Trade Caffeine for Sea Moss Smoothie — Caffeine is a stimulant, potentially causing jitters and anxiety. Sea moss gel contains naturally energizing nutrients like Vitamin B2, Vitamin B12, Calcium, Chromium, Magnesium, and Zinc. Consuming it daily mixed into a smoothie helps you stay healthy and alert.
As a part of my series about the “5 Things Anyone Can Do To Optimize Their Mental Wellness”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Imani Francies.
Imani Francies writes and researches for the life insurance comparison site, QuickQuote.com. As a parent and early childhood educator, she is passionate about helping parents, children, and other individuals figure out what is best for their mental and emotional well-being.
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?
I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and attended a Performing Arts High School that gave me the opportunity to express my creative side. I had experienced some traumatizing events growing up, so partaking in the arts was a great form of therapy for me.
Storytelling gave me an opportunity to relieve stress, manage my anxiety, and bring a little bit of joy to others. Towards the end of my high school career, I realized I wanted to pursue a career that revolved around storytelling and helping or encouraging others.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
Despite having worked as an early childhood educator, I began writing as a ghostwriter before taking on content writing full time. One of the gigs I picked up writing as a ghostwriter was for an erotica website.
Though I cannot mention the site because of a non-disclose, the individual used the site as a form of therapy for readers and clients. Those who benefited from the site struggled with their confidence in the dating world. This role allowed me to come out of my shell as a writer and has been the most interesting work I have done thus far.
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?
During my last year in college, I did contract work with the non-profit organization, United Way. I was responsible for writing up various forms of content, but I also did filmography and editing.
I was tasked with interviewing veterans on camera in their homes, doing write-ups on the interview, and compiling the video interview into a short film. For my first project, my co-worker and I spent almost an hour driving around trying to find the correct home.
I did not do a good job verifying the address before heading to the interview and we could not get the interviewee on the phone. Due to us being on a deadline, we just kept driving and trying different homes until we found the right one.
Looking back, I recognize how dangerous driving around like that was but thinking about how panicked and unprepared we were is hilarious today. I learned how to better prepare, stay organized, and obtain detailed information from people after that day.
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?
I would say that I am grateful for my old high school drama teacher, Mrs. Katie Grant Shalin. Unfortunately, she passed away because of cancer before I graduated, but she had this fire that was so inspirational.
No matter who you were, she pushed you to be the best version of yourself. Her impact led me down the road I am on today and to this day, I strive to have that impact on others one day.
What advice would you suggest to your colleagues in your industry to thrive and avoid burnout?
To not be so obsessed with the idea of being productive to where you forget to take care of yourself. You can only do your best work when you are well physically, emotionally, and mentally.
What advice would you give to other leaders about how to create a fantastic work culture?
You should not expect your employees to be robots. Life happens to everyone at any point in time and it can severely hinder one’s ability to produce the same quality of work each day. As long as someone is doing their job well, it is okay if they are not producing excellent and over-achieving results every day.
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.
Tip #1 — Move Your Body
Being physically active for at least 30 minutes a day supplies brain cells with oxygen, augmenting your brain function. Walking or even cleaning your house for 30 minutes straight is a good way to get your blood pumping.
Tip #2 — Trade Caffeine for Sea Moss Smoothie
Caffeine is a stimulant, potentially causing jitters and anxiety. Sea moss gel contains naturally energizing nutrients like Vitamin B2, Vitamin B12, Calcium, Chromium, Magnesium, and Zinc. Consuming it daily mixed into a smoothie helps you stay healthy and alert.
Tip #3 — Improve Sleep with Yoga and Meditation
Yoga and meditation enhance your quality of sleep by reducing stress. Stress causes a frequently heightened state of alertness that can delay the onset of sleep. Taking a class or following a video online three to five times a week is a good way to relax the body.
Tip #4 — Practice Breathing Exercises
Sitali Pranayama is a breathing exercise to help people relax when anxious or overheated. Deeply inhale through your tongue while it is rolled in a shape of a tube. Before exhaling through your nose, focus on the cool air flowing through your lungs. You repeat as needed until relaxed.
Tip #5 — Drink Water
You should drink at least half your body weight in ounces of water. So if you weigh 100 pounds, drink 50 ounces of water a day. Staying hydrated improves your energy levels and concentration.
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.
Tip #1 — Stay Connected with Other People
The best way to stay mentally and emotionally healthy is by staying connected with people. You can do this by socializing with friends that you can still contact and by spending time with your family and grandchildren.
Tip #2 — Make an Effort to Manage Medication
A decline in short-term memory is normal with aging and can result in you forgetting to take crucial medication. Using pill organizers or a note-pad can prevent you from missing medication helps with your mental, emotional, and physical well-being. You can even set up a recurring alarm on your phone to go off when it’s time to take your medicine.
Tip #3 — Eat Healthier Foods
Another common instance of aging is having the digestive system slow down. Your body cannot withstand the same amount of processed foods that it could in your younger years. So eating high-fiber fruits, whole grains, and vegetables help your digestive system to keep functioning well.
A good functioning digestive system supports mood stabilization and your ability to focus.
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?
Yes, creative therapy which supports mental wellness in pre-teens and teens.
Creative therapy can be completed through art journaling, sketching, making collages, or sculpting clay. There are endless ways to partake in creative therapy because art is self-expression. Here is a list of benefits associated with participating in creative therapy:
- Relieve symptoms of depression
- Improve Communication skills
- Learn self-regulation and management
- Confront past trauma
- Reduce stress
- Improve and develop problem-solving skills
- Grow self-esteem
- Provide a positive distraction
Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story?
“Girl, Wash Your Face” by Rachel Hollis is my favorite motivational book. I listened to the audio version after having my first child. My post-partum depression went untreated and turned into a series of depressive episodes for up to two years after delivery.
The book reminded me that I did not have to be perfect and that no family or relationship was perfect. It was what pushed me into loving myself at face value. Accepting who I am and loving that person helped me be present on a daily basis and helped my battle with anxiety.
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. 🙂
The movement I would start would be revolved around it being a normal occurrence for companies to allow their employees to take days off to focus on their mental health. Going into work and ignoring the signals your body gives you when you need a day of rest is unhealthy and too normalized.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?
“Eventually, you will end up where you need to be” is a quote that keeps my anxiety in check and reminds me to be present. I sometimes focus on the future so much that I get overly anxious and spiral into a depressive episode, but this quote reminds me to take things day by day.
What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?
You can follow my LinkedIn page.
Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
Imani Francies of QuickQuote.com: 5 Things Anyone Can Do To Optimize Their Mental Wellness was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.