Developing A Holistic Lifestyle After A Meltdown

When the burdens of anxiety and depression reach an uncontrollable level, the body and the mind go through a meltdown. Meltdowns are periods of intense mental distress wherein people fail to function correctly in their daily activities. Unique to each person, stressors, traumatic events, life changes, and chronic medical conditions may trigger these meltdowns. However, it is essential to remember recovery is always possible even after such outburst.

How It Helps In The Recovery Process

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The main culprit of a mental breakdown is stress. “Stress can seem omnipresent. Between working, socializing and taking care of the home, it sometimes seems we don’t have a minute to ourselves, let alone enough time to really take care of our bodies and minds.”  Sonja Seglin, LCPC elaborates. Anything that triggers or stresses us is capable of shutting our mind and body down. This highly possible event happens when undergoing heavy but regular stressful events. We must learn to tame our mind and pace ourselves to take back our control.

And this is where holistic health comes in. A holistic lifestyle starts with a certain amount of mindfulness as a critical component. It means accurately knowing how you react to situations or merely acknowledging your strengths and weaknesses. Using a holistic approach in this article, we will enumerate steps on how to live a holistic lifestyle after a meltdown.

Recovering From A Meltdown

Practice Mindfulness

Sometimes meltdowns come with raging outbursts or embarrassing bawls in the presence of others. Park that embarrassment for a while and look back to what had triggered that meltdown. Was it related to a person? A particular assignment at work you thought you could not accomplish? Was it an offensive remark someone had said or were you just extremely vulnerable that day? If this is not the first meltdown you have experienced, assess the other times you have had anxiety attacks. You will realize more things about yourself, and this will empower you to become better.  Because according to Jennifer Bradley, Psy.D., HSPP, Clinical Psychologist “I believe that human beings have an inherent longing and need for wholeness and balance, which is our natural state of being.”

Allocating time assessing yourself and the situation is considered mindfulness. Identifying your trigger points will be useful for further exercises in the future. Once you have started practicing mindfulness, you can easily apply this in other daily activities like mindful eating and managing emotions.

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Other exercises of mindfulness may be meditation, daily examination of conscience, and introspection.

Respect The Limits Of Your Body

Mindfulness also comes with respecting our body’s limits. Avoid activities or situations that are “too much” for you. These activities may cause stress and adversely affect both your mental and emotional health. It is good to disconnect once in a while. Simple meditation or downtime can melt away the angst.

Eat Clean

“It’s important to underscore here the importance of monitoring your mental health and knowing how different medications and lifestyle changes can impact your mental health.”  Julia Hogan, LCPC sais. With that, eating clean, green food is only one component of holistic practice. It works hand in hand with other measures that promote mental and emotional health. Eating vegetables, a balanced diet, and healthy food nourishes our bodies and flushes out toxins.

If you are not a fan of vegetables, try a cup of tea a day. It has soothing effects on the body and the mind. A cup of green tea can calm away nerves.

Stay Active

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Regular exercise serves as a stress reliever. Whenever you feel overwhelmed, do an activity or exercise to blow off some steam. For others, it serves as a momentary distraction.

If your work entails long sedentary hours, take a break once in a while and walk around the office. Getting your red blood cells moving can help you channel negative energy into something more productive.

Your recovery is possible by leading a holistic lifestyle. Holistic health encompasses the spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional health of a person. Start living a holistic life through the practices we mentioned above.