Mental Wellness Will Transform Your Life!
Dealing with positive thinking is only one component of mental wellness. If you want to experience positive mental well-being, it’s the full package that requires attention to achieve sustainable transformation. Judy King shows you how.
By Judy King
After working in the fitness industry for over 23 years, I became so intrigued with what motivated people. What was it that made some people do everything I asked them to do and others do none of it?
I started working out at the gym when I was 15. I did my first Ms Fitness competition when I was 17 and became Ms Fitness Australasia in 1999 – 2001 (at 23), competing at the world titles in Brazil. I knew what it took to train physically to that level and most importantly what it took mentally. It was purely a mind game. Every day when I woke up at 6am to do my cardio, I didn’t want to do it. I was tired and fatigued from training and eating not much more than chicken and broccoli and washing it down with diet coke. Those were the days. Not exactly the ideal of perfect health; I looked amazing yet felt terrible. My curiosity of how people think led me down this path and it’s been such a powerful journey. Let me share a little about what I have discovered.
People are dissatisfied
What most people mean when they say they want happiness is that they want to feel mentally positive and ultimately satisfied. However, silencing your inner critic takes training. In NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) we teach how our thoughts and therefore state, physiology and behaviour is are made up of six things. Visual, Auditory (sound), Kinesthetic (feeling), Olfactory (smell), Gustatory (taste) and internal dialogue (self-talk).
Following these three mental wellness actions regularly will result in a sense of well-being that can improve your quality of life.
1. Be Present (aka Mindfulness)
Most people are either living in the past or in the future and are never here, in this moment. Presence allows you to have conscious awareness of what you are doing, so you can appreciate what you have and you can enjoy the simple pleasures we take for granted. Like seeing visually beautiful things, hearing magnificent sounds, the smell of roses and the magic of great feelings. When are you living in the present, there is no fear or anxiety, judgments or a loud inner critic. You become an observer, you become the one in control. As a result, your emotions are better regulated. You are also not flooding your brain with fear and worry about the future, or resentments from the past - which has the profoundly positive effect of resetting your emotional state.
2. Focus - on what you want
What you focus on, you attract. Your focus determines your reality. When you focus on fear, you can easily create more of that. When you think of worst-case scenarios, you will keep yourself stuck in a negative mindset which leads to upset and more fear. It also leads to not taking responsibility and therefore little or no results.
What if you flipped that and started looking for and focusing on the abundance which surrounds you? The incredible amount of opportunities which are open and right there in front of your nose, ready for you to own, when you are ready to simply open your eyes and see it.
Relentlessly focus on what you want and notice your world change around you.
3. Develop compassion for yourself
One of the most fundamental elements of emotional well-being is compassion. Without it, you cannot find true happiness. It is impossible to hate yourself and have a satisfied life. Yet, surprisingly, many people try doing just that.
Having an inner critic is part of being human. We all have one. But what did the little version of you do to deserve this kind of treatment? Would you talk to your child in the same way? Many people are so controlled by their inner critic that they find the idea of self-compassion to be something they don’t deserve. I highly recommend the book Self-Compassion by Kristin Neff, as a way to train yourself into a more self-loving mindset. If the idea of being kind to yourself seems impossible, seeking out the help of a trained mental health professional may be in order.
About the Author
Judy has always been fascinated by the power of the mind. She is a certified trainer of NLP, Time Line Therapy™ and Coaching, and Master Practitioner of Hypnosis, and brings these transformative tools to Bangkok through one-to-one coaching sessions, seminars and trainings. Judy aims to assist people in experiencing more of what they are capable of, in all important areas of life. For more info contact: thejudyking@gmail.com or www.judykingfitness.com
The views expressed in the articles in this magazine are not necessarily those of BAMBI committee members and we assume no responsibility for them or their effects. BAMBI News welcomes volunteer contributors to our magazine. Please contact editor@bambiweb.org.