Cheyenne

One Foot Forward participant, Cheyenne, is no stranger to the challenges of navigating mental health. 

“I know what it’s like to be lost. I know what it is like to be silently struggling yet simply smiling. To carry the weight, and the trauma.” 

Cheyenne has experienced anxiety for as long as she can remember. Her relationship with her mental health has shifted across her life, as parenthood, family, work and unexpected circumstances shaped how she experienced it over time. 

“I have always had issues with repetitive thought since I was a young kid. I still struggle with this part of my brain...I can be stuck like this for days at a time, and when my anxiety peaks so does the tight swirling in my chest. Over years of living with this, I started to get really sick. I was living in a very toxic marriage with three kids under 5 and was too proud to admit that I was withdrawn, depressed, tired and hurting.” 

Cheyenne was beginning to feel the cracks at the edges. Between 2017 and 2018, she was faced with new hardships that had a significant toll on her physical and mental wellbeing and relationships.  

“At the end of 2017, I was involved in a serious accident and I was not in a good way. After a major surgery, I relearnt how to walk and move. In the same time period, I separated from my past husband. Although this was absolutely necessary, it was hard and tore me apart. I had no idea who I was on my own. I had no confidence in myself and I was slipping into a deep depression. Fast forward a couple of months I went a few nights with almost no sleep, my anxiety was peaking and I was not myself.” 

Without the right tools or support, Cheyenne found herself in her darkest time yet. She 
credits her kids for giving her the clarity and strength to pull through.

“I heard the sweet little voice of my daughter, who was three at the time, say one word… “Mummy”.

I thought of my three beautiful children who very much needed me there to support them and get them through the rough journey they were facing. In that instant, my brain kicked back into normal mode. I called my mum and told her that I needed to go to the hospital, and I was struggling.”

After reaching out for help, Cheyenne found support and got the right help from the doctor she was assigned at the hospital.

“He taught me how to build an invisible tool kit to tweak my repetitive thought structure, and self-affirmation exercises to help me to love myself again. I still use the techniques I 
learnt in hospital and I believe that this has made a huge difference to how I diffuse or cope with my anxiety. It was both the hardest and bravest thing I have ever done.”

After facing her lowest lows, Cheyenne has climbed her way back to the highest highs. 
When she joined One Foot Forward in 2020 after the loss of a friend to suicide, she realised she had found a passionate, supportive community who were equally determined to help others find the same support that had got her back on her own feet.

“The One Foot Forward community is a beautiful and encouraging network. We support each other, we cheer each other on, we speak about our personal journeys without  judgement and we share our achievements.

Plus, walking every day in October makes me feel happier, healthier and refreshed. It’s one way I can change my whole day around, from feeling tired and low, to being positive and smiling. Being outside and in touch with nature is a way that I try to reset myself, especially when my own head is stuck in anxiety mode. By putting my headphones on, choosing a positive and upbeat playlist and getting my endorphins going, really helps me to break that cycle and give myself a break from my thoughts. 

In my first year, I was determined to succeed with both the kilometer goal and the donations. I started asking local businesses if they would join my team of sponsors. I also organise an End of Walk Party each year, where I host a wine pull, a raffle or lucky squares - all donated by my community. Last year was my largest team of sponsors so far, with 22 local businesses joining “Team Chey” and wanting to be a part of the change. As a thank you for their support, I print each business onto the back of my One Foot Forward t-shirt, showing their support of Black Dog Institute and breaking the stigma, their encouragement and their support for a better future with our mental health. 

I have now raised around $25,000 for the BDI, with $23,000 of that through the One Foot Forward Challenge. I love the support from my community, the joy I feel when I accomplish my targets and the fulfillment of being a part of something that will change the lives of so many people. 

You are not alone, I am not alone and together we can!”