“5 Things Anyone Can Do To Optimize Their Mental Wellness” With Author Shelly Wilson

An Interview with Beau Henderson

Become aware of fear energy. Defining the fear helps us to become more aware of what we are fearful of. Naturally, there are situations that warrant extreme concern for our safety, and we may feel overwhelmed and even consumed by fear in those instances. Awareness of fear, while not residing in the fear vibration, is significant to our journey into consciousness. There is no need to allow fear to consume our energy. Being consumed with fear, worry and negativity will undoubtedly take a physical and mental/emotional toll on an individual and can even create illness or disease within the physical body.

As a part of my series about the “5 Things Anyone Can Do To Optimize Their Mental Wellness” I had the pleasure of interviewing Shelly Wilson an author, intuitive medium and conscious creator who is passionate about helping people wake up to their greatness. She supports others as they navigate their own journey into consciousness to experience aliveness. She is the author of 28 Days to a New YOU, Connect to the YOU Within, Journey into Consciousness and Embracing the Magic Within as well as the creator of Journey into Consciousness: Cards of Empowerment and Embracing the Magic Within: Clarity Cards. ShellyRWilson.com

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?

Thank you so much for the opportunity to share a conscious conversation with you! As with many other people, I know that I was born during this period of time for a purpose. I’ve always wanted to help people in whatever way that I could. Sometimes that involves simply being present with someone and offering the gift of my presence while allowing them to be seen and heard.

The Japanese healing modality, Reiki, came into my awareness in 2008, and I’ve been practicing and attuning others to it since that time. I like to say, “Reiki opened the door, and I walked through it.” Not only did it give me confidence, but my intuitive abilities became more apparent.

I’ve always been sensitive to energies and have known things that I wasn’t sure how I knew. My first mediumship development class was with Lisa Williams in November 2010, and the rest, shall we say, is history. Since then, I have also studied with James Van Praagh, John Holland and Tony Stockwell.

As an Intuitive Medium, I have quickly realized that my purpose extends further than offering immediate answers as I believe I am supposed to assist others with their transformation by providing tools for people to access the information for themselves. When I embarked on this path and began providing guidance to others in 2010, I stated from the beginning that I am not a fortune teller and will not predict your future. In every moment with every choice we are making, our life is continuously changing. Simply put, I choose to empower you as an individual rather than dis-empower you. I am passionate about helping people wake up to their greatness and desire to support others as they navigate their own journey into consciousness to experience aliveness.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

Reflecting back on my journey over the past decade, I have to say that being tested by Mark Ireland in order to be listed on his Certified Mediums website was quite daunting. Mark’s father is renowned Psychic Medium Richard Ireland. I initially met Mark at a conference, and he invited me to be tested. Ultimately, I did pass and am grateful to be listed on the website as Mark’s intention for creating the website is one of high integrity. Merging mediumship with healing feels very natural to me. I trust that the client’s highest need is always met during a session.

Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?

I often say that being human can be tough sometimes, and that every experience is an opportunity to learn and to grow. I remember an experience at a conference I attended in 2009. Feeling like a kid in a metaphysical candy store, I was eager to explore all that was available. Not really a mistake, but I would consider myself naïve and perhaps a bit too trusting. The lesson I learned was to practice discernment and know what resonates with me rather than giving my power to someone else by allowing them to decide what they feel is right for me.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

As noted in my book, Journey into Consciousness, I acknowledged five spiritual teachers who impacted me and my spiritual journey personally: Dannion Brinkley, John Holland, James Van Praagh, Lisa Williams and Tony Stockwell. I’ve had the pleasure to attend a presentation or training workshop with each one of them. Having personal interaction with all of them, each one encouraged me to just be me.

What advice would you suggest to your colleagues in your industry to thrive and avoid burnout?

Balance is absolutely essential. Take time for you as you take time for others. Balance work with play. The analogy, you cannot pour from an empty glass, so take care of yourself, is a reminder to keep your glass full by practicing self-love and self-care. Devoting time and energy to others is pouring from your proverbial glass.

What advice would you give to other leaders about how to create a fantastic work culture?

See yourself in everyone you encounter. We are energetic beings having a human life experience. These experiences are opportunities for learning and growth. Essentially our perception, and ultimately how we choose to respond, is what really matters. We can choose to react when presented with challenges, or we can pause, breathe and choose to respond. Verbalizing the two words aloud even feels different — react is harsher and quicker; respond is softer and more peaceful.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. Mental health is often looked at in binary terms; those who are healthy and those who have mental illness. The truth, however, is that mental wellness is a huge spectrum. Even those who are “mentally healthy” can still improve their mental wellness. From your experience or research, what are five steps that each of us can take to improve or optimize our mental wellness. Can you please share a story or example for each?

Since everything is energy, we need to become aware of the energetic emission and vibrational frequencies that we are sending out. This includes becoming aware of our thoughts, words and actions. We must also tune in to the energies of the people, places and things that surround us or we are immersed in since our mental health can be directly affected from these external influences.

Furthermore, we must do our best to be present in the moment and practice good energetic hygiene by being grounded and centered. In addition, we can easily shift our energy by simply breathing consciously and intentionally, while attaining the peace within, so we can respond rather than react to external circumstances.

1. You are human after all! We are energetic beings having a human life experience. This entails experiencing life rather than just going through the motions and functioning on auto pilot. Being human includes doing more of what brings us joy and taking time to play, which contributes to our physical health and mental/emotional well-being.

2. Become aware of fear energy. Defining the fear helps us to become more aware of what we are fearful of. Naturally, there are situations that warrant extreme concern for our safety, and we may feel overwhelmed and even consumed by fear in those instances. Awareness of fear, while not residing in the fear vibration, is significant to our journey into consciousness. There is no need to allow fear to consume our energy. Being consumed with fear, worry and negativity will undoubtedly take a physical and mental/emotional toll on an individual and can even create illness or disease within the physical body.

3. Take care of your physical body. A healthy, balanced diet (not being on a diet) along with exercise (physical movement versus being sedentary) is vital for our physical and mental/emotional well-being. Choosing to see food as nourishment is imperative. Taking note of our dietary intake will offer insight into our life since everything we eat and drink contains life force energy.

4. Feel the feels. Honor your emotions and mental health, while recognizing certain people, places or things may not be right for you or resonate with you. In order to fully embody this human life experience, I believe we have to feel the emotions rather than repress or suppress them as so many attempt to do. Allowing ourselves to honor what we feel assists us with moving and clearing the energy rather than having it remain “stuck” in our energy field, which can potentially manifest into an illness or disease. Energetically speaking, we have to feel the emotions in order to clear them and heal them.

5. Address and intentionally care for your mental/emotional well-being. This entails establishing boundaries and communicating clearly within relationships, meditating, spending time in nature, connecting with others (and perhaps even disconnecting from some) and turning off technology or at least taking regular breaks from it.

Much of my expertise focuses on helping people to plan for after retirement. Retirement is a dramatic ‘life course transition’ that can impact one’s health. In addition to the ideas you mentioned earlier, are there things that one should do to optimize mental wellness after retirement? Please share a story or an example for each.

Many people work hard in order to enjoy their retirement. Subsequently, they may feel “lost” once they do retire because their day-to-day life activities have significantly changed. Many people have also spent their lives caring for others, and now they may be the ones to be cared for.

The main message I wish to convey is to be present. Being present involves living in the moment rather than focusing on the future or dwelling in the past. Focus on living, being and breathing in the moment. Being present also entails being present with those in your presence. The element of time is necessary of course. Choosing to wake up and see what the day offers is an aspect of being present.

Also, making conscious and empowered choices is fundamental for our overall wellness, including our physical health and mental/emotional well-being. Others may offer their input based on what they perceive is necessary. Since everything is energy, know how you’re investing your emotional, mental, financial and physical energy.

How about teens and pre-teens. Are there any specific new ideas you would suggest for teens and pre-teens to optimize their mental wellness?

Cultivating the relationship we have with ourselves will nourish our soul resulting in a ripple effect in the relationships we have with others. We teach others by our own example. Children learn and are conditioned by what they are exposed to. Our children can benefit from parents who are conscious and conscious parenting. This method is becoming more prevalent as people are recognizing the importance of addressing issues as they occur through honest communication and understanding instead of repairing the effects later. Becoming conscious parents and encouraging our children to embrace their magic now, so they don’t have to find or rediscover it later as some adults have to do, is extremely beneficial.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story?

As humans, we can easily get caught up in the heaviness of life. The three books I recommend to everyone are The Four Agreements by don Miguel Ruiz, The Power of the Heart by Baptist de Pape (also a movie) and Whatever Arises, Love That by Matt Kahn. I view these books as guideposts for living a heart-centered and intentional life. I had the pleasure of meeting author and filmmaker Baptist de Pape while attending a screening of his movie, The Power of the Heart, during Sedona World Wisdom Days in January 2015. Expanding on the on-camera interviews, the beautifully designed full-color book of the same name, published by Atria Books, reveals how we can overcome limitations in our daily life and fulfill our highest potential by allowing ourselves to tap into the power of the heart.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Firstly, I believe we are all students and teachers on this journey into consciousness. Every encounter with another individual offers us the opportunity to learn and grow. The main advice I would like to impart on others is to let your heart guide you. We get so caught up in being human that we tend to focus on our Earth-plane existence in the material world. We exert a lot of energy by focusing on the linear aspect of time. We do need the time element; however, allowing yourself to be present in the now, to listen to the guidance you are receiving and to be in the flow of allowance will assist you tremendously on many levels.

I have been using the hashtag #letlovelead in many of my social media posts as a reminder to let the energy of love be the guiding force for us in our thoughts, words and actions. We can simply choose to let love lead the way. Each one of us is creating a ripple by letting our love flow and embracing the magic within. We are planting the seeds of intention with loving kindness and watching them bloom and grow.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?

I am a firm believer in practicing the Golden Rule — Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Simply put, treat others as you would like to be treated. Recognizing that everything is energy; the energy we put forth is reflected back to us.

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

I am active on Facebook with four separate pages, including @IntuitiveMediumShelly, @JourneyintoConsciousness, @CardsofEmpowerment and @EmbracingTheMagicWithin as well as on Instagram @IntuitiveMediumShelly.

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!

I appreciate the opportunity to share a conscious conversation with you!