Exodus90

5 Powerful Ways to Increase Mental Health

Don Grier

The Benefits of Fellowship on Mental Health

Today, October 10, 2024 is World Mental Health Day.  Accordingly, our blog today focuses on the positive impact of fellowship and companionship on mental well-being and overall wellness. 

Numerous studies have shown the positive effects of companionship.  One study found that married people have a longer life expectancy than single people:  an average of 2.2 years for married men and 1.5 years for married women (Read Article from U.S. Medicare Health Outcome Survey (HOS)).  The longer life expectancy of happily married people is partly due to their mutual support.

Humans are inherently social animals. Friendship and group participation provides support, accountability, and meaning. But despite the positive impact of companionship, we are getting lonelier.

 A disturbing fact is that 15% of men have no close friends.   The same Western Oregon Study stated that the U.S. Men’s suicide rate is at its highest level ever at 14.3 men per 100,000.  We need to do something to stem this epidemic of loneliness.

But not all people are joiners.  For those less inclined to engage in groups, interacting with pets positively impacts well-being. These include decreased levels of cortisol, blood pressure, and loneliness.

One look at our daughter’s dog Beau, pictured below, waiting expectantly, shows why. Pets love us unconditionally if we treat them right.  They can serve as a sounding board and comfort as you face daily anxieties.  One look at Beau playing with his toy can brighten the darkest day.

dog waiting expectantly
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Why is companionship, whether it be human or pet, so critical to mental well-being?  Here are the five reasons for this and examples from my life.

Emotional Support and Encouragement 

One of the best reasons to join a group or form a friendship is to encourage one another.  Life alone is tough, and tackling hardships or an addiction is even more challenging.  Finding a friend or group to share mutual support can keep you on track when confronting an addiction or facing a medical or other type of obstacle. 

I could never have overcome my stressful eating habits without my friends at the Round Rock, Texas, WW group. For the last ten years, I have shared my successes and failures with a group of like-minded weight loss journeyers. Their encouragement and support during the ups and downs of my weight loss journey were instrumental to my getting healthy. I now love playing it forward, helping others improve their health in the group.

Sharing Ideas Improves Mental Health

Fellowship also helps us grow intellectually through the sharing of ideas.  I have grown in areas of interest by engaging with people interested in the same topic.  Two such groups were the Learning to Lead Book Club at my prior company and the two business networks I am currently a member of, BXN in Austin and 10X Vets.  

I established the Learning to Lead Book Club for those interested in improving their management and team-building abilities. Each month, the group read and discussed a book that improved their leadership abilities. The leader responsible for that month also wrote a blog on the group’s discussion. I am initiating a new free program hosted by Wellness Leadership, LLC. If interested, please sign up for the Learning to Lead Informational Session. 

The Business Exchange Network in Austin has several monthly sessions around Austin and its suburbs to bring business owners together to share ideas on running a business and referrals. 10X Vets does a similar thing for Veterans on a national level.  Both of them have helped me learn and move outside my comfort zone.

Sense of Belonging and Sharing Activities

We all crave belonging to a group and a higher purpose. A few weeks back, I blogged about a remarkable group supporting the mental well-being of returning veterans: Irreverent Warriors. During a day-long march and social event, this group brings together veterans to share stories and humor to lighten the load and support Veteran mental health. Don, the Change Well podcast host, will lead a similar team on a 6+ mile ruck march on Veterans Day in Temple, Texas.  If interested, sign up for Rucks on Main on our Event site.  

Employee resource groups (ERGs) are a good way for companies to establish a sense of belonging and share activities. Companies such as Accenture have an ERG program to accommodate their employees’ diverse interests.

Reduced Loneliness Improves Mental Health

Our opening statistics demonstrated that companionship with family, friends, and pets reduces loneliness. I gave a shout earlier to my granddog, Beau, but I would be remiss if I failed to mention our dog Boots.   

Boots’ impact on my and my wife’s well-being is well chronicled in previous blog posts.  Boots was by my side as we both got healthy, and he has been a stalwart companion to my wife and me when we are apart.  But there is one other area of mental health that Boots has assisted me with – patience.  Boots is getting up in dog years.  He is 16 or 114 years old in human years.  He is still spry in many ways, but he has improved my and my wife’s patience as we take him on slow, wandering walks. 

boots the dog

Accountability

One of the most essential things to mental well-being is being accountable for your actions and direction.  Well-intentioned groups and friends can hold you accountable as you strive to change well.  A weekly weigh-in holds us responsible for our weekly health goals in WW.  Another group that has been instrumental in helping me improve my prayer life is Exodus 90.  I will ever be grateful to my seven fellow Exodus 90 brothers for our weekly accountability

Seven Habit Stacks to Heal Your Body and Restore Your Soul

Don Grier

This is the second of a two-part blog series focusing on practices that nurture the body and soul.  The first blog of the series, Five Restorative Practices to Heal Your Body and Soul, covered five powerful practices that can help you promote your soul and, in turn, improve your health and disposition.   This blog will cover how to stack in sequence or, better yet,  run body and soul habit combinations in parallel for a double whammy. You can also hear both blogs with additional info in podcast form by subscribing to the Change Well podcast, available at our website link here or on Spotify or Apple Podcast

The concept of habit stacking, as introduced in Atomic Habits, helps to establish beneficial habits more quickly. Here is a simple example. You need to take medication each day, which is an established habit. However, you also want to institute the beneficial habit of drinking sixty-four ounces of water. A way to develop the new habit is to place a water bottle next to your pill container. Presto! Now, you have a ready-made container with the right amount of water next to your pill box. You need to wash down the pills and, in so doing, start drinking the water you need for the day!

I used this habit stacking idea to benefit significantly during my weight loss journey of losing 150+ pounds in under a year.  My physical transformation recovered my body, but my soul was still suffering. I was still sometimes a curmudgeon, and my peace of mind, though better, could still get rattled. So, I decided to piggyback some new soul habits with some of my firmly established body habits.  I will provide examples of my body and soul habit stacks and scrums, more on that term later, that relate to my faith practice – Roman Catholicism.  However, I will try briefly suggesting how these may be adapted based on my research. 

The first stack that I tried was what I called the Texas Three Step.  I had already established the Texas Two Step method during my weight loss journey.  Each Saturday morning, I would get up at 6:00 and work out for an hour and a half before attending my WW meeting.  Good for the body! 

Two years ago, my parish established Saturday morning prayers (called Lauds in the Liturgy of the Hours) combined with Adoration on Saturday in the early morning. This led to my new and improved Texas three-step Saturday ritual. I now get up on Saturday at 5 AM and exercise to get as close to my weight target as possible. I then went to my Church and prayed for an hour to clear the weight off my soul. After praying (and sometimes Mass), I head to my WW meeting to share wellness ideas with my friends, now at the 9:30 WW Meeting. In one fell swoop, I shed weight on body, soul, and shared fellowship to start the weekend right!

I next created a daily body and soul stack.  It was similar to the first stack but less formal without group activities.  I had established an exercise habit that followed my morning water and medication discussed earlier.  I decided to add a prayer meditation after working out and subsequently stretching.  This worked well initially.  I got my heart rate up with exercise, then began slowing it down with stretching, and lastly, I established a contemplative prayer.  The exercise helped my prayer focus, and the prayer helped me slow down and heal my body.  However, I ran into a problem with time management.  I skipped exercises if I had a late night the night before. Or if I thought I had enough but limited time, I rushed both.   I began to put back on some weight because I prioritized the spiritual aspect.  I had to do something to bring them together.  That is when I came up with the idea of body and soul scrums while listening to a book on product management!

Scrum is likely known to rugby fans and software developers but may not be as well known to others.  Scrum in software development focuses, among other things, on parallel activities.  The origin of Scrum as a framework goes back to an article in the Harvard Business Review in 1986. “The New New Product Development Game” by Takeuchi and Nonaka described how first-class products are developed in cross-functional teams with an ‘all-simultaneous approach.’ 

Therefore, a body and soul scrum is when you simultaneously execute body and soul habits.  What is an example? I will use one of the oldest ones, perfect for the beginning of Christian Lent and practiced by many faiths, including Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, Hinduism, Judaism, and Taoism – Fasting and prayer!

Intermittent fasting is now all the rage for weight loss. Still, before my Silicon Valley colleagues adapted it to shed pounds, fasting was used by saints and spiritual leaders to deny themselves and develop spiritually.  It is the ultimate body and soul scrum, cleansing the body and healing the soul.  Today, on Ash Wednesday, I fast as part of my religion.  But also practice fasting more regularly to detoxify the body and soul.  I have put a link in the show notes to an article from the NIH on religious fasting. 

Besides fasting and prayer, I have developed other body and soul habit scrums I use weekly.  They help me manage my time while packing a one-two holistic punch of well-being. 

  1. Mike and Bike. In these previous blogs, I documented my love of cycling on our companion blog site: Peloton Pandemic Pandemonium, Don’t Stop Believing: A Weight Loss Journey in Three Intervals. My respect and admiration for Father Mike Schmitz are right up there with this love. He was instrumental in my wellness journey, both body and soul. I started listening to his homilies after a Lenten retreat at our parish and would listen to his homilies while using the elliptical training. With the launch of the Bible in the Year podcast, I have taken it to a new level with Mike and Bike. At least three times weekly, I take a 20-minute scenic ride on the Peloton and turn off the sound. I then turn on the daily Bible in the Year podcast and listen to the Lord’s word while circumventing the pathways of Rome, Paris, or the Alps. With each Mike and Bike, I grow in knowing the Lord’s plan for me and building my quads! You can download the Bible in the Year podcast here Bible in a Year if you want to try it.
  2. Marching with Mary. Last May, I participated in a fundraiser to raise money for the mental wellness of veterans and soldiers. The StopSoldierSuicide.org fundraiser called for me to march 50 miles during May while carrying a 50 lbs. ruck. My 60-year-old body does not march fast with 50 lbs. on my back. It was seriously cutting down on my prayer time. I therefore decided to add reciting a silent Rosary while marching. A rosary is a series of prayers and meditations that use a unique prayer bead called a rosary.   As a Catholic, I believe this prayer practice was passed on to us from Mary through St. Dominic.  Other religious practices have prayer beads to recite prayers, chants, and mantras. This Marching with Mary practice allowed me to add over fifty prayers and meditations on each ruck march. In this way, I was not only able to raise money for Veterans, but I could pray for them, too.
  3. Hinge and Hallow. One of the reasons I ambled while marching was weakness in one of my knees. To help with this issue, I use a physical therapy application called Hinge Health. This application has a set of tailor-made exercises to help strengthen my knee. While doing my Hinge exercises, I listen to the Hallow mindfulness application https://hallow.com/. This application is an excellent resource for all Catholics and includes everything from The Daily Miracle meditation to Gregorian Chants to books from doctors of the Church.  I highly recommend it, and you may have seen their ad at the recent Superbowl, but there are other similar applications, such as Calm, that are secular or of a different faith that others can use. This combination helps me fix my knee and my disposition all at the same time!
  4. Exodus for the soul (and body). The last body/soul scrum is the one that launched it all. Two years ago, I participated with a group of men in my church in Exodus 90. This program is a ninety-day spiritual exercise for men based on three pillars: prayer, asceticism, and fraternity. Part of the ascetic practice is daily rigorous exercise, excluding alcohol and sweets, and days of fasting. It also includes daily prayer practice. It gave me the idea for the other four practices previously stated. I highly recommend it for all Catholic Men who need a wake-up call for both body and soul.

I hope these ideas can help you as they help me improve your body and soul.  Whether you practice body and soul habit stacks or scrums, thinking of the

Five Habit Combos for Body and Soul

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Today at our Weight Watchers meeting we talked about the idea of piggybacking to establish beneficial habits more quickly. Here is a simple example. You need to take medication each day which is an established habit. However, you want to also institute the beneficial habit of drinking sixty-four ounces of water. A way to establish the new habit it to place a water bottle next to your pill container. Presto! Now you have a ready-made container with the right amount of water next to your pill box. You need to wash down the pills and in so doing start on drinking the water you need for the day!

I established these habits in losing 150 pounds in just over a year. You can read more about that journey and the Power of Habit in this previous blog Fat to Fit Again! The Power of Habit. Now with the weight off my body, I turned to heal my soul. My physical transformation healed my body, but my soul was still suffering. I was still at times a curmudgeon and my peace of mind though better could still get rattled. So, I decided to piggyback some new soul habits with some of my firmly established body habits. Here are five of the body and soul habit combos that I do on a daily and weekly basis. My habits will have a Catholic Christian flavor, but you can adopt for your own faith practice.

  1.  New Saturday Texas Three Step. I wrote about my initial Texas two-step habit in this blog.The Saturday Texas Two Step! Two years ago, my parish established Saturday morning prayers (called Lauds in the Liturgy of the Hours) combined with Adoration on Saturday in the early morning. This led to my new and improved Texas three-step Saturday ritual. I get up on Saturday at 5 AM and exercise to get as close to my weight target as possible. I then go to my Church and pray for an hour to clear the weight off my soul. After praying (and sometimes Mass), I head to my WW meeting to share wellness ideas with my friends at the 9:30 WW Meeting. And in one fell swoop, I shed weight on body and soul and share fellowship to start the weekend off right!
  2. Mike and Bike. I documented my love of cycling in these previous blogs. Peloton Pandemic Pandemonium, Don’t Stop Believing: A Weight Loss Journey in Three Intervals. Right up there with this love is my respect and admiration of Father Mike Schmitz. He was instrumental in my wellness journey both and body and soul. I started listening to his homilies after a Lenten retreat at our parish retreat and would exercise to his homilies while using the elliptical training. With the launch pf the Bible in the Year podcast, I have taken it to a whole new level with Mike and Bike. At least three times weekly, I put on a 20-minute scenic ride on the Peloton and turn off the sound. I then turn on the daily Bible in the Year podcast and listen to the Lord’s word while circumventing the pathways of Rome, Paris, or the Alps. With each Mike and Bike, I grow in the knowledge of the Lord’s plan for me and build my quads to boot! You can download the Bible in the Year podcast here Bible in a Year if you want to try it.
  3. Marching with Mary. During the month of May, I participated in a fundraiser to raise money for the mental wellness of veterans and soldiers. The StopSoldierSuicide.org fundraiser called for me to March 50 miles during the month of May while carrying a 50 lbs. ruck. My 50+ year old body does not march fast with a 50 lbs. on his back. It was seriously cutting down on my prayer time. I therefore decided to add reciting a silent Rosary while marching. This Marching with Mary practice allowed me to add fifty prayers on each ruck march. In this way, I not only was able to raise money for Veterans, I could pray for them also.
  4. Hinge and Hallow. One of the reasons I walked slow while marching with is weakness in one of my knees. To help this issue, I use a physical therapy application called Hinge Health https://www.hingehealth.com/. This application has a set of tailor-made exercises to help strengthen my knee. While I am doing my Hinge exercises, I listen to the Hallow mindfulness application https://hallow.com/ . This application is an excellent resource for all Catholics and includes everything from The Daily Miracle meditation to Gregorian Chants to books from doctors of the Church. This combination helps me fix my knee and my disposition all at the same time! Here is links to both of them
  5. Exodus for soul (and body). The last body/soul combination is the one that launched it all. Two years ago, I participated with a group of men in my church in Exodus 90. This program is a is a ninety-day spiritual exercise for men based on three pillars: prayer, asceticism, and fraternity . Part of the ascetism practice is daily rigorous exercise, exclusion of alcohol and sweets, and days of fasting. It also includes daily prayer practice. It gave me the idea for the other four practices previously stated. I highly recommend it for all Catholic Men that need a wakeup call for both body and soul. Here is a link to there website https://exodus90.com/.

This fast-paced world can wear the body and the soul. Use the art of habit piggybacking to fight back and build a better you!