For Your Mental Health

What John Gardner, Brandon Turner, and Wes Kremer have to say about your mental health

idk, enjoy this abstracted image of my board sans wheel, b/c i rode the fucking thing right off otw to Uprise

John Gardner knows what from mental health. After retiring from ripping professionally — going down as one of my favs to ever do it; check out his idiosyncratic, poetic-gnar vibe — Gardner has turned his attention to helping others with their mental health full-time. (See our Jenkem interview on the subject for detail.) Inspired by his own struggles with suicidal ideation and friends he has lost along the way, Gardner began mental health consultancy Nothing But Today to help teach tools and skills to skaters and non-skaters alike, and has enrolled in Western Carolina University’s MSW program.

Gardner recently took a Chicagoland swing with SD Deities Brandon Turner and Wes Kremer, aka the Man Without Social Media, sharing a presentation on some basic mental health skills with skaters in Naperville and at Uprise, 4tS’s local shop, where I had a chance to meet the dude in person, chat with Turner, and hear the wise words of Wes.

In true 4ts knockoff fashion — this whole ordeal is essentially skateboard Cat Marnell — we’re borrowing the brevity thing of the fairly-annoying Axios (call it Axel-os?) to give you the gist. Please note John and myself are not mental health professionals, in John’s case not quite yet; we’re just people who care deeply about mental health and are well-researched, well-informed-but-lay folks. 

But first, the most important thing. Gardner believes in facing suicide head on, and so do I. Uprise rang with the names of people we have lost — names that deserve to be heard. Your correspondent cried.

If you or someone you know needs help, there’s people out there who love, care for, and want to help you. You are fucking valuable and you matter. If you’re in the US, dial 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or text TALK to 741741. You can also find resources at The Ben Raemers Foundation, and remember: we all need to look out for each other. Check in with yourself, check in with your friends. You can save a life.  

And now, lifted right from those goons at Axios, some bullets!

Let them in: Look, pretty much no one’s hyped for anxiety or depression or anger or fear or what have you to creep in. But acknowledging those feelings and sitting beside them can be a moment for rest and an opportunity for growth, as well as help you build resilience towards them. IMO this is kind of key to the whole thing.

Tools for managing stress and mental health: Gardner’s goal was to help give people some tools and techniques for ‘temporary feelings of heaviness and anxiety,’ noting that more involved mental health crises may need professional help. To that end, he shared some simple, everyday actions you can use.

• Check in with yourself. By taking a moment to recognize and acknowledge how your mind and body feels in any given moment, you can redirect your thoughts to the present. Research suggests that our wanderings can actually be a root cause of anxiety and stress; listening to how you feel in the moment can, to paraphrase Gardner, help reduce stress that you don’t need and manage the stress that’s unavoidable.

• Breathe. You’ve most definitely heard ‘take a deep breath’ when upset, right? That’s not what Gardner means here. Breathing from your diaphragm, through your nose, and with a focus on exhalation, not inhalation, can be a surprisingly powerful tool — one your correspondent has used themselves. 

• Meditate. Reams of scientific studies have found meditation to be beneficial to mental health. Even just three minutes a day of sitting with yourself and trying to clear your mind can work wonders. I do it first thing when I wake up, and feel it when I forget; give it a whirl.

• Get active. Skating, exercising, running, taking a walk — all of it can be helpful for managing stress and anxiety. Brandon Turner hit hard on the importance of activity, which he uses with his patients at West Side Recovery.

• Safe discomfort. This one hinges on the idea that the brain trends towards and equilibrium when it comes to pleasure and pain. Something purposefully, but safely, uncomfortable — like a cold shower or a tough run — may help you feel better when you're done.

• Drop the phone for a bit. The Man Without Social Media, Wes Kremer, proselytized this one. Comparing ourselves with others can be a recipe for anxiety, stress, envy, and upset. It’s tough to do, especially with so many sick clips on socials nowadays, but putting the phone down can help lift you up. 

• Get your sleep right. Sleep is so fucking crucial, and there’s a metric ton of strong science to back that up; just peruse Nature (‘the Thrasher of science journals,’ as John put it, which, as a former science journalist, I can confirm) if you don’t believe me. Avoiding bright lights and caffeine/alcohol/tobacco/cannabis right before bed can help the Sandman enter; on the flip side, getting outside within 30-60mins of waking up can help set your circadian rhythm too.

• Connect with people. Human connection is crucial, but we often take it for granted — until we lose it. Turner spent some time in lockup, including 4 months in isolation, so when he drove home the importance of other people, he drew from experience. Being nice, checking in, hanging out, just being around — all of it can help your mental health. Call a homey!

Learn more: This is just a brief rundown of what went down; if John comes to your town, go see him for the full deal. He also has a list of resources at Nothing But Today.