I could never have imagined the irony of the group coaching session I led in benefit non-profit San Diego Family Justice Center, hosted by VCollective in January. Little did we know the pandemic we would all face just a month and a half later would test our physical and mental limits. Working a full time job now from home, perhaps home-schooling one or more children, caring for elders, are all full time jobs in themselves; borderlines drawn between work and life are now one and the same, and if we thought we were constantly on before the pandemic, take this new scenario, along with the constant streaming of media across every device surrounding us, our brains and bodies are bombarded with both distraction and threat, and it’s only intensifying. I’ve had a lot of requests from clients to bring focus to them and their teams on how to create more balance, resilience, and wellness, which brings me to resurface the posts from earlier this year on The Healthy Mind Platter.
Scientists Dr. Daniel J. Siegel, clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine, and Dr. David Rock, executive director of the NeuroLeadership Institute put forth The Healthy Mind Platter; 7 “mental nutrients” that are essential, for optimum mental health: Focus Time, Play Time, Connecting Time, Physical Time, Time In, Down Time, and Sleep Time. By engaging daily “servings,” we help promote integration in our lives, enable our brain to coordinate and balance its activities.
Like a flavorful dish of Pad Thai, a Healthy Mind Platter requires a combination of these essential ingredients. It’s not a directive, there’s no % recommended blueprint that must be applied. My favorite is straight from the street carts of Bangkok, where I can point and select the ingredients I prefer. So many options, catering to our preferences for more or less of all ingredients to balance the flavor for our personal best taste desired: more fish sauce, tamarind, egg, prawn, tofu, sugar, garlic, salt, chilies, etc., common ingredients, but not one recipe suits everyone, it’s based on individual preferences and need. Similarly, the Healthy Mind Platter has multiple ingredients, and each of us need a little of all, but differing amounts based on our personal best balance desired. The key is to build into your daily and weekly rituals, focus and priority on what you need, and when you need each, and with attention, repetition and practice, create new healthy habits to ensure that these elements are present on a regular basis, even for a short while.
Looking back seven months, we can likely relate to each of these “7 essentials” and how having them or not having them have helped or hindered our ability to build alert, resilient, and creative minds to weather this long-lasting pandemic. Knowing now what I do about how pandemic, or threat, affects our brain’s ability to cognitively function and our body’s ability to adapt, adjust, and respond, I’m sharing my personal ah-ha’s from my healthy mind platter:
Focus Time: All about mastery of experience, when focusing deeply on a task in a goal-oriented way, these challenges we take on help us make deep connections in the brain. My mind can no longer embrace long amounts of time multi-tasking. With all the news, media, and chaos swirling, carving out a set amount of time to focus and go deep on one specific task a day has helped me become far more productive. I set time aside in the morning, when I know I’m most alert, to do some of my most challenging tasks that require resources to power thinking and creativity. I find when I focus on a goal, and get into “flow,” I’m able to make deeper connections and accomplish what I set out to, without being distracted.
Play Time: Adults need to play (and laugh) too. Neuroscience research by Jaak Panksepp suggests it is a basic emotional system, just like anger, fear, love; and through creative, spontaneous novel experiences we develop social skills, facilitate learning, and make new connections in our brain which increases our creativity and memory. This has become even more important, and challenging to fit in, during shelter at home life. I dusted off the old turntable and broke out some of my favorite vinyls from the 70’s and 80’s, and yes, I shamelessly sing and dance around the house. I also have friends who just recently bought themselves an in-home karaoke player. I actually feel a burst of ideas and creativity, not to mention connecting old memories with some of my future dreams has been a powerful way to stimulate my thinking and create new neural connections. It feels so much better than the mind-numbing news programs and keeps me positive and happy!
Connecting Time: We are social beings by nature, and research shows that social support not only improves physical health and mortality, it also helps people manage stress, confront challenges and maintain a positive outlook. Quality connecting time has been a challenge during the pandemic. Zoom calls just don’t seem to do it for me, I need an in-person connection to light me up. I’ve found a socially distant & masked up walk on the beach at low tide, with a friend that I know has been safely distancing as well has helped me ground, and actually go deeper in thought. Sharing conversation, especially walking with my feet in the sand and ocean, has helped me calm my stressors, and share and exchange both intellectually & emotionally.
Physical Time: I’ll be honest, it’s been tough to get out and feel safe to exercise given the threat of contagion. It would be far easier to sleep in and then dive into social media and mindless tasks. I first found sleeping to be a lovely change from the always on Type A mentality, but then realized I needed to get my body moving and have a routine that got me up and revving up my metabolism early. For me, I like the rush of endorphins early, before I need to start into my focus time activity. Sometimes it’s a walk around the neighborhood, sometimes a beach run, or other days, stretching and gentle yoga; but I have developed a habit to get in my fix early, to jump start my body and brain to be ready for the day ahead.
Time In: It’s taken a pandemic to make me slow down and turn my attention inward. Funny how there’s a silver lining to everything. Deepak Chopra had a number of free 21-day meditation programs that I indulged myself in, they were quick, and allowed me to quietly reflect internally in an easy daily practice and helped me embrace what I was grateful for every day. A nice way to become present in the moment, hold space for myself and others, suspend judgement, which allows me to effectively regulate and check my emotions and increase empathy. Meditation doesn’t come easy to me, especially when my mind is moving a mile a minute but developing a daily habit of just 5-10 minutes of meditation has brought a calming and grounding, I didn’t think possible right now.
Down Time: I don’t know about you, but I was brought up in life to never waste time, don’t just sit around and daydream, always be productive. I’ve realized through the school of hard knocks, that not allowing myself to just chill negatively impacts stress levels and my overall health. Think about it, we give our electronic devices time to recharge, why don’t we allow our brains and bodies to do the same? I intentionally carve out time to just laze and chill – to do and think about “nothing.” Research suggests that this allows our brains to recharge, make new connections, and is a critical precursor for us to generate new insights. My favorite downtime is wandering through our local meditation gardens (talking is dis-allowed which is key) or planting myself on a rock or sandy spot on the beach, just staring out at the ocean.
Sleep Time: I had become the poster child for no-sleep-needed Type A workaholic. Often flying from country to country with my business leader, grabbing a few hours of sleep on an overnight flight, showering upon arrival at the airport and onto the first meeting. Who needs sleep, when the endorphins are pumping and adrenaline rush of go, go, go is keeping me moving forward daily? It was a badge of honor to not sleep, until my health started failing, continuously sick, and numb to the idea it could actually be my lifestyle. These past 7 months have brought front and center just how important sleep time is. Not just physically, but mentally. I have learned to relish 8-10 hours of sleep. So much so, that I’m actually cutting myself off from too much. Early to rise, and early to bed, I’m now more alert, creative, patient, present, and grounded. I think I’ve now made up for nearly 30 years of four-hours a night sleep and using this pandemic time to strike a new healthy balance of what my body is telling me is necessary.
So yes, I have explored deeply, experimented, and come out the other side of pandemic life with some healthy new habits over the past seven months. I embrace that both Pad Thai and the Healthy Mind Platter share commonalities of variety, choice, personal preference and many delicious ingredients that are nutritious: Same, same, but different! Go ahead and indulge to your brain’s & heart’s content, and focus attention on new habits you wish to create!
