Hey there, it’s Elisha Goldstein, founder of the Mindful Living Collective. And today, I want to help you restore your mental wellness. And also maybe like live a life that you love.

And so I’m going to give five keys today about that. And, and these are things that are backed by science and backed by 1000s of years of human experience. And let’s start with the first one.

First of all, in the past year, let me just kind of lay the land of COVID. And what’s to come? mental wellness, for many of us that just kind of gone out the window entirely. And so if you’re experiencing that you’re not alone. I mean, it used to be like one and 12 people suffered with symptoms of an anxiety disorder. And this last year, they found it was one in three. So just to give you a sense that like, Okay, I’m not alone in this.

So first key, and usually the one that’s left last on people’s lists is meaningful human connection. Why is it important to connect? connection, at least my research has shown a study that was published in the journal clinical psychology in 2006. That connection is the epicenter of welding. And when we feel connected, we feel safe and secure. Just like a, just like a strong web are a net, if you were on a high, you know, high wire and you had a strong net beneath you, you’d feel safer than if there was no net, or if it was frayed in some way.

So how do we support greater connection in our lives? So be on the lookout for micro moments of really attending and listening and attending and paying attention to people in your life, whether that’s a checkout person at a grocery store, and you’re wishing them well in your mind, or whether it’s considering your friends and family, and people that you care about making more regular connections with them via text or FaceTime, or something, just like knowing that you’re connecting while you’re being with them. Just bringing that awareness of connection into your life.

And by the way, you could do this with other things in your life, you can do this with nature, you can be out there and just be aware of the leaves and the contours of the leaves sensing into the connection of everything that’s around you, this is going to give your nervous system a sense of safety and security, which is going to set a strongest foundation for the next four keys that come. So connection, the number one thing meaningful human connection, and connection in general.

The next one, and this is something that you already know, but I’m bringing it Top of Mind, be active, be active in life get physical, your, your brain is connected, all the way down your spine, through your arms and hands with what’s called what’s called a nervous system, it needs to be exercised and moved, if it’s not, energy gets stuck, and we get stuck into a place of either getting overly rigid physically and mentally, where things go and become overwhelming and chaotic. And, and so we need to move the body to get the flow going. And it just feels good, really. And so in whatever way that you can get physical, move your body, be active, go on walks, you know, do a couple push ups, if that’s in your if that’s in your regimen, go on a walk with another person, you know, even better you get the connection and the physical aspect together. So make sure to do that. You know, that’s again, this might just be bringing it top of mind. Something you already know that’s okay. But the question is, are you applying it? And if you are, celebrate that, and if you’re not ask yourself, what are some micro steps I can take to get a little more activity, physical activity into my life?

Okay, number three, be present. Be aware, be Be mindful. In other words, like pay attention on purpose, with a sense of curiosity to things. What does this do this dials down our inner critic. This dials down the noise in our mind. science shows that when you’re attending to something intentionally, even if it’s a great piece of food that you’re eating, then then the whirring, the thinking mind starts to dial down a little bit. It’s also enjoyable to notice the small beautiful things in life, whether it’s the eyelashes of someone that you care about the contours of their face, or whether it’s a flower outside or whether it’s just looking, laying down and looking at the clouds, something enjoyable about being present, or whether it’s being silent, just being present to ourselves. So being mindful, paying attention intentionally. And being curious about whatever’s there. That is absolutely something that’s going to help restore your wellness.

And the fourth, the fourth thing, keep learning make progress. If there’s something that you’re sometimes we feel stale in life, when we’re not really learning anything, we’re not really growing. And and when we’re learning, it activates the mind it makes it look forward and be engaged and you feel more vital and alive. So whether it’s taking a program and growing and nurturing your your your skills and guitar or mindfulness, or learning a whole new curriculum of something, get engaged in something, learn something or whether it’s reading a book and learning Whether it’s having conversations with people and a mentor who’s teaching you something, get involved with something small, learn something small, learn something big. I know. And we have a whole course of mindful living professional teacher training program, that’s a nine month venture. But you could you could do something that’s even smaller, which is, you know, something about learning something new again, from like a book or a small course or just even from a friend. Ask yourself, what am I learning right now? What’s new? And then move towards that? What am I interested in?

Okay, finally, the fifth thing, be generous. What is that doing? Again, what’s what’s happening when you’re generous, and you’re giving is your you’re making a an effort of connection, again. So this loops back around a connection, but in a different way. You’re strengthening the web of life for yourself by being generous, and something I’ve had a feels good. And you know what the reality is, we’re interconnected. And so when you’re generous, and you give, and you lift up other people, well, guess what the web gets lifted up to, and you’re part of that, so you get lifted up. That’s why it feels so good to give. Now giving could be a smile to somebody, giving could be some money that you’re giving to somebody giving could be teaching somebody something, you know, so it could be any of those. So he can give in so many different ways. Ask yourself, ask yourself, How am I giving and maybe there’s so many ways that you’re giving right now, but you’re not acknowledging it. So what’s it like to maybe be aware of the ways that you’re giving and acknowledge it and give yourself a little credit for that. And if you’re finding that you’re not giving a lot, what are some ways that I can give again, simple ways a smile or a teaching or there is some money towards a an organization that you really appreciate and want to see grow? Any of those ways.

So just to recap, you ready? So five, here’s some, here’s five keys to restoring our mental wellness during this time, which the first one is meaningful human connection, finding ways to connect more meaningfully with other people. The second thing is be active, be physical, get your body involved in life, again, create more vitality for yourself, and it feels good and you send the message to yourself that you’re worth paying attention to. Three, be mindful, be present, be curious about things in life. The Curiosity has been shown to be heavily connected to and correlated to feeling well and life. So make sure to get get back going in variety of ways. There’s so many ways we can do that in our life. Four keep learning grow, be engaged, be active, what is there, what am I interested in? What can I learn right now? What can I grow with, even in a time of COVID, there’s so much opportunity to learn. Five and final be generous gifts, strengthen that web that’s there.

Okay, I hope this is supportive. Take notes on those five things and ask myself where am I What am I doing in these different areas of my life right now and what are maybe some areas that I could encourage more growth in these areas or maybe celebrate the things I’m already doing. I hope this was supported, stay connected. I’ll continue to give you ways to restore your mental wellness during this time for all of us.

Bye for now!