Sustainable Mental Health In A Post-Pandemic World
- May 19, 2022
- 5 min read
Updated: May 23, 2022
Written by: Sarah Snyder, Guest Writer Brainz Magazine
What if I told you that you didn’t have to travel to or live on a tropical island to experience paradise? After moving to Hawaii twenty years ago, I fell in love with the slowed down island lifestyle and I discovered that we all have the opportunity to pave our own path to paradise when we journey inward to reconnect to our body, mind, and spirit.
Photo credit: Mia Yoshioka
In a post-pandemic world, this is more important than ever before. We are experiencing a massive mental health crisis as a result of compounding stressors and limited access to mental health care. My intention is to share my proven, sustainable three-tiered approach to neuro hacking your body, mind, and spirit to create your own fully embodied paradise amidst the current external chaos of our post-pandemic world.
As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Registered Yoga Teacher, and Neuro Performance Strategist, I realized the need for a simple, sustainable approach to help high-performing women who are mentally exhausted achieve peak performance while balancing mental health. My Embodied Paradise Methodology integrates neuroscience, psychology, and yoga to support powerhouse women like you in balancing performance, health, and mental wellness so you can create your own paradise, right here and now. After supporting hundreds of clients on their path to a fully embodied paradise, I've found that reaching optimal wellness requires us to overcome physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion by doing less, not more.
In our culture of over-working, over-exerting, and over-committing, the key to sustainable mental health and wellness is practicing the art of being, not doing!
Creating mental agility that balances mental health and wellness isn't about supplements, self-help books, or spa memberships. It's about journeying inward to reconnect to our highest self. So why do some people have the ability to remain calm, overcome obstacles, and achieve peak performance in all areas of their lives, while others struggle? Recent research and my fifteen years of experience in the mental health, wellness, and education fields have shown that most of us look outside of ourselves for solutions, validation, attention, and love– which inevitably causes us to feel “not enough.” Whereas in comparison, those who achieve ultimate levels of success are turning inward and finding that the key to unlocking a new level of performance is in understanding that you already have everything you need within you to create the love, joy, and inner tranquility for which you are longing. You just have to reconnect to your own body, mind, and spirit in order to feel more aligned with your highest potential.
Step 1: (BODY) Build somatic awareness through nervous system regulation
Your first step on the path to paradise is to understand that your body is brilliantly built. Your nervous system is like a well-oiled machine. It has an accelerator (your sympathetic fight or flight response) to protect you from danger, and a brake (your parasympathetic rest and digest response) to slow down the stress response cycle and return your body to equilibrium. Most people don’t realize that the key to counteracting stress, anxiety, and insomnia is to learn Soothing Somatic Strategies that slow the fight or flight response and activate the relaxation response. My Embodied Paradise Methodology merging neuroscience, psychology, and yoga allows you to not only calm your body, improve sleep, and respond (rather than react) in stressful situations, but also to triple your productivity at work and at home because your nervous system is regulated and optimized. Three of the simplest practices to build somatic awareness and nervous system regulation are deep exhalation breaths, restorative yoga, and yoga nidra. To learn more and test out these practices, please check out my free resources page on my wellness website. And if you identify as female, you can also join my facebook community, Women’s Wellness Circle: Strategies for Peak Performance, Health, and Balance to try a pre-recorded restorative yoga class under the guide section.
Step 2: (MIND) Practice metacognition through mindful reframing
Once we learn how to self-soothe the body, our second step on the path to paradise is to learn the process of Mindful Reframing to rewire our thought patterns so that we can improve confidence, sustain happiness, and optimize performance. The practice of mindful reframing integrates higher level thinking (i.e. metacognition) with the yogic principle of non-judgmental awareness to free you from the cycle of negative self-talk.
The truth is that so many people get stuck in the spiral of distorted thinking. When you practice mindful reframing, you rewire your brain to develop a healthier inner dialogue. This helps you to make healthier decisions, plan and organize with greater clarity, and initiate and execute tasks more easily. This approach allows you to become a more self-aware, self-accepting, and self-compassionate observer of your thoughts and experiences. As a result, you are better able to set healthy boundaries and elevate your confidence– which allows your relationships to flourish and an abundance mindset to develop. This allows your motivation to soar and helps you to reach peak levels of performance as your best self.
Step 3: (SPIRIT) Learn the art of being through Soulful Silence
Finally, once we develop a healthier inner dialogue, we practice Soulful Silence to hit the pause button so we can do less to experience more on our path to paradise. This means that you stop filling your day with more tasks and create time and space to turn inwards through grounding, mindfulness, and meditation practices. All of these assist in tapping into a deeper connection to yourself. By practicing Soulful Silence, you learn how to tune out the external noise and chaos of the world around you and tune into your own inner wisdom. This not only strengthens your intuition, which boosts your decision-making, efficiency, and productivity– but it also rewires your brain to rebound more quickly from anxious survival mode to safe soothing mode (which makes you feel happy, present, resilient, and connected to your highest self). When you are willing to cut through the external chaos of our outer world through Soulful Silence, you can finally connect to your highest self as a silent non-judgmental observer of your own fully embodied internal paradise.
No sunscreen is required.
Sarah Snyder, Guest Writer Brainz Magazine
Sarah Slater Snyder is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200 Hour), and Neuro Performance Strategist in Hawaii working with teens, young adults, and families within her private therapy practice (www.sarahslatersnyder.com) and wellness practice (www.aboundingcircles.com). Sarah has over fifteen years of experience teaching cross-cultural populations how to tune into their mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual body to live from a place of truth, joy, intention, and purpose. To learn more about Sarah’s practices for sustainable mental health and wellness, please download her Path to Paradise Workbook here, which is free for the month of May in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month. You can also set up a free Performance Pathway Call with Sarah, purchase her Radical Self Love Affirmation Cards to assist with mindful reframing here and try a free yoga nidra practice here.
