My Beloved Rose

Blog

  • Mental Health Monday Before Bed

    “A few hours behind, but never TOO late for mental health! Still Monday here. ✨️

    ‘Are you an activist experiencing stress or burnout?’

    “Overwhelming events happen and depending on our degree of privilege, daily stressors can be constant. It’s incredibly beneficial to spend time cultivating resources which support your health, embodiment, connectedness and feelings of goodness.”

    “Our vitality, essence and wholeness can get buried under life’s stresses, habits, overwhelm and adaptation. There is potency, resilience and health always available often covered by unconscious beliefs and somatic strategies of survival.” -Sage Hayes

    Here are a few exercises to try for yourself:

    •The 3-3-3 Rule: Look around and name three objects and three sounds, then move three body parts to break anxiety loops.

    •Digital Boundaries: Mute notifications, set specific times for checking news, and take breaks from social media to reduce exposure to traumatic content and trolls.

    •Micro-Rest: Take 5-minute breaks to practice deep breathing or sit in stillness to calm the nervous system.

    •Grounding in Nature: Spend time outside to gain perspective and disconnect from screen-based trauma.

    Take up the 1000 hours Outside Challenge with a few of our volunteers. You will be surprised to see how fast you can fill in your downloadable/printable hour tracker. 🫶

    Have more suggestions? Leave them below.”

    Posted by myself a tad late, but hey lol.

    Before you go to sleep~ don’t forget to take some time for yourself and your mental health.

    As it is night 🌙 here, take a moment to go outside and #LookUp. ✨️

    Take a deep breath and exhale at the marvel of the stars and moon in the sky.

    “Spending time in fresh air is a scientifically backed, accessible way to manage stress, reduce anxiety, and improve mood, acting as a crucial “reset” for individuals facing high- stress roles, including activists. Just 20 minutes in nature can significantly reduce stress hormone levels (cortisol), boost dopamine and serotonin, and break the cycle of ruminating thoughts.”

    🔗https://www.health.state.mn.us/communities/mentalhealth

    🔗https://www.firelands.com/empower/health-wellness/happier-and-healthier-5-benefits-spending-time-outdoors/

  • Mental Health Monday May Monday

    Keeping a log of Facebook Posts in case it goes down~ plus, sharing is caring.

    🔗https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Cjsq4dHb1/

    ‘An expanding body of research demonstrates that climate change is closely linked to adverse mental health outcomes. Acute events such as floods, wildfires, and heatwaves, as well as subacute and chronic environmental changes, have been associated with increased rates of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, sleep disturbances, and psychological distress.

    Population-level studies further indicate that periods of extreme heat are correlated with higher rates of emergency department visits for mental health crises, suggesting a direct relationship between climate-related stressors and worsening psychiatric outcomes.

    In parallel, the concept of climate anxiety has gained increasing attention, describing persistent worries, feelings of helplessness, and emotional distress related to climate change, which have been observed across diverse age groups and cultural contexts.’

    ‘There is hope, even when it doesn’t feel like it.’

    4 Immediate Steps to Combat a Sense of Helplessness by Andrea Bonior Ph.D.:

    1. Acknowledge your feelings and label them by name.

    2. Reconnect with your values.

    3. Choose one small action that helps make you feel in control, and watch out for all-or-nothing thinking, catastrophizing, and “checking out”.

    4. Connect with others in solidarity, but in movement toward action, not rumination.

    🔗 Links in comments

    What helps you? Add them below:

    Don’t forget~ we’re in this together.

    #StrongerTogether #FridaysForFuture

    🔗https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/friendship-20/202206/4-immediate-steps-to-combat-a-sense-of-helplessness

    🔗https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-39907-4

  • Mental Health Monday Past

    Oops!

    I forgot last week’s~ Here is for April 27th:

    🔗https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FuWGkjoUo/

    Climate Change, Mental Health and Setting Boundaries.~

    ‘Climate change and the resulting higher frequency of extreme weather events have a direct negative impact on mental health. Natural disasters are particularly associated with an increase in the prevalence of depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder. Indirect consequences of climate change, such as food shortages, economic crises, violent conflicts and forced migration, additionally represent severe psychological risk and stress factors.’

    ‘A growing body of research demonstrates not only that the extreme weather events associated with a changing climate can impair mental health, in particular leading to increases in depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, but also that more gradual changes in climatic conditions, such as rising temperatures and reduced air quality, are also harmful to mental health. In addition, there is increasing evidence that a significant proportion of people might be experiencing a harmful level of anxiety associated with their perception of climate change.’

    ‘Mental health impacts of climate change have the potential to affect a significant proportion of the population.’

    ~That IS a lot. We see that. There is a lot happening right now, and due to that you’re taking in so much but are you taking even 5 minutes to breathe? Are you reaching out to others when you need a hand?

    ~Learning to say “no” or that you do not have the capacity, that is a critical skill for establishing boundaries, preserving mental health, and maintaining longevity in both professional and personal life.

    “Self preservation is not selfish or self indulgent, it is needed.”

    It acts as a protective mechanism against burnout and allows individuals (especially activists and MAPA) to focus on essential, high- priority tasks rather than being overwhelmed by unnecessary obligations.

    You are not a martyr; you are an ally, an Earth Steward, a voice that matters.

    You cannot pour from an empty cup.

    The system wants you to say “yes” until you break. It wants you to habitually grind your health away; it wants you to feel shame or guilt for taking time for your mental and physical health. “MAPA doesn’t get that choice.” We all have SOME choices. Don’t give those hellbent on destruction, the satisfaction. We outnumber them, and they know it.

    We mustn’t act alone, but together~ even if that means giving space for yourself or colleagues to take a moment.

    Have tips on setting boundaries?

    Share them below. ✨️

    🔗https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36820855/

    🔗https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33389625/

  • This Earth Day

    This Earth Day

    A reminder for this year; we still demand a green tapestry untainted or corrupted by spoiled hands.

    The systemic rot we see in our climate today is the terminal stage of capitalistic imperialism, where profit is prioritised over the biological survival of the huddle. 🐧

    Such is the RAW, unfiltered version of Earth Day, without rose-coloured glasses on.

    May we do better sustainably for the next generations to come than what is given to us now. 🌱

    For last year we pleaded:

    “To this Earth Day, let us strive to raise the momentum in solidarity and collaboration to heal our #HOME.

    Everyone IS needed.

    Earth Day reminds us: we are woven into the web of life.

    Harm to one thread unravels us all.

    Demand a just and green tapestry.

    Let us rise together to uproot and remediate!

    We aren’t just healing ourselves, we are healing our Earth and that which dwells here.

    Let us thrive together. ✨️”

    Because, don’t forget now, Earth Day is everyday, not just a sigular day of Earth-Being festivities a year.

    Where is that penguin huddle when you need it? 🐧

  • Mental Health Monday

    To catalogue here as well~ I will share what I write on the FFF International page in case FB shuts down.

    🔗https://www.facebook.com/share/18NtaMEXox/

    ‘Studies on other social movements suggest that activist burnout is a major threat to the sustainability of activist or social movement organizations, eventually playing a role in the effectiveness of a movement.’

    You can not pour from an empty cup.

    ‘Activism is “not just a job”. Rather, she notes, it is usually a vocation intimately linked to an individual’s identity and social network.’

    ‘Activists often want to “keep going”…’

    Full stop! —We do NOT want you to self-destruct into fatigue, burnout or other health implications.

    Remember the “Penguin Huddle”?? 🐧

    We MUST be a TEAM and we must take turns for one another. Holding space for one another.

    Allowing room to be and breathe.

    ‘Case studies identified several stressors in activist activity, which seem to apply to different fields within activism. They can be categorized as interpersonal, organizational, and structural. The first category, interpersonal stressors (also “within-movement” stressors), refers to relational conflicts between activists’

    ‘Activists may be stressed due to disrespectful or violent behavior within the movement, fueled, for example, by political conviction and the idea that there is only one right form of activism’— we have also seen other factors of exclusivity within our own movement.

    We must be self aware and accountable for how we treat others and ourselves.

    You must connect your own safety hook before you help others and before consistently diving in to rescue others, perhaps find out the root of why the rescue must occur.

    Take a step back and know that we are one.

    Age, gender, religion + …those are just the extras that make you who you are, it shouldn’t define you as a means to push you or others out or diminish your voices or others.

    Be authentically you. Breathe. Heal.

    Heal for you, for the Earth, for future generations, and for others as to not push unwanton projections unto your colleagues, friends, allies, the environment and yourself!

    Yes, you. Your being. How you speak to yourself. Do you build yourself up? Or do you break yourself apart? For you or for others? Or do you find yourself doing it to others?

    Our existence is contingent upon a strong community, and a community’s strength is, in turn, dependent on its unity.

    Without unity, the fight for a better, thriving future is harder. Why make it harder?

    Collaborate- be that ‘penguin huddle’ because sometimes, you have to take a step back to heal and for growth to continue. Don’t do it alone, you aren’t alone. Everyone is welcome and everyone IS needed.

    🔗 Study Link in comments.

    What are you looking forward to this week?
    What makes you, YOU?
    What words of encouragement do you have for others?

    Leave them below in the comments.

    🔗https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12130585/

    We can either heal and grow together or become stagnant and crumble like the bourgeoisie wants of us.

    Heal, so we can continue to outnumber them. They want us unhealthy and divided.

    Do not feel shame or guilt by going against the grain of what the status quo wants and instead, heal and be and give the capacity you have to give, not what others expect of you.

    We have to be a team so we can have that penguin huddle.

    Know when you need to take that step back. You aren’t giving up and you aren’t alone. Embrace self preservation.


    Don’t let someone else judge you for your form of activism or for taking time to heal.


    #StressKills