daily for a few minutes. Other mindful exercises such as noting when you feel grateful and at peace and journaling about your daily experiences and emotions can also be beneficial to your mental wellness. Think about how these simple practices can begin to help you discover and improve your mental being.

Don’t Skip that Nap or Those Rest-Days

Taking time to rest and relax within your daily life and hectic schedule is just as important as meditating or incorporating mindfulness exercises. Don’t skip out on your rest-day in an exercise plan, and when you feel tired, take that nap, snooze that alarm, and take care of yourself.

I’ve Lost Myself

Mental wellness is hard. That’s just it; it is hard no matter how easy one may make it sound online or how much someone glamorizes their own mental being and their day-to-day rituals on Instagram or other social media platforms. I understand how tough it can be to find mental wellness.

I recently found myself in a hole; this is the best way to describe the lost and overwhelmed feeling I had in the pit of my stomach and looming over my mind. I had experienced harmful confrontations and felt as if the environment I had been in held this dark raining cloud of negativity, fear, and doubt. I found myself getting upset quickly or reacting harshly to situations. I knew I needed to take some time to find my grounding and rekindle my relationship with a state of mental well-being.

I took a step back and began to reincorporate some beneficial mental wellness practices. I allowed myself to rest from exercise, get some extra sleep when I felt tired and tried to find mindfulness and awareness for my mental being every day.

It was hard even to begin the task of taking time out of my hectic life to find some peace to find time to sit with my emotions and face them head-on. But with patience and understanding for myself and my overall well-being, I persevered. It wasn’t just a quick fix or as easy as slapping a bandaid over my problem; it took work and still takes work.

I daily have to make an effort to care for and tend to my mental being and try to be aware of the days where I may feel more overwhelmed or upset. I will continue to use practices to regain control over my mental wellness and focus on my journey to discovering my own place where everything is possible. I know I am worth it; I know I can and will find a place of mental well-being.

Are you willing and ready to find peace and your own mental wellness? Know that you are worth it, and it is possible for you as well. Roll up those sleeves and start to put in that work for yourself and your happiness. You got this!

About the Author

Morgan Smith I am 19 years old and was born and raised in Colorado. I am currently in my third semester at ACHS working towards my bachelor’s in Holistic Nutrition. I hope to use my degree to help others find health and happiness in their own lives. I am passionate about fitness and inspiring others through it and try every day to share my passion and positivity with others. A quote I live by is “be fearless in pursuit of what sets your soul on fire”.

Learn more about Holistic Nutrition programs at ACHS.

References

[1] American Mental Wellness Association. (n.d.). Mental Wellness. The American Mental Wellness Association Definitions. https://www.americanmentalwellness.org/intervention/definitions/.

[2] Chopra, D. (2013, July 11). Nothing is impossible. Deepak Chopra . https://www.deepakchopra.com/articles/nothing-is-impossible/.

[3] Thorpe, M. (2020, October 27). 12 benefits of meditation. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/12-benefits-of-meditation.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not intended to treat, diagnose, cure, or prevent disease. This article has not been reviewed by the FDA. Always consult with your primary care physician or naturopathic doctor before making any significant changes to your health and wellness routine.

About American College of Healthcare Sciences

American College founded in 1978, is a fully online accredited institute of higher education specializing in holistic health. Based in Portland, OR; our goal is to make research-driven and science-based holistic health education taught by industry-leading experts accessible to anyone anywhere while still giving students a hands-on experiential learning experience like a traditional college and a strong sense of community, school pride and student bond.

This commitment to our students and graduates reflects in our current survey results that reflect 98% of our students would recommend ACHS to a friend or family member.

We believe education is the most powerful tool for changing an individual and the world around us.

When a person enrolls as ACHS, it is vitally important that they graduate with tools they need to forge their own holistic and sustainable missions, build up their communities confidently and changing the face of healthcare with knowledge.

One Response

  1. Thank you, Morgan, for writing this article and publishing it for others to read. The work you are putting in now will be such a benefit in your life ahead. I wish you the best in pursuing your goals.

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