Synchronicity or Coincidence: World Mental Health & Indigenous Peoples’ Day Celebrated Together!

Is it mere coincidence that today is both World Mental Health Day and Indigenous Peoples’ Day?

Personally, I don’t believe there are coincidences but rather synchronicities that provide deeper meaning, if we are willing to lean into them.

The first synchronicity to World Mental Health and Indigenous Peoples’ Day both falling on today, Oct 10th, is an opportunity to remember our connection to our own selves and the Earth. People often ask me why, as a society, are we struggling so much with our mental health. I don’t pretend to have the answer to that, as the answer is multi-faceted. However, I do know that we are not supporting our mental and emotional health when we are so tuned into technology and so tuned away from nature. Being in nature allows us to reconnect to ourselves and the present moment. Nature provides wisdom and insight. Indigenous People have had a deeper connection to the Earth and her wisdom. As the population of the Indigenous Peoples has dwindled, so has our connection to Earth’s nature and our own. The combination of World Mental Health and Indigenous Peoples’ Day may be a reminder that building a relationship with nature may also support us to build a healthier relationship with ourselves.

The second synchronicity is that the theme for 2022’s Mental Health Day is to make mental health and well-being for ALL a global priority. Inclusivity and mental health go hand-in-hand. Often times, those who have gone or are going through traumatic experiences are the very people that find it difficult to access support. This has certainly been the case for People of Color and especially Indigenous People. For this reason, the ways in which we think about providing mental and emotional health support needs to continue to expand beyond traditional measures. While therapy will continue to be an important aspect to reducing mental health challenges, programs that offer greater accessibility to others must continue to be expanded upon.

For instance, the 988 National Suicide Hotline is being more widely used than expected. People turn to 988 even if not suicidal but because they are struggling in the moment. This is good news because having a program that can offer a next step before a struggle turns worse is how we avoid a crisis. Therefore, we need to be thinking what other programs can be put into place to support our mental and emotional well-being.

This got me thinking how I may better support you. Whether you are new to Emotional Empowerment or not, learning an empowered approach to your negative feelings takes practice. As a society, we’ve been taught to hear only our fears when negative emotions arise. Given that we have 27 emotional reactions every waking hour, which amounts to around 432 emotions per day, I thought it would be useful to have support with those feelings that challenge you. While I can’t personally be with you in the moment of each of your negative feeling experiences, I can provide you with some guidance that may support you to alleviate your pain or struggle.

You may recall that each of your negative feelings provides unique guidance to support you to get back in alignment with your truth and power. However, realigning with your truth and power can be difficult when your ego takes hold with messages of fear and self-doubt.

To support you to quickly align back with your truth and power, I created the Emotional Empowerment On-the-Go program. This program consists of a list of over 65 different negative emotional experiences that you can choose from when you are upset. After you choose the emotion that is the best match to how you are feeling, you will receive training on that specific feeling is guiding you to shift from a disempowered/fear state to an empowered/expansive state in 5 minutes or less.

The goals of the program include supporting you to:

Improve your emotional state without denying how you feel
Provide insight in the moment you feel challenged so you can choose to respond rather than react
Shift from managing your emotions to learning how to process what you are feeling

The end result through engaging in this program is that you have less emotional weight to carry!

Should this program sound like something that could support you, go here to find out more and register: https://iiee.training/emotional-empowerment-on-the-go/. Upon registering, you will gain immediate access!

Whether you find your empowered guidance on your own or through the support of another or a program, please note that you doing so isn’t just for your own well-being. When you are willing to improve your emotional and mental health, others feel safer to be themselves, including being able to admit when they are feeling challenged. In other words, it is through your courage to address the challenges within you that supports others to do the same.

I am grateful for our connection and inspired by your genuine nature in which you live your life.

Warmly,

Michelle Bersell

Psychotherapist and Founder

The International Institute for Emotional Empowerment