2023 Insights: Our Teams’ Top Mental Health Practices

The significance of mental well-being has never been more apparent than in recent times. In 2023, the Wild Health team dedicated time to explore and engage with various mindfulness practices. From holotropic breathing to slow and low impact movement, we sought out approaches that fostered resilience, clarity, and emotional balance.

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So, as we prepare to step into 2024, we've put together a list of practices that our team found particularly beneficial this past year:

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• “Morning practice of 10 minutes of Mendi followed by 30 minutes of meditation with Waking Up app or Muse neurofeedback”.  - Dr. Mike Malin, Chief Science Officer

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• "Practice the Pause" mindset practice was definitely the biggest shift for me. This was introduced to me by another coach and has allowed me to take stressful or frustrating moments and learn to pause and choose a "Response" versus a "Reaction." This has been helpful in raising young kids and animals, protecting my relationships, and even has helped with road rage! Overall my demeanor has been more calm and present from this practice”. - Michele Miller, Health Coach

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• “Utilizing TRE (trauma and tension releasing exercises) once a month has had profound effects on my nervous system. They are easy, effective and the perfect maintenance practice to reset the system”. - Bailey Moberly, Training Program Director

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• “Encountering true stillness. Mostly through self-inquiry, walking meditation (like taking a solo hike), and breathwork.” - Ed Gelman, VP of Data Science

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• “Attending the Awake & Aware Breathwork Summit with Morris Weintraub and James Nestor. I got to experience holotropic breathing for the first time which was  super intense and life-changing for me. I also started (almost) daily journaling.” - Ariana Fiorita, Health Coach

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• “Practicing regular breathing exercise to down regulate the sympathetic nervous system between meetings and before bed. I really like coherence breathing (5 seconds in and 5 seconds out) when trying to fall asleep, it's almost like counting sheep but with breaths. I make sure to focus my mind on the feeling of the breath and when my thoughts start to wonder I return to the breath. Next thing I know it's the morning! During the day I add in 4-7-8 or box breathing in between meetings and calls. I've also really enjoyed participating in breathwork either with a live instructor, when that isn't available I use some of the guided sessions available in our patient resource library! I also really enjoy the Othership app for breath work. - Trei Tackett, Director of Health Coaching

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• “Inner child re-parenting and self-love. I've found this extremely helpful whenever I have feelings of unworthiness. You essentially visualize a younger version of yourself and tell them they are loved and good enough. Take deep breaths and allow yourself to feel the message as you speak out loud to yourself. You can add additional affirmations you need to hear, and it can also help to look at an image of your younger self.” - Naush Godrej, Health Coach

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• “Setting boundaries for myself around technology.  I realized I was becoming too plugged in to my phone and computer outside of work times.  One day I was outside with my kids and my daughter told me "no phone daddy."  She's 2 by the way.  That moment I realized a lot of anxiety and brain fog I noticed was coming from being distracted by being plugged in too often.  As soon as I stopped looking at my phone 1st thing in  the morning and also set boundaries like no phone when playing with kids or eating dinner with family, brain fog cleared up, and stress was much lower.  A 2 year old's observation had the biggest impact on my mental health for sure.  I still find enjoyment out of social media and texting people but I have control over the times when I do it and I certainly do not do it when I'm suppose to be focusing my energy on people in front of me” - Steve Weatherholt, Health Coach