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The mental health advocate discusses the importance of managing the health of our mind
When it comes to making new year’s resolutions, more often than not we focus on weight or appearance (“I want to lose X number of kilos; I am signing up for a gym membership”). We often think about the fitness of our body, but how about the fitness of our mind?
“We think about physical fitness first because we can see and measure it. But when we’re talking about the mind, oftentimes it goes back to how we’re feeling—and that’s not really quantifiable (even though some of it can be measured),” says Sabrina Ooi, the co-founder and CEO of Calm Collective Asia. “It’s also in our culture to not think so much about our mental well-being. But the two are actually correlated: physical well-being affects how you feel on the inside, and how you feel on the inside also affects your physical well-being.”
Since Ooi founded Calm Collective with two friends in 2020, it has been on a mission to normalise the conversation on mental health—and the stigma often associated with it, especially in Asia. Ooi brings to the table her own experiences navigating bipolar disorder as well as depression and anxiety. “I came to the realisation that our brain is an organ, and it can fall sick too. This was the turning point [in my mental health journey] when I realised that it’s not something that’s in my head,” she shares. “And because the stigma towards mental health is real, I wished I had more support from my peers, and even my family. So having a community to learn about my mental well-being would have been key to expediting the process of recovery.”
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Ooi explains that the stigma with mental health stems from a lack of education and the misconceptions surrounding it. So Calm Collective’s approach is to make mental health information more accessible and as relatable as possible, by bringing in people with lived experiences to share, while also making sure that the mental health professionals it brings onboard can also share in a way that is simple and human. Besides these talks, it also creates mental health content on its social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, and runs an annual CalmCon festival to promote well-being for your whole being.
One of its ongoing community programmes is Calm Circles, essentially facilitated conversations to support mental well-being, so that people can come together and talk about their struggles in a non-judgmental space. The facilitator takes the group through a certain theme, whether it’s navigating changes, drawing boundaries, or self-introspection, before they go into smaller breakout groups of five to six people. Ultimately, the whole experience is really to connect, share and learn from each other. “We want people to know that they’re not alone in their struggles. And as a community, we can lean on each other for support and build that strength together,” says Ooi.
Calm Collective’s more recent work is bringing its programmes and training into the workplace. “Managers really play a big role in fostering an environment of psychological safety so that people feel like they can ask for help and share their mental health struggles, whether it’s burnout or stress,” says Ooi. “We are educating and training managers to provide safe spaces at work and also bring the peer support programme within our corporate organisations.”
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The biggest enabler for Ooi to getting through difficult times has been gratitude. “Being intentional about carving out time to ask myself what I’m grateful for has really helped me weather through the toughest times.” She spends two minutes in the mornings journalling, asking herself three questions: What am I letting go of? What are three things I am grateful for? What am I focusing on today? And repeats the process at night before sleep, replacing the last question with: What am I looking forward to?
“There are five scientifically proven things that one can do for their mental health—and three of them are free: sleep, exercise and meditation. The next two are therapy, and medication (if you get a diagnosis). Putting that in place makes you realise that it’s not all in the head, it’s also in the body,” says Ooi.
So what is she looking forward to in 2023? Ooi hopes to grow the impact of Calm Collective by empowering and enabling more communities to support each other through their mental health journeys. “I’m grateful that the world has started to get curious about mental health and well-being—it’s about time.”
As Senior Editor of Tatler Singapore, Hashirin champions and refines the storytelling across platforms—curating and crafting compelling profiles, cover stories and features that spotlight visionaries shaping culture, business and impact. Driven by curiosity, she draws inspiration from the artists, changemakers and trailblazers she encounters through her work. Beyond the pages of Tatler, she is an avid supporter of local theatre and delights in seeking out art in every city she visits.
