Ep 239 Embracing Mental Health Integration

Episode Notes:

Join me today as I share some ideas around integrating mental health practices for your busy life.  My brother recently ran 100 miles as a fundraiser to build awareness around mental health and as we close out the month I think it’s important we start looking at ways you can improve your mental health little by little.

In This Episode: 

• 100 Miles to benefit NAMI of the Capital Region #youareenough
• The importance of knowing your why
• Confidence program – get started: www.michellebourquecoaching.com/confidence
• Importance of paying attention to your energy
• Food for fuel 
• What are you allowing in your brain
• Importance of sleep 
• Mindfulness – the stories you are telling yourself

 

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Episode Transcript:

Transcribed by OtterAI with minimal edits

You are listening to the it’s your time podcast and I’m your host certified life coach Michelle Arnold Bourque, and today’s episode I’m discussing embracing mental health integration.

Hello, hello, hello, welcome back to the podcast friends, here we are heading into Memorial Day weekend, it is going to be so much fun and I cannot wait to share all of the details with you. And we are closing out the month of May, which is mental health awareness month. And listen, I think every day needs to be mental health awareness. So I am all in on talking about it on purpose and with a purpose today, because I want to talk about ways that we can embrace the integration of mental health into our lives. And let me just start by sharing a quick story about raising mental health awareness. My brother recently ran 100 Miles Yes 100. And just over 24 hours and raised nearly $5,500 to help raise awareness in collaboration with Nami, which is the National Alliance on Mental Illness. And according to their site, it is the nation’s largest grass roots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. And when I went to research them a little more, I came upon their campaign for the year, which was hashtag more than enough. It’s what I talk about here reminding you that you are already inherently worthy. So much fun. This is the work that we do here together, working bit by bit, day by day, I want you to be able to excel in your career without all of the stress and overwhelm. So you can feel better and do more of what you want and be able to work on your mental health pause in a way that works for you. And let me be clear, this is not a work life balance that I’m talking about. I think that it’s such a farce. When I say excel in your career and do more of what you want, what I want for you is for you to be able to prioritize your life in a way that you are able to integrate what is important to you, and that can look different every single day, you are not just one role, you are a multi faceted human being. And when you’re able to do that you include things that you want to do now, I have been talking to more and more of you recently, which I love, love, love, please keep reaching out, LinkedIn, I am Michelle Arnold Bourque, or on Instagram at MichelleBourquecoaching. And that’s really where I’m most active. I’m on Facebook as well. But most of the fun stuff comes on Instagram. And as I hear from all of you, I am seeing an overarching theme of wanting to feel more confident. And so I have a solution for you. I created a six week coaching program on lease, pause. unleash your potential, increase your confidence and find your purpose, where we go over things like the foundations of confidence. And I think you’ll be surprised that is actually week one. But so many folks think that you need to feel confident in order to accomplish those big dreams and goals. And this could look like just breaking into device sales are starting an entirely new career. It’s the same process. It’s the same process, pause. It’s the same process that we must take with your brains. You don’t need to feel confident in order to get started. And that is what we go over in week one. And week two, we dive into building self awareness and belief and self. How you speak to yourself is everything. And in this week, you will begin rewiring your thinking around what is possible for you, that just jazzes me up so much. It’s so fun and exciting to think about rewiring your brain and having you step into even bigger beliefs about yourself and for yourself. Then in week three, we go into overcoming impostor syndrome and knowing your worth, this is huge for so many women. I think this week alone could be worth pause. I think this week alone could be worth the price of admission, right? Week four is building confidence through purpose. And this one I thought was so important because my finding your purpose class was one of the most highly attended and I know a lot of women feel like you want to find your purpose and this week we dive into how you do that. Then in week five, you will work on how to decide what self care looks like for you. You will begin implementing and practicing what that is. Listen, self care is not selfish. Self Care is imperative. I want you to think about, like your favorite drink? I don’t know, is it coffee? Is it a wine is it water, whatever it is, you cannot possibly enjoy it on a continuous basis. If you only drink out of the cup, and never fill it back up, you must fill the cup in order to keep reaping the benefits of the beverage, you must feel yourself so that you and by the way, everyone around you continues to reap the benefits of what you bring to this world. And then, in the final week, we look at future self, and we work on the next steps. future self work is so much fun, it kind of goes along with the idea of believing more for what is possible in your life. And oh, listen, I have an exciting piece to this, if you sign up by June 11, I am going to be sending you six free Breathworks. As I’ve mentioned, I’m in the process of getting certified. So once I start the process of developing my programs around that, I will share them with you for no extra cost. So all of the modules that are in place right now, weeks one through six are delivered to you each week in an email, plus the future six Breathworks, which will also be delivered to you in an email slash video format. I still have to figure that out. But just know it is on the docket for you if you sign up and purchase the program by June 11. And let me tell you breathwork, if you’re not familiar, has been like the gasoline that sets all of the mindset work on fire, it’s so good. And the total cost of the program is $47. I really want it to make this available to more folks. And so I’m packing it full of a lot of value and support. You can even email me as you go through the program as well. With any questions, you might want some coaching on something, I truly want you to be able to get the most out of this and be able to see transformation in your life. So please bet on yourself. Go to Michellebourquecoaching.com/confidence to get started, you will receive an email shortly after the purchase and get started. And then we see where you take it so much fun. Okay, back to the idea of the 100 miles in mental health. There are so many things that you can do to help support and embrace your mental health and integrate it into your life in a way that works for you. And you know, there is never one right or wrong answer here on this podcast. So it’s not just one size fits all kind of a recipe. It’s what works for you. So I’m going to talk about a couple of options here. And then I want you to pay attention to like what kind of sparked your interest as we’re talking? Maybe it’s being active. I always say movement is medicine. I love my peloton app. Listen, people. You do not have to have a peloton bike in order to reap the benefits of peloton they have an app that you can just do on your phone or iPad and ride on any bike. Be outside. Do yoga, do strength. Do you hit workouts? Anything? There are so many options? Hey, listen, there’s even dance classes. I should video so they are so much fun. Movement is medicine. What is it that you like to do? It could be a walk? Just get out and start moving some of that energy. Eating right is always another one right? And I have to tell you I saw a funny meme the other day and it was a piece of that extra gum with the caption you are what you eat extra. My nieces sometimes say that I am that but that is okay. It’s just so funny. Pay attention right to what it is that you’re putting into your body. Without the shame and judgment. That’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m just suggesting we start paying attention. Pause. Michelle Bourque 9:06 I am just suggesting that we start paying attention to do I feel fueled and energized after I eat or do I feel like I am bloated and disgusting. Pay attention. It makes a difference in how you show up. And okay. Well this one is an interesting one because we know that study say getting sleep can help. And I’m gonna put a disclaimer here. I am not in a place to tell anyone how to sleep, full transparency. I wake up at like, the other night or morning it was I think 113 Mark said Are you kidding me? This is ridiculous. And then I get up. I get some things done. I get my coffee. I Swiffer I read I do want to my breathwork classes and then I’m usually taking a little nap between 330 and 430. And then I get up to get my workout in and the day continues. So I hear the important sense of sleep. And I will of course, share it with you. And then I will just move on. Okay? Another way to help your mental health, limiting screen time, it’s always an activity to consider. And here, what I want to say about this is that pause

Michelle Bourque 10:25 is that again, pay attention to how you feel when you are scrolling. When you are exercising, like for me exercising, sweating, that totally helps my energy, it gives me the endorphins that I want to start the day. And listen, it doesn’t always feel easy. And I don’t always want to jump off the couch after my little nap to go downstairs and do it. I have to tell my brain, you know, you feel better. Once you do it. You have to know your why as to why you are doing the things that you are doing in life, the way you create your life is in the daily habits and processes that you have implemented in your life. So knowing and having a compelling reason is so important. This is what you are going to be telling yourself, the reason why you are doing it as you are doing it now, listen, if we’re talking about the 100 mile run, I’m not saying we have to do that. But if I do think back to my brother’s efforts, his why helping raise awareness for mental health and helping that foundation was big enough to do all of those training runs to keep going that day. What is your WHY to have any goal that you’re attempting? And when we talk about the limiting screen time, and you’re paying attention to how you feel? What I mean is Do you feel inspired by who or what you’re following? Or do you fall into the Compare and despair? Listen, folks, I have this new app, it’s some photo editing app. And it is freaking amazing what can be done with pictures. And that’s just my small little $29 purchase. Right? In fact, I sent a before and after to some of my nieces to remind them how things are on the socials are not always as they appear to actually be in real life. In fact, on my app, I was able to clean up my wrinkles, I was even able to remove some objects in my basement with that app. The thing is, you need to pay attention to who you are following what you are believing what you are taking in. That is all stuff that is going into your brain, right we talk about what you’re putting into your mouth as far as food and how it fuels you pay attention to what you’re allowing into your brain and how it fuels you. Okay, the other things to help your mental health ladies, listen up mindfulness, there is a lot that we can say about mindfulness. But where I would suggest that you just get started, is becoming mindful of the stories that you tell yourself about your life. We are the stories that we tell ourselves. Are you telling a good one, most folks just think that life is happening to them, that is not the case, we are creating it. And when you become aware of what you are thinking, what you are telling yourself daily to add is when you start to decide about the changes that you want to make. You do not always have to believe everything you think this is the work that we do here, right. And I will add another little plug for the unleash your potential six week confidence program because this is what you’ll be working on. Paying attention to what you’re thinking, choosing to rewire your brain choosing to think on purpose, choosing to create the life you want to live. That is everything. And then I will also say, speaking of the confidence program, and the bonus breathwork another way to really help in your mental health. In fact, even taking it a step further. Your entire nervous system is the breath work. Improving your breath can help improve brain function. It can help you calm the mind and manage stress better, it can strengthen the mind and boost your attention span. It can help you keep your brain healthy and young. It can influence emotion, attention, body awareness, it packs pause. It impacts overall health. And I will tell you sometimes you finish those breath works. You’re not even sure exactly what happened but you know you feel better. And it’s so fascinating because I’ve been researching

Michelle Bourque 14:45 and it’s so fascinating because I’ve been researching more and more as I’m diving into this breathwork certification, and even the impact of chewing or lack of chewing with the standard American diet and having things like smoothies and so many soft foods and our diets, that changes the way we breathe, and that has been shown to change the way our mouths develop, and our teeth and our face. It is so fascinating. Oh, and I would also like to add, because it is my word of the year, and Nergi pay attention to. And I mentioned it a couple times already how you feel. But what I would say is another important component to this regarding your mental health is how your energy is being used on a daily basis. Are you being sucked dry by people around you? Who are the Energy Vampires of your life? Or are you surrounding yourself with folks that light you up? Are you doing things that get you excited? What is your energy? Like? Listen, I know this podcast is called it’s your time and I talk a lot about that. But time is energy and they are both non renewable resources. You must protect your peace. And you do that by prioritizing. Paying attention and pivoting when you need to. That is where you have the power to take control of your mental health of your life. Okay. Listen, I want to see you in the unleash your power confidence program, go to Michelle Bourquecoaching.com/confidence. And if you have any questions, just send me a DM. We will get them all answered. Okay, friends, that’s what I have for you today. Take what works, leave what doesn’t and let’s meet back here next week for another opportunity to transform your life. Make it a great day. Take care