What is “mental health”? Mental health includes your emotional, psychological and social well being. It affects your thoughts, feelings and behaviours. The more mentally healthy you are, the better choices you’ll make for yourself.

Based on that definition, ask yourself: Am I looking after my mental health and wellbeing?

If not, it’s time to make your mental health a priority.

How often do you feel stressed to the point of overwhelm? Overwhelm is that place beyond stress that really impacts our nervous system and how we respond in the world. It’s likely that you’ve been there at one time or another. I know I definitely have been.

Many people think that the stress is caused by factors outside themselves and their control, but that’s not true.

We create our lives every day with our thoughts.

Really think about that; we think it’s our circumstances and that things happen to us, but it’s our thoughts about those circumstances that are really creating our lives.

Here’s the good news - you get to choose how you want to think about everything that’s going on around you. Why not choose thoughts that support you and your journey through life, i.e., thoughts that are positive, thoughts that create feelings of abundance?

What do you REALLY want?

What would you REALLY LOVE to have in your life?

Beyond what you think is possible right now, what you think is possible in the future, and what is beyond the constraints you believe are there (such as lack of time and money or other resources), think about this question:

What do you, yourself, REALLY want?

It seems like a simple question, but for many of us it’s a challenging one to answer. The first response that often comes to mind is, “I don’t know”.

That’s not true now and it never has been true. Your true Self knows. Your true Self has always known.

I was recently in a coaching session with a client and she was talking about some stuck places in a new project she really wanted to start. She said she felt defeated and then said, “I think I’m going back to square one”.

Sometimes we choose to make big changes in our lives (i.e., moving to a new house, starting a new career, or retiring), sometimes change is thrust upon us and unwelcome (i.e, the death of a loved one or being down-sized at work), and sometimes it’s a happy surprise that throws us off balance (i.e., a new baby or grandchild, or unexpected promotion at work).

Whatever the cause of your life change, it can cause you to feel all kinds of emotions as well as disruption and uncertainty, and you may not know what to do next. We sometimes use the phrase, “back to square one” to describe these unsettling experiences.

When there are major changes, health challenges (personal or family members), or other hurdles (such financial difficulties) in our lives, we often feel helpless and our self-worth may deteriorate.

In particular, women in midlife and beyond often report feeling confused, lonely, isolated, and invisible, resulting in feelings of lower self-worth.

When this happens, it’s important to offer yourself compassion and start the process of building it up again.

Freedom from stress sounds heavenly, doesn’t it? A little bit of stress can be good for us when it motivates us to get started, and it can quickly turn into overwhelm when we don’t manage our thoughts.

Here’s something I heard last week that may comfort you whenever you’re feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or simply lost in the world: You’re not the first, you’re not the last, and you’re not alone.

In our fast-paced world, you’re definitely not the only one with these feelings.

Sometimes when life gets really overwhelming it’s hard to believe there’s a possibility that it could actually be calm and peaceful.

I truly believe there are endless possibilities and that’s why one of my very favourite words is possibility.

What comes to mind when you think about playing in possibility? Does it feel like it could be possible to even consider the idea??

Have you ever awakened in the morning and wondered, “Who am I and what do I really want?”

And then wondered how you got to where you are?

If you’re like many women I know, the answer is “Yes!”

Then the frustration sets in because we don’t know where to start in finding our true selves. It’s been so many years and she’s so hidden that it feels almost impossible.

The good news is that there really is a way to find out what you really want and get yourself back on track.

Each day we think thousands of thoughts that create emotions and feelings in our body. It’s important to welcome them all. We’ll want to invite some of them to stay longer and others to go as soon as possible.

Although we often use the words interchangeably and they are connected, there are subtle differences between emotions and feelings. Emotions are triggered by a circumstance. For example joy occurs when we experience something positive and sadness occurs when we experience a loss. Feelings are more specific than emotions and relate to how we experience the emotions.