4 More Tips to Train your Body for Better Mental Health
- Katherine Hobbs
- May 23, 2022
- 9 min read
Updated: May 27, 2022
Last week I shared 4 Tips to Train your Body for Better Mental Health. I hope you were able to try out one or two tips and notice an improvement in your mental health. Let me share four more tips that can help train our bodies to invoke better mental health as you experience infertility or pregnancy loss rollercoasters.
Note: This is the second in a three-part series that will discuss ways to train your mind, body, and spirit as we cope with negative emotions due to infertility, miscarriage, or stillbirth. The tips shared here will also affect the other two because the mind, body, and spirit are closely connected. I also want to note here that I am not a trained professional. These are simply tools that I have personally found helpful.
1. Posture & Body Language -
Before you continue reading, I want you to take a moment to note how you are sitting or standing. Are you hunched over your desk? Are you sitting rigidly on the edge of your seat? or melting into the couch like butter? As much as we like to hide our anxiety and depression, our body posture is often a reflection of how we are feeling. This technique is similar to the "talking slower" tip I shared two weeks ago. Once you recognize your posture and what it is saying about your mental state of the moment. You can physically change how you sit, and your mood will often follow suit. For example, have you ever been in a bad mood and tried smiling? Did you notice that you quickly felt better? If you are anxious and notice you are sitting rigidly on the edge of your seat, try sitting back and relaxing your posture. Take note of how you feel after a few moments. Maybe you are sprawled on the couch binge-watching tv to distract yourself from the pain you are feeling. There’s nothing wrong with watching tv to cope, but try and take note of how you are lying, and then mentally try and sit in a way that matches the mood you would prefer to have. Do you feel any difference? You can help change your mood by changing your physical body language and posture. If changing posture feels unnatural, try doing some yoga or enroll in a dance class to learn better form.
2. Medical Intervention-
One of the biggest obstacles when faced with mental health is accepting that sometimes we need some help. Following my most recent miscarriage, I hit a point where I knew I wouldn't be able to cope on my own, so I sought some medical intervention. I realize this might look different for each person. It may mean that you talk to your doctor about medication, visit your therapist, get a life coach, or any combination. I felt that it was talking to my doctor about starting some anti-depressants was the right thing for me.
Medication - When you are TTC (trying to conceive), going on medication can be scary. Before my miscarriage, I was already dealing with some anxiety and depression. I seemed to be managing with many of the skills I've shared here. After my miscarriage, I was in a very dark place that I knew I wouldn't be able to get out of it on my own. Going through the stress of infertility to have another pregnancy loss was devastating. I knew that my daughter needed me to be back to normal, and I wanted to be back to normal. My husband and I talked, prayed, and fasted about it. Ultimately, I made an appointment with my doctor and decided that taking medication for my mental health was what I needed right now. I'm not going to tell you that you have to take medication to improve your mental health because I know it’s not suitable for everyone. However, if all your efforts to make lifestyle changes to feel better aren't working, it can be helpful to discuss your options with a medical provider.
Therapy -
I feel a little sheepish as I'm writing this because I saw a therapist in college. I'm not sure if it was the stigma I was raised with or the anxiety I felt as I shared my story, but I only went to two appointments. Long story short, I opted for anti-depressants. If I had stuck with it, I would probably be further on my mental health journey. I wish I could go back in time and stick it out. Instead, I've learned a lot of skills slowly on my own. You can acquire many of these skills independently, but I think it can help speed up the process if you have someone guiding you. Much like strengthening a weak muscle, you can do it independently, but a physical therapist can teach you the best skills to strengthen the muscle properly and help you measure your progress. Also, I want to mention that many types of therapists are available. Some specialize in infertility or pregnancy loss, and some specialize in couple’s relationships. So, if you can, you may be able to find someone who specializes in what you are going through and can help you learn coping skills tailored to fit your needs.
Life Coach/Doula - I only recently learned about life coaches, so I don't have any experience with them firsthand, but I love what I have been learning about them. Life coaches are people who have both experience and training to help coach you as you are dealing with life’s challenges. Many women have experienced infertility or pregnancy loss firsthand, and then they get certified from an accredited life coaching course and help other women through their journey. I've enjoyed the podcast "Catalyst for Courage with Lindsay Blair," who is an Infertility Coach (not sponsored). If I had a life coach earlier on in my infertility journey, I would have been able to cope much easier with the whole process.
I hope that as you are going through your journey with mental health, please realize that there are people here ready to help you. And you can seek help from your therapist, a medical professional, a life coach, a friend, or your spouse to determine what treatments or therapies are right for you.
3. Creativity -
I love being creative. I love sewing and yarn crafts, I enjoy creative writing, and like to think outside the box. As I was preparing for this post, I reached out to several friends who have gone through infertility or pregnancy loss. When several of them mentioned how creativity had helped them on their journey, I knew it was something to include in this post. Creativity can mean a lot of things, so here I've written a brainstorm of ideas that may help you start embracing some creative juices:
Yarn Crafts -
Knitting and crocheting are probably the most common yarn crafts. I prefer knitting, but I have dabbled in crochet. Here is a tutorial that I found helpful when learning to knit. Before getting pregnant this past fall, I spent a lot of time knitting, which helped me relax. Unfortunately, since the miscarriage, I've struggled to get back into the craft. Hopefully, one of these days, I will feel ready.
There are so many other things you can do with yarn, too. Look at Pinterest, and you will find so many ideas to try. Last fall, I had a lot of fun when I made these pumpkins out of foam balls, yarn, and sticks with other women at my church.
Scrapbooking - While I have tried scrapbooking before, I don't usually stick with it for very long, but I think it might be fun to create a book to remember fun memories for some people. Just think of Carl and Ellie’s scrapbook from the movie Up.
Home Decor & Organization - Interior decorating is not my strongest suit, but I find it so refreshing to piece together a home environment that is inviting and calming. Organizing, on the other hand, is my strong suit. I love finding a place for everything in a way that makes sense. I'm a huge fan of Marie Kondo when I'm trying to organize. I like everything to have a home and keep only those things that "spark joy." While I can’t control much in the way of infertility, I can at least control how I organize my kitchen or the clothes in my closet.
Sewing -
Sewing is probably the first craft I ever learned. Something about the hum of a sewing machine is so relaxing. I have so many happy memories of sewing. My mom helped me make my first doll dress, and then I continued making doll clothes for my sister and me as we were growing up. I made several pieces of clothes for myself and our local high school musical productions.
While we were going through primary infertility, my husband and I decided we wanted to attend a local Renaissance Fair and dress up. Since I didn't have a sewing machine yet, we went to the store and bought one. Then we went and picked up patterns, fabric, and other materials. I spent the following weeks sewing costumes in my spare time for my husband and me.
Take Music Lessons - As you may have found from my previous posts, I've spent time on musical endeavors. Music inspires my soul. From a young age, I sang in my church choir. I took a few years of voice lessons and sang in high school and college choirs. I participated in bands playing the flute through those same years. In my teenage years, I also started learning the piano, reaching an early intermediate level. In my adult years, I decided to continue piano lessons. Though no longer my teacher, my piano teacher continues to be one of my dearest friends.
Audition for a Community Play - Participating in a community play is a great way to be creative. If you are reciting Shakespeare or singing in the rain, you will find creativity exploding from your soul and probably make some incredible friends while you are there.
Start a blog - Writing on this blog has been my creative outlet. I get to think of innovative ideas and ways to share information with my readers. If you've thought about starting a blog but aren't sure you are ready to commit. Please consider writing a guest post here on my blog. We would love to hear what you have to say!
Learn a Language - While serving a mission for my church in Chile, I learned Spanish. Over the 18 months I was there, I learned a lot, but I know that I have a lot that I can still learn. I've found that if I don't practice, I get rusty. My favorite language learning app is Duolingo, which has been an excellent tool for refining my Spanish grammar and verb conjugations.
Art -
I won't profess to be a skilled artist, though I enjoy it. My husband, on the other hand, is an experienced artist! Infect, he made the logo for my blog as our 7th wedding anniversary gift. Art can take many forms: sketching, sculpting, painting, and coloring in an adult coloring book. Are you looking for a creative date idea? Do art! Early in covid lockdown, my husband and I had a stay-at-home date where we drank sparkling cider and did some watercolor painting. It was simple but so much fun!
Grow a Garden - Growing up, I dreaded the summer weeding of the garden. Now that I have my own home, I recently started to learn how to garden. I've been surprised at how pleasant it is to turn over dirt with a hula hoe or trim off dead branches from a bush. I'm no expert in gardening, but it is invigorating to get some fresh air and beautify my yard. Now, if I can keep the deer from eating my hostas!
Bake -
I used to love baking, especially pies and bread. However, I've recently found that I have food sensitivities, so I don't bake nearly as much as I used to. However, it was a very therapeutic process when I used to bake for myself. I would first clean the kitchen, and then I would bake my heart out and make a mess, then I would clean the kitchen again. Something about kneading dough or decorating the pie crust was rejuvenating.
As you can see, the creative outlets are almost unlimited. My advice is to try new things until you find something you are passionate about and take the time you need to do it. Think of it as a gift to yourself—creativity for better mental health.
4. Exercise -
I have mixed feelings about exercise for mental health. While I know studies say that exercise is good for your mental health, I've found that if I over-exercise, my body feels drained and hurts for the rest of the day. Then I feel down because I'm so tired and sore I can't do anything else.
However, I've found that exercising in more moderate ways, such as going for a walk, doing some yoga, or progressive resistance training, doesn't leave me exhausted. If I'm not tired after the exercise, I feel much better mentally. I also enjoy mild interval training or light hikes. So, with this one, find what works for you, and don't push yourself so hard that you feel sluggish for the rest of the day.
Takeaways for Training Your Body
I hope you learned something helpful today to help train your body for better mental health. I challenge you to pick just one thing from this post to practice over the next few days and note how it makes you feel. Please share your experience on social media or share it in the comments below. Please also feel free to share your ideas on helping to train the body for better mental health.
Also, if you want to share what creative projects you find helpful for your mental health on social media, please tag me @confessions.of.a.pineapple. I would love to see what you are doing!
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