0
Share on bsky
View this post on Instagram
What I’ve Learned about Mental Health through a Decade of Coaching and Healing Work
Mental Health Awareness Month may be over, but given the persistent stigma surrounding mental health, it’s a conversation we should be having year-round.
As I reflect on my own journey—both as a healing practitioner with over a decade of experience and as a human who has deeply felt the weight of anxiety and depression—there’s one message I keep coming back to. It might sound counterintuitive at first:
Caring for your mental health starts with your body.
When most people think about supporting their mental health, they imagine talking it out on a therapist’s couch, journaling, or doing “mindset work.” All of that is important. I love therapy, I’ve been trained in subconscious reprogramming tools, and I even teach mindset techniques to my clients.
But here’s the truth I’ve seen over and over again, both in my own life and in the lives of the people I support:
When your body doesn’t feel safe, it doesn’t matter how many positive thoughts you think. Your brain will keep spiraling. Your body will keep bracing for impact. And your energy will stay stuck in survival mode.
Why mindset work doesn’t work when you’re dysregulated
The nervous system is the foundation of our emotional experience. It’s what tells the brain: We’re safe. Or…we’re not. And when the body feels unsafe—whether from trauma, burnout, overstimulation, or even just plain old stress—your brain kicks into hypervigilance.
It tries to protect you by running through worst-case scenarios. It searches for threats and solutions. It spins and spins trying to solve a problem that may not even exist yet.
You’ve probably heard of this as “overthinking” or “mental gymnastics.” But in reality, it’s just your body trying to help. It’s just your nervous system doing its job: looking for control in the absence of safety.
That’s why the first step toward real relief isn’t changing your thoughts. It’s regulating your body.
What nervous system regulation really means
Grounding, soothing, and regulating your nervous system is trendy in the wellness space right now, but it isn’t just some buzzword. It’s also not a cure-all that will give you continual inner peace. It’s what allows your brain to shift out of survival mode and into presence, connection, and clarity.
This might look like:
>> Placing a hand on your heart or belly and noticing your breath.
>> Elongating your exhales.
>> Finding a space in your body that feels neutral and resting all your attention there.
>> Orienting yourself by naming five things you see around you.
>> Doing breathwork, tapping (EFT), or somatic movement.
>> Holding your body with loving attention and saying, “You’re safe now.”
When you do this consistently, you’re not just calming down. You’re actually rewiring your system to exist in and trust the present moment. You’re inviting your brain to release the old pattern of always being “on alert.”
And it truly is a pattern. The body and brain like what is familiar, so if a perpetual state of stress and anxiety is familiar to you, you will subconsciously recreate it over and over again.
This all started to crystallize for me a few years into my coaching practice. When I first began working with a coach myself, I experienced rapid progress using mindset tools like positive thinking, affirmations, and vision casting.
But over time, I kept bumping into the same patterns—again and again. And when I couldn’t break them, it triggered a shame spiral. I knew better. I knew I wasn’t supposed to be falling into these traps anymore (like people-pleasing, for example), yet I couldn’t seem to stop.
I noticed the same thing happening with my clients. So I went on a search for deeper tools—modalities that could support real, holistic transformation. And every path led me right back to the body.
More than mindset, mental health is full-body care.
This is what healing really is—learning how to connect with and feel safe in our bodies.
Most people don’t even know that their bodies feel unsafe. But when you start noticing the physical symptoms of dysregulation— stomach pain, fluttering in your chest, inability to focus, to name a few—you start seeing how the body is trying to communicate with you.
It’s not about fixing yourself or trying to make challenges and uncomfortable feelings go away, but creating safety and trust with yourself to feel those things and release them, instead of drowning in them.
~
This account does not have permission to comment on Elephant Journal.
Contact support with questions.