What happens when the holiday season that often comes with anticipation and excitement, also drags a bag of stress behind it? What do you do to manage stress and keep your balance at a time when so much is happening in your life and the world around you? This year make the goal to not only “get through the holidays” but also find ways to experience some of the joy the season promises.
For most people, the old ways of meeting a person, dating, and falling in love are no longer adding up to living happily ever after. More people are turning to dating apps like Tinder and Hinge to see if they can find their perfect match. According to a 2022 Pew Research, approximately 300 millions people use online dating platforms. Unfortunately, out of the 42% of the dating site users who aim for marriage, only 13% get engaged or married from the platform.
When we prioritize our mental health, we can enjoy a clearer mind, a better sense of self, improved productivity and an increased capacity to manage unexpected change. The best part: Making adjustments to your daily life doesn't have to be difficult. Mental health experts weigh in to share practical ways to make your mental health your priority…
Laughter is a way to express pleasure or display our sense of humor. We laugh when things are funny, we laugh when we're experiencing joy, and we laugh when we see our experiences reflected back in a new way. Laughter can help us release tension in a moment of anger or lift us out of the sinking feeling of sadness.
Mothers birth more than children. They birth a new possibility for a community. Mothers carry the legacy of history and culture and often dedicate more time to maintaining a household and rearing children than they do caring for themselves. Mothers are the first teachers of children. They show them how to see the world as it is or as it can be.
Communities of color face unique challenges and systemic barriers that affect our overall sense of calm and wellness. Witnessing countless examples of racism and violence against people of color with an unclear path on the best way to advocate for equality and justice for all can be exhausting. These feelings of constant frustration disrupts our nervous system and can lead to anxiety. Yet, the first month of the year gives us an opportunity to reset our minds, bodies, and spirits.
Surviving the impacts of ongoing racial trauma can feel like trying to swim with one hand holding a sink stone. You have to work twice as hard to keep yourself afloat, and it’s exhausting. Racial trauma sits beneath the skin of Black, Indigenous and People of Color, and it comes with an enormous weight that gets heavier each day.
It’s hard to overstate how important it is to protect our children and help them navigate life’s challenges. Some children are dealing with trauma or facing difficult circumstances far outside their control. They need their parents, but they also need a community of adults they can turn to when they need them.
By Yolanda Jackson
While the whole world manages health concerns related to the pandemic, African Americans and Asian Americans have the extra burden of trauma due to racialized violence. After the March 19th shooting in an Atlanta spa and six Asian women dead, people were again reminded of the evil that was always present. How do we deal in society that continues to harm People of Color? How do we manage in a society that requires a mass shooting or knee on a neck to see the horror and effects of white supremacy?
Asian Americans have been under attack since the pandemic. According to NBC news, there were 3,800 racial incidents reported by Asian Americans over the past year. Over 500 during the first three months of 2021. Now, Black Lives Matter and other Black organizations are publicly standing in solidarity with Asians and Asian Americans against Asian Hate crimes. Black people are once again, standing in solidarity even when our own mental health is at risk.
African Americans Live with Racialized Trauma
Because African Americans have suffered multiple traumas due to discrimination, hate crimes, and police brutality, seeing Asians and American Asians publicly attacked causes Black communities to share the stress of their racialized trauma.
As racialized violence continues to plague the African American community, it is impossible to avoid being triggered by hate crimes committed against other groups. It is also common to experience a range of emotions in response. According to the American Psychological Association, a 2019 study stated, “Similar to post traumatic stress disorder, racial trauma is unique in that it involves ongoing individual and collective injury due to exposure and re-exposure to race-based stress.”
So how do we show up for Asian and Asian Americans?
African Americans have not always felt supported by Asian Americans which has led to feelings of resentment and isolation. Yet, witnessing violence against Asian Americans has triggered their own racial trauma.
When stressed, it may be difficult to show up for another group when still seeking solace and support for your own community. It may also be difficult to find the tools to assist in the unification against all other racial violence when you have not attended to the impact of past, present and collective traumas. But, as Dr. Martin Luther King said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” So, as we do the work to heal our communities, we must work to support one another.
We Must Heal Our Communities of Color
Communities of Color need mental health support. Without the tools to process racialized trauma, it is easy to fall into depression. It is also easy to forget that all communities of color are victims of white supremacy. Being aware of your mental, emotional, and relational needs will allow you to identify the types of support you need during these difficult times.
In these times, you must address your mental, emotional, and relational needs.
Mental needs:
A space for you to process your thoughts and to breathe
Name and acknowledge the impact of white supremacy
Acknowledge that racism and racial trauma are real
Be aware of the effects of racial trauma on your body, mind and spirit
Emotional needs:
Allow yourself to be and for your emotions to flow
Let yourself know that it’s okay to cry, be enrage, frustrated, numb, exhausted, etc., because of the white supremacy and its deadly impact on your life and the lives of communities of Color
Move your emotions by speaking, writing, drawing, walking, dancing, cooking, exercising
Validate your fears, anxieties, grief and painful experiences with racism and racial trauma
Relational needs:
Support from the people and communities who see, love you and affirm your worth
Connect with your families and friends
Connect with the resilience of those ancestors and elders who came back you to affirm your dignity and humanity, in the face of white terror and supremacy
Connect with communities who are authentically working to dismantle white supremacy and its racialized trauma on us all
In addition to all these needs, seeking out professional health for your mental, emotional and relational well-being is always important. Particularly, finding a culturally affirming therapist to discuss and process racial trauma is essential. At Ibisanmi Relational Health, we’re available to help you journey the pain and the grief from racialized trauma. You can book your 15-minute consultation here.
And be sure to follow us on IG at @ibisanmi for mental health check ins and inspirations.
What happens when the holiday season that often comes with anticipation and excitement, also drags a bag of stress behind it? What do you do to manage stress and keep your balance at a time when so much is happening in your life and the world around you? This year make the goal to not only “get through the holidays” but also find ways to experience some of the joy the season promises.
For most people, the old ways of meeting a person, dating, and falling in love are no longer adding up to living happily ever after. More people are turning to dating apps like Tinder and Hinge to see if they can find their perfect match. According to a 2022 Pew Research, approximately 300 millions people use online dating platforms. Unfortunately, out of the 42% of the dating site users who aim for marriage, only 13% get engaged or married from the platform.
Laughter is a way to express pleasure or display our sense of humor. We laugh when things are funny, we laugh when we're experiencing joy, and we laugh when we see our experiences reflected back in a new way. Laughter can help us release tension in a moment of anger or lift us out of the sinking feeling of sadness.
Mothers birth more than children. They birth a new possibility for a community. Mothers carry the legacy of history and culture and often dedicate more time to maintaining a household and rearing children than they do caring for themselves. Mothers are the first teachers of children. They show them how to see the world as it is or as it can be.
Surviving the impacts of ongoing racial trauma can feel like trying to swim with one hand holding a sink stone. You have to work twice as hard to keep yourself afloat, and it’s exhausting. Racial trauma sits beneath the skin of Black, Indigenous and People of Color, and it comes with an enormous weight that gets heavier each day.
When we prioritize our mental health, we can enjoy a clearer mind, a better sense of self, improved productivity and an increased capacity to manage unexpected change. The best part: Making adjustments to your daily life doesn't have to be difficult. Mental health experts weigh in to share practical ways to make your mental health your priority…