Do You Know What Good Feels Like?

Our standard of living has improved physically and materially. Life expectancy has increased. Healthcare, housing, education, infrastructure, and human rights have undergone significant evolution. However, has the quality of our emotional life improved as well?

Do we know what good feels like? We learn and perhaps also come to understand concepts of wellness, including relaxation, inner peace, connectedness, and support. And yet, how well and deeply do we understand emotional well-being? Are we underperforming emotionally as a species?

Good mental health

According to psychoanalyst Nancy McWilliams, the ten signs of good mental health are:

• Secure attachment: being securely attached
• Self-continuity: being able to be you in all situations in life
• Sense of agency: feeling that you have agency in your life
• Self-esteem: having a realistic and reliable sense of self-esteem
• Affect modulation: being able to regulate your emotions
• Self-reflection and mentalization: having the ability to self-reflect and imagine the experience of others
• Self-advocacy and greater good: being able to look after your best interests as well as doing good for others
• Vitality: feeling alive
• Acceptance: accepting those aspects of life that can’t be changed
• Close relationships, meaningful work and fun: being able to love, work and play

Improving your wellbeing

The signs of good mental health may feel abstract or unattainable. If you are wondering how you can assess or improve your emotional well-being, we invite you to listen to our co-founder, Ava Ghasemi, speaking with Françoise Bourzat. Françoise is a guide, healer, teacher, and medicine woman who combines indigenous wisdom and Western psychology. In this interview, Ava and Françoise discuss women’s mental health, self-care and ways to cultivate a practice of grounding.

The interview ends with Françoise guiding you into a grounding meditation. If you find meditation challenging, Françoise and Ava will offer you some suggestions on how to manage the difficulties. This interview is suitable for men as well! You can find the interview here: Interview with Françoise Bourzat.