I'm Kanoa Greene, a body-positive fitness trainer, and here's a piece of my mind
THIS INSTAGRAM INFLUENCER IS CHEERING WOMEN ON IN THE FITNESS SPACE — WHILE ALSO TAKING CARE OF HER MENTAL HEALTH
By Kristina Benoist
Welcome to our Piece Of My Mind series where experts, advocates, and amazing people from all backgrounds and professions share a snapshot of their mental health. We dive into their self-care routines, how they balance their work with their mental health, and how they manage those really bad days. We’re sharing this piece of their mind so that you can hopefully find some inspiration in your own mental health journey moving forward.
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Kanoa Greene is a face of positivity and light in the world of Instagram. Her goal? To encourage people — in whatever way that may be.
With a focus on fitness, outdoor adventures, and body positivity, Kanoa has been breaking the mold of what it means to be an influencer. As you scroll through her social media, you find nothing but inspiration, encouragement, and acceptance.
We sat down with Kanoa to learn more about how she manages her mental health, the ways that she takes care of herself while also encouraging others, and how she continues to navigate being her most authentic, genuine, and joyful self in the world of social media.
This is Kanoa Greene, and here’s a piece of her mind.
IDONTMIND (IDM): How is your mental health today? What's your headspace like?
Kanoa Greene (KG): Today's a good day. Amazingly. I had a lot to do today, so I got some sleep last night and that always helps. With the pandemic and then all the trauma of everything happening in the world, it feels like every week there's something. We're absorbing so much trauma. I constantly have to tell myself that when I want to not be productive. I just have to remember, we're going through a lot of stuff. Yesterday I wasn’t on social media a lot and I took some time to really sleep, so today I’m feeling good.
IDM: Tell us a little bit about yourself and your work.
KG: Yes. I am just a woman on a mission to encourage other women. Encouraging is my gift. Once I realized that is the thing that I can offer the world, I want to continue pouring it out into the universe and I just continue to do it with persistence. And it looks a lot of different ways and I'm totally open to it. So that's why it's come in the form of fitness and just being positive during a time where we need it. Even if it was just encouraging fellow entrepreneurs or just any woman who needs it. If you need a cheerleader, that’s me. However I can lend myself to encouraging women for the greater good and to hopefully leave the world a better place.
For a while, I was in pursuit of what I thought I wanted, which was Opera and academia. I finally realized that it was just not working for me — it was exhausting. And I didn't know what I wanted. I didn't have a blueprint for what it looks like to create a life that fuels me, especially as a woman. I realized it’s not about a job or a career, but it's something that allows me to have purpose. And so that's when fitness kind of fell into my lap, I just knew I wanted to help other women. I think growing up I had a lack of connection with women, and I felt that I really needed that. So I gravitated towards connecting with other women, and fitness kind of made those connections fall into place. I never thought I'd be in fitness because I'm a fat, black girl! But it kind of just happened.
I went into it with a lot of self-doubt and it took time, but slowly the layers came off. And I was finding a lot of strength and joy in that. I realized there's not a lot of women that look like me doing what I’m doing. So I had to ask myself, ‘What happens if I continue to open myself up and be vulnerable to being an example?’ Hopefully, that opens the door for other women. So that’s kind of how different things have just come into my life.
IDM: What does a normal day look like for you right now?
KG: I take a lot of time for myself. Especially since I’m working for myself. I’ve always thought it’s so important to take 15 or 30 minutes just for me at the beginning of the day. I think, as women, it’s really hard to allow ourselves to have space. So, for me, I really try not to take a call or a meeting before noon because I just want to be in my space. I can’t pour energy into other people before I give myself that energy first.
So I start the day with meditation and yoga — for as long as I need to. I also do a lot of journaling and listening to music. That just fills my heart and gets me inspired for the day. And I'll just take that time before.
Then it's hopping into social media and emails and all of the meetings. It's literally just mayhem after that. And that's kind of how it is for the rest of the day. Then I have to, at some point, cut it off, and I really try to be consistent with that. But I try to give my brain time to decompress. And so at that time it’s definitely stretching, yoga, foam rolling, maybe a bath, definitely listening to a book. Right now I'm listening to Cicely Tyson's autobiography. It just kind of helps my mind focus on something other than just what I have to do or what I've already done. And that's kind of what the day looks like.
“I really cherish alone time and giving myself time to process. With social media, Zoom chats, work emails, TV, Netflix, we don’t give ourselves time to just sit with our thoughts. That’s when I have the most character-changing moments.”
IDM: What was your first experience really thinking about mental health?
KG: It really was in Grad School. I really had to face that there was such a thing, right? You don't realize it's an actual thing until you're breaking down and you don't even know why. I was an Opera singer at the time, and I would go into voice lessons and would just be crying. It was like, ‘Why are you having a breakdown every single time you're in here?’ And that's when it was suggested for me to go to a counselor. And I think I realized, there’s something else other than me just feeling happy. There's something in me that may be a little broken, and that's okay.
So that was really the first time I realized that I had to take care of my body, but I also had to take care of my mind too. It really needs a lot of tending. And it's something that I’ve focused on since then in some form, in some way.
IDM: Your work is very focused on social media. And obviously that can take a toll on your mental health. So how do you balance your work with taking care of your mental health?
KG: Yeah, that's something I've really had to learn how to navigate. I think when you delve into social media — and especially as you become an influencer — you realize the negativity and hate are going to happen. Thankfully it hasn’t happened so much in my space, because I try to cultivate a loving environment. I made the decision that I won’t ever give energy to negative comments. I have no problem with blocking people. I've been that way since day one when I had three followers. I want my profile to feel like a safe space. Not only for me but for the people who come to that community. I’m never going to be the person that brings attention to or shouts out the people that are being hurtful. I always think, ‘Would Oprah do that? I don't think so.’ The question is, is this going to help us move forward or not? And if it doesn't then I just try to protect my energy and not let it impact me.
IDM: What are a few ways that you self-care? How did you find them, and how did you realize that they worked for you?
KG:
JOURNALING
I started journaling probably in 2006. I had this terrible breakup and was an emotional wreck. I don't remember who suggested it to me, but I started doing that every day and it has really stayed with me. So it used to be just journaling in notebooks, now it's on my laptop and it's in Google Notes. It's just a way for me to talk out whatever’s on my heart that day. I usually do it in the morning because I feel like that's when it hasn't been influenced by anything else yet. It's really truly my thoughts.
I really cherish alone time and giving myself time to process. With social media, Zoom chats, work emails, TV, Netflix, we don't give ourselves time to just sit with our thoughts. That's when I have the most character-changing moments. I give myself time to really work through my thoughts, right? Like a therapist. I'm not seeing a therapist every single day — I can't afford that. So I get to become my own therapist. I ask a lot of questions, “How do I feel about that? How can I be better? How can I be a better advocate? What are the sticking points that I'm just having problems working through? Why am I so overly critical of myself and other people? How can I move past that?” There's just so much, and we can't do that work if we don't ever give ourselves the time to actually do it.
MUSIC
Music is also something that's always resonated with me. I feel like when you hear the right song that kind of matches how you’re feeling, it brings something out of you. I always go to it. Music just inspires me and moves me. It also drums up emotions that maybe I've been trying to push down and not face. It allows me to be really in an emotion.
READING
I also love just reading. Lately, I've been into autobiographies especially. I’ve loved just being able to hear thoughts from these super-human people like Maya Angelou and Cicely Tyson. And I love that when I listen to their stories, you realize that they’ve struggled with self-doubt and their mental health too. It reminds me that we’re all the same, and the struggles that I'm going through and the things that I'm feeling right now are relevant. And I'm not the only one.
“I’ve always needed to be a perfectionist. I needed to go, go, go and do, do, do. And that’s been a lifelong journey of practice and taking my own advice to just slow down and step back.”
IDM: Is there anything that you know that you should be doing and you just can't get yourself to do it?
KG: Having any kind of organizational system would be really nice. Every day I'm like, ‘Hmm, someday.’ I always think about people who have great tracking systems and organized calendars. I'm just not that girl at all.
IDM: Let’s say you’re having a really bad day, you just wake up and you know that you aren't feeling right. What is the first thing that you do to try and get your mental health back in a good space?
KG: It's just taking a moment to ask myself what’s really going on. So yesterday was a combination of a few things. Sleep really affects me, and I was running on just a couple of hours of sleep. So I had to ask myself, ‘Is this really how you’re feeling? Is this an emotion, or is it a physical thing?’ Some days maybe I just need to drink some water and get some rest.
I'm really good at setting boundaries. I want people to get the best from me, so I ask myself whether or not I have to do something. If I don’t, then I just block off the day. I think we all just feel so obligated to things. And we think it's the end of the world if we don't show up or do that one thing or answer that one email. And I'm like, ‘No, it’s really not that important most of the time.’
IDM: So does it come naturally to prioritize your mental health? Or do you think you still just really have to work on it?
KG: I definitely have to work at it. I’ve always needed to be a perfectionist. I needed to go, go, go and do, do, do. And that's been a lifelong journey of practice and taking my own advice to just slow down and step back. I have to remind myself that I can choose not to be present for two days if I need to. I don't have to respond to every single comment or every single DM. I don't have to have the most perfect post twice a day.
I do what I do to serve people. And I can only do that if I’m at my best. I want to do it as my best and most authentic, genuine, and joyful self. I have to make sure that I protect my mental health so other people can experience positivity and joy through me.