I feel like I’m learning something new everyday. There’s always a lesson to be learned through your experiences, and with practicing discipline, patience, consistency, and perseverance, my mental health has never been better (I never thought the day would come). I’ve struggled with depression for the past two years (ironically after coming to college) and anxiety my whole life (I don’t even want to get into the ADHD). With this complex trifecta, I felt little agency over the direction of my life. I garnered an incredible reserve of self-love after hitting rock bottom, which acted as the momentum in taking control of my mental health. Of course, I had resources to guide me along the way. These people below made my journey possible. They acted as the catalyst for continued growth and evolvement out of such a dark place. I’m not saying it will do the same for you, but it’s worth sharing these incredible people that have done more good than they realize.
1.) Hindz
As the “number 1 chillspot on YouTube,” he impressively lives up to the title. He’s down to earth, creative and personable, and most of all he gives you that push to keep going when you need it most. Sometimes my mind is spiraling out of control, and I desperately need an anchor to latch onto before my thoughts take me out of my body. It’s not just what he talks about, but the soothing tone of his voice that makes you feel like everything indeed will be alright. As someone with anxiety, I find his spiritual message a healing anecdote. “You’re worth having a great friend, and a cup of tea,” he says as he extends a freshly brewed teapot in front of the camera; he makes you feel valued and loved just for existing. He’s also a master at shifting your perspective by allowing you to pause and reflect on how you’re feeling, and how you want the direction of your life to go. In his videos, he places a heavy emphasis on gratitude as the building block for welcoming more abundance into your life.
2.) Shallon Lester
During the winter time last year, I would compulsively binge eat throughout the day, skip showers, stay inside the house most of the day, and busy myself with TV when I was not working. I was depressed— I couldn’t do much other than that. I was really starting to feel like there was no hope, things wouldn’t get better, and life would be a miserably unforgiving cycle of survival. I didn’t feel very in control of my thoughts, much less my behavior and actions. Shallon put all that to rest.
Now there are things she preaches that I don’t always agree with, but she gave me that motivation and discipline to work hard for the life I wanted. You can say what you want about her— blonde bimbo, too arrogant, outdated sidebangs, full of drama— but you can’t say she doesn’t work hard. Her career started in celebrity magazine editing, working her way to making advice videos on youtube pertaining to celebrity news. I look up to her as my role model. Not just because of her achievements, but because of the risks she’s taken, the value she places on herself, and her unshakeable work ethic (to name a few). When I’m unsure what to do, I ask myself, what would Shallon do? I admire her bravery in sharing her opinions with her full chest and stands by them, no matter how controversial they may be. I admire her ambition and determination to go after what she wants, and never settle for anything less. I’ve learned a lot from Shallon: don’t put quitter pressure on things that are not catastrophic, time and kindness are currencies, the difference between bad b*tch and psychotic b*tch, and more that I want to write an article about later… stay tuned :).
3.) Hitomi Mochizuki
When I was in my “sit-outside-in-nature-with-crystals-and-mediate phase,” she was my spiritual guru. Although I don’t practice my spirituality as often, her videos acted as stepping stones to where I am today. When I was at my lowest, I watched her video, “How I Evolved Spiritually | My Entire Journey,” that acted as my life vest in sinking waters. Hearing someone else’s battle with depression and using spiritual methods to cope really spoke to me. I didn’t feel as alone, and I remember thinking if she could get through to the other side, then so could I. That video gave me twelve pages of mantras, advice, and reflections from the questions she posed. I actually feel like I made headway with my deeper subconscious, and healed some old wounds I didn’t recognize were carried into the present. From watching her videos, I have become more attuned to the blessings in my life and the abundance of tools and resources I have at my disposal. I am not helpless. I am not alone. I am not failing at life at 20 years old. She even taught me how to do box breathing and fire/dragon breathing (which I admittedly do not practice often anymore), but the calmness and focus those exercises gave me have carried into my attitude today.
I wanted to share a comment I left on that video a year ago (almost 2 years): “Thank you Hitomi, with all my heart. I just journaled 12 pages from this video breaking down my belief system and reprogramming it, and I haven’t felt this liberated in I can’t even remember how long. I’ve been in a persistent state of depression for the past 3 months now, and it is suffocating. Thanks to you, I have connected back with my source energy and rediscovered the love I have for myself. You are healing so many people and I give you endless love and gratitude for that.” She was the push I needed to reclaim my power. If you’re interested in spiritual practices, it’s worth giving her a channel a look.
4.) Sydney Cummings Houdyshell
Over quarantine, I really got into working out again consistently 5-6 days a week, in which Sydney instructed me through at least two of them. Now there’s TONS of workout videos to follow along to on YouTube, but what really stood out to me was her energy. Typically you wouldn’t describe a fitness instructor as cool, calm, and collected, but with Sydney it just works. She’s focused and determined, knowledgeable about various moves, and gives inspiring pep talks at the end of each workout. There’s a variety of different workouts between supersets, HIIT, AMRAP, sports cardio, no repeats, and challenges; I like that there’s always something for me to choose from depending on my mood. Sydney’s videos taught me discipline— stay consistent with the workout programs, fight the burn for a few more seconds, focus on what I’m fighting for. Working out gave me a goal: pushing my body to limits I hadn’t thought possible. I built more confidence in myself, increased my self-esteem, and learned more perseverance than ever. I credit my foundation to Sydney.
There are plenty of other YouTubers I enjoy watching and getting inspiration out of, but these are the main people I truly have felt aided me the most. They each have different kinds of content, for different kinds of lessons. I hope this has inspired you to reflect on who has shaped your growth as a person and to check out these channels; they’re really worth the investment in your time (once finals are over)! Take care, you’ll hear from me next week, we GOT this week team :)