Personal Health
Over these past few months, health, both physical and mental, has been a theme in my household and community. For me, it was something that I never thought about or prioritized until the pandemic started. My dad had given me two books that he found in our garage that was packed away. “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” by Ricardo Carlson focuses more on not over extending yourself and dwelling on little things in life and in work. It opened my eyes to how so many things effect us and ultimately impacts our physical and mental health.
It is no secret that the pandemic has made many people’s lives more sedentary. This pandemic has demonstrated how much of a privilege it is to be able to stay home and still earn money. For my dad, his job had no problem becoming remote, but he lost the activeness commute provided. He also has high-blood pressure, so monitoring his health is something I have watched him prioritized recently. His solution to the lack of exercise was buying a mini trampoline.
In my community, spirituality plays a part in mental health. Havans have been a huge part of Hinduism for centuries. After interviewing Alok Mooley, a Hindu my community, I understood the significance of rituals involving controlled fires more. Its a way to release stress and baggage that we hold onto.
When it comes to my peers, mental health correlates with their physical health. I sat down with Kathleen Salvador, a 21-year-old living in South San Francisco, and talked about her life and how prioritizing her physical health has changed the way it has impacted the way she thinks and has improved her focus.
This infographic shows the relationship between mental and physical health on a national level. 2020 was a year where people were going through a lot, and many are still experiencing hardship halfway into 2021. People are grieving and adapting, but even with these negative experiences, it has brought attention to prioritizing mental and physical health. That is shown through the increase of mental health providers. The systems we had in place before the pandemic didn’t put any attention on physical or mental health. It focused on being the best and the most competitive and never taking breaks. Mistakes are defining instead of forgiving. This pandemic has shown how better off we are when we are not so hard on ourselves for the amount of energy we put in to our lives.
Prioritizing health looks different for everyone. For my dad, it’s monitoring his high blood pressure by eating healthy and jumping on a mini trampoline. For Alok Mooley, its participating in his religion’s rituals. For Kathleen Salvador, its working out and creating structure for herself. For me, I am still figuring that out, but this project has given me some new ideas on how to prioritize my health.
