Here on My Brain’s Not Broken I have a tendency to write blog posts that serve as reminders. Sometimes they’re reminders that would be beneficial for whoever’s reading the post. Other times, the reminders are things I’ve forgotten long ago, and what I need to hear in the moment. Either way, reminder posts serve a purpose; they can help ground us and help us remember where we are on our journey. So today, I come to you with a specific reminder. Sometimes, you need to feel how you feel – and getting that out is the best thing you can do for yourself.
Continue readingFinding More Ways to Reset and Recharge
Recently, I noticed a lot of my posts this summer have focused on resting and recharging. This got me thinking about how this happened. I know people tend to focus on relaxing in the summer, which makes perfect sense. But all year, I’ve had a fixated interest in the concept of rest. At first, I wanted to unlearn the concept of rest that I’d practiced my entire life in favor of something new. But I learned something else invigorating about resting and recharging, and I’d like to share that today.
Continue readingMetaphors for Mental Health: Lifting Weights
A couple of weeks ago, I started doing some weight training exercises for the first time in at least a few years. Lifting weights is something I’ve done on and off for years, but I’d fallen away from it for some time. But one day, kind of randomly, I went into the gym and headed for the weights. After the first session, my body was sore in places I’d forgotten I could be sore in, and these new exercises taught me a valuable lesson in how we can help ourselves adjust to things, not only physically, but mentally as well.
Continue readingReceiving Permission to Feel Tired
I was reflecting on my most recent therapy session when I realized that there was a recurring phrase I was using over and over again. No matter what the topic was or how I felt about it, everything came back to me saying “I’m tired.” Listen – at some point or another, we all get tired. Physically, mentally, emotionally, we are tired and need rest to prepare for what’s next. But the way I was saying it – the tone I was using, the way I thought about it – is what caught my attention, and it’s what I’d like to talk about today.
Continue readingI Am Not My Anxiety
This post comes on a heels of a similar post I wrote recently called “I Am Not My Depression” (you can check it out here!). A big part of my mental health journey is the way I’ve noticed that language has built up the stigma surrounding mental health, which means I’m constantly trying to find ways to break down that stigma. And just like in my recent post, I want to share why instead of saying that I’m more than my anxiety, I explicitly try to reinforce the notion that I am not my anxiety – and here’s why.
Continue readingWhy Do I Always Need to ‘Keep Going’?
There are many ways to combat mental health challenges, and one of them that I’ve been reflecting on recently is motivation. Using motivational techniques has been very helpful when it comes to my mental health. I’ll watch videos, listen to speeches, or find quotes that give me a boost. I want to find things that will give me the energy I need to get through this moment and on to the next. I was doing this recently when I came upon a phrase I’ve seen hundreds of times on the Internet: “keep going.” And I don’t know why, but this time it rubbed me the wrong way. Even though I understand the good intentions of the phrase, I want to challenge it. What does it really mean?
Continue readingWhat Are Mental Health Myths?
I like to bounce around many topics here on My Brain’s Not Broken, especially surrounding anxiety and depression. However, one of my other favorite things to do is break down myths surrounding mental health. Usually it happens on a whim, when I feel there’s a need to debunk a certain aspect of mental health. The more that I do this, the more I see a need to debunk and breakdown these mental health myths. Right now I feel inspired to break down these myths, and I want to explain how I’ll work to do this in future posts.
Continue readingFive Benefits of Journaling
Earlier this week, I shared a post about the importance of feeling your feelings. Though there are a lot of ways you can do this, one of my favorite ways is through journaling. Journaling slows me down, and gives me time to collect my thoughts and figure out what I’m really feeling. It has a way of cutting through the noise and find what really needs to be shared. Even though I don’t journal as often as I’d like, I’d still recommend it for anyone who hasn’t tried it before. Here are five benefits of journaling!
Continue readingBuilding a Foundation of Memories
Last week, I wrote about the summer and how it’s flying by. This weekend, everything I did reminded me of the classic phrase “time flies when you’re having fun.” While it might feel our lives are moving faster than we can handle, that can also mean we’re doing things we enjoy and are with people we love. And even though those feelings of enjoyment can be fleeting, being intentional about feeling them can actually go a long way toward long-term health and wellness.
Continue readingTaking Care of Our Mental Health During the Summertime
I don’t know about y’all, but I feel like this summer is flying by. Even though this is what happens almost every summer of my life, the strangeness of the summers of 2020 and 2021 have made this summer feel very foreign and unlike any other one I’ve experienced. It’s been years since I’ve been this busy, and expending that amount of social energy is taxing. It’s this dichotomy that I want to explore today – how do we take care of our mental health when time is flying by and we’re constantly on the go?
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My Brain's Not Broken 