Internet resource Medical News Today describes mental health as: “cognitive, behavioral, and emotional well-being.” It is a reflection of our overall healthfulness. Women, because of their busy schedules and attention to the needs of others don’t always leave time to attend to their mental health. But it is important for women to make space to engage in their own emotional, mental, and physical fitness in order to be around to help others.
Mental health can be measured by how well we manage our anxiety, mood, and stress levels. Experts point to a healthy lifestyle as the key to emotional, mental, and physical wellness. For example, eating healthy, sleeping well, and exercising is key.
First, what we eat does play a pivotal role in helping us to improve our moods, our ability to sleep, and may increase our ability to move our bodies more.
How? When we eat a well-balanced diet of healthy fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, heart-healthy fats like avocado, nuts, and seeds, and moderate amounts of lean meats, seafood, and poultry, research shows we feel better.
Also, experts recommend that if we make sleep a priority, it will be easier to maintain other
health behaviors. Restorative sleep will help us to be more alert and energized. When we have a sufficient amount of energy, we can better manage unhealthy anxiety and stress. Dr. Andrew Weil author of the book Mind Over Meds exhorts the following, “Evidence for the health benefits of exercise is overwhelming. Increased physical activity can effectively prevent and treat depression, help normalize high blood pressure, and, along with dietary adjustment, but many cases of type 2 diabetes into complete remission.” (pg. 6) Although most people move around for school and work (inside or outside the home), we could all stand to add some intentional physical activity specifically for our heart and mental health.
Finally, if you are unable to get the nutrition, rest, and exercise that your body needs, I encourage you to seek the support of a nutritionist. Sometimes we need a little additional guidance. The heart of the matter is that a healthy diet, restorative sleep, and regular exercise can help women improve and maintain great mental health.
Often when we hear the word beans we think of flatulence (a.k.a. gas). It’s true that some people do experience intestinal intolerance when consuming beans. But, the benefits of eating beans far outweigh this minor discomfort.
However, we can mitigate the severity of the experience by maintaining a well-balanced lifestyle. Which includes healthy eating, regular exercise, restorative sleep, and staying hydrated by drinking plenty of water.
As long as you do not have a health-related condition that will preclude you from eating beans, then consider adding this heart-healthy, high protein, complex carbohydrate, folate, and iron packed food to your diet.
Black Bean Tortilla Soup (Serves 4)
1 Tbs. olive oil
2 tsp. minced garlic
½ tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. chili powder
2 cans (14.5 ounces each) diced tomatoes in juice
2 cans (15.5 ounces each) black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups vegetable broth
1 package (10 ounces) frozen corn kernels (do not thaw)
1 cup water
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 cup crumbled tortilla chips, plus more for serving (optional)
1 Tbs. fresh lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving.
1. In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium. Add garlic, cumin, and chili powder and cook, stirring until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes (with their juice), beans, broth, corn, and the water; season with salt and pepper.
2. Bring soup to a boil; reduce to a simmer. Add tortilla chips; cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in lime juice, and season with salt and pepper.
Dr. Michael Greger in his book, How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease writes, “Eating greens nearly every day may be one of the most powerful steps you can take to prolong your life. Of all the food groups analyzed by a team of Harvard University researchers, greens turned out to be associated with the strongest protection against major chronic diseases, including up to about a 20 percent reduction in risk for both heart attacks and strokes for every additional daily serving.” (p. 312) So, become a mean, greens, eating machine!
1 ½ lbs. Swiss Chard (1 large or 2 medium bunches), stemmed, leaves torn into large pieces (substitute other greens if you prefer)
1. Heat the 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the stock, reduce the heat to medium-low, and simmer for 6 minutes.
2. Transfer the onion to a bowl and return the skillet to medium-high heat. Add the 1 tablespoon olive oil; then add the Swiss chard. Season lightly with salt and pepper and cook, tossing, for 2 to 3 minutes. Return the onion to the skillet, toss to combine, and serve.
Picture for a minute a giant bowl of fresh fruit such as: berries, citrus, melons, and stone fruit. What a luscious imagining? The mere thought of fragrant, fresh, juicy, succulent fruit causes our salivary glands to activate.
Fruits are an excellent source of vitamins, minerals, and heart-healthy antioxidants. In fact, some research shows that eating certain fruit can even help lower blood pressure. Dr. Oz in Food Can Fix It: The Superfood Switch to Fight Fat, Defy Aging, and Eat Your Way Healthy explains, “fiber in fruit slows the absorption of sugar, and that’s a good thing because it prevents that sudden spill of glucose into your bloodstream.” (p. 43)
Spicy Apple Snack (Serves 2)
1 lg. Granny Smith apple, halved, core removed
2 Tbs. peanut butter, divided
Cinnamon, ground
1. Cut apple in half vertically, and with a melon baller or small spoon scoop out the core and seeds.
2. Spread each apple half with a tablespoon of peanut butter, and sprinkle with cinnamon.
Enjoy beans, greens, and fruity things as part of a heart-healthy diet!
Summer breeze makes me feel fine… Blowing through the Jasmine in my mind
In a time when it’s said that work/life balance is no longer exists and has shifted to work/life integration; the concept of a “one life” makes wearing masks increasingly more difficult. I’m not talking about masking up for COVID 19, but more so the masks many have worn daily since the beginning of time pretending all is well in an effort to be a “motivational fit” and navigate the company culture in the midst of continuous trauma where your skin color is the weapon coupled with the exhaustion that comes from how just by entering a room your presence makes people uncomfortable.
2020 can kick rocks and we’re just at the halfway mark. Learning to work remotely while crisis schooling is a lot, but when you layer knowing nearly 30 people of whom have had a positive COVID 19 diagnosis of which 12 are dead makes these past 8 weeks feel like an eternity. Then when you add the trauma that comes with the fear of going for a jog, another unarmed Black person being viewed as a bigger threat than the armed protesters on the steps of capitol buildings inconvenienced that they haven’t been able to get a haircut, to the chilling familiarity of Amy Cooper that even your advanced degrees mean nothing when all that’s seen first is the color of your skin.
This past week was hard. Having to “mask up” in between conference calls putting on the face listening to how people have been getting back to normal traveling to places that are “open” and exchanging pancake recipes while my 13 year old in between virtual classes is asking (again) how to navigate in a world where his skin is viewed as the weapon with only moments to adjust my “mask” to log on to the next call having to perform. Please don’t get me wrong I wholeheartedly believe everyone has every right to exercise their individual rights, but I yearn for the day that Liberty & Justice for all rings true for everyone where any inequity is nonexistent.
There’s a lot of Amy Coopers in these Corporate Offices making hiring decisions, making annual review commentary, deciding on performance ratings, and offering names of who to promote or not. The dire gap of wealth and health outcomes between white people and people of color perpetuates one’s ability to dream. From the numbers of those I know personally directly impacted by COVID to the digital divide where many children in inner cities across America have received zero instruction in two months displays a tale of two quarantines of where I’ve found myself teetering between both worlds. All I/we want is an even playing field where the starting line is the same, but where do I see representation up the ranks beyond just the 1-2 that look like me? I want to mean it when I tell my son that he can be whatever he wants to be. I want the ability to dream again, but these nightmares I’m experiencing while wide awake makes it difficult.
To be Black in America is EXHAUSTING! While sheltering in place has shielded me from COVID-19 thus far (I’m counting my blessings on that) the mask I’m struggling with isn’t for that. So those few occurrences when I may have my camera off know it’s because my “mask” is soaking wet from the tears I can no longer fight back and I’m counting my being able to function and get through the meeting with you as the win…
FUN FACT: Summer is my favorite season, and I never thought I’d get so good at making Lemonade! Enjoy the glass you’ve made. Cheers to the #SummerBreeze!
Originally published on March 25, 2020 on LinkedIn
Cue Summer Breeze… The Isley Bros. version…
Summer breeze makes me feel fine… Blowing through the Jasmine in my mind
While we find ourselves in the midst of much ambiguity I choose to find the rainbow and am very much appreciating the gift of recalibration that has been given. On a Target run on Sunday my sister made the comment of how eerie it felt with the streets being dead. I quickly replied that this is actually how Sundays used (were meant) to be back in the day where businesses were closed, and people were with family for dinner after Church service. While I am not accustomed to being held hostage within the confines of stay-at-home orders I do trust the science, and yet agree that too much of anything is still too much.
So, when orders are lifted, and things can go back to what was once defined as “normal” I am hoping each of us is able to hold on to a little bit of the slow down and let the “rat race” never return! I watched a movie with my Mom and Dad last week, and I can’t tell you the last time my grown tail watched a movie with my parents. I have taken for granted the blessings of my “own space” navigating working remotely, virtual classrooms for my son, and my Grandparents’ TV programming as we’ve been squatting with them during the 9+ month renovation of a historic home. While there’s nothing like a good old fashioned gunfight showdown in the middle of a conference call I freaked out about them being part of the most vulnerable yet blessed to have this time with them. My son with his great-grandparents. I choose to find the rainbow.
All of us have been inconvenienced, but some are fighting for their life or have lost theirs (or a loved one). Some are watching their retirement plans dwindle, but many have lived in generational poverty where economic instability has BEEN a way of life. While some are hoarding toilet paper many have BEEN wondering where the next meal for their child(ren) would come from long before COVID 19. May this experience bring us back to humility and reintroduce us to empathy. Oh, but by Grace there go I. I choose to find the rainbow.
What’s on your list of what you’ve been meaning to get around to? Writing my first #SummerBreeze article for LinkedIn was mine. In the midst of the madness, I choose to find the rainbow. What is your rainbow? I accept this recalibration and I am appreciating the slowdown! I am hoping we can carry some of this forward, (re)create some barriers to protect our space of the work/life integration, and not let the “Rat Race” NEVER return!
~Jasmine M. Johnson
FUN FACT: Summer is my favorite season, and I never thought I’d get so good of making Lemonade! Enjoy the glass you’ve made. Cheers to the #SummerBreeze!
