The Meru Health CEO and founder, Kristian Ranta, has been a healthcare entrepreneur for 12 years, running a digital clinic for mental health and selling a medical device business. He says he was never burned out being an entrepreneur, neither he suffered from anxiety. Only once he had experienced the symptoms of depression during a business pivot.
According to a study published by Dr. Michael Freeman at the University of California San Francisco, nearly 49 percent of those who established a company struggled with some degree of mental health issues in the past, while 72 percent of entrepreneurs had mental health concerns.
The CEO of Meru Health explains that he has developed his own framework to tackle mental health issues throughout his entrepreneurial journey. He shares his framework, hoping that it could help other entrepreneurs as well.
Psychotherapy
After losing his brother to depression, he decided to undergo psychotherapy. He ended up seeking treatment for nearly three years. He said it was one of his best decisions because psychotherapy helped him process his sorrows and let go. Overall, he started feeling good during the process of therapy, which also helped him restructure harmful thoughts and learn to know himself better.
Meditation
Kristian started practicing meditation 12 years ago. He became interested in meditation through a yoga class, which he had attended in Finland. He started practicing it regularly and began to notice remarkable changes in his sleep, emotions, regulation, happiness, anxiety levels, depression and energy. He started having good clarity of thought. He recommends daily meditation, starting with a few minutes a day to slowly building it up to 15 to 30 minutes a day.
Vipassana
While practicing regular meditation, Ranta learned about Vipassana meditation. Vipassana is practiced at meditation retreats, which last 10 days, including 10 hours of daily meditation with a vow of silence. He did his first Vipassana retreat in 2016 in Sweden. He did because he had a few depressive symptoms. After just a few days of Vipassana, he felt good and experienced no symptoms of depression.
These have been the biggest moments of his life so far. Additionally, Kristian wanted to share a few daily solutions that can help overcome stress and other emotional disturbances that we often face.
Fall asleep quickly: It is difficult to fall asleep when we are stressed out. He advises breathing technique when you are lying in bed, which involves inhaling slowly and deeply while counting to four, holding the breath while counting to seven, and exhaling while counting to eight. This breathing technique offers complete relaxation. He also recommends sleeping for at least eight hours a night.
Healthy diet: Apart from practicing daily meditation and getting enough sleep, he says a healthy diet is key to increase mental clarity and energy levels. He has been following a diet advised by Dr. Drew Ramsey, which includes eating whole foods, avoiding processed foods, eating greens vegetables, and more importantly, going organic.
Compassion, gratefulness and happiness: Studies have found that compassion and gratitude change your mind and improve your life as well as relationships. Every morning, he holds his hands to his chest/heart and thinks of at least two to three things that make him happy. His story and tips could be useful if you are facing mental health issues in your life. More importantly, you must know that you are not alone, there are plenty who are struggling, and there is no shame in seeking support.
