Mental Health Q & A, featuring Valencia Saint-Louis
“When we are healthy mentally, it impacts our perception and everything in our lives; when we are struggling mentally, it has an impact on our perception and everything in our lives.” (Valencia Saint-Louis)
Hey all!
In this issue, I had the honor of having Valencia Saint-Louis answer some questions regarding mental health. This is what she had to share:
Q1: How would you define mental health?
To me, “mental health” is a term for acknowledging or expressing the state of where you are on an internal spectrum of being present, at ease, and connected to your experience in a healthy way. I say mental health involves a spectrum because optimal wellbeing and illness are within the same realm of mental health. To break down my definition, you can ask yourself the following questions:
How present do you feel right now?
Do you feel at ease?
How connected do you feel to what you’re experiencing right now?
When we answer these questions honestly, we can identify where we are on the spectrum. After that, we can dig into what may be affecting our mental health in negative ways. Mental health is one of the most critical aspects of our lives because it affects our behaviors, beliefs, habits, relationships, and livelihood. When we are healthy mentally, it impacts our perception and everything in our lives; when we are struggling mentally, it has an impact on our perception and everything in our lives.
Q2: How do you take care of your mental health?
Taking care of my mental health involves checking in with myself, meditating, journaling, writing gratitudes, making space for rest, going to therapy, and talking to God. In summary, I do one or more of the following to take care of my mental health: get still, release and express my thoughts, and count my blessings ;)
Q3: How do you recognize if your mental health isn’t where it should be? Then what?
I recognize this when I feel disconnected from the present, hopeless, and withdraw from what I love. Once I realize this, I turn to my mental health practices and ask myself what I might need. Sometimes I want connection, so I reach out to a trusted loved one for support.
Q4: If you could go back in time and share advice with the past you, what year would it be and what advice would you share?
I’ve needed the same advice in different seasons of my life, so I can’t choose a specific year. Nonetheless here’s what I would say to my past self if I could: Set boundaries with everyone (yourself included). Doing so helps you preserve what’s important to you and continue to grow healthy relationships. People who respect you, respect your boundaries. I would also tell myself to relax and just enjoy the moment for what it is. Being anxious about the future and what-ifs takes away from the present. Lastly, I would tell myself to trust myself above all else.
Q5: What is the most important thing you learned about your mental health in 2021?
The state of my mental health is directly connected to my physical wellbeing; taking care of my mental health is JUST as important as taking care of my physical health. Also, it’s important to have practices that help me process difficult emotions, get out of mental ruts, address my needs, and build resilience.
Q6: What made you feel the most alive either in 2021 or the beginning of 2022?
My women's health brand Flow in Sync continues to make me feel the most alive ever since I started creating content and helping women with their cycles! It feels amazing to encourage women to trust their bodies, get to a healthier place, and flow in sync with the life they want for themselves! Having consultations has felt very fulfilling for me recently. I get to connect with women, hear their stories, and recommend resources that help them take care of their health holistically. A meaningful part about consultations for me is reminding women who experience irregular cycles or hormonal imbalances that they are not broken, and that they can get to a state of balance and ease! When women truly realize how capable they are of healing, and feel empowered to radically take care of themselves and their wellbeing, that’s when the magic starts. At that moment, everything shifts.
Final Thoughts 💡
Valencia shared many great points worth reflecting on that can also serve as reminders to us all when tending to our own mental health. Being honest with ourselves is a great start in determining where in the spectrum our current mental health lies. It is easier said than done, but when we take a leap of faith, we can learn a lot about ourselves and how our mental health is impacting our perception of life as well as the people in our life. In order to bring change to our life, we must be willing to recognize and then accept our past mistakes. From there, we can use that awareness to create boundaries and routines that will improve our mental and physical health. In short, our past does not define us, it is what we decide to do NOW and how it can shape our future.
I would like to thank Valencia Saint-Louis for sharing practical and applicable knowledge. Kindly consider checking out her brand, Flow in Sync for both educational and motivational purposes surrounding women's health, relationships, and consider reaching out to her for questions or a consultation.
Haiku of the Week 📜
Self-Reflection Sundays 💫
Every Sunday, I share my thoughts/reflections on LinkedIn! Here is a screenshot from last week:
Check out the comment section here to see what other people had to say or add to this 👍🏾
Precious Plant Saturdays 🌱
Over here, I plan on sharing pics of my growing plant collection with some fun facts every Saturday on Instagram. Here is a screenshot from last week:
Gratitude Journal...for YOU ✏️
This Section is for you! List 3 things or people you are grateful for. If you want, reply to this email with them or write/type it up. I want to encourage you all to journal as it can be life-changing.
My friend, Omar Hameed volunteered to share his gratitude list with us:
My parents
My childhood friends
My education
Announcements 🚨
Stay tuned on March 20th by 12 PM for my twenty-third issue, where I discuss the distinction between tolerance and acceptance. Subscribe to the newsletter and follow me on Instagram/LinkedIn to receive additional updates and announcements.
One of my favorite authors, Austin Kleon, said that information sent out through newsletters is free, but not cheap. With that in mind, I hope you find my content helpful and consider supporting what I do by “buying” me a coffee or sending me positive feedback. Any support will be appreciated and used to send quality content to you all.
If you enjoy this kind of content, you should check my YouTube Channel! You can subscribe and turn on post notifications so you will be notified when I post a video. I recently posted a new video which was also my first collaboration on YouTube! Check it out and kindly consider liking the video if you enjoy it.
How’d I do? Click the “reply” button if you feel I left out anything, have any ideas/feedback on this issue or future issues, or have any interest or know of anybody who would want to be featured in a future issue.
Have an amazing day, be safe, and don’t forget to count your blessings :)
Best,
Credits
********
Editor: Valencia Saint-Louis
Quote: Valencia Saint-Louis