by Rachel Reichel, MS, CEAS II, NREMT, LAT, ATC

Every day is an opportunity to build our mental strength, like the defense of a mighty fortress. Let’s frame our own mental fortitude and mental health journey as the construction and defense of our own empire. A castle, an army? Yep! These aspects will help us better visualize and tackle the challenges we face that might otherwise knock us down.

Laying A Foundation

Building our mental fortress can start small.

This is our foundation. Starting with just a few small bricks leads to life-changing transformations! Lay some starter bricks that represent a good, consistent routine. The routine helps us stay motivated while also battling the inconsistencies and stressors of life.

We’ll have days that we slip up or are inconsistent, but we try our best to get back on track. Don’t dwell on past mistakes or shortcomings, but instead reflect on how to improve and what we did well.

Recruit Your Army

This life is not meant to do alone. We should lean on those in our support system. Let’s build our army!

Rally Your Personal Network

Reaching out to the warriors in your army can help lower anxiety, help you feel more connected, feel less alone, and encourage you during difficult times. Connecting in person (or a phone call or FaceTime) with friends and family is best for your body because the time allows your nervous system to calm down and release stress-relieving hormones.

Enlist Professional Allies

Adding a general to our army with a therapist can be vital to processing through setbacks and establishing our mental fortitude. It may take time to find a counselor or therapist that is right for you and that’s ok! We want to find one we can go to war with, one who will help us demolish the stressors in our lives, and one who will help us find coping skills that are best.

A Trip to the Armory

Other weapons we can fight with against the hardships are reading self-care or self-help books, using online resources, and finding support groups.

Small Victories Win The War

Motion is Lotion

Let’s turn our emotions and anxieties into our fortress! Negative emotions can be detrimental to the progress we make in our journey. Feel the emotions and acknowledge they are there but then use them to refocus, reprioritize, and reflect on how we can push forward.

We can’t control the hardships we face, but we can control how we react. Ask yourself, “Is this something I can change right now?” If not, create small actionable steps to work toward the bigger goal of what you can control. Small victories help us win the battle.

Keep those joints healthy by staying active, eating healthy, and participating in those pre-shift warm-ups! Joints and muscles are like a rubber band, if we stretch and use it when it’s cold or frozen, it’s prone to break. But when it is nice and warmed up, we can use it with no problems and no injury to the rubber band. So let’s knuckle down and strengthen those joints!

Fortify With Self-Care

Take time for yourself. Yes, as cheesy as it sounds, we can’t fill others’ cups if we aren’t filling our own.

What are things you truly enjoy doing and don’t feel like are nagging items to check off a list? When taking time for yourself, it is important to find things that bring us joy and help us reset. Exercise, stretching, mediation and listening to music all have both physical and emotional benefits to decompress and reset ourselves. Volunteering? Crafting? Caring for a pet? Appeal to your senses when stressful situations and hardships hit! Don’t forget to take some time to reflect and appreciate the good things going on in our lives and around you. Find good, beautiful, and positive things throughout your day.

Rachel Reichel, MS, CEAS II, NREMT, LAT, ATC || Rachel received her Bachelor’s Degree in Athletic Training in 2017 from Dakota Wesleyan University before graduating from North Dakota State University with her Master’s Degree in Advanced Athletic Training in 2019. She has worked in the collegiate, military, and industrial settings in her 7 years as an athletic trainer. In her free time, Rachel loves reading a good book, cuddling with her doggo, going on hikes, or horseback riding. .

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Be sure to check out our other blogs for further injury prevention education and tips for the industrial athlete from Work Right NW!