“If you have come to help me you’r are wasting your time…but if you have come because you liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”
I was honored to be asked to write for the SQN. My hope is that this can be a space that helps facilitate healing and change. The above quote came from the (Austrailan) Aboriginal Political Activist Group in the 1970s. It is this spirit that I would like to introduce myself. My name is Helen Ameeta Singh; I am a therapist and have been fortunate enough to co-facilitate a group on mental and emotional health and wellness for the “TRUST” here at San Quentin. I look forward to creating a space to talk about some of the things that impact our overall health and wellness, which I see as being made up of the physical, spiritual, and mental/emotional aspects of us.
Physical health is how our bodies are functioning and feeling. It includes things like nutrition; what we are eating; where exercise fits into our daily lives; any medical conditions we may be struggling with.
Our spiritual health and well being is made of our individual beliefs around what sustains us. It helps give our lives meaning and keep us going, especially in the really tough times. Being connected to what gives our lives meaning is important to our overall health and wellness because it allows us to continue to stay connected to our own humanity as we exist within systems of oppression (such as the prison environment) that seek to dehumanize us.
Our mental/emotion health is how we think, fell and act as we cope with life. It helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make choices in our lives. As we increase understanding about ourselves and what motivates our behaviors, we become more able to make changes to those behaviors that are negatively impacting us.
Being incarcerated, is very challenging to a person’s well being in may ways. Think about those three aspects of your overall health and wellness. How healthy is your body, spirit and mind right now? Are any of your behaviors causing harm to any of these parts of you? How do you support and nurture these different aspects of your overall health and wellness in the challenging situations that you’re in?
Until next time, peace and blessings…Helen.
