5 Things Anyone Can Do to Optimize Their Mental Wellness, With Edyta Tchorzewska

Laughter- There has been a lot of studies and research done on laughter and its ability to heal the body. Laughter releases your body’s endorphins. Essentially, laughter is nature’s own pain reliever. Using humour to decrease stress, diminish pain, improve quality of life and even attempt to improve immune functioning has recently become a popular topic in the lay and professional literature. The more you laugh, the healthier you become. Remember, if you change the way you feel, you will change the way you behave.

As a part of my series about the “5 Things Anyone Can Do To Optimize Their Mental Wellness” I had the pleasure of interviewing Edyta Tchorzewska. Edyta is a qualified and experienced Master and Teacher of Reiki Healing who helps people optimize their well-being, gain a pain-free life, remove the blockages which were caused by emotional trauma, strengthen body, mind & spirit connection and bring balance into your body. Edyta specializes in Mikao Usui, traditional Reiki Healing and Teaching. Additionally, Edyta is a qualified Clinical Hypnotherapist and NLP Practitioner. Moreover, Edyta is a Stress Management Specialist and Author of “the body, mind and soul “- A wellbeing guide for healthier and happier life. Edyta also works as a service delivery manager at the hospital.

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?

Hi, Thank you so much. It is my pleasure. I am very grateful to be able to share my knowledge, tips and story with all wonderful people on the planet!

Hmm, let me take you to the beginning. I nearly died when my mum was giving birth to me. I grew up mostly without my parents and went through a difficult time during my childhood. At the very early age, I started smoking cigarettes, taking all sorts of drugs and drinking excessive amount of alcohol. When I was 14 I attempted to end my life. I had problems with law and the police. Thereafter, I was self-harming, then, I got involved in a toxic relationship which had broken my heart into a million pieces. I was an emotional “wreak” and I was pretty hurt and messed up. I hit the rock bottom. Broken heart and mental health can hurt more than physical illness.

Around three years ago, I came across Clinical Hypnotherapy, NLP, Spirituality and Reiki Healing. I started learning more about our Mind, Psychology, Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Energies, Essential Oils and Herbs. Also, working as a manager at the hospital, I had to learn how to cope with stress and demands of my job, so I continued to lead by example.

Learning and applying into practice everything I had learn, I can proudly and honestly say that my heart is whole again, I stopped all intoxication, I have learned how to love and accept myself, I developed compassion, I had forgiven myself, I found my purpose in life, I had also developed a great relationship with my parents and I am a grateful, free and happy person who is on the mission to help and serve people in the best way I can . Yay!

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

Hmmm, yes — I stumbled across “Hare Krishna” people. I discovered a temple called “The Bhaktivedanta Manor” which was donated to them by George Harrison from the Beatles. I became very inspired / curious and decided to do a “Become a Monk Challenge” where I was living at the Temple for the whole week. I was learning their philosophy, serving homeless people and participating in chanting/prayers. It was a very purifying experience and I met my “spiritual sister” there and we became a very good friends.

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?

Yes. I remember a time when I was practicing hypnotherapy on my friends, I was doing a past life regression where one of my friends reviled to me that she was being chased by Grizzly Bear and I burst out with loud laugh, I couldn’t stop laughing and I spoiled her whole experience… I just really couldn’t stop laughing…

I have learned to respect and honor everyone’s unique experience and remain more professional and helpful.

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?

Definitely, there are numerous people who helped me along the way- My hypnotherapy teachers- Tina Taylor and Debbie Williams- they have taught me the best therapeutic techniques, I learned a lot from them. My Reiki Teacher — Michael Kauffman who taught me Reiki. My manager Jon Parry who always supported me at work professionally and personally for which I am very grateful for. I am also grateful to Narada and Keli Vrindavan from the Soho Temple for sharing with their spiritual wisdom and showering me with kindness and support. I am also grateful to my parents for their understanding and love.

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

I would suggest the following:

1. Prioritize your workload
2. Look after yourself first
3. Chunk down and plan your task/project
4. Focus on one thing at the time
5. Take regular breaks if possible (preferably, go for a short walk or a stretch)
6. Eat healthy meals/snacks
7. Hydrate well
8. If you are struggling, speak to appropriate person/manager/mentor and express your concerns/ask for help
9. Remain positive
10. Practice Relaxation, breathing exercises and mindfulness
11. Be realistic in what you can achieve

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

My advice would be to create more health-conscious working environment, more supportive environment with regular one to one meetings, promote and serve healthy meals, develop strong policies, teach people how to deal with stress, perhaps by providing effective stress management workshops and team building exercises. Appreciate employees for their hard work, recognize teams and individuals by organizing awards, make people feel worthy and lead by example.

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?

Sure.

1 . The first step to improve our mental health is relaxation. Relaxation activity is reducing stress and tension. This is the first, most important step to begin your healing journey. When we relax, our brain subsequently produces Alpha Brainwave which can increase activity in immune system and realise of Endorphins.

Here is a simple yet effective instant relaxation technique:

• Take a deep breath through your nose and as you do, tense all your muscles (legs, pelvic floor, shoulders, buttock etc.) hold your breath and tensed muscles for 3 seconds
• As you exhale, relax all your muscles
• Repeat X4

2 . Secondly, I recommend practicing gratitude because what you focus on expands, expressing gratitude and appreciation will shift your negative state of mind into more positive. At the end of each day write down three things you are grateful for, make this your habit, practice this for at least 21 days and you will notice positive changes happening. Being thankful and expressing gratitude is not something new. It has been a part of our life since the time we became humans. Being thankful is what makes us human. But now days we do see this very important trend disappearing at an alarming rate.

3 . Thirdly, tackle unpleasant feelings/ stress or fear with NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming)

Here is an exercise:

Close your eyes

• As you think of your stress/thought or fear visualise it in the form of a picture in front of you, make this image very big, vivid and bright.
• Now, in your mind’s eye, make this picture black and white
• Shrink the image to a size of a dot
• Mentally push this image far in the distance, as far as you can
• At this point, notice a reduction in stress/ thought or anxiety

4 . Fourth, I recommend essential oils. Aromatherapy is a wonderful way to de-stress your body, mind and soul.

For example, sweet orange essential oil will uplift you, enhance your mood and boost your energy. You can put few drops of the essence on your palms, rub it together and inhale the aroma through your nose. It’s gorgeous and it helps me to feel good all the time.

5 . Fifth, Laughter- There has been a lot of studies and research done on laughter and its ability to heal the body.

Laughter releases your body’s endorphins. Essentially, laughter is nature’s own pain reliever.

Using humour to decrease stress, diminish pain, improve quality of life and even attempt to improve immune functioning has recently become a popular topic in the lay and professional literature.

The more you laugh, the healthier you become. Remember, if you change the way you feel, you will change the way you behave.

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.

Yes, I agree. The retirement is a dramatic life transition, but it is also a wonderful opportunity do to things one enjoys, perhaps getting into a long-forgotten hobby, interests, serving the community, travel, relax and enjoy.

My friend Anne recently retired, and she found that process to be very challenging indeed because she was used to working from Monday- Friday, therefore she had a routine and structure every day, when she retired she became depressed because she didn’t know what to do with her time.

Anne started reading books which she enjoyed, she had joined her local Church Community where she made new friends, she also started volunteering in the charity shop. As Anne began doing the things she enjoyed and made new friends, her depression disappeared, and she felt alive again.

My advice is to continue to remain occupied with things that make you happy. If your health allows you to, do some voluntary work, surround yourself with other retired people so you can relate and the share similar experiences, also help each other, go for a walk, spend time in nature — nature has been proven to have positive impact on mental well-being.

Support your immune system by eating healthily and perhaps taking health supplements. Most importantly, treat yourself, give yourself some TLC and do what you make you happy. Every end is a beginning and when one door close, another one opens. Let’s embrace this natural change make the best of out of it.

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?

From my experience, I would suggest to all pre-teens and teens to develop values such as love, kindness, joy, gratitude, respect, creativity and appreciation. It is important to set goals and achieve them, create your dream list, keep focusing on being positive. Ask yourself a question: What would I change in the world if I could? You are the next generation who will hold this planet together. Read inspiring books too. Ask for help if you are struggling with something.

I would also recommend practicing mental imagery, visualize yourself passing that exam or achieving that goal. Believe in yourself and never give up. I also recommend practicing meditation (meditation helps to develop strong focus) do yoga and other exercises. Eat healthy food, decrease the junk, your brain is still developing, support it with healthy snacks such as nuts and fresh fruits.

Here is a simple NLP exercise which will help you to decrease anxiety, stress or fear:

Reversing your feeling technique:

• Close your eyes
• Focus on the area of your body where your stress/pain or unwanted feeling resides
• Notice which way does the feeling of pain/ emotion spin in your body- use your imagination
• Now, in your mind’s eye, start spinning the feeling in the opposite direction; spin it faster, faster and stronger until you notice the reduction in your feeling
• Repeat if necessary

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

Yes, I remember that gray, rainy day, I felt very low and depressed. I had decided to go for a walk and I came across a library. I decided to step in and went straight to the section with personal development books, there was a particular red book sticking out called “The Key to Living the Law of Attraction” written by Jack Canfield. When I started reading that book, the whole perception about my life changed. There are pretty cool exercises which made me feel good and helped me to discover myself and my life purpose. I don’t want to spoil it! Read it if you want to find the “key” Essentially, I walked in to the library being sad and I came out very happy and inspired.

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. :-)

I love this question! I would start a movement that would allow me to empower people, spread the unconditional love, share joy and exchange positive energy.

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

“If you are going through hell, keep going” — famous quote said by Winston Churchill. This quote always reminds me that all struggles are temporary and there is always a light at the end of the tunnel :-)

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

You can visit my website: www.naturalhealinghearts.com

Facebook page: @naturalpowerfreedom

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natural-healing-02649912b/

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