Bonus Episode 4: Taking Care of our Emotional Health as much as our Physical Health Mash-Up

As we continue through our revisit of key talking points, I can’t help but reflect on how this week’s topic of our emotional health and physical health being tied to each other is the key factor in why I started this podcast in the first place.  My experience with this subject is why we’re here having these conversations today, so I have an extra special attachment to this talking point.

In this week’s mashup we take a look back at all the range of thoughts and experiences that came up in these conversations with our Season 1 Guests. 

How those that are student athletes, and athletes in general, are coached up on their physical health, but very little attention (even now) is given to their emotional and mental health.  It’s acceptable to miss a practice or workout for a physical ailment, but one is usually scoffed at if they need to miss or take a step back for a mental or emotional one.  I believe this is part of the reason so many in the world struggled when Simone Biles took a step back last Summer at the Olympics.  If she had a physical injury she would have been extended empathy and grace; people in general would have felt really sad she had to do that.  But when she needed to do that for a mental ailment that was, what could be argued, more dangerous to her than a physical ailment, many in the world could not handle that, and could not wait to be critical and question her “toughness”, her “commitment”.  The truth is what Simone Biles did took more courage than most people have because she knew how much scrutiny she was going to get, but thought more of herself and her teammates and knew that was the best thing for all of them.

We talk about how we cannot be truly physically healthy without being emotionally healthy.  Unprocessed, stuffed emotions will show up in our physical bodies in some fashion if we do not move them through.

We talk about how our society has defined some emotions as “bad” and others as “good”, so therefore that has affected what emotions we do and don’t find safe to feel.  In our go, go, go, produce world we move into autopilot and don’t give ourselves time to feel.  Then when we’re asked how we feel, we don’t even know.  We talk about not being afraid to google an emotions wheel so we can examine that and learn how to name what we are feeling.  We can’t process something when we don’t know what it is. 

We talk about how our monthly cycles are connected to our emotional and physical health, and how knowing what we need to feed ourselves physically and emotionally can change the way we experience physical, mental, and emotional symptoms during that cycle.

We talk about how mental and emotional health is scrutinized and stigmatized in our culture, and even more so in our Black and Brown communities through fear, stereotypes, biases, not being heard, and just out and out racism.  We talk about how men are scrutinized in how or if they show, feel, and process emotions.

We talk about the importance of stepping back and processing emotions before reacting or responding to something, and how much that can change and affect responses and outcomes, especially in relationships.

We talk about how helpful it would be if all workplaces would have the same coverage and care in their wellness packages for mental and emotional health as they do for physical health.  Within that, we talk about the mind-body-soul connection and if that’s not tended to then we do end up having physical ailments and issues.

We talk about the importance of not being afraid to ask for help, especially as women and moms, and how much better it is for our health and how we interact in our relationships when we’re willing to release the “superwoman” complex, and just ask for what we need.

We also talk about the importance of enjoying each moment, releasing unrealistic expectations of ourselves, others, and the places we reside, and maybe most importantly, the importance of quality rest and sleep to our mental, emotional, and physical health.

I hope you’ll take the time to revisit these important points with me and all the thoughts and experiences our guests have around them.  This may be the most important place to start when embarking on your best, healthiest, self journey.  It’s certainly the place that first got my attention.