Are you stuck in a cycle of stress and anxiety?

Iwas talking recently to a business owner at an entrepreneur networking event. He shared that he had been struggling with severe anxiety. I asked him why he hadn’t picked up the phone to call—at least to chat casually over what might be the source of his anxiety. He smiled. “It was pride,” he said. “I was too proud to reach out.”

Our conversation signaled something important. Does seeking mental health help carry a stigma? Do you experience the shame of thinking, if you need help with your mental health you feel weak or be seen as incapable and undependable, something that can damage your reputation, and potentially as an entrepreneur, your business?

I did a little digging — here are some of my ndings: e stigma surrounding mental health and treatment is diminishing.

Societal stigma and the move to hide your desire to seek help is one of the biggest barriers to actually taking action to relieve and shift chronic anxiety and stress.

If you have anxiety or compounding stressors, you may feel like the stigma will a ect your ability to get a job, your access to healthcare and insurance coverage for treatment or your acceptance in society as a whole. Here’s some good news — the New York Times recently

FROM PAGE12 what percentage of the budget of our state budget consists of unfunded mandates. While I have asked the question of others, I have not been able to get a de nite answer. What unfunded mandates accomplish is to crowd out budget dollars for priorities that our elected o cials feel is in the best interest of all Coloradoans. Unfunded mandates help keep the pay for schoolteachers lower. Unfunded mandates keep school districts from hiring more school resource o cers. Regardless of the percentage, the salient point about unfunded mandates is that they usurp the priorities that Colorado-

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• Submit your letter by 5 p.m. on Wednesday in order to have it considered for publication in the following week’s published these statistics: unlearn the belief systems you have about how much the mental, emotional and physical parts of yourself depend upon each other for your wellbeing and capacity to thrive. There are more opportunities for treatment and support.

In 2021, 42 million people sought mental health care, up 27 million from 2002.

Americans now see mental health care as reliable and a signi cant part of cultivating a better life for themselves and their families. More and more it is considered a part of a wholesome life, like having a gym membership or going shing.

Christine Kahane

Progress is being made in the field of mental health.

Stress and anxiety operate on a spectrum. When you’re challenged by either or both, it’s often due to a number of contributing factors and conditions not just one source. Your stressors are not going to be exactly the same as your friends’ or family members’. Friendly advice is well-intentioned, but most of the time does not help you work through and resolve the latent sources of your stress and anxiety. is is because what works for your sister or work colleague may have nothing to do with what is at the core of your anxiety.

On top of this, stress and anxiety can be treated in di erent ways at di erent stages in your life. When you commit to your mental wellbeing you have a real opportunity to ans have in how our state should be run. ere are competing priorities in the budget appropriation process and some things are desirable often get cut or eliminated. But those cuts should not happen because of outsider interference.bWhile some programs that are the result of unfunded mandates are well intentioned like Medicaid, I would argue that Colorado and its’ elected leaders could run Medicaid better than any mandate from the federal government. Reasons exist for everything. When conservatives rail against wasteful government spending there is more often than not a reasoned and considered point behind those complaints. ere is no one-size- ts-all solution for managing these issues, so it’s important to seek out appropriate interventions that work best for you.

Joe Webb is the former chairman of the Je co Republican party.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, there are more opportunities for treatment and support than ever before. ere are also new treatments available, as well as support groups and other programs designed to help you with challenging anxiety and stress manage your symptoms and recover from trauma in your life — so you are living a more productive and ful lling life.

UnLearn the pattern

Nothing changes until something changes, and avoiding your pain is like putting a band-aid on a severed limb. Give yourself the gift of owning that you are struggling and take a look at what services are available to you. Make appointments with a few mental health professionals whose approaches fit your needs.

Christine Kahane, NBC-HWC, MCHWC – is a Nationally BoardCertified Health & Wellness Coach, and owner of KAHANE COACHING (www.kahanecoaching.com), located at 30752 Southview Drive/Suite 110 in Evergreen, CO. For more information about coaching, or to write-in a question for UNlearn it! send your inquiries to christine@ kahanecoaching.com.

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BY RYLEE DUNN RDUNN@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Spring is in full swing, bringing many folks around Colorado out of the doldrums of winter with the promise of outdoor recreation.

For folks who aren’t fans of “traditional sports” — think baseball, basketball, football, soccer — there are plenty of unique, exciting alternatives throughout the Centennial State. From roller skating to parkour, there is no shortage of variety in Colorado’s recreation options.

Roller skating, roller hockey and roller derby

Roller sports are alive and well in Colorado. Folks have quite a few options for activities revolving around wheeled feet; from roller skating to roller hockey to roller derby, there is no shortage of options.

Roller skating lovers have a plethora of skate parks in the metro area and can get all of their gear — and some lessons — from the newlyopened Denver Skates Shop in Arvada. e store provides ttings and skating lessons for folks ranging from novices to experienced park skaters.

Brina Wyss, a sales associate and coach at Denver Skates Shop, said that roller sports experienced a surge in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic that’s since died down, but has nonetheless roughly doubled the community’s size.

“I think there was a big surge in interest in wheels and skating during the pandemic, but it was a trend” Wyss said. “I people had a lot of spare time and were looking for something active to do. e community has de nitely grown at least twice as much during the pandemic.”

Wyss participates in roller derby, which is played at the professional and recreational level in Colorado. Wyss said the competitive nature and team atmosphere of roller derby came to be a replacement for volleyball, which she played competitively growing up.

“A lot of people do (skating) for joy and exercise,” Wyss said. “I do it as a way to escape, and it’s also a great way of community meeting.”

Denver Roller Derby operates a large number of recreational and traveling teams and has opportunities for new players.

Folks looking for a non-contact alternative to ice hockey might nd roller hockey appealing — Skate City operates rinks in Arvada, Westminster and Littleton that o er roller skating and hockey, while Rocky Mountain Roller Hockey operates youth and adult leagues out of the Foothills Fieldhouse in Lakewood, and the Parker Fieldhouse also hosts youth and adult roller hockey.

Ultimate frisbee/ disc golf

Frisbee sports have come into favor in Colorado recently — a semiprofessional ultimate frisbee team kicked o their inaugural season in Golden this month — with two main ways to play.

Ultimate frisbee resembles American football in that teams must complete passes in an end zone to score points. As the name suggests, disc golf resembles “traditional” golf, but is played with a disk instead of a ball. e Denver Summer Ultimate League is the oldest ultimate frisbee competition in the state, and just nished registration for its 2023 season.

Disc golf fans may nd more frequent playing options. In Arvada, the Johnny Roberts Disc Golf

Course and Birds Nest Disc Golf Course both operate at city parks.

Colorado Christian University operates a disc golf course in Lakewood, and Foothills Parks and Recreation operates the Fehringer Ranch Disc Golf Course in Morrison.

For those looking for a more secluded experience, the Wondervu Disc Golf Course in Golden is considered to be one of the most scenic — and challenging — courses around.

Parkour

According to gym owner Lorin Ball, the de nition of parkour is simple: “Using environment to get from point A to point B in the most e cient way possible.”

Ball is the owner of Flow Vault, a parkour and ninja warrior — yes, American Ninja Warrior — training gym in ornton. Flow Vault opened in 2008 and o ers classes to people ages 5 and up. His gym has even graduated some ninja warriors to the popular NBC show.

“It’s a full curriculum, similar to that of gymnastics, where you have di erent levels of progressions,” Ball said. “We’re training people to be more intentional with their movement and apply that to other sports or physical activities that they do.”

Other parkour gyms in the area include APEX Denver, Path Movement in Littleton and Ninja Intensity in Parker.

Aerial Adventures

Finally, Colorado has no shortage of arial adventure options. Ropes courses and adventure parks are plentiful in the Centennial State and are often and family-friendly way to recreate uniquely.

e Colorado Adventure Center is based in Idaho Springs, e EDGE Ziplines and Adventures is in Castle Rock, and the Treehouse Adventure Park is based in Bailey.