Every day should be #worldmentalhealthday. Today, I want to share my recent story and let you know a bit about my past.

Did you know I had a counselor leading up to my decision to move from Texas to California? I wanted to make sure I was making the best decision that was not driven with emotions – because I was a hot mess in 2011. I was diagnosed with 3 PTSD’s at the age of 23.

One thing she identified is spending time with nature is what grounded me. She reminded me every session to go for a run since that was the outlet that made me happy.

It is the reason to this day that I make it a priority to spending quality time outside. During the pandemic, it grew as uncertainty spiraled out of control. Yo, it’s my prescription! Legit prescription and I took it at heart. Best prescription ever.

Walking, Working out at home, Hiking, Backpacking, and Camping became my therapy more than ever in 2020. It is the reason I had picked it up with a lovingly embrace. I found a solution to keep my wheels spinning and head up high!

BUT as soon as the fires started in Santa Cruz + NorCal, I confined myself in a 400sq ft apartment for about five weeks, and it drove me crazy. My mental health was at stake, my creativity drowned, and at that moment, I needed to do something about it.

It’s been almost one year since I had visited Texas and nearly two years since I had visited Houston. Being separated from family and loved ones, it was one of the most difficult challenges I had endured since moving to the west coast. Now add a pandemic. It’s heartbreaking.

I decided to spend time with family for four-weeks. Note: it wasn’t an easy decision.

Recognizing mental state and choosing my mental health as a priority was one of the best things that ever happened to me. My family relationship is 1000x stronger, and this bond we share is something I could never have dreamt or imagined. As a result, everything else just clicked, and I couldn’t be happier. My creativity, productivity, and confidence skyrocketed. My mind has never felt this clear in a long time. I’m planning things out for months in advance, I’m excited to go hiking as much as I can, and I feel alive all over again.

The funniest thing is I didn’t have to take a creative class or a class about increasing your productivity, all I had to do is spend time with my family, which I had gravitated towards, and boom, that was it. That’s the solution.

Ok, what are the takeaways?

💥Mental Health is important. It is what makes us human.
💥One important step is recognizing it and making yourself a priority.
💥When determining what steps to take, one option to take is looking at the bigger picture on practices to improve your mental health. Everyone has their own technique.

For me, it’s spending time outdoors and prioritizing working out. After the fires, it meant spending time with my family that boosted all over aspects of my life,

In all, I could not be more grateful to have spent the past four weeks con mi familia and during #HispanicHeritageMonth. It has been such a blessing, and stay tuned for a lot more things to come. I have so many ideas down the pipeline!

ps this is what inspired me to blog about today!

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