May 8, 2025 • 22 mins
In this episode, hosts Jessica Samuels and Mike Gawliuk unpack what it really means to “manage your mental health” — and how that differs from managing mental illness. Together, they explore everyday actions, habits, and mindset shifts that can help anyone take better care of their mental well-being, with a strong focus on understanding why these strategies work.
Key Topics Discussed:
- Mental Health vs. Mental Illness
Learn the critical distinction between having mental health (which we all do) and having a mental illness (a diagnosable condition). You can flourish or struggle with mental health — whether or not you have a diagnosis. - Self-Care vs. Self-Soothing
Not all “feel-good” actions are created equal. Mike and Jessica break down how to tell the difference: if it leaves you better after the fact, it’s self-care; if not, it may just be a momentary self-soothe. - Tips & Tools for Everyday Mental Health
From evidence-backed strategies to lived experience, they dive into:- Nature and Exercise – How time outdoors and movement regulate stress and mood.
- Volunteering & Social Connection – Combat loneliness, build purpose, and improve emotional health.
- Pets – How furry companions promote mindfulness, routine, and connection.
- Kindness & Gratitude – Backed by science, simple acts can lift your mood and even boost your lifespan.
- Empowerment Through Action
The episode emphasizes that managing mental health is not about perfection but about finding tools that support you — and using them regularly.
Key Takeaways:
- “Mental health is like physical health — we all have it.”
- “Self-care is not selfish — it’s necessary.”
- “Seventeen minutes in nature can make a measurable difference.”
- “Acts of kindness can be more effective than therapy.”
**Resources
Self-care
https://www.snhu.edu/about-us/newsroom/health/what-is-self-care
VS self-soothe
https://blog.ab.bluecross.ca/lifestyle/focus-on-you-self-care-versus-self-soothe/
https://urbanwellnesscounseling.com/self-care-vs-self-soothing/
Nature
https://namica.org/blog/mental-health-benefits-of-nature/
https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2015/06/hiking-mental-health-063015
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jessica Samuels (00:00):
Hello, I'm Jessica Samuels, welcome to A
(00:02):
Way Forward presented by BeamCredit Union. I'd like to
acknowledge this podcast takesplace on the ancestral,
traditional and unceded lands ofthe Okanagan Selix people.
Today, CEO for CMHA Kelowna,Mike Golick and I are going to
talk about managing your mentalhealth. We're going to share
some practices and some everydaythings that you can do to help
(00:24):
support your mental health. Butwe're also going to talk about
why they help.
Mike, this episode is all aboutthe things that we can do to
help ourselves feel better. Andsome of this may be points or
ideas or actions that peoplealready know about. But also,
(00:48):
they might be things that thatmake people feel better, and
they don't know why it's makingthem feel better. And so we want
to dig into a little bit thatand hopefully give some ideas
and tools in the toolbox forfolks to better manage their
well-being. Think off the top,though, I do want to spend a bit
of time in talking about thedifference when we say talking
(01:08):
about managing your mentalhealth and managing your mental
illness.
Mike Gawliuk (01:12):
Yeah, I think well, off the top, when people
talk about mental health, Ithink that's oftentimes confused
with mental and not necessarilyclear on a definition. Mental
health is like physical health.We all have it. It's a thing we
(01:34):
all possess. Whereas a mentalillness is a diagnosable
condition that impacts our mood,behaviour, thoughts.
And so they're two differentthings. And if you consider
mental health as somethingeverybody has and we look at
(01:58):
circumstances, it's on acontinuum. So we have mental
health and we can flourish or wecan languish with mental health.
And that depends on what's goingon in our world. So if I have a
really, really tough, stressfulweek, I'm experiencing mental
(02:18):
health, but I'm languishing alittle bit.
I don't have a mental illnessper se. I'm just having a really
tough week, and I probably needto do some of the things that
we're going to talk about laterto help myself. On the same
level, if you look at mentalillness, just because someone is
(02:38):
diagnosed with a mental illnessdoesn't mean that their mental
health isn't flourishing. Itcould be that they're, you know,
again, going to therapy, takingtheir medication, doing all the
things that they need to do totake care of themselves. So for
me, that's the distinction.
Everybody has mental health. Noteverybody has a mental illness.
(03:02):
Ultimately, we can flourish witha mental illness or without.
Jessica Samuels (03:10):
Right. And I do like repeating that. And one of
the things that I appreciateabout this is that I think it
drives home the point that youhave to take care of your mental
health. I think some folks maythink whether or not they have a
mental illness, you know, justmental health is something that
happens to you. And that helpsreally drive point the home that
(03:36):
you you have some control ofways to better your mental
health and well manage.
And that's really what thisepisode is about. We like to
feel or to give people ways tofeel empowered, like they're in
control. Maybe in a world whereso much is out of our control,
(03:56):
let's try and gain some controlover how we're feeling about
ourselves and the world aroundus.
Mike Gawliuk (04:01):
For sure. I think it's easy to understand when we
put it in the context physicalhealth. We know the things that
we need to do and some things wecan do to help with our physical
health. And some overlap,whether that's diet and
exercise, those kinds of things.It's the same with mental
(04:22):
health.
It doesn't just happen. Andthere are things that we can do
to ensure that we have positivemental health. Right.
Jessica Samuels (04:30):
Yeah. Okay, we're going to get into those
things. And then just one otherthing before we get into those
things, because this came up inthe research and I had a bit of
a learning. So there's like thisphrase, this buzz phrase, and
I'm going to say it at the riskof like eye roll or maybe
cringe, but like it's a selfcare piece, right?
Mike Gawliuk (04:48):
Are you talking about bubble bath?
Jessica Samuels (04:50):
Well, I am, but I'm not. But I am. And I say
cringe because I will admit tobeing like, oh, self care,
bubble baths, you know, reallywhat's their place in the world?
And how is this really going tomake people feel better? What I
(05:11):
did come to understand is thatthere's kind of this self care,
self soothe, push and pull.
They both have their place. Onedoes not replace the other, but
they both have their place. Solet's talk about self care, the
definition of self care.
Mike Gawliuk (05:30):
Yeah. Well, first of all, self care, despite your
perception, is not necessarilyself indulgence or selfish.
Really, it boils down to, it'sabout taking care of yourself.
It shows your importance andyou're worthy. And it's really
(05:52):
how do we take care of ourphysical, emotional and
environmental health?
And on the other hand is selfsoothing. And I look at it from
the standpoint of sort of selfsoothing is sort of what we do
right now if we're having atough time or we have distress,
(06:13):
that sort of thing. And it canbe a positive activity or it can
be something that might beharmful. And so one of the
questions is if the thing that Ido right now makes me feel
better, it's likely self care.If afterwards I feel the same or
(06:35):
worse, it's an act of selfsoothing.
Jessica Samuels (06:39):
Okay, I'm just going to spend a bit of time on
this because when we're talkingabout self care and you said it
was great and definitely alearning and a reflection for
me, it doesn't mean selfindulgence. It doesn't mean
you're selfish when we'retalking about self care. But
then, you know, I guess part ofthe problem that I have is,
well, then why isn't that justan excuse for me to go over and
(06:59):
do whatever the heck I want ifit's going to make me feel
better, if I think it's going tomake me feel better? And that's
the line that you're talkingabout. If afterwards I feel
better self care.
If afterwards I don't feelbetter, I feel worse or the
same. Not self care.
Mike Gawliuk (07:15):
Yeah. If if, as I said again, I've had a tough
week and at the end of the week,I I'm you know, my mental health
is on the other side. You know,if I decide to go out and hit
the bar and, you know, have abunch of drinks and get
intoxicated, I want to feelbetter in the moment. When I
(07:40):
wake up tomorrow, probably notgoing to feel as good.
Jessica Samuels (07:44):
Right.
Mike Gawliuk (07:44):
And so that act is really dealing with the
situation in the moment and ithas negative consequences. So
it's not to say that selfsoothing is necessarily good or
bad unto itself. It's to say thechoices that we make to self
soothe, some can haveramifications that aren't not
(08:08):
necessarily very healthy.
Jessica Samuels (08:09):
Okay. So I'm unclear about the bubble bath.
Is that self care or
Mike Gawliuk (08:13):
self soothe? Well, let's ask. Are the is are the
bubble baths part of like aroutine that happened like on a
weekly basis? Oh yeah. Or is itsomething that happens on an
evening because you've just hada had a day and you know you
just need to get in the tub,light a few candles and feel
(08:33):
better in the moment.
Okay.
Jessica Samuels (08:35):
Okay. See, Okay, I appreciate that. I do
want a bubble bath right now.Yeah, yeah.
Mike Gawliuk (08:41):
Yeah, myself as well. Sold. Done. Exactly.
Jessica Samuels (08:46):
All right. On to some other tips. And before
we started this episode, yousaid to me, shouldn't we just
call this Jessica, go outside?Because as we well know and I've
expressed a few times, I need togo outside and usually have some
exercise to go outside to getrid of the angst, anger, stress,
(09:08):
low mood. Not uncommon outside.
And there's a reason behind it.Outside makes us feel good.
Mike Gawliuk (09:15):
This is this is either the episode where Jessica
goes outside and or the episodeof things Mike should do more
of. So absolutely being innature has been shown to have,
you know, really positive mentalhealth impacts. Whether that's a
(09:42):
matter of putting your feet inthe grass or in the sand, what
happens is it allows us toactually be involved in
something that's bigger thanourselves. Like there's a big
world out there. We go hard, youknow, and we're on devices all
(10:07):
the time, that kind of thing.
Getting out there and havingthose experiences, being able
to, you know, listen, whetherit's to birds chirping,
different sensory experiences,those things that we see really
have an impact in terms ofreducing our stress hormones and
(10:32):
making us feel better. So it'sbeen proven certainly
scientifically that getting outinto nature is absolutely one
thing that you can do that isgoing to help you to manage your
mental health. And we havecertainly at CMHA, we have a
course called Discovery College.And one of the episodes, I think
(10:54):
actually we have two now, arespecifically around mental
health and nature. And it'sonline, people can join and
certainly participate and thenagain, take some of the ideas
and put those into practice intheir own world, in their own
lives.
Jessica Samuels (11:09):
Right. And the other part of that as well-being
outside. Two things I wanted tomention on that, you know, we
may have I've heard instances ofdoctors prescribing that, you
know, the nature prescription. Idon't know the scenarios or or
kind of the full details, andI'm sure it's part of a gamut of
things that are shared. But itgoes to speak what you're saying
(11:29):
that there it is scientificallyproven, as well as for me, the
other part of being outside isexercise.
Yeah, like that exercise piece,whatever exercise looks like for
you as an individual also doesreally good for our mental
health.
Mike Gawliuk (11:43):
Yeah, I mean, certainly some of the research
on exercise just talks about therelease of endorphins, which are
painkillers and mood boosters.So exercise and exercising is
going to release those. Soyou're going to feel better.
(12:04):
Exercise leads to people feelingbetter during the day, sleeping
better at night, having sharpermemories. Need to exercise more.
And so exercise is a great wayto manage your mental and
obviously your physical health.
Jessica Samuels (12:25):
Okay. Another one that I'm a big fan of and
two examples kind of puttogether because I think they
are tied together isvolunteering and connection,
social connection. So those arevolunteering supports your
mental health and havingconnections supports your mental
health. And you can talk a bitmore about that.
Mike Gawliuk (12:48):
Well, you know, this one comes back into some of
what we talked about aroundloneliness. Right. And I think
actually one of the themes thathas run through a lot of the
episodes is that notion ofsocial connection. So
volunteering certainly canachieve that social connection
(13:13):
that people are looking for,help them to reduce their
loneliness and helping feelsgood. So volunteering as an
activity really addresses bothof those things.
And when I looked at some of ourresearch and was listening
(13:34):
around the episode, peoplearound the pandemic actually
started to talk more and moreabout wanting to volunteer
because, again, one of the manythings during the pandemic we
had to do sort of was aprescription for poor mental
health was again that socialisolation and those kinds of
(13:55):
things. So that's really wherepeople started to see more
talking about volunteerism andopportunities to reengage and
socially connect. So it's agreat way to do that and to give
back.
Jessica Samuels (14:12):
And that volunteering piece. Giving back,
contributing, feel like you'remaking a difference, feeling
like you're useful, like youhave some kind of purpose. And
that, again, ties into kind ofthat loneliness. Perhaps if
you're an individual who doesn'thave family members close to you
(14:33):
or you're the surviving familymember feeling like you there's
a purpose to why you are here.So those are some really
tangible reasons whyvolunteering and then leading to
connection support our mentalhealth.
Also having a pet. This isprobably not going to be a
surprise to some folks becauseyou ever bring a puppy into an
(14:57):
office or dogs into care homes.People do. There's that feel
good moment. But the reason Iwant to bring it up is because
it is actually determined to besomething that actively supports
your mental health.
Mike Gawliuk (15:11):
Well, first, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention
Foundry. And when we firstopened Foundry, one of our
generous donors donated Henry.And Henry is the Foundry dog,
basically, and he's been therefrom the beginning. And yeah,
(15:34):
you can see the impact of Henryin that case, in particular with
youth that are maybe coming inthe door for the first time,
maybe experiencing anxietyissues. Certainly pets have been
shown to have a really positiveimpact for people that may be
experiencing autism or ADHD, thethings that pets bring.
(16:00):
Some of that is, I mean, when welook at sort of tying some of
these things together, Mike hasa dog. Mike's got a companion.
Mike needs to get out and walkthat dog. So there's an
opportunity there to get someexercise. And one of the things
(16:22):
actually noted, I'll go back tobeing outside and being in
nature.
One study found that seventeenminutes a day is enough time in
nature to have a meaningfulimpact on your mental health. So
I think my dog Jackson, he'sgetting a little up there in
(16:45):
age, so seventeen minutes isprobably going to be two walks.
But it's really cool to knowthat. And then pets, and
obviously I'm biased because Ihave a dog, they also model and
give unconditional love. How canthat feel bad?
(17:09):
Right. So owning a pet hasmultiple impacts on mental
health. And the other thing ismindfulness. Talk about pets
live in the moment. So being innature, being being out with the
(17:31):
pet, going for a walk andsniffing around, doing their
thing, we could learn a thing ortwo from them in terms of being
mindful and maybe being mindfulalong the way.
Jessica Samuels (17:41):
Pets can be a lot of responsibility and they
can be onerous and expensive. Sonot everybody can own a pet. And
that's why volunteering withpets or volunteering for
organizations that look afterpets can also be a way of the
volunteering, the petconnection, and also making
connections in the community. Soonce again, you kind of have a
(18:02):
trifecta there of supportingyour mental health.
Mike Gawliuk (18:05):
Yeah. Bringing it all together.
Jessica Samuels (18:06):
Right
Mike Gawliuk (18:07):
now, I wanted to flip it to you because I know
you identified these as a coupleof your go tos. Oh, so here's my
chance to ask you a
Jessica Samuels (18:16):
little bit
Mike Gawliuk (18:16):
about these two. Kindness and gratitude and how
they impact on people's mentalhealth.
Jessica Samuels (18:25):
Yeah. Well, I mean, so first of all, there's
the research and there's thefindings. You've got all the
good stuff that we've mentionedearlier in this conversation.
You've got the serotonin uplift.You've got the endorphins.
You've got the dopamine that notonly you experience in your body
when you are practicing kindnessor gratitude. But I can only
(18:46):
imagine for the person who'sreceiving it also, you you hear
about that pay it forward.There's that part of your paying
forward. And for me personally,I really think that after
pandemic, just really making aneffort, I have really made an
effort to go out of my way toshow kindness and gratitude. I
(19:08):
think from my personalexperience and what I witnessed,
I feel like there's a lot offrustration.
People were uncertainty. We alldidn't know what was going on.
And that has carried over. Andwe've mentioned that a few times
on this podcast. So to put itsimply, I feel like people are
(19:28):
really frickin angry out thereand short with people in the
world.
And I make it my mission to justtake a beat, give people some
grace and act with kindness andgratitude. Sometimes it's harder
than others. Then I feel good. Ifeel better. I feel I haven't
(19:51):
gotten that fight or flight modegoing on in myself.
I feel like I've done the persona kindness because I don't know
what's going on in their world.I don't know what they've dealt
with before they've come to meor what they have to go back to.
And so even before I knew thescience behind it, this was
(20:12):
something that I actively andcontinue to actively try and
practice. And I think it doesreally good things for my mental
health and hopefully for thepeople that I pay it forward to.
Mike Gawliuk (20:26):
Absolutely. I mean, your experience is backed
up by some of the research thatwe looked at. A lot of times
when we talk about stats,mortality comes up. There was
one study actually where theyidentified that people who
practice gratitude haveincreased mortality by nine
(20:49):
percent. I don't know how theymeasured it, but it actually has
that much of an impact on theindividual.
When it comes to kindness,another study that I listened to
was about looking at threegroups of people that had mild
to moderate anxiety anddepression. It was a research
(21:12):
study, and one of the groups wasto engage in acts of kindness.
One of the groups was encouragedto engage in fun activities
twice during a week. And thisharkens back to our counseling
episode. The other group wasprovided with cognitive
behavioral therapy.
(21:33):
And then they measured theimpact of all three of those.
And they actually identifiedthat the one that had the most
impact for the participants wasthe acts of kindness. And that's
huge and super meaningful.There's no doubt about that.
Jessica Samuels (21:52):
Yeah. Well, I'm glad it's backed by science. If
I can't be gracious or kind,that's when that's when I go for
the walk outside with my dog.Deal. Okay, Mike, thanks.
Thanks. This was a fun one. Iappreciate it, and I hope folks
appreciate it too.
Mike Gawliuk (22:07):
Thank you.
Jessica Samuels (22:09):
Okay, so we're going to have all of those tips
on the A WayForward podcastpage, presented by Beam Credit
Union. Of course, that is oncmhacolona.org. And just
remember, as you go forward, begracious, be kind. And as
always, please do take goodcare. United has won.
(22:38):
Beam's founding credit unionsnow serve 190,000 members across
BC.
Hello, I'm Jessica Samuels, welcome to A
(00:02):
Way Forward presented by BeamCredit Union. I'd like to
acknowledge this podcast takesplace on the ancestral,
traditional and unceded lands ofthe Okanagan Selix people.
Today, CEO for CMHA Kelowna,Mike Golick and I are going to
talk about managing your mentalhealth. We're going to share
some practices and some everydaythings that you can do to help
(00:24):
support your mental health. Butwe're also going to talk about
why they help.
Mike, this episode is all aboutthe things that we can do to
help ourselves feel better. Andsome of this may be points or
ideas or actions that peoplealready know about. But also,
(00:48):
they might be things that thatmake people feel better, and
they don't know why it's makingthem feel better. And so we want
to dig into a little bit thatand hopefully give some ideas
and tools in the toolbox forfolks to better manage their
well-being. Think off the top,though, I do want to spend a bit
of time in talking about thedifference when we say talking
(01:08):
about managing your mentalhealth and managing your mental
illness.
Mike Gawliuk (01:12):
Yeah, I think well, off the top, when people
talk about mental health, Ithink that's oftentimes confused
with mental and not necessarilyclear on a definition. Mental
health is like physical health.We all have it. It's a thing we
(01:34):
all possess. Whereas a mentalillness is a diagnosable
condition that impacts our mood,behaviour, thoughts.
And so they're two differentthings. And if you consider
mental health as somethingeverybody has and we look at
(01:58):
circumstances, it's on acontinuum. So we have mental
health and we can flourish or wecan languish with mental health.
And that depends on what's goingon in our world. So if I have a
really, really tough, stressfulweek, I'm experiencing mental
(02:18):
health, but I'm languishing alittle bit.
I don't have a mental illnessper se. I'm just having a really
tough week, and I probably needto do some of the things that
we're going to talk about laterto help myself. On the same
level, if you look at mentalillness, just because someone is
(02:38):
diagnosed with a mental illnessdoesn't mean that their mental
health isn't flourishing. Itcould be that they're, you know,
again, going to therapy, takingtheir medication, doing all the
things that they need to do totake care of themselves. So for
me, that's the distinction.
Everybody has mental health. Noteverybody has a mental illness.
(03:02):
Ultimately, we can flourish witha mental illness or without.
Jessica Samuels (03:10):
Right. And I do like repeating that. And one of
the things that I appreciateabout this is that I think it
drives home the point that youhave to take care of your mental
health. I think some folks maythink whether or not they have a
mental illness, you know, justmental health is something that
happens to you. And that helpsreally drive point the home that
(03:36):
you you have some control ofways to better your mental
health and well manage.
And that's really what thisepisode is about. We like to
feel or to give people ways tofeel empowered, like they're in
control. Maybe in a world whereso much is out of our control,
(03:56):
let's try and gain some controlover how we're feeling about
ourselves and the world aroundus.
Mike Gawliuk (04:01):
For sure. I think it's easy to understand when we
put it in the context physicalhealth. We know the things that
we need to do and some things wecan do to help with our physical
health. And some overlap,whether that's diet and
exercise, those kinds of things.It's the same with mental
(04:22):
health.
It doesn't just happen. Andthere are things that we can do
to ensure that we have positivemental health. Right.
Jessica Samuels (04:30):
Yeah. Okay, we're going to get into those
things. And then just one otherthing before we get into those
things, because this came up inthe research and I had a bit of
a learning. So there's like thisphrase, this buzz phrase, and
I'm going to say it at the riskof like eye roll or maybe
cringe, but like it's a selfcare piece, right?
Mike Gawliuk (04:48):
Are you talking about bubble bath?
Jessica Samuels (04:50):
Well, I am, but I'm not. But I am. And I say
cringe because I will admit tobeing like, oh, self care,
bubble baths, you know, reallywhat's their place in the world?
And how is this really going tomake people feel better? What I
(05:11):
did come to understand is thatthere's kind of this self care,
self soothe, push and pull.
They both have their place. Onedoes not replace the other, but
they both have their place. Solet's talk about self care, the
definition of self care.
Mike Gawliuk (05:30):
Yeah. Well, first of all, self care, despite your
perception, is not necessarilyself indulgence or selfish.
Really, it boils down to, it'sabout taking care of yourself.
It shows your importance andyou're worthy. And it's really
(05:52):
how do we take care of ourphysical, emotional and
environmental health?
And on the other hand is selfsoothing. And I look at it from
the standpoint of sort of selfsoothing is sort of what we do
right now if we're having atough time or we have distress,
(06:13):
that sort of thing. And it canbe a positive activity or it can
be something that might beharmful. And so one of the
questions is if the thing that Ido right now makes me feel
better, it's likely self care.If afterwards I feel the same or
(06:35):
worse, it's an act of selfsoothing.
Jessica Samuels (06:39):
Okay, I'm just going to spend a bit of time on
this because when we're talkingabout self care and you said it
was great and definitely alearning and a reflection for
me, it doesn't mean selfindulgence. It doesn't mean
you're selfish when we'retalking about self care. But
then, you know, I guess part ofthe problem that I have is,
well, then why isn't that justan excuse for me to go over and
(06:59):
do whatever the heck I want ifit's going to make me feel
better, if I think it's going tomake me feel better? And that's
the line that you're talkingabout. If afterwards I feel
better self care.
If afterwards I don't feelbetter, I feel worse or the
same. Not self care.
Mike Gawliuk (07:15):
Yeah. If if, as I said again, I've had a tough
week and at the end of the week,I I'm you know, my mental health
is on the other side. You know,if I decide to go out and hit
the bar and, you know, have abunch of drinks and get
intoxicated, I want to feelbetter in the moment. When I
(07:40):
wake up tomorrow, probably notgoing to feel as good.
Jessica Samuels (07:44):
Right.
Mike Gawliuk (07:44):
And so that act is really dealing with the
situation in the moment and ithas negative consequences. So
it's not to say that selfsoothing is necessarily good or
bad unto itself. It's to say thechoices that we make to self
soothe, some can haveramifications that aren't not
(08:08):
necessarily very healthy.
Jessica Samuels (08:09):
Okay. So I'm unclear about the bubble bath.
Is that self care or
Mike Gawliuk (08:13):
self soothe? Well, let's ask. Are the is are the
bubble baths part of like aroutine that happened like on a
weekly basis? Oh yeah. Or is itsomething that happens on an
evening because you've just hada had a day and you know you
just need to get in the tub,light a few candles and feel
(08:33):
better in the moment.
Okay.
Jessica Samuels (08:35):
Okay. See, Okay, I appreciate that. I do
want a bubble bath right now.Yeah, yeah.
Mike Gawliuk (08:41):
Yeah, myself as well. Sold. Done. Exactly.
Jessica Samuels (08:46):
All right. On to some other tips. And before
we started this episode, yousaid to me, shouldn't we just
call this Jessica, go outside?Because as we well know and I've
expressed a few times, I need togo outside and usually have some
exercise to go outside to getrid of the angst, anger, stress,
(09:08):
low mood. Not uncommon outside.
And there's a reason behind it.Outside makes us feel good.
Mike Gawliuk (09:15):
This is this is either the episode where Jessica
goes outside and or the episodeof things Mike should do more
of. So absolutely being innature has been shown to have,
you know, really positive mentalhealth impacts. Whether that's a
(09:42):
matter of putting your feet inthe grass or in the sand, what
happens is it allows us toactually be involved in
something that's bigger thanourselves. Like there's a big
world out there. We go hard, youknow, and we're on devices all
(10:07):
the time, that kind of thing.
Getting out there and havingthose experiences, being able
to, you know, listen, whetherit's to birds chirping,
different sensory experiences,those things that we see really
have an impact in terms ofreducing our stress hormones and
(10:32):
making us feel better. So it'sbeen proven certainly
scientifically that getting outinto nature is absolutely one
thing that you can do that isgoing to help you to manage your
mental health. And we havecertainly at CMHA, we have a
course called Discovery College.And one of the episodes, I think
(10:54):
actually we have two now, arespecifically around mental
health and nature. And it'sonline, people can join and
certainly participate and thenagain, take some of the ideas
and put those into practice intheir own world, in their own
lives.
Jessica Samuels (11:09):
Right. And the other part of that as well-being
outside. Two things I wanted tomention on that, you know, we
may have I've heard instances ofdoctors prescribing that, you
know, the nature prescription. Idon't know the scenarios or or
kind of the full details, andI'm sure it's part of a gamut of
things that are shared. But itgoes to speak what you're saying
(11:29):
that there it is scientificallyproven, as well as for me, the
other part of being outside isexercise.
Yeah, like that exercise piece,whatever exercise looks like for
you as an individual also doesreally good for our mental
health.
Mike Gawliuk (11:43):
Yeah, I mean, certainly some of the research
on exercise just talks about therelease of endorphins, which are
painkillers and mood boosters.So exercise and exercising is
going to release those. Soyou're going to feel better.
(12:04):
Exercise leads to people feelingbetter during the day, sleeping
better at night, having sharpermemories. Need to exercise more.
And so exercise is a great wayto manage your mental and
obviously your physical health.
Jessica Samuels (12:25):
Okay. Another one that I'm a big fan of and
two examples kind of puttogether because I think they
are tied together isvolunteering and connection,
social connection. So those arevolunteering supports your
mental health and havingconnections supports your mental
health. And you can talk a bitmore about that.
Mike Gawliuk (12:48):
Well, you know, this one comes back into some of
what we talked about aroundloneliness. Right. And I think
actually one of the themes thathas run through a lot of the
episodes is that notion ofsocial connection. So
volunteering certainly canachieve that social connection
(13:13):
that people are looking for,help them to reduce their
loneliness and helping feelsgood. So volunteering as an
activity really addresses bothof those things.
And when I looked at some of ourresearch and was listening
(13:34):
around the episode, peoplearound the pandemic actually
started to talk more and moreabout wanting to volunteer
because, again, one of the manythings during the pandemic we
had to do sort of was aprescription for poor mental
health was again that socialisolation and those kinds of
(13:55):
things. So that's really wherepeople started to see more
talking about volunteerism andopportunities to reengage and
socially connect. So it's agreat way to do that and to give
back.
Jessica Samuels (14:12):
And that volunteering piece. Giving back,
contributing, feel like you'remaking a difference, feeling
like you're useful, like youhave some kind of purpose. And
that, again, ties into kind ofthat loneliness. Perhaps if
you're an individual who doesn'thave family members close to you
(14:33):
or you're the surviving familymember feeling like you there's
a purpose to why you are here.So those are some really
tangible reasons whyvolunteering and then leading to
connection support our mentalhealth.
Also having a pet. This isprobably not going to be a
surprise to some folks becauseyou ever bring a puppy into an
(14:57):
office or dogs into care homes.People do. There's that feel
good moment. But the reason Iwant to bring it up is because
it is actually determined to besomething that actively supports
your mental health.
Mike Gawliuk (15:11):
Well, first, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention
Foundry. And when we firstopened Foundry, one of our
generous donors donated Henry.And Henry is the Foundry dog,
basically, and he's been therefrom the beginning. And yeah,
(15:34):
you can see the impact of Henryin that case, in particular with
youth that are maybe coming inthe door for the first time,
maybe experiencing anxietyissues. Certainly pets have been
shown to have a really positiveimpact for people that may be
experiencing autism or ADHD, thethings that pets bring.
(16:00):
Some of that is, I mean, when welook at sort of tying some of
these things together, Mike hasa dog. Mike's got a companion.
Mike needs to get out and walkthat dog. So there's an
opportunity there to get someexercise. And one of the things
(16:22):
actually noted, I'll go back tobeing outside and being in
nature.
One study found that seventeenminutes a day is enough time in
nature to have a meaningfulimpact on your mental health. So
I think my dog Jackson, he'sgetting a little up there in
(16:45):
age, so seventeen minutes isprobably going to be two walks.
But it's really cool to knowthat. And then pets, and
obviously I'm biased because Ihave a dog, they also model and
give unconditional love. How canthat feel bad?
(17:09):
Right. So owning a pet hasmultiple impacts on mental
health. And the other thing ismindfulness. Talk about pets
live in the moment. So being innature, being being out with the
(17:31):
pet, going for a walk andsniffing around, doing their
thing, we could learn a thing ortwo from them in terms of being
mindful and maybe being mindfulalong the way.
Jessica Samuels (17:41):
Pets can be a lot of responsibility and they
can be onerous and expensive. Sonot everybody can own a pet. And
that's why volunteering withpets or volunteering for
organizations that look afterpets can also be a way of the
volunteering, the petconnection, and also making
connections in the community. Soonce again, you kind of have a
(18:02):
trifecta there of supportingyour mental health.
Mike Gawliuk (18:05):
Yeah. Bringing it all together.
Jessica Samuels (18:06):
Right
Mike Gawliuk (18:07):
now, I wanted to flip it to you because I know
you identified these as a coupleof your go tos. Oh, so here's my
chance to ask you a
Jessica Samuels (18:16):
little bit
Mike Gawliuk (18:16):
about these two. Kindness and gratitude and how
they impact on people's mentalhealth.
Jessica Samuels (18:25):
Yeah. Well, I mean, so first of all, there's
the research and there's thefindings. You've got all the
good stuff that we've mentionedearlier in this conversation.
You've got the serotonin uplift.You've got the endorphins.
You've got the dopamine that notonly you experience in your body
when you are practicing kindnessor gratitude. But I can only
(18:46):
imagine for the person who'sreceiving it also, you you hear
about that pay it forward.There's that part of your paying
forward. And for me personally,I really think that after
pandemic, just really making aneffort, I have really made an
effort to go out of my way toshow kindness and gratitude. I
(19:08):
think from my personalexperience and what I witnessed,
I feel like there's a lot offrustration.
People were uncertainty. We alldidn't know what was going on.
And that has carried over. Andwe've mentioned that a few times
on this podcast. So to put itsimply, I feel like people are
(19:28):
really frickin angry out thereand short with people in the
world.
And I make it my mission to justtake a beat, give people some
grace and act with kindness andgratitude. Sometimes it's harder
than others. Then I feel good. Ifeel better. I feel I haven't
(19:51):
gotten that fight or flight modegoing on in myself.
I feel like I've done the persona kindness because I don't know
what's going on in their world.I don't know what they've dealt
with before they've come to meor what they have to go back to.
And so even before I knew thescience behind it, this was
(20:12):
something that I actively andcontinue to actively try and
practice. And I think it doesreally good things for my mental
health and hopefully for thepeople that I pay it forward to.
Mike Gawliuk (20:26):
Absolutely. I mean, your experience is backed
up by some of the research thatwe looked at. A lot of times
when we talk about stats,mortality comes up. There was
one study actually where theyidentified that people who
practice gratitude haveincreased mortality by nine
(20:49):
percent. I don't know how theymeasured it, but it actually has
that much of an impact on theindividual.
When it comes to kindness,another study that I listened to
was about looking at threegroups of people that had mild
to moderate anxiety anddepression. It was a research
(21:12):
study, and one of the groups wasto engage in acts of kindness.
One of the groups was encouragedto engage in fun activities
twice during a week. And thisharkens back to our counseling
episode. The other group wasprovided with cognitive
behavioral therapy.
(21:33):
And then they measured theimpact of all three of those.
And they actually identifiedthat the one that had the most
impact for the participants wasthe acts of kindness. And that's
huge and super meaningful.There's no doubt about that.
Jessica Samuels (21:52):
Yeah. Well, I'm glad it's backed by science. If
I can't be gracious or kind,that's when that's when I go for
the walk outside with my dog.Deal. Okay, Mike, thanks.
Thanks. This was a fun one. Iappreciate it, and I hope folks
appreciate it too.
Mike Gawliuk (22:07):
Thank you.
Jessica Samuels (22:09):
Okay, so we're going to have all of those tips
on the A WayForward podcastpage, presented by Beam Credit
Union. Of course, that is oncmhacolona.org. And just
remember, as you go forward, begracious, be kind. And as
always, please do take goodcare. United has won.
(22:38):
Beam's founding credit unionsnow serve 190,000 members across
BC.
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com