It’ has been an enormous year for health and social care workers (no surprises there). Long before COVID, the psychological wellbeing of our health workforce was already in crisis. Medical doctors, nurses, midwives and paramedics are among the top occupations with the highest risk of suicide, a recent study has revealed.

Millions of people are missing from our community. They’re hidden at home, often ensconced in the bedroom for long periods. Many are riddled with a cacophony of symptoms — and there’s currently no test or cure for their condition. Myalgic encephalomyelitis, also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) affects 20 million people worldwide, and about 250,000 Australians.

There’s something really special about our home planet. Earth is the only known planet in the solar system that is naturally capable of sustaining life. And there’s a key miracle that makes it all possible…The miracle I’m talking about is a simple chemical substance composed of hydrogen and oxygen — it’s water.

We throw phrases around about the mind like corn kernels popping in a saucepan. But have you ever taken time to contemplate what the mind is, exactly? Perhaps it’s been at the back of your mind for some time. Or even at the front. But you’re really in two minds about it. For centuries scholars have been fascinated with the mind.

There’s a direct link between the life skills we develop in our formative years and the strength of our relationships and mental health as adults. Statistics from BeyondBlue indicate that half of adult mental health issues begin in childhood — before 14 years of age. The majority of kids in Australia are doing pretty well but even pre-COVID figures indicate that one-in-seven kids under the age of 12 experiences some form of mental distress requiring intervention.

Energy healing — it’s one of the most controversial alternative mind-body therapies on the market. The application is mysterious. The science is sketchy. And, the proof ? Well, it’s largely. . . invisible! Yet more and more, people are turning to subtle biofield energy-based therapies.

There’s nothing more satisfying than a hard day’s work in the garden. Do you know the feeling? It’s the one you get when you’re covered in dirt with sweat across your brow. Your body aches but you push on. And then the Doctor — that fresh sea breeze — blows into town. Ah, relief! You sit down to admire your handiwork — it’s the best. The therapeutic benefits of gardening are well known.

Our diet and food system have changed significantly in the past 100 years. With the rapid industrialisation of food supply, advent of supermarkets, rise of big agriculture, and now, tech-enabled takeaway, our bodies, brains and minds are crippling under the weight of dietary change. Nutrition is a poorly considered factor in mental health, particularly in mainstream healthcare…

It’s clear that this rate of uncertainty and change is here to stay and we all have to get comfortable with it, but prolonged and unpredictable disruption can have an adverse impact on our nervous system, brain and body as well as our social and financial foundations. For those already vulnerable to mental distress and hardship, the effects of being thrust into a situation akin to solitary confinement can be detrimental, as Australian and international research on the psychological impacts of lockdown, isolation and quarantine has shown.

The blues can creep up on all of us from time to time, set off by stress or change, or sometimes for no obvious reason at all. But for cardiac patients chronic and prolonged periods of depression are exceedingly high. Up to 45 percent of people living with congenital and acquired heart disease experience clinical depression, compared to just 5 percent of the general population.

Thinking about meditation conjures images of saffron-robed monks in remote mountain top temples in Asia or yoga posing urban hippies in activewear. But what was once considered a far eastern spiritual pursuit has now become a powerful, evidence-based psychotherapeutic tool. New scientific discoveries are reporting remarkable benefits of meditation, which offers an exciting alternative treatment in mental health care.

As women across Australia took to the streets this week to fight for recognition of their basic human rights, it became glaringly obvious we still have an enormous amount of work to do to heal gender disparity and injustice in our country. One in three women experience sexual trauma during their lifetime, and one in four have been subjected to violence by a partner since the age of fifteen.

It’s hard to believe that in our hyper-connected, always turned-on digital world, Australia is in the midst of a loneliness epidemic. In an alarming pre-pandemic survey (yep, even before lockdowns and social distancing kicked in), more than half of Australians experienced feelings of loneliness at least once a week.

It’s been a year since we scrambled to rearrange our lives with the outbreak of COVID in WA. As a society we have endured full-scale crisis management and from the big end of town to solopreneurs a cultural shift is emerging as a result. So, what has the past year taught us?

Post-Covid, we all know that life can throw us a curveball, or many. I never dreamt of working in mental health. Not by a long shot. Especially not as an adventure-seeking archaeologist. But, like so many of us, the experience of physical and mental illness has impacted my life, even redirecting my career. I looked around and realised that health care in Australia is highly systematised, difficult to navigate and overburdened.

Introducing the launch of our Founder & Director, Renée Gardiner’s weekly column in The West Australian newspaper, which will be hitting the Agenda section every Saturday. Renée’s columns will be exploring all things holistic mental health and wellbeing, looking at different therapies and practices such as meditation, mindfulness and self-leadership, as well as new science, relating to optimising wellbeing and healing.

As close to two million West Australian’s entered lockdown on Sunday evening, a wave of fear spread through the community. We again face the psychological and emotional challenges of living through the global Covid pandemic. Supermarket lines stretched out the door, shelves were stripped of supplies and it took more than an hour to purchase a small basket of vegetables…

“We’re all about looking at the whole being, the whole system...everything is related and people can only feel well when their internal and external worlds align.” Renée Gardiner, founder & director of KŌTA. A brilliant feature in Business News this month (Dec 2020) about KŌTA and the work we do with organisations in delivering holistic mental health & wellbeing programs.

KŌTA's launch was a great success. With a guest list of over 70 people including health and wellbeing industry leaders, dignitaries and professionals we officially launched KŌTA on 10 November 2020 — a date that happens to mark the UN’s world science day for peace and development, which is quite apt!