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Links to past Mental Health Minutes are below.

 

Mental Health Minute – Prioritizing Mental Health Like Physical Health (Youth-Focused)

Why Your Mental Health Matters Just as Much as Your Physical Health

By Izzy Gagliano, Voices of the Valley

As young people, we’re constantly reminded to take care of our bodies, drink water, get enough sleep, stay active, and eat healthy. But what many teens and young adults don’t hear enough is that your mental health is just as important as your physical health. Your mind and body work together. When one is struggling, the other feels it too.

At any stage in life, you can be faced with mental battles. Ignoring your mental health can make things feel heavier than they need to be. But when you choose to care for your mind just like you would care for a sprained ankle or a bad cold you give yourself a stronger foundation to handle whatever life throws at you.

Prioritizing mental health doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be as simple as taking a break, journaling, self-care, breathing exercises, talking to someone you trust, or learning something new that helps you understand what you’re feeling.

Listening to Voices of the Valley is one of the ways to do this.

In Voices of the Valley, we hear directly from young people and community leaders about struggles that often go unseen from a local teens opening up about silently battling mental health challenges, to an athlete sharing how a serious injury shook her identity, to conversations about substance use being a sign of deeper emotional pain rather than the problem itself and more. These episodes remind listeners that mental health struggles can look different for everyone, but no one has to face them alone.

Taking care of your mental health is not a weakness, it’s strength, and it’s something you deserve at every stage of your life.

A few of my favorite ways of prioritizing my mental health just as much as my physical:

YOGA
Benefits:
Mental & Emotional

• Reduces stress and anxiety by calming your nervous system and lowering cortisol (the stress hormone).
•  Improves mood and can help with symptoms of depression by increasing serotonin and dopamine.
•  Builds emotional regulation, helping you pause instead of reacting when emotions feel overwhelming.
•  Increases mindfulness, making you more aware of thoughts and feelings without judgment.
•  Improves sleep, especially if practiced in the evening or paired with breathing exercises.
•  Boosts self-confidence and body awareness, which can be especially helpful during adolescence and young adulthood.

Nervous System & Brain

•  Activates the parasympathetic nervous system, helping your body feel safe and calm.
•  Lowers heart rate and blood pressure over time.
•  Improves focus and concentration, which can help with school, sports, and daily tasks.

A few yoga Places in Steamboat Springs, CO

•  Harmony Yoga and Wellness -2550 S Copper Frontage Rd, Unit 208, Steamboat Springs, CO 80487
•  Out Here Yoga -685 Marketplace Plaza, Steamboat Springs, CO 80487
•  Love, Yoga -1136 Yampa St, Steamboat Springs, CO 80487

Sauna and cold plunge Benefits:

Sauna

•  Reduces stress and anxiety by activating the parasympathetic nervous system.
•  Releases endorphins, the body’s natural “feel-good” chemicals, which can improve mood and reduce emotional tension.
•  Promotes relaxation and mental clarity, helping quiet racing thoughts.
•  Improves sleep quality, especially when used in the evening.
•  Provides a sense of calm and grounding, which can be especially helpful during periods of overwhelm or burnout.
•  Encourages mindfulness, as heat forces you to slow down, breathe, and tune into your body.

Cold plunge

•  Boosts mood and energy by increasing dopamine and norepinephrine (chemicals linked to motivation and focus).
•  Reduces symptoms of anxiety by training your body to stay calm under stress.
•  Improves emotional resilience, helping you build tolerance for discomfort in a safe,

controlled way.

•  Enhances focus and mental sharpness after immersion.
•  Can reduce depressive symptoms when used consistently and safely.
•  Creates a sense of accomplishment, which builds confidence and self-trust. Combined

Alternating between the two helps regulate your nervous system, improving stress response over time. Together, they support emotional balance, resilience, and recovery.

Places in Steamboat Springs CO

•  Lakeside Sauna Club- 25500 Colorado Road #14 Oak Creek Colorado, 80467
•  Revolve Wellness Studio- 405 Anglers Dr, Steamboat Springs, CO 80487

Voices of the Valley (Local Youth Podcast)

“Voices of the Valley” is a local podcast exploring youth mental health in a small town. Through honest conversations and real stories from young adults to role models, listening to Voices of the Valley means hearing voices that sound like yours, struggles that feel familiar, and reminders that you are not weak for feeling the way you do. This podcast is here to help break stigma, offer hope, and show that asking for help is a strength, not a failure.

Where to access/find the podcast:

• Schecky Youth Wellbeing Initiative | Steamboat Radio
  ● https://creators.spotify.com/pod/profile/voices-of-the-valley

 

This is the continued Mental Health Minute, beginning July 7, 2025.

• Jan. 11,  2026 — Mental Health Minute – Prioritizing Mental Health Like Physical Health (Youth-Focused)
• Jan. 4, 2026 — Mental Health Minute — Healing through tears, laughter and love
• Dec. 28, 2025 — Mental Health Minute — The HOPE Initiative from The Health Partnership
• Dec. 14, 2025 — Mental Health Minute — Standing Together: Men’s Work and “Walking Each Other Home”
• Dec. 8, 2025 — Mental Health Minute — The Gut and Brain Connection
• Nov. 30, 2025 — Mental Health Minute — Your Voice Matters
• Nov. 24, 2025 — Mental Health Minute — Seasonal Affective Disorder
• Nov. 16, 2025 — Mental Health Minute — Time Change Blues 
• Nov. 10, 2025 — Mental Health Minute – Navigating Changes in Midlife for Women
• Nov. 3, 2025 — Mental Health Minute — Stress Management in Teens
• Oct. 28, 2025 — Mental Health Minute — Day of the Dead
• Oct. 19, 2025 — Mental Health Minute — Sacred Moments: Finding the Sacred in the Ordinary 
• Oct. 13, 2025 — Mental Health Minute — Talk Saves Lives: Empowering Our Community to Prevent Suicide
• Oct. 6, 2025 — Mental Health Minute — Cost of Poverty Experience (COPE) comes to Northwest Colorado
• Sept. 29, 2025 — Mental Health Minute — Get Immediate Support with the 988 Colorado Mental Health Line
• Sept. 22, 2025 — Mental Health Minute — Theater as an Outlet
• Sept. 14, 2025 –Mental Health Minute — Connection in Times of Adversity
• Sept. 7. 2025 — Mental Health Minute – Sharing stories and building bridges at new event
• Aug. 31, 2025 — Mental Health Minute — Message from Yampatika
• Aug. 25, 2025 — Mental Health Minute — Mental Health After a Critical Incident: How to Help, What to Expect, and Taking Care of Yourself
• Aug. 17, 2025 — Mental Health Minute: Uncertainty Is Part of Life — But It’s Heavier for Some
• Aug. 11, 2025 — Mental Health Minute — Re:generation: A Christ-Centered Path to Lasting Transformation
• Aug. 3, 2025 — Mental Health Minute — Steps to Help Save A Life
• July 28, 2025 — Mental Health Minute — Steamboat Kids & Phones
• July 24-2025 — Mental Health Minute — Starting with the basics
• July 15, 2025 — Mental Health Minute – Helping Others through Peer Engagement and The HOPE Initiative
• LINK to all previous Mental Health Minutes — DECEMBER 1, 2024, THROUGH JUNE 23, 2025