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How to Nourish your body so you can eliminate anxiety.

emotion, health, mental health, nutrition, stress, Uncategorized, wellness

There are many possible causes of anxiety, from trauma to medication side effects. Many medical conditions also mimic symptoms of anxiety: thyroid disorders, and other hormonal imbalances, diabetes, asthma, epilepsy, and heart conditions. “Much of our increasing emotional distress stems from easily correctable malfunctions in our brain and body chemistry-malfunctions that are primarily the result of critical, unmet nutritional needs,” The Mood Cure, Julia Ross (2004,3).

Improved nutrition, lifestyle changes, exercise, stress reduction techniques, supplements, and mind-body practices are all part of a natural approach to anxiety and other mood problems. James Lake, integrative psychiatrist and author of Textbook of Integrative Mental Health (2007), supports these methods for mild to moderate mental health symptoms, as do many other holistic practitioners and researchers.

Why use a natural approach? Perhaps you already feel strongly about taking a natural approach to health whenever possible and want to learn more. Or maybe your anxiety was so severe and you were so desperate that you turned to medications, but now they aren’t working as well or as expected, or perhaps they do help but you don’t like some of the side effects. Perhaps you know deep down that addressing the root cause is the way to go. Whatever the reason, if you’re looking for natural options for combating anxiety, you’ve come to the right place.

Using natural approaches in the form of foods and nutrients can address the root cause of your anxiety, alleviate symptoms, and keep them from returning. For example, if your anxiety is due to a vitamin B6 deficiency, it makes the most sense to boost your levels of vitamin B6. This will also help raise your levels of serotonin, which could improve your mood, sleep, cravings, and, for women, PMS symptoms. It would also be important to look at why your vitamin B6 is low to start with. Maybe you aren’t getting enough in your diet, aren’t digesting well, are under a great deal of stress, or have depleted levels from taking birth control pills. This is just one example of a nutrient deficiency that can contribute to anxiety.

Good-quality food is the number one priority. Taking supplemental nutrients to correct imbalances is ideally a short-term approach. The exceptions would be if you have an inherited tendency to low levels of some nutrients, or you can’t or won’t take steps to ease high levels of stress.

It’s also important to remember that we are all unique, with individual biochemistry, imbalances, and life circumstances. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all magic solution, even among natural approaches. By eating better, reducing stress, and addressing any nutritional imbalances, you’ll also see an overall improvement in your general health and well-being.

Eating real, whole, good quality food is the foundation of my work, and any program to prevent and alleviate mental health issues such as anxiety, obsessive tendencies, worry, panic attacks, and depression, as well as maintain optimal mental health. This approach, combined with eating according to your own unique needs, will help calm your anxious mind.

How Opposite Day will improve your Health.

creativity, health, learning, mental health, problem solving, self care, stress, therapy, Uncategorized, wellness

Ever feel stuck in a rut–doing the same thing day in and day out? Then, take advice from Seinfeld’s George Costanza and do the opposite of what you normally do. It can be as simple as taking a different route to work or seeing a movie you normally wouldn’t be interested in. Often, we can be too judgmental or too set in our ways to give something new a try. If you tend to jam-pack your schedule with events and activities, try scheduling in some quiet time at home. If you are more of a homebody, try something more adventurous that you normally wouldn’t do. You never know what you might discover if you start making yourself get out of your comfort zone. Intellectual Wellness is achieved through self-directed behavior focused on learning. Any activity that inspires and stimulates your willingness, desire and intent to learn, explore and expand your mind intellectually in any way supports healthy Intellectual Wellness. It also means being free intellectually to learn something new.

Intellectual Wellness is also about your willingness and curiosity to acquire new information, while continuously seeking out new challenges to expand and improve your knowledge and skills. This often develops a sense of awareness and satisfaction. Some people find it gratifying to share their skills and knowledge with others.

Research studies show that maintaining a healthy level of Intellectual Wellness helps keep the brain-mind cognition healthy.

Few Questions to check your intellectual wellness:

I am interested in learning new things.
I enjoy attending lectures, plays, musical performances, museums, galleries, and/or libraries.
I enjoy creative and stimulating mental activities/games.
I make an effort to improve my verbal and written skills.
I am able to analyze, synthesize, and see more than one side of an issue.

Methods to grow your intellectual wellness:

Continuously exercise your mind while remaining clam and tranquil.
Create development by continuously acquiring, applying, and expressing positive and constructive critical thinking.
Keep an active mind through mental activity stimulation.
Open to new ideas.
Be motivated to master new skills and seeking out new challenges.
Develop and maintain a continuous sense of humor, creativity, and curiosity.
Reach your own correct decision, make up your own mind, in your own interest when there is a choice or a problem.
Reading is one of the great ways to learn.
Start a new hobby.

We don’t have to spend hours on our Intellectual Wellness each and every day to reap significant benefits. Just a few minutes a day, several days a week will get the job done. Intellectual Wellness is the wellness aspect that adds extra spark to our lives, and if we take on these projects with a sense of adventure, we’ll notice an amazing difference in no time!

It is better to stretch and challenge our minds with intellectual and creative pursuits than to become self-satisfied and unproductive. It is better to identify potential problems and choose appropriate courses of action based on available information than to wait, worry, and contend with major concerns later. national wellness institute

Basically, if you’re learning something new, you’re focusing on your Intellectual Wellness!

Traveling the ELM Mental Wellness path, we’ll explore issues related to problem solving, creativity, and learning. As you develop your intellectual curiosity, you’ll actively strive to expand and challenge your mind by learning to value vision, wonder, and lifelong learning.

Spiritual Wellness is a personal matter.

health, mental health, positive thinking, relationships, self care, spirituality, stress, therapy, Uncategorized, wellness

The spiritual dimension recognizes our search for meaning and purpose in human existence. It includes the development of a deep appreciation for the depth and expanse of life and natural forces that exist in the universe. Your search will be characterized by a peaceful harmony between internal personal feelings and emotions and the rough and rugged stretches of your path. While traveling the path, you may experience many feelings of doubt, despair, fear, disappointment and dislocation, as well as feelings of pleasure, joy, happiness and discovery. These are all important experiences and components to your search and will be displayed in the value system you will adapt to bring meaning to your existence. You’ll know you’re becoming spiritually well when your actions become more consistent with your beliefs and values, resulting in a “world view.”

Evaluate your own spiritual wellness with this brief quiz.

Do I make time for relaxation in my day?
Do I make time for meditation and/or prayer?
Do my values guide my decisions and actions?
Am I accepting of the views of others?

9 Ways To Improve Your Spiritual Wellness:

Explore you spirituality – When you are examining the core set of your beliefs and principles, you should put forward questions like: Do I know myself? What do I have to realize in my life? If you are persistent you will find the puzzles of your life and realize your innermost goal.
Pray – All you need to do is find a neat and comfortable place to send your prayers.
Clear out the mind garbage – Consider writing down, at the end of the day, your thoughts; the things you wanted to say but didn’t have the chance or simply write down how your day passed. Sharing will give you a sense of relievement and calmness will take you from there.
Yoga – It will relief the physical and emotional tension. All the things like bad emotions and feelings that interrupt your wellbeing will leave permanently.
Finding the purpose – There is saying: The most precious lessons in life aren’t learned in school. And it’s true. In every failure, there is a hidden lesson we must learn. This is how we evolve spiritually. We shouldn’t run away from obstacles and evade them as they will ruin us. They have come to pass.
Think positively – People complain all the time. What they do is stuffing their mind with limiting thoughts that ruin their life eventually. Being concentrated on the positive side of life, you will be a step closer to happiness. It will flourish your growth and make you forget the worries.
Go incognito – When you are incognito, it’s that special time when you can analyze the situation. You can practice it whenever you feel like it. When you are incognito, you can meditate, practice yoga or apply other useful activities.
Travel – Visiting other places is beneficial for your mind. Being all by yourself in a quiet and peaceful surrounding helps you increase the connection with your inner self. Try one of your local parks!

These activities will make sure you are on the right track in improving your spiritual wellness.

ELM Mental Wellness can help guide your spiritual wellness through exploration of readiness, identifying resources, your strengths and solutions. We will explore your willingness and ability to transcend yourself in order to question the meaning and purpose in your life and the lives of others.

How I quit the donut, 24 years and counting.

health, nutrition, self care, sugar, Uncategorized, weight, weight loss, wellness

Consistently I am asked this question, so I decided to write about it. 24 years ago I recognized I ‘really’ liked donuts, and I could eat a lot of them. When the morning arrived I stood in front of my closet trying to find something to wear to work, then realizing nothing fit anymore. I called in sick to work because I felt and was sick. After crying for a few minutes, it came over me like a storm. This was it, this was my last straw moment, and today was the day to do something! So I dried my tears, put on my big girl panties and sought help.

I had to realize that donuts were not my friend, they were not my therapist, and they certainly weren’t helping anything. I began to dig deep, “what benefit am I receiving from this sugary delight?” I began to journal about when and where I would eat donuts, along with my emotions. I recognized boredom and stress were fuel to my donut fire. I stopped eating them immediately, because I was ready to.

The longer I did without them, the better I felt. My motivation machine was ON and there was no turning it off now. It was all about action.

Almost 20 years ago, two well-known alcoholism researchers, Carlo C. DiClemente and J. O. Prochaska, introduced a five-stage model of change to help professionals understand their clients with addiction problems and motivate them to change. Their model is based not on abstract theories but on their personal observations of how people went about modifying problem behaviors such as smoking, overeating and problem drinking.

The six stages of the model are:

precontemplation
contemplation
determination
action
maintenance
termination

Gold, M. (2016). Stages of Change. Psych Central

Understanding your readiness to change by being familiar with the six-stage model of change can help you choose treatments that are right for you.

Nothing succeeds like success. I implemented a good plan, I was beginning to see it work and experiencing it working over time, as well as making adjustments along the way. The many things that hiding in a donut may have taken from me began to be restored, along with hope and self-confidence and continued determination not to eat one.

Today I understand when we eat something loaded with sugar; your taste buds, your gut and your brain all take notice. This activation of your reward system is not unlike how bodies process addictive substances such as alcohol or nicotine. An overload of sugar spikes dopamine levels and leaves you craving more.

So what’s the magic potion you ask?

This is my recipe:

My last straw moment prompted determination and plan preparation.
Commitment to change with appropriate skills.
Success reducing my sugar urge propelled continued achievement.
Continuing to educate myself and adjust plans to maintain long term sustained change, bye bye donut.

Here are some Tips:

Out of sight is usually not out of mind
Make lower calorie choices when possible
Our environment is toxic – unhealthy food is highly accessible
Don’t let yourself get too hungry
Try a cravings journal
Smart carbs to the rescue – whole grains, beans, fruits, vegetables
Take care of yourself, in a non-food way

I have successfully managed my weight health and sugar craving for almost 25 years now.

As you travel the ELM path, I will join with you to explore your challenges and cravings. We will discover your strengths for determination and preparation, as well as what might get in the way. We will create an action plan with small, sustainable goals, and prepare for long term maintained change.

I look forward to hearing about your donut!

Be well!

Kelle Greeson, LPCC CWC

ELM Mental Wellness, owner

How to find lifelong health through our work.

Uncategorized

The occupational dimension of wellness recognizes personal satisfaction and enrichment in our life through work. At the core is our attitude about the work we do. Occupational Wellness includes, contributing our unique gifts, skills, and talents to work that is both personally meaningful and rewarding.

You’ll convey your values through your involvement in activities that are gratifying for you. The choice of profession, job satisfaction, career ambitions, and personal performance are all important components of your work path.

It is better to choose a career which is consistent with our personal values, interests, and beliefs than to select onethat is unrewarding to us.

It is better to develop functional, transferable skillsthrough structured involvement opportunities than to remain inactive and uninvolved.

Quick Tips to improve your Occupational Wellness today:

Take a break!

Taking breaks actually improves job performance, and it also helps reduce overall work stress. Just a few five-minute breaks scattered throughout the day can help strengthen mental focus and clarity. Get up from your desk, stretch, chat with a coworker and walk around the office for a minute. Do a short meditation to clear your mind and refocus your energies.

Make a list, and be realistic.

Use simple time management techniques to reduce stress and improve your ability to get work done. One simple time management tool that will help you keep track of daily tasks is the to-do list. Place items on the list in order of importance, and make sure to give yourself some breathing room.

Organize your workspace.

A clean, neat and organized workspace makes it much easier to keep track of everything that is going on, reducing feelings of anxiety. If you can’t find something you need or you’re sitting in a big pile of clutter, you’re much more likely to feel frustrated and overwhelmed. Instead, take the time to regularly clear your workspace for maximum usage and minimum annoyance.

Take a class.

If you’re considering changing careers, or if you just want to sharpen your skills for your current job, signing up for a class is a great place to start. Learning more about what you’re doing will help you feel more comfortable and effective at work, and it may land you a promotion. The more you explore your dreams in the classroom, the more freedom you’ll have to move in the direction of your dreams in real life!

Set mini-goals.

Everyone has big dreams and aspirations, but setting mini-goals at work will help you get through your days. When you set a mini-goal like, “I’m going to finish these reports by noon,” you turn work into a game. Sure, you’ll still need to focus on quality, but these benchmarks are just for fun and motivation. If you don’t finish the reports by noon, it’s no harm, no foul. If you make it, it’ll be like winning a race.

Occupational wellness is also the ability to achieve a balance between work and leisure in a way that promotes health, a sense of personal satisfaction and is (for most people) financially rewarding. Our attitude and ability to effectively deal with work, school, and career goals greatly affect wellness, performance, interactions with others and overall success.

On the ELM Mental Wellness path, you’ll be able to look at the larger picture, make decisions, take actions and take responsibility for your choices. Staying focused on achieving a proper balance between the dimensions of wellness (includes all aspects of your life) will serve you well. Good health, attitude, relationships, personal satisfaction and proper balance help you produce and project your best performance.

Be well,

Kelle Greeson, LPCC, CWC

How social connections support your health?

emotion, health, mental health, positive thinking, relationships, stress, therapy, Uncategorized, wellness

Are we losing our ability to connect?

Quite simple, Social Wellness refers to your relationships with others.

It encompasses the idea of having positive interactions with others since we are all social beings. It involves developing and building close bonds of friendship and intimacy, practicing empathy and effective listening, as well as caring for others and for the common good.

While we have numerous technologies connecting us to friends, family and people across the country, we find ourselves more and more alone and lonely. Take a moment to observe people in coffee shops or restaurants. Many times conversations are happening over cell phones, between one person who is present and another at the other end of the phone, rather than among the people sitting together. Our behaviors suggest using the technology is primary and having the conversation is secondary. These observations are not intended to criticize technology, but rather to suggest a more mindful use of this tool. Important connections happen electronically and technology can be very useful. It is remarkable the power of a few characters to make you feel connected. Technology isn’t the only force contributing to a disconnection among people. Our culture encourages individualism and distraction from the present moment, materialism, and results rather than progress. We seem to be focused on the relatively insignificant aspects of our lives rather than our happiness, relationships, and well being.

Our social health is affected by social history, cultural values, open-mindedness, and knowledge of healthy relationships.

Social Wellness Facts

Socially isolated people are more susceptible to illness and have a death rate two to three times higher than those who are not socially isolated.
People who maintain their social network and support systems do better under stress.
Approximately 20 percent of Americans feel lonely and isolated during their free time.
Touching, stroking, and hugging can improve health.
Laughter really is good medicine.
Cholesterol levels go up when human companionship is lacking.
Warm, close friendships cause higher levels of immunoglobulin A (an antibody that helps keep away respiratory infections and cavities).
A strong social network can create a good mood and enhance self-esteem.

Social support is thought to impact physical and mental well being in several different ways. Social support provides an individual with a route to receiving psychological and material resources. These resources exist in three categories: instrumental (money or services), informational (advice or important information), and emotional (empathy, caring, trust, and reassurance). Being a part of a community offers various social relationships that provide many different emotional benefits, i.e. experiencing stress-buffering due to sense of belonging. Relationships provide identification with social roles, promote positive psychological conditions such as purpose, meaning, a sense of identity and self-worth.

In my profession of counseling, I work with individuals on a daily basis struggling to connect with others and have meaningful relationships. Here are some guidelines:

Social Wellness Tips

1.Articulate your thoughts both in public and personal conversations.

2.Think before you speak.

3.Volunteer in your community.

4.Make others feel important, while being genuine.

5.Get to know your personal needs and pursue things and people who nurture those needs.

6.Join a club or organization that interests you.

7.Visit neighbors and friends.

8.Contact and make a specific effort to talk to the people who are supportive in your life.

9.Ask questions, and refrain from doing all the talking.

10.Send “Thank You” notes for kind deeds done in your favor.

11.Allow others to care for you.

12.Balance your social life with your personal life.

As you travel the ELM Mental Wellness path, you’ll become more aware of your importance in society as well as the impact you have on multiple environments. You’ll take an active part in improving our world by encouraging healthier living and initiating better communication with those around you.You’ll actively seek ways to preserve the beauty and balance of nature along the pathway as you discover the power to make willful choices to enhance personal relationships and important friendships, and build a better living space and community.

I can help you grow your social wellness by developing:

comfort with expressing yourself
supportive and fulfilling relationships
Attitude towards your relationships (and your willingness to ask for help)
Peer acceptance, close bonds and social skills (like assertiveness or conflict resolution)
The ability to accept others for being different

It is better to contribute to the common welfare of our

community than to think only of ourselves.

It is better to live in harmony with others and our

environment than to live in conflict with them.