As we wrap up the last few weeks of October and begin to feel the chill of autumn in the air, we at Promises Behavioral Health want to bring Emotional Wellness Month into focus. Emotional wellness asks us to stop, assess and understand our emotions and those of our loved ones.
Emotional wellness and mental health tend to go hand-in-hand because, as we learn about our mental state, we can better recognize our emotional state as well. You may not be surprised to learn that much of our mental and emotional health is impacted by outer influences, such as work, relationships, family and what we put into our bodies.
To appreciate and celebrate emotional wellness, Promises has partnered with Alisha Phipps, a certified holistic health coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Alisha specializes in nutrition and offers coaching services to help empower clients to find their personal courage and confidence. Through this virtual event, Cultivating Calm — How to Heal from Anxiety, Alisha provided us with a few key tips on identifying the underlying factors that cause anxiety, how nutrition plays an important part and how we can manage these influences to create daily habits that maintain a quiet mind.
Who is Alisha Phipps?
Alisha’s story began like many stories we hear — on paper, it looked like she was living the dream: a successful career, traveling the country and helping a lot of people, but she was stressed, miserable and on the brink of massive burnout. After spending 10 years at a fast-paced, high-growth corporate job, the effects of chronic stress started to take hold. She was riddled with anxiety which robbed her of her health, happiness and, most importantly, her peace.
Deep inside, Alisha realized she would have to make a significant change to save her health and sanity. She decided to take a brief sabbatical from the stressors of her high-stakes corporate job., Through this much-needed break, she was able to sit still to find her most authentic path. Here, she found the courage to pivot her life to realign herself to her personal truth.
Now, as a holistic health coach, Alisha focuses on helping clients empower themselves through holistic living. Her mission is to activate their confidence, build trust and compassion for their bodies, conquer their inner critic and create more harmony and balance in their everyday lives.
Nutrition and Mental Health
Over the last few years, the role food plays has become more and more apparent in our mental and emotional health. Studies suggest that eating low-quality, processed foods can negatively impact our mental health, promoting the cycle of anxious or depressive thoughts.
“Nutrition is the foundation and backbone of our lives,” Alisha remarked. “If you aren’t getting your nutrition right, you’re never going to be able to get your mindset right, and you aren’t going to have the energy to work out or commit to physical movement.”
Through the workshop, Alisha touched on how nutrition is related to mental health, how gut imbalances and hormones can impact our mental state and she taught us thoughtful lessons on how we can shift our mindsets around food.
This shift ultimately helps break the spiral of anxious thoughts and clears the path to begin listening with our heart space over our heads. Once we find ourselves out of the trap of imbalance, we can truly cultivate calm through present moment awareness, meditation and breathwork practice.
Cultivating the Authentic Self
While we take a moment to honor our emotional wellness, it is essential to remember that our emotional health requires maintenance and work. Cultivating your most authentic self, emotional wellness, and mental and physical health takes time and patience.
For those struggling with addiction or mental health disorders, pairing nutritional guidance with your practitioner can help you shift your perspective around the “daily chore” of eating. When we learn to appreciate our bodies and fuel them daily, we begin to walk the path toward our truth and find compassion for our minds, bodies and spirits.
Alisha said it best, “I am still doing the work too. I am not over here, preaching and teaching. I am in it too. There are days where I have a lot of anxiety, and I am not perfect in my nutrition or perfect in my sleep or my embodiment practices.”
Anxiety does not have to be our daily struggle. When we cultivate daily practices to care for ourselves, we begin to recognize anxiety for what is — a mental and physiological response to stressors in our lives. It is not our thoughts nor our reality. With even small changes in how we fuel our body, how we move our body and how we calm our mind, we can begin to walk our most authentic path.
For those who were unable to join us for our virtual event, check out the recording here! Alisha is currently open to accepting new clients, granted that you are both a good fit for each other. She works one-on-one or in specialized group settings and takes clients through the Cultivate Calm process. She firmly believes in helping people find trust in themselves and helps clients find love and compassion for the entire human vessel. You can learn more about her and her journey here or email her at [email protected].
If you or your loved one is experiencing the difficulties of addiction or mental health illness, Promises Behavioral Health is always here to help. Contact us at 844 875 5609 to speak with our professional admissions team.