We wanted to stress the importance of mental wellness and the correlation between a healthy mind and body, so we sat down with Makayla Anisa to talk about how she keeps her mind and body fit and how her friends over at Cira Nutrition have helped play a role!

How do you practice self-care?

For me personally self-care is so much more than the physical aspect of taking care of yourself. I do love a good face mask and fresh set of nails-- don’t get me wrong, but the biggest forms of self care where I really feel the mental benefits are things like going for a walk outside, staying off my phone for the first hour of every day to take that time for myself instead of distracting myself with the screen from the moment I wake up, spending time with my dog, and sitting out on my deck in the sun… these things are the things that I notice really effect my mental health and well-being.

What have been some mental health struggles that you've experienced and how did you overcome it?

I personally have struggled quite a bit over the years with my own mental health. I’ve struggled with depression and anxiety on and off for a long time, since I was a young teenager.  Mental health is a long journey and I still currently feel like I’m trying to navigate. One thing that do personally to help me to navigate my mental health is to take a few moments each day to take five deep breaths and refocus myself. When my mind starts to get “crowded” and “busy” this helps me so much to center myself.  It’s such a simple thing, but just by taking that moment it usually shifts my perspective.

Do you find there's a link between mental and physical health? Why or why not?

Absolutely. I completely agree that mental and physical health are linked together! As someone who personally has struggled with her mental health for a long time, but also been working on their physical health… I would say these two things directly correlate. You can work on your mental health and physical health at the same time. These two things go hand-in-hand in my opinion. Being physically fit is just as much mental as it is physical. You have to motivate yourself, discipline yourself, give yourself mental talks, push yourself to new limits, the list goes on and on… You are fuelling your body, mind, and soul.

First of all, just know that you’re not alone because it may seem like you are because mental health is such a silent battle. No one knows what other people have going on in their lives. So if you’re struggling out there with your mental health, just know that you are not alone in how you’re feeling & your feelings are valid. I also highly recommend trying out talking to a therapist. For me personally this helped a lot especially when I didn’t really understand my own mental health or where to start to get better. I know it might seem scary if you’ve never gone to therapy before, it’s something new and that can be terrifying. But trust me, sometimes it can be just that one thing that puts you out of your comfort zone that may be the key to helping you in your mental health journey.