You would never eat a rotten tomato, right? You know, the ones that have sat on your counter too long, started to shrivel up, and develop patches on the outside? Of course not! Because it’s rotten, and can make you sick.
But how many times in a day do we feed our minds with rotten words?
Just as our body needs healthy, nutritional, fresh nutrients, our mind needs healthy, fortifying, encouragements.
In this video, rapper and spoken word artist, Prince Ea, divulges into the toxic ways we focus on our physical state, and totally suppress how sick we are in our mental state.
“We are sick,” he says. “We are so sick that our society cares more about oral hygiene than mental hygiene. We brush and floss everyday, twice a day, to keep our teeth nice, fresh and clean. But what about mental hygiene? What do we do? For most of us, nothing.”
The majority of us wouldn’t think about it like that. We might say, we brush our teeth to keep our mouths healthy and we sleep to keep our minds healthy. But it just isn’t that simple.
A healthy mind isn’t about getting more sleep. In fact, for many, sleep is nothing more than an escape from an unhealthy mind.
It doesn’t matter how much you avoid gluten, or how much kale you eat in a week, rotten words and thoughts will consume you.
Prince Ea believes that the world will be a much better place, and our society, potentially a lot healthier, when schools make it mandatory for students to learn about how to care for their mental health in the same ways they learn science, math and history.
It makes sense! I mean, you can take as many elective gym classes as you’d like and learn all about physical education by throwing dodgeballs. Why not a self-help class for identifying healthy ways to manage stress, combat loneliness and anxiety, recognize depression in yourself and your friends, or how to talk to others about serious rotten tomatoes that WILL find their way into your brain.
Until that day comes, he offers up some sound advice for eliminating those rotten thoughts, and addressing the parts of your mind you’ve allowed to turn rotten.
His advice stems from John Medina’s book, “Brain Rules.”
“I call this technique the smiling, mindful, breath,” he says.
“If you combine this technique with proper sleep, exercise, nutrition, sunlight, and good friends, you just might start floating off the ground.”
Smiling
Did you know that a simple smile can relax your entire nervous system? According to science, your facial muscles have the largest impact on your emotional state.
Mindfulness
For many of us, our minds are running the show. We believe almost everything that we think — particularly about ourselves and how we’re perceived by others. When we filter what goes in and what comes out of our minds, with awareness of the fact that rotten junk will destroy us, we are being mindful of what our mind needs. It’s like going grocery shopping and reading the label before placing an item in your cart. We want to know what’s going into our bodies. It’s no different than knowing what we’re allowing into our minds.
Breathing
What would happen if you went five minutes without breathing? We all know the answer to that, so it’s no wonder that BREATH is just as important to your MENTAL health as it is to you simply LIVING. Breathing gives your brain oxygen, which allows you to think more clearly, allowing you to be your best self, and practice mindfulness more intentionally.
Prince Ea encourages every person who watches this video to practice this method at least once a day.
“You can do this sitting in your car. You can do it in the morning after you finish brushing your teeth.”
Check out the full video to find out how to practice his technique from start to finish.
