With just a few taps of our fingers we have unlimited access to an endless supply of self-help articles and life hacks promising instant happiness. What a wonderful time to be alive! Everyone’s Facebooks, Instagrams, and Twitters scream “ISN’T MY LIFE AMAZING!?” All it took was a long walk, a yoga routine, and an adult coloring book! Sure wish someone would have told me that before all those years of therapy…
With this abundance of information I can’t help but wonder… Why aren’t we more joyful? Living our best lives? Thriving despite the chaos? The self-help book shelves of thrift stores are overflowing with trends that didn’t work. Maybe mental wellness is more than a schedule of meditations, a set of rules to memorize, or the list of 15 things happy people do every day…
A few years ago I was asked to give a presentation on mental health for an employee wellness program. Survey results kept showing staff were stressed, depressed, and ready to quit. Despite their best efforts, their wellness program just wasn’t getting to the point! They finally asked for someone to come talk about depression… someone who could make it “not too depressing…”
My task was clear and I went in prepared. We covered the basics of stress, the difference between feeling sad and experiencing depression, and explored how our thoughts and feelings go hand-in-hand. We capped it off with some essential wellness skills and the day went quick! What’s more, we enjoyed it. It became clear to me that providing information on mental health and wellness wasn’t enough if people didn’t connect to it. Or they forgot it. Or didn’t know how to use it.
StandUP Wellness is on a mission to provide mental health education in ways people will enjoy, remember, and use. Mixing comedy with feelings, I want you to laugh & be well.