Nowadays there is a trend of going to gym, also building muscles and physique has been given prime importance.
But is health only about going to gym and building your physique/muscles?
ANSWER IS NO.
Because according to the World Health Organization, Health is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity”
So just maintaining your physique (physical health) is not ok for being healthy but considering mental and social health is equally vital.
My quest was always about How to maintain our mental health/emotions and while searching the answer for it I came across the STORY OF ZACH:
Let’s begin with the STORY OFZACH:
Zach and his family went to the beach, but Zach is having a lousy day. First, he dropped his toothbrush in the toilet. Then his best friend went to someone else’s birthday party instead of joining him. But most frustrating of all, he can’t get his kite to fly! Zach kicks sand, yells angry words, and asks his dad if they can just go home.
Instead, his dad teaches him a simple, three-step approach to deal with frustration so he can find a way to enjoy himself even when things aren’t going his way:
1st his dad asked to ‘’ Name it’’ (why are you frustrated?)!
Then his dad headed towards the Next step which was, ‘’Tame it ‘’(Visualization or Practise self-regulation exercises such as deep breathing), lastly the 3rd & final steps what his dad taught was to ‘’Reframe it ‘’(change your thoughts to change your feelings).
Zach was gradually feeling better after following this three-point strategy.
Similarly, you can follow these steps (with bit of modification which is explained below) for yourself when you are feeling extremely emotional:
1ST STEP: Name it –
Note down what you are feeling emotionally when you are extremely emotional, meaning what you perceive in that phase; idea is to begin with giving a name to your emotions/feelings.
Eg:
- I feel scared- what if I die or what if flood comes and destroy my city.
- I had nightmare- saw a scary black looking ghost following me.
- I am insecure – what if I lose my partner
- I feel angry due lot of stress at my job place – where there is too much of pressure about work.
2nd STEP: Tame it-
Visualizing it fully and completely to its worse imagination, whether it’s your fears, insecurities, nightmares or bothersome situations.
Eg:
- If flood comes and destroy my city then in my worse imagination, I will lose all my properties which I had built till now and will become poor and I have to beg on roads for basic food and shelter.
- Scary black looking ghost in my worse imagination can eat me, gulp me, take out all my body fluids and I can become malnourished having no energy in my body to work.
- If i lose my partner, I would in my worse imagination feel as if I have lost one my body part and I wont be able to function anymore.
- In too much work pressure, I feel guilty that I am not fulffilling my household responsibilities.
3rd STEP: Reframe it –
Reframe means becoming aware about the way you sense/ feel/perceive/React to your fears, nightmares, insecurities or worse situations.
Once you become aware, your body and mind will feel at ease.
Eg:
- Now if flood comes, I know my worse fears and nothing bad could happen worse than that.
- Now if that scary ghost follows me, I am aware of my worse imagination and nothing bad than that could happen.
- Now if I lose my partner, I know my worse fear and nothing worse could happen than that.
- Now if I take so much pressure, I know what can worse can happen and I am ok knowing that nothing worse can happen then that.
Once this awareness comes, you will feel overall relaxed.
Ah, never thought a small child story could teach us so much about gymming our own emotions!
Finally, I got an answer of how-to gym my own emotions/mental health and I hope it is helpful for all those who are looking for it!
