Bianca, The Founder.

I was 31 years of age when I mustered the zest to establish this path, this profound voice. My subconscious went ahead and urged me to carve a platform I desperately needed during my own down times. I’m pleased to see it has turned out to be a haven for over thinkers, those with deep emotions and those that struggle with life’s hurdles.

I developed a lot of interest and concern in mental health and wellness after a very challenging phase of my life, by challenging I mean I was at my lowest mentally and my slipping state of mind clearly influenced and projected on my lifestyle and habits negatively. The root cause of this destabilisation was actually the traumatic death of a family member, my aunty.

For some the root cause could be a number of things, low self-worth and rejection or abuse to name a few.

 

A valuable lesson I’ve learnt is that certain happenings and changes in life have the ability to affect our state of minds extensively. Either positively or negatively, for me it was the latter.

For a couple of years after the said event I felt so numb, void and mentally weak that my views on the world changed totally. I got on with life in autopilot, buried myself in loads of work by working three jobs at once, got excessively drunk, stayed out until early hours and developed bad sleeping patterns. Now was this really the life I wanted to be living? The answer is No.

My mental state deteriorated terribly and I always felt like the world was a horrible place that I didn’t want to be in. Overworking and developing unhealthy habits was seemingly my coping mechanism. As a side effect, I was constantly terrified about what people thought of me, always wondering if they were talking about me when I turned my back. I had a real fear of judgement.

As expected, cracks had begun to appear in my workaholic façade, bad habits, social media posts and my bad obsession with alcohol. I realised just as candy is addictive, lots of it can cause serious damage. My addictive unhealthy habits were helping me lose my zest for life and morphing me into who I simply was not, something you tend to realise more once you are on the other side of it.

It was through the first lockdown of 2020 that I started to become very aware of how some of my habits were affecting me. Steadily I developed a bunch of self-development tools and techniques from reading books and certain therapeutic activities which I’m now hoping to share with all who mirror my former unhealthy lifestyle. I started seeing a therapist, opened up to my friends and family and knocked the booze on the head. I can honestly say the more I’ve kicked my bad habits and learnt about my own mind, the easier things have been.

It came to 2021 and sadly we then lost my younger cousin to suicide. The truth is that no-one can ever prepare you mentally for the heartbreak, social anxiety and years of emotional breakdowns that are the side-effects of things like this happening. Though I have a much better hold on it these days there is no denying the fact that self-development is a constant process, there is not an end destination, you will have bad days - I certainly do! It's about understanding that is OK.

 

I’m not a mental health practitioner but I am very much capable of hosting you through this journey by sharing my own experiences. I also work with several professionals and experts in the wellness field for this Mindset Maintenance project.

Mindset and mental wellness are something I want to focus on and help people with by sharing resources and tools that have helped me along the way. There is so much to be said about humans struggling and sharing their stories, being vulnerable and growing together.

Trust me when I say that I know, I know what it feels like to be trapped in the depths of your mind, during those dark days. Questioning, does anyone else really feel like this? Is there something wrong with me?

I want to share my vulnerabilities and story with those of you that may need it most, reminding you, you are not alone.

All my love, 

Bianca Brathwaite

Founder - Mindset Maintenance Project