Tags: by Gayathri Ramprasad | Mar 29, 2017 |
For me, wellness is about being able to fulfill your purpose in life. It’s not about the absence of illness or disability-certainly not in my case, as part of my purpose is to fight the stigma and discrimination surrounding illness and disability. To be well in my book is to be doing that which you are meant to be doing-not based on the judgments of yourself or the expectations of others, but based on the unique design and demands of your own singular soul. For me, that means creating art and pursuing justice-and doing it all, as much as possible, through love. In order to live well-that is, to be able to do that which I am meant to be doing-I need to take care of my body, mind and soul. This means eating largely real food with ingredients I can pronounce and exercising (which I admit I’m not that great at, but I try). It also means taking medication, attending weekly therapy, engaging in daily prayers, and spending quality time with the people I love most. Ultimately though, I don’t think that we always need to be well in order to live well. A lot of living well-especially for those of us living with mental health conditions-is about learning how to manage when we’re not necessarily feeling our best. As I see it, to be well is to experience the full range of human emotion and experience with grace and curiosity-to wonder what each experience and emotion has to teach us instead of immediately judging ourselves and the events in our lives as necessarily good or bad. Often, the...
Tags: by Gayathri Ramprasad | Feb 3, 2017 |
Hard as I try not, I still tend to identify wellness with productivity. Was I able to do the tasks I set out to do today? Was I able to write? Was I useful in some small way to someone today? As long as I have the sense that I owe life something good that comes out of my hands, no matter how small, I hold myself out to be well regardless of how I may feel on that particular day. The hard thing is that some days it is important to be happy with small results. But I am trying not to equate “wellness” with doing. I would rather know that I am well if I can feel inside of me a sense of gratitude for all that is given to me, for shelter and food and family, for leisure and for the beauty of the day. This kind of wellness is more of a deep faith that life is worth living. What I am discovering is that this kind of faith is both a gift and something you have to seek with your whole being. It is a seed that grows with our attention. So the most important thing I do to be well is that – I attend to this faith and seek to make it stronger. Each morning when I wake up I read from a holy text of one of the world’s religions and I write in a journal any thoughts or feelings evoked by that reading. That is how I water the seed of faith in me and that is what keeps me...
Tags: by Phillis Benson | Jan 16, 2017 |
I still remember sitting with my mother in a psychiatrist’s office in Bangalore, India. After seven years of suffering through undiagnosed panic attacks and depression, I had finally tried to kill myself. And, my family physician had referred me to a psychiatrist. “I pray that no one we know sees us here Gayu” my mother had whispered into my ears, her voice filled with fear. Within minutes of talking with me, the psychiatrist had a diagnosis – I had been struggling with major depression. Unfortunately, the stigma surrounding the diagnosis became a noose around my neck, sentencing my family and I into a life of shame and secrecy. For years, we did not talk about my struggles with family or friends. And, despite access to mental health services, I cycled in and out of depression, suicide attempts, and hospitalizations. Eventually, confined in the seclusion room of a psychiatric ward in America, stripped of freedom, dignity, hope, and humanity, I finally decided to break the silence and talk about my struggles with mental illness. I began talking with family, friends and even strangers. Looking back, talking about my mental illness was the first step in freeing myself from the stranglehold of stigma and shame. Talking about my mental illness also gave me the courage to embrace my humanity and ask for the treatment and support I needed to recover and thrive. Depression affects 350 million people of all ages, from all walks of life, and in all countries around the world. It impacts people’s ability to carry out even the simplest everyday tasks and can have a...
Tags: by Phillis Benson | Nov 5, 2016 |
As we prepare to gather with our friends and family to give thanks to each other and the many blessings of our life, I encourage you to take a few minutes each day to practice an attitude of gratitude. Twenty-seven years ago, a psychiatric nurse introduced me to the gifts of maintaining a gratitude journal and it has transformed my life. Every day, regardless of where I am in the world, I meditate and journal at least three things I am grateful for. Sure, there are days when I am struggling and cannot find a reason to be grateful. But, over the years, I have learned to be grateful for the love and support of family and friends, and my resilience to overcome difficult times. According to a Harvard Health Publication, expressing thanks may be one of the simplest ways to feel better. I invite you to take a few minutes each day to maintain a gratitude journal. You will be happier and healthier for it. Wishing you wellness, Gayathri Ramprasad, MBA, CPS Founder & President, ASHA International...
Tags: by Phillis Benson | Aug 10, 2016 |
“You should take time to exercise Gayathri,” my psychiatrist said decades ago, while I was in the midst of a severe depressive episode. And, I remember thinking, I am not an athlete or a social elite. I am a mother and a homemaker. I don’t have the time or the need for exercise. But, my psychiatrist insisted that exercise could relieve my depression and boost my overall well-being. I am glad I finally followed his advice. Over the last three decades, I have exercised five times a week – a combination of yoga, Pilates, walking, weight-training and cardio machines. Like many people, I don’t always jump out of bed wanting to exercise, but sticking to my workout routine has helped me create a healthy, vibrant life. Please explore the 7 Benefits of Regular Exercise and create your own exercise routine. Wishing you wellness, Gayathri Ramprasad, MBA, CPS Founder & President, ASHA International...
Tags: by Phillis Benson | Jul 20, 2016 |
On June 8th, I had the pleasure of presenting at the Mental Health America Conference in Alexandria, Virginia. Later that night, I called my parents in India and learned that my 81-year-old father had a fall and was unconscious for a few minutes. He had survived esophageal cancer recently but was struggling to breathe. So, I decided to cut short my stay at the conference, return home to Portland immediately, and rush to India to see my dad. Unfortunately, by the time I landed in St. Louis en route to Portland, I learned through a social media post that my father had passed away. My whole world collapsed. Riding on his favorite Java motorbike as a little girl, I had thought my father was invincible…I still wanted him to be. He was my hero. The man who twirled me around until I broke into giggles, the man who had taught me to dream big and work hard, the man who called me “Princess” and treated me like one. Heartbroken, I collapsed in my seat sobbing, as the plane taxied. I am deeply grateful to the love and support of strangers on that plane who helped me get off the plane and board my connecting flight to Portland. I am deeply grateful to my husband and daughters who helped me get on a plane to India within hours of landing so I could be with my mother and siblings to grieve and celebrate my father’s life. And, I am deeply grateful to our extended family and friends who held us in their embrace and helped us get through the...
