How Meditation Can Help Relieve Symptoms of Stress and Anxiety

In today’s fast-paced society, anxiety and stress have become widespread problems that impact people of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds. While there are many ways to deal with these signs, meditation has become increasingly popular as a successful and all-encompassing strategy. This article looks at how people may use meditation to reduce the signs of stress and anxiety.

Background on Stress and Anxiety

It’s important to comprehend stress and anxiety before exploring how meditation might reduce these symptoms. Stress is the human body’s natural reaction to difficult circumstances and is frequently accompanied by pressure and tension-like emotions. On the other hand, anxiety is a long-lasting condition of excessive worry and dread that can harm your physical and mental wellness. Both worry and stress can harm mental health, resulting in illnesses including depression and panic disorders.

Stress Reduction through Mindfulness Meditation

A popular type of meditation that emphasizes being in the present moment without judgment is mindfulness meditation. People might become more conscious of their feelings and thoughts by concentrating on breathing or physical sensations. They can take a step away from stressful or worrisome thoughts because of their increased awareness, which lessens their effect and intensity. By developing the ability to observe ideas without reacting immediately, mindfulness meditation helps people put a barrier between themselves and their worries.

Anxiety Management with Meditation Techniques

Different meditation methods can help control anxiety. For instance, guided imagery meditation enables people to establish a mental sanctuary where they may block out worried thoughts. When paired with meditation, progressive muscle relaxation can reduce the physical tension frequently linked to worry. Additionally, loving-kindness meditation reduces self-criticism and social anxiety by fostering sentiments of compassion and connection. Every meditation method is useful in a person’s arsenal for managing anxiety.

Improved Emotional Regulation

Improved emotional control is one of meditation’s many advantages. Regular practice can make people less reactive in anxious circumstances and more tolerant of pressures. Emotional intelligence is developed via meditation, which enables people to recognize their feelings while becoming overcome by them. Meditation enables people to respond to difficulties more calmly and equanimously by establishing a conscious distance between emotional inputs and reactions.

Enhancing Coping Strategies

People who meditate have more efficient coping mechanisms. They can respond to difficulties more deliberately and calmly by putting mental distance between themselves and their pressures. It also promotes problem-solving abilities, which are important for controlling stress and anxiety. This lessens impulsive behaviors. The capacity to adapt is another benefit of meditation, which helps people handle life’s challenges with more confidence and resilience.

The Role of Meditation in Preventing Relapse

Meditation can be quite helpful to stop stress and anxiety symptoms from returning. It offers people continuing habits and skills to keep up their mental health. Even after the first symptom alleviation, ongoing meditation can be a preventative measure against further bouts. By incorporating meditation into their everyday routines, people build a robust barrier to the return of stress and anxiety.

Incorporating Meditation into Daily Life

It’s crucial to include meditation in everyday life if you want to benefit from it for stress and anxiety alleviation. Even for a little period each day, developing a regular meditation practice can significantly impact general well-being. Establishing a lasting meditation practice requires finding the correct meditation technique and length that suits individual tastes. With time and effort, meditation may become a regular part of life, helping to relieve tension and anxiety for good.

Professional Guidance and Meditation

It can be highly beneficial for individuals experiencing severe stress and anxiety to seek professional guidance on incorporating meditation into their treatment plan. A person’s unique requirements and aspirations can be met by specially designed meditation techniques and solutions that mental health specialists, such as therapists or counselors, can offer. These experts may also provide insightful information on the psychological benefits of meditation and how it works in conjunction with other therapeutic techniques. A guided talk on meditation with a qualified professional can help tailor meditation practices to an individual’s specific needs and goals, ensuring more effective integration of meditation into their overall wellness plan.

Conclusion

Meditation is effective for achieving inner serenity and tranquility in a society where pressures and anxiety-inducing situations are common. People may successfully manage stress and anxiety by practicing mindfulness, comprehending the science of meditation, and using various meditation practices. Via emotional control and coping mechanisms learned via meditation, a life less burdened by extreme stress and anxiety may become more robust and balanced.

What to Do When Anxiety Starts to Kick In

If you’ve ever felt anxious, you know how scary it is. It starts with one single negative thought and turns into a flood of thoughts that build up tension and negativity. Your breathing quickens, your heart starts to pound, and you can hear it in your ears. It feels like you’re going crazy.

But trust us, you’re not. This is just an anxiety attack. And there are a few tricks you can use at the moment that will shift your focus and calm you down. Read on to learn more about what anxiety is and how to manage it both short- and long-term.

What Is Anxiety?

Anxiety disorder is fairly common, as it affects 30 percent of adults at one point in their lives. Anxiety is defined as a feeling of fear, nervousness, or worry in anticipation of an event or uncertainty of an outcome. It is a normal function in our body that warns us of potential danger.

Experiencing stress during public speaking, for example, is normal. But when it becomes an everyday issue and starts affecting your life, relationships, and even your health, then it becomes a problem.

Breathe

Having a few deep and slow breaths is a way of telling your body to relax. And in the moment of an anxiety attack, that’s exactly what we need — to calm down and simply be present, not thinking about anything, just focusing on the breath.

You might find the 4-7-8 breathing technique useful. You need to breathe in for 4 seconds, then hold your breath for 7 seconds and exhale slowly for 8 seconds. You can do this until you feel calmer.

Get Out of Your Head

There is a simple exercise that can help you get out of your head and focus on the outer world: use your fingers as your name:

● 1 thing you can taste

● 2 things you can smell

● 3 things you can touch

● 4 things you can hear

● 5 things you can see at that moment

Try it out and see how it makes you feel.

Is That Really Important?

We tend to worry about everything, even the things that will not matter tomorrow. So take some time and think if the thing you’re worried about right now will matter in five days, five months, or even five years. It can help you get a different perspective on your worries and give you that much-needed peace of mind.

You Are Not Your Thoughts!

Negative thoughts do not define you. It’s just your brain running wild trying to protect you from all the bad things that can happen. And the truth is, there is a very small percentage of those things ever becoming a reality. So it’s just so much work for nothing. And it’s much healthier to worry about things when they happen than before they manifest. Otherwise, you’re going to worry twice, and that’s just not good for you.

Long-Term Anxiety Management

Now, let’s talk about how we can work on downsizing the grip that anxiety has on us.

Face Your Anxiety

There’s no other way of dealing with anxiety than facing it directly. It might take some time, and you’ll have to try a few things to see what works for you in order to get a better hold of it. Here are some essentials for effectively facing anxiety.

Always Check with Doctors

There’s always a possibility that anxiety is just a symptom of something bigger. So regular checkups should be a priority. If you ignore the main cause, it doesn’t matter if you do every anxiety management exercise we mentioned. This should be a number one rule for life in general, not just when anxiety kicks in. It will definitely rule out some health-related anxiety thoughts.

Sleep, Eat, Exercise

Getting enough sleep, having a healthy diet, and exercising regularly are crucial to combating anxiety. This triad is the pillar of most issues today, so these should be the first things to start working on.

● Going to bed early in a dark and quiet space is the best option. Try to eliminate any stimulants that can affect your sleep.

● Caffeine and sugar can stimulate your anxiety, so they should be cut off or reduced from your diet.

● When it comes to exercise, it is proven that physical activity reduces feelings of anxiety. You just need to get the green light from your doctor, and you’re good to go.

Take Care of Yourself

You can have a bubble bath or some tea time while reading a book, but still, the most important thing about taking care of yourself is learning to say no. Not setting boundaries can be the root cause of all your anxiety and stress. Know your limits and remember that your needs are equally important as everyone else’s.

Remove It from Your System

Try talking to someone about it, or simply journal it. Different voices can help us see a different perspective on the issue and help us better understand the problem we are dealing with. Or maybe you just need to get it out of your system, and pen and paper are perfect for venting. After that, you can leave it aside and go along with your day.

In Closing

This is not something you master overnight; it needs some time and patience. So be patient with yourself. Be kind and understanding. Talk to yourself as you would with your best friend. It might take some practice, but it will be worth it. So take a deep breath and start having that conversation.

About The Author

Sarah is a life enjoyer, a positivity seeker, and a curiosity enthusiast. She is passionate about an eco-friendly lifestyle and adores her cats. She is an avid reader who loves to travel when time allows.

How to Use Crystals and Gemstones for Anxiety & Stress

Crystals are versatile and can be used for many purposes, such as protection, manifesting success and wealth, self-discovery, connecting to yourself, enhancing intuition, and so much more. So it’s no surprise that crystals can be great tools for coping with anxiety, fear, and stress.

If you struggle with anxiety in social situations, intrusive negative thoughts, stress from overworking, or going through a difficult life period, you might want to learn how to use crystals for these issues.

So don’t hesitate to incorporate crystals and gemstones into your daily life and harness their energies to deal with tension and anxiety and improve your mental and physical well-being.

Meditate with crystals for anxiety and stress

You might already know that a meditation routine can help you relax and become more aware of what triggers your anxiety and stress. It can improve focus and your body-mind connection.

But adding crystals to your mindfulness routine can enhance the positive effects of meditation and infuse your body with calming, gentle energies. And if you have never tried meditating with a crystal, you can start small with a crystal palm stone (no need to have all of your chakra centers covered in gemstones).

Sit comfortably and hold a crystal palm stone in your hands. Take a few deep breaths. Feel the air flowing through your nose, throat, and lungs, then breathe normally. Focus on how the crystal feels, and bring your attention back whenever your mind wanders. The point is to stay in the present moment and use the stone as an anchor.

Recommended palm stones for stress and anxiety

The following palm stones carry gentle vibes known to alleviate overwhelming stress and anxiety. You can start meditation with which one of them better resonates with you.

Amethyst palm stone – has calming, anti-stress, and healing properties. It’s an excellent meditation stone for people struggling with generalized anxiety and depression.

Sodalite palm stone – its energy is soothing and supporting for those who struggle with panic attacks and are overall sensitive to stress. Combine sodalite with meditation to strengthen the mind and achieve emotional balance.

Selenite palm stone – will help you relax and clear your worries during meditation. It has a pure vibe that can heal on all levels. And if you want to meditate with more than one stone, selenite will purify and amplify the energy of your crystals.

Start journaling with crystals to reduce stress and anxiety

Another way of using crystals for anxiety and meditation is while journaling. Keeping a journal is a beneficial self-care habit and can help those struggling with anxiety, depression, and stress express and manage their emotions.

Journaling can also improve self-confidence and help you observe and recognize the thoughts that increase anxiety and stress. You can enrich your journaling practice with crystals that carry calming energies, give you a clear mind and improve self-expression.

So choose the crystal you wish to use for journaling and place it on the pages for a few minutes before starting writing. Or you can have the crystal on your desk while writing if you want the gemstone to infuse your aura with its energy all the time.

There is also the option of holding a small crystal in your hand while writing with the other hand. You can write in your journal using crystals this way if you want to feel the stone closer to your mind and body.

Recommended crystal for journaling to reduce anxiety

If you wonder what crystals are best for journaling to reduce your anxiety and stress, you might want to consider the following stones:

Blue lace agate – helps you communicate and express yourself without tension and frustration. Blue lace agate crystals are nurturing and supportive, perfect for anxious people trying to put their experiences into words.

Amazonite – is one of the best crystals for opening and balancing the Throat Chakra. Amazonite can help you better express your emotions, improve self-esteem and distill fear of judgment. It can alleviate stress and anxiety caused by perfectionism and negative opinions of oneself.

Lapis lazuli – is a crystal for those who want to improve their self-awareness through journaling to learn how to deal with anxiety. It also helps with discovering your inner truth and purpose, which is helpful if you tend to become easily depressed.

Wear crystal jewelry to ease anxiety and tension

Wearing a crystal with a calming and serene vibe as jewelry can maintain good moods and ward off negative thoughts that trigger anxiety and stress. This is also a simple way of incorporating crystals into your lifestyle and improving your overall mental and spiritual well-being.

A rose quartz bracelet is easy to wear and efficiently supports self-love and compassion. In difficult situations, rose quartz will teach you how to treat yourself gently, take care of yourself, and prioritize your needs.

Black tourmaline pendants are great for protection as they clear negative energies and help resolve inner conflicts. It can support your aura in stressful moments and nourish your body by strengthening your immune system.

Caribbean blue calcite pendants are great for calming the mind and balancing emotions. You can wear it for its healing, serene vibes, and ability to relieve body tension.

And if you are not keen on wearing jewelry, you can always take a worry stone or crystal grumpy stone with you in your pocket. It will help your ease anxiety and put a smile on your face.

Relax with gemstone candles and herbs

Taking time for self-care and relaxation can improve your anxiety and stress symptoms. You can take a few minutes every day or a few hours per week and just relax, do something you enjoy, and reconnect with your inner world.

Candles containing crystals, dry herbs, and even essential oils can improve the quality of your self-care habits and bring peace of mind. They are also cute and can create that self-pampering cozy vibe any anxious or stressed person can enjoy.

So here are some examples of using gemstone candles for relaxation and quality alone time:

● Use lavender and clear quartz candles when taking a bubble bath.

● Use scented organic wax metals with chakra crystals during yoga or meditation.

● Keep a candle with amethyst crystal, chamomile flowers, and essential oils close to you when enjoying your hobby.

● Burn a candle containing Rhodonite crystals, Juniper Berry, and Bergamot when reading a self-help book or writing about self-forgiveness

● Celebrate small moments and achievements with a candle that contains crystals such as amazonite, amethyst, blue lace agate, carnelian, citrine, and rose quartz.

Follow intuition when choosing crystals

There are many ways to use crystals to improve your ability to cope with stress and anxiety. But your intuition is the most important thing when choosing which crystals to use and how.

You are in charge of telling which method and gemstone work for you, so don’t hesitate to choose based on your gut feeling and search for whatever benefits you. So when you go shopping for crystals, observe how you feel around the stones, which speak to you and attract you into interacting with them. And when you don’t feel your intuition sharp enough, don’t worry. Guidance can come from unexpected places.

About the author

Xenia Mateiu is the founder of Village Rock Shop, a gift shop based in Carlsbad, California. In the gift shop, you will find a variety of crystals, gemstones, geodes, and other locally made crystal products that can help with finding peace of mind, relieving tension, stress, and anxiety, and improving mental and spiritual well-being.

I Have ‘High-Functioning Anxiety’ & Here’s How It Affects My Everyday Life

Most people don’t know that I have anxiety unless I tell them. I don’t seem like your “typical person with anxiety,” – or, whatever that means. Most people are shocked when I bring up my anxiety problems with them because, I don’t really struggle or function like the people in most stories, narratives or conversations typically do. But, that doesn’t mean that my anxiety problems are any less real or raw than others. Ever since I was young, I have always felt like my mind, my body and my life was on “over-drive.” I grew up in a very chaotic home and my childhood was never truly “stable.” With divorced parents, numerous financial issues, social struggles and other occurrences that most children don’t typically go through – I always felt as though I was “different.” After struggling for years, my mom thought that at 12-years-old, it’d be worth it for me to go “talk to someone” and see a therapist.

After years of therapy and seeing numerous specialists, I’ve been told by several doctors that I have what is known as “high functioning anxiety.” From an outsiders’ point of view, I’m a perfectionist, an ambitious worker, a social butterfly, a strong woman, a “happy-go-lucky” person, an organized individual. From a therapist’s point of view, I use work, conversations, risky decisions and non-stop schedules to mask my anxious thoughts.

Throughout my life, I have always been the girl from my small neighborhood that succeeded. Parents would always stop me when they’d run into me and say how “impressed” they were with how much I’ve achieved. Friends would reach out on Facebook and tell me how much they read my work and how awesome it was to know someone who writes for so many sites. My family would constantly speak about me in praise because I had pushed myself to succeed so well. If you looked at me, you’d never know that the majority of my accomplishments were parallel with an anxiety disorder I had struggled with and masked for years on end. While it may seem like anxiety typically is filled with despair, the kind of anxiety I had been told I deal with is “high-functioning,” which means, the majority of my disorder is masked with success. Along the way, I’ve learned a lot about myself, my anxiety and how to cope with it on an everyday basis.

My schedule is always packed because being busy means I have less time to think.

Ever since I was in high school, my schedule was jam-packed with things to do. I worked a few nights a week while in high school at a local pizzeria to keep busy. When I went to college, I picked up two more jobs while going to school full-time. Working or going to school 7-days per week kept me always running to do something and be somewhere that was important. It wasn’t the type of commitment where I could wake up and decide not to go. If I didn’t show up to a job, I would be fired. If I didn’t show up to school, I’d fail out. I kept myself preoccupied in order to keep myself constantly busy – which left my thoughts at bay and my anxieties at rest.

I have a lot of friends, yet I don’t see them very often.

Many people assume those with anxiety don’t have many friends or social circles because they get anxiety when it comes to making friends and keeping them. This couldn’t be further from the truth. I grew up being friends with several different circles and still maintain a lot of the friendships I had from middle school, high school and beyond. However, I don’t always see them. In fact, a lot of times, I don’t. Being someone with high-functioning anxiety, I feel if I’m not being productive, I’m wasting my time. Although seeing my friends is not unproductive, I do feel as though there are moments where they will cancel, or they’re late, and I have wasted my day or my time.

I have little “ticks” that most people think are just bad habits.

My mind is constantly on overdrive, and because of that, so are my habits. When I am sitting around watching TV or a movie in which I’m not doing a lot, my mind begins to scatter and I feel like I need to do something. My worst habit is that I pick skin or bite skin on my lip – it’s been a bad tick of mine since I was young. Everyone who knows me knows that it’s something I do – especially my family – and I’ve even had to get medication to heal the cuts that appear when I’ve been “picking” too much.

It sounds extremely gross, but it’s not something that I’m necessarily proud of (or feel comfortable sharing with the entire world, so congrats) but, it’s something that many people also go through. Some people pick at their cuticles or bite their nails, some people twirl their hair – and although it seems like just a “bad habit,” it can also be the sign of a deeper problem.

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How to Cope with Noise Sensitivity

While no one can say that they like loud noises, there are a lot of people who have a particularly high tolerance for it. On the other end of this spectrum, there are people with sound phobias, or at least those who have strong noise sensitivity.

Needless to say, living with noise sensitivity in the 21st century is far from ideal. That’s because we’re surrounded by loud noises from all sides. On the other hand, thanks to all the gadgets, materials, and technology available, you now have more means than ever to deal with this particular problem.

With that in mind and without further ado, here are a couple of methods you can use in order to cope with noise sensitivity.

What Causes Noise Sensitivity?

There are a number of factors that may serve as a cause of noise sensitivity. For some people, as they age, there’s a change to their hearing. Others experience traumatic events due to exposure to loud noise (or accompanied by a loud noise). There are also various medications that can cause such an effect. Lastly, head trauma, Lyme disease, as well as some other diseases may also be a cause of noise sensitivity. In some scenarios, autism may also cause hyperacusis.

The cause of noise sensitivity also affects your future course of action. For instance, noise sensitivity caused by a traumatic event may be healed (at least partially) through extensive therapy. When it comes to physiological causes, your options may be limited. For this reason, you have to adopt a couple of coping mechanisms to help you out.

Learn How to Cope with It

The first thing you need to do is learn how to cope with noise sensitivity. You see, noise sensitivity is not unlike anxiety. It is something that you can’t really “cure” but only learn how to live with. The key thing you need to keep in mind here is that your approach needs to be gradual. The first thing you need to do is understand one thing – overprotecting from loud noises will make things worse in the long run.

Instead of avoiding all these loud noises, you need to start systematically exposing yourself to the sounds you hate. We are, of course, talking about the low intensity of these noises in a controlled environment and of your own volition. These three factors can make even the worst of noises bearable.

Other than this, seeing as how we’ve mentioned that noise sensitivity is similar to anxiety (actually, in some cases, the sensation it causes is similar in symptoms, as well), you might want to use some anti-anxiety techniques. Relaxation, breathing exercises, and mindfulness are just some of these methods you should try out. While this may seem like a lot of work for a modest payoff, it’s really the best you’ve got. After all, loud noises won’t just magically disappear from your life, which means that you need to learn how to cope with them.

Prepare Your Home

Your home is a safe environment (or at least it should be). We previously mentioned that you might want to gradually expose yourself to louder noises, but in order to get a chance to do so, you need to have a silent basis where you can withdraw when you’re not feeling like it.

Installing acoustic panels in your home and soundproofing it, in general, will make the place a lot quieter. It will also make it more resilient to outside noise like traffic, fireworks, and neighborhood events. Needless to say, the location of your home is also pivotal. Living near an industrial zone or an airport is the last thing you want as a person with photosensitivity. In this scenario, relocating might be the best move.

Also, when buying home appliances, you might want to do extra research on just how loud they are. Keep in mind that this is something that most people won’t ask about, which is why the majority of manufacturers and retailers don’t even put it in the features description. For you, however, this information could be life-changing.

Prepare to Go Outside

Going outside can be a quite unpleasant experience for a person with noise sensitivity, but there are a couple of things you can do to make it all more bearable.

First of all, you might want to invest in good noise-canceling headphones. Wireless headphones are more convenient for the outdoors, and you will have an easy time connecting/combining them to your mobile device. This way, you can create a much more pleasant environment without overinvesting or taking any steps that you can deem as too complex.

You also need to watch out for the daily schedule and a calendar. National holidays, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, etc., are just some periods throughout the year when the outside noise will be more intense. Also, there are some times of the day which are naturally quieter than the rest. Being out during the rush hour, for instance, is a terrible idea for someone who is noise-sensitive.

Look for Noise Treatment Therapy

It goes without saying that you need noise treatment therapy. While this may not be able to cure you completely, it can make a world of difference. For instance, professional sound therapy can expose you to low-level sounds that will help with your habituation. Then, there’s cognitive behavioral therapy that helps you focus on changing emotions and behaviors.

The key thing here is that you make an active effort to make a change for the better instead of just accepting that you are noise-sensitive. At the very least, you should talk to a medical professional. This condition usually has other problems that come with it, including things like OCD and PTSD. Either way, it’s something worth checking out.

Minimize Stress

While noise sensitivity is not necessarily caused by stress or anxiety, you are bound to be even more sensitive under a lot of stress. Avoiding stressful and stress-inducing situations can help you become more focused on the task ahead (in this case, the task is coping).

Being sleep-deprived is also something that can make you more sensitive. Keep in mind that any factor that makes you irritable will make the scenario worse. So, try to lead a calmer lifestyle. Previously, we’ve discussed the importance of mindfulness, and now it’s time that we stress it out again. Being creative when it comes to taking care of your mental health is always a good idea. After all, everyone could benefit from a different approach.

What you’re trying to do is strengthen your psyche as a whole. Here, you should use whatever means you see necessary.

In Conclusion

In the end, you need to start by simply accepting that noise sensitivity is a serious problem and that it is something that will affect your lifestyle on a daily basis. Fortunately, while the problem may be impossible to solve for good, there are a lot of situational fixes that could make a massive difference.

Adopting effective coping mechanisms, optimizing your home, and learning how to make a better daily/yearly schedule could change everything. Strengthening yourself mentally and changing your lifestyle are also good ideas. It takes a lot of work to cope with noise sensitivity, but the results are worth it.

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About The Author

Stacey is a freelance writer living in Minnesota with her cat, and she’s passionate about yoga, languages, home improvement, and drinking strong coffee. Find her on Twitter @StaceyShann0n

Simple Ways to Relieve Stress and Anxiety

Your days can now be highly stressful, whether you are in the United States or elsewhere in the world. Who knows what will happen next at work or at home, let alone in the fields of medicine and economics? We’d be walking around with grins on our faces if we could just relax our muscles and thoughts. It would be simple to go asleep at night since one’s thoughts would be worry-free. Improved sleep would be beneficial to that person’s energy level and cognitive abilities throughout the day.

Stress is an inevitable aspect of life, from little setbacks to severe emergencies. While you may not always have control over your circumstances, you do have power over how you react to them.

When stress becomes severe or persistent, it can have a negative impact on your health. That is why it is critical to have stress relievers that can both soothe your mind and body.

Fortunately, there are simple techniques for dealing with stress in everyday life.

Meditate

Short-term stress alleviation and long-term stress management are both provided by meditation. There are many various types of meditation to explore, each with its own set of benefits.

You could come up with a mantra to repeat in your head while taking calm, deep breaths. You might also spend a few minutes practicing mindfulness, which is being present in the moment. Simply focus on what you see, hear, taste, feel, and smell.

You won’t be able to obsess on something that has already happened, and you won’t be able to be concerned about something that will happen in the future if you are focused on the present. Meditation and mindfulness take effort, but they can help you reduce stress by bringing you back to the present moment.

Stay away from news overload.

It’s one thing to keep up with breaking news like a pandemic or a presidential election, but it’s quite another to check for updates every 5 minutes. Avoid such pages throughout the workplace, whether it’s a respected publication or a friend’s social network profile. Otherwise, searching for the most recent update will become obsessional. What you need to do is set aside some time each morning or evening to keep up with current events. If you don’t want to miss an important occasion, rely on friends, family, or even internet notifications to keep you informed. Ignorance isn’t necessarily a good thing.

Get some exercise.

Working out your body and mind is always beneficial to one’s mental health. You don’t have to bench press 300 pounds, but you should do a few sets of push-ups and lift a little weight. Before you spend an arm and a leg on a nice treadmill or gym subscription, start in your bedroom and around your neighborhood. Exercising is an excellent method to release all of the adrenaline in your body. Stretching and breathing activities, such as yoga, can also help to relax an individual.

Get Supplements

Some individuals like munching on chocolate bars, delighting in the ideal balance of sweet and salty flavors. Then there are the candy addicts who can’t get enough of anything chewy, gooey, or gummy. Gummy candies appear to be gaining in popularity, and there’s now a gummy candy in almost every shape you can think of.

CBD products have risen in popularity in recent years, so you’ve definitely heard of them. It makes sense, given the availability of a high-quality CBD product. These medicines not only completely calm the user’s body and mind, but they also eliminate the euphoric effects of THC. If you’re new to CBD, try a variety of products, such as colorful Delta 8 Gummies and a quick-acting CBD oil tincture, as well as CBD vape oil, capsules, droppers, topicals, and bath bombs, to find your favorites. You may rest confident that cannabidiol will help you relax fully.

Don’t wait for others to encourage you.

Sure, getting a little comfort and a pat on the back from others is always nice. However, you can take solace in the fact that your efforts will yield long-term benefits that you may be proud of. You will sell yourself short if you are constantly concerned about pleasing others. To put it another way, rather of attempting to make others happy, do the right thing. Think like a philosopher: It’s better to take the long, winding route to get ahead than the short, straight path. You’ll sleep like a baby if you have a clear conscience. And we’re all aware of the beneficial advantages of enough rest on our bodies.

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About The Author

Esmé Gelder has dreamed of being a pediatrician since she was a little girl making rounds with her mother. She grew up in St. Louis and then she received her medical degree from St. Louis University School of Medicine and completed her pediatric residency at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Medical Center.

Top 10 Things To Never To Say To Somone With Anxiety

1.“You’re faking it.”

No, no I am not “faking it”, do you really think I like to have my chest tighten up, my breathing to become irregular, and my heart to feel like it is about explode? No, no I do not. I’m not faking it, so kindly fuck off, k? K. Byeeeee.

2. “You just want attention.”

Yeah, cause I totally want to have all eyes on me, pity and fear from anyone around me, watching me struggle to catch my breath and my thoughts, not being able to form words, sweat beading my forehead, and my entire being freaking out. Yeah I loveeeeee the attention, NOT. Go on with your judging ass self.

3. “Calm down.”

Haven’t you learned by now, telling anyone to calm down is just going to piss that person off more. Like I can control my freak outs? Like I want to freak out? Yeah, I’ll just “calm down” ‘cause you told me to…Bye Felicia.

4. “It’s going to be okay.”

Is it? How do you know? Why would you say that when I, deep down, know I am going to be okay, but in my current state, I can’t breath, I can’t talk, and I can barely process what is going on around me because everything seems like I’m in a long tunnel, and all noises sound like I’m under water, so don’t tell me it’s going to be okay.

5. “Why are you freaking out?”

Do you think if I truly knew why I was freaking out, I would have already tried to find a solution to fix that problem? Sometimes anxiety hits without warning, out of the blue, no triggers, it just happens. Panic attacks can come on, full force, and I haven’t a single clue to why. So stop asking okay?

6. “Anxiety isn’t real”

The fuck it aint. It is 1000% real. It sucks, it makes no sense at times, and it drains you, not only mentally, but physically and emotionally too. You literally feel like you’ve ran a marathon, and your mind becomes so cloudy and foggy afterwards.

7. “It’s all in your head.”

Maybe it is all in my head, but regardless, at that given moment, when I am profusely sweating, my body seizing up and becoming overheating hot, to numbingly cold, I’m not telling myself, “it’s all in your head”, I’m just trying to ride the panic wave out, until I can finally feel like my normal self again.

8. “Just breath.”

Yeah, duh Captain Obvious, I’m fucking trying to. I happen to like breathing like a normal human and not like a wheezing cat that just can’t hack up that hairball.

9. “Mental health is stupid.”

Oh is it? Is mental health stupid, or is it just you, because you don’t understand it, and can’t be bothered with being empathic and sympathetic? Mental health is real and it isn’t funny. It’s not a game, and it sure in the hell isn’t a fun little game to feel like you’re crazy because you’re different from someone else. Stop trying to make others feel bad about something they struggle everyday with to control and manage, just because you don’t have the issues or been through the shit they have.

10. “You’re crazy.”

Being called crazy is the quickest way for someone to get throat punched. Having panic attacks or anxiety attacks doesn’t deem you crazy, it just means your mind works differently. Don’t dog on a person just because they are different. It doesn’t make them crazy because they have triggers that send them into panic attack mode. They already feel crazy because everyone is watching them, and they can’t focus, talk, or think, don’t make it worse by being ‘that asshole’ who calls someone crazy when they already feel a certain type of way.

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Kayla Leanne Goss

Just a 30 year old small town girl, trying to navigate this rollercoaster we call life, writing about relatable shit that WE ALL go through and struggle with daily.

To see more of my articles, visit my FACEBOOK PAGE

How to Help Someone with Depression: A Practical Guide

How to Help Someone with Depression

We’ve all been there. Whether it was after a breakup, the losing loved one or a job, depression can come and cripple your life. It’s a serious mental health condition that affects millions of people around the world every year.

Depression can make it difficult to enjoy life and do simple things like getting out of bed in the morning. In severe cases, it increases the risk of suicide. If you’ve ever had depression or have been close to someone who has depression, you know how hard it can be for someone who needs help but doesn’t know where to turn.

This guide will walk through some practical ways that you can help your loved one or friend cope with their depression and feel better about themselves again. Also, find out how therapy can help.

Recognizing Depression Symptoms in Your Loved Ones

Depression is a mental illness that can be difficult to understand. It’s essential to know how to help someone with depression if they are in your life. And it starts by understanding what depression actually is.

Depression is more than just feeling sad for a few minutes or hours. It’s an all-encompassing state of mind where the person feels hopeless about their future and experiences certain symptoms.

You should be concerned if your loved one is showing these symptoms:

● Sudden weight loss or weight gain

● Insomnia

● Feelings of worthlessness

● Thoughts of suicide

● Social withdrawal

● Isolation

● A bleak or negative outlook on life

● Lack of interest in things they loved doing before

● Drug or alcohol abuse

How to Help Someone Who Is Depressed

To help someone with depression, it’s crucial to understand what they’re going through. Depression impacts a person’s thoughts and feelings, resulting in them feeling sad, hopeless, or cranky for weeks on end.

The symptoms can be so severe that the person may not want to do anything at all — even spending time with their friends or loved ones. Nevertheless, helping someone with depression is possible.

Doing the following will go a long way in supporting your friend or relative through depression.

Listen to Your Loved One

Listening to your friend goes a long way in helping them deal with depression. However, it’s important to understand that your loved one may have a hard time talking about how they feel if you pressure them, and it will only make the situation worse.

However, when they’re willing to open up, listen to what is going on in their life without judgment or criticism. Doing this can help heal some of their wounds.

Also, instead of giving advice, try to engage your friend by using active listening techniques such as:

● Reflecting what they’ve said and summarizing it in your own words

● Giving them a chance to talk without interruption

● Helpfully paraphrasing their emotions or thoughts that you hear from the conversation. This can help validate how they feel

● Asking questions to get more information instead of assuming you know what they mean without all the details

Help Them Find Support

Your friend may not be aware that they need help, or they may not be ready to admit it. Encourage them by sharing your experiences in a way that is non-judgmental and supportive of their decision. This can show them there are people who understand what they’re going through and want to support them.

Also, offer gentle reminders about the importance of self-care and suggest seeking professional help. If your friend is open to counseling, offer to help them find a therapist.

Seeking psychotherapy for depression is the best thing you can do if you don’t know how to help someone undergoing depression.

Support Them in Their Treatment

Depression is an uphill battle. Some days, your friend will be open to attending their therapy sessions, but on others, they may be too tired or overwhelmed to attend. Encourage them to keep going and help them out with transportation if necessary.

Encouragement is the key thing your friend needs from you right now, you must regularly provide kind words of support for their recovery efforts.

Ensure They Are Taking Care of Their Physical Health

Encourage them to get the sleep they need, eat healthy food, and exercise regularly. Suggest that they start meditating or practicing yoga which can help with easing their anxiety and depression.

If your friend is open to it, you could also offer to join them in a physical activity or hobby to keep them busy and combat feelings of isolation.

Offer to Help Them Develop a Routine

A regular bedtime, an exercise regimen or the habit of eating breakfast every day can all make a big difference in their moods and energy levels.

It’s important for people going through depression to keep themselves occupied. But it’s also crucial that they don’t overexert themselves with too many commitments.

Learn About Depression

There are numerous myths about depression and how it should best be treated, which can lead people who suffer from the illness to feel stigmatized or shamed for their condition. If you’re not sure if a mental health professional has diagnosed someone as clinically depressed, avoid making judgments.

If you know someone who is struggling with this illness, you must educate yourself about the realities of their condition. This way, you’ll not only know what to say when someone’s depressed but also be able to better help them with their struggles.

Take Care of Yourself

Helping someone who is depressed is a challenging and taxing job. Therefore, it’s only fair to take care of yourself so that you can continue being a supportive friend or family member for the person who is suffering from depression.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by their struggles, don’t hesitate to reach out for help with coping strategies to meet your obligations better while taking care of them.

Extend Loose Invitations

People diagnosed with clinical depression find it difficult to enjoy activities because of their low mood. Even though your friend or family member with depression may not feel up to joining you, it’s still essential for them to maintain as much social contact as possible. This way, they’ll not be isolated and withdrawn from the world around them.

Don’t be discouraged if they turn down these invitations. Instead, encourage them to join you for a simple activity like watching TV or taking a walk to limit their isolation and distract them.

Stay in Touch

You don’t need to be an expert on how to help someone who’s depressed — just be a good friend. The more you’re able to engage them, the better they’ll feel over time.

In addition, don’t forget that your loved one with depression is also battling other emotions like guilt and anger that can lead to self-destructive behaviors such as alcohol abuse or drug addiction.

So friends and family need to be there to support them and reduce the likelihood of turning to self-destructive behaviors because they feel alone.

Wrapping Up

Whether your friend has been diagnosed with postpartum depression or has shown symptoms of depression for any number of reasons, it’s essential to know the signs and take action. It may be as simple as providing love and support or suggesting that they talk with someone about their feelings.

Calmerry’s licensed therapists help people with depression to learn new skills and manage their symptoms.

About The Author

Kate has a B.S. in Psychology and an M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University and has been working in healthcare since 2017. She mainly treated depression, anxiety, eating disorders, trauma, grief, identity, relationship, and adjustment issues. Her clinical experience is focused on individual and group counseling. Follow Kate via LinkedIN here

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Why CBD Oil Is the Holy Grail of Wellness and Health

CBD is the abbreviation for cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive compound found in cannabis plants. CBD oil can be derived from either hemp or marijuana plants and does not have any of the effects of THC like feelings of being high. CBD has many positive health benefits, including helping to maintain homeostasis while adapting to stressors in your body. CBD also helps with pain relief and anxiety!

One important concept to understand is that your body is designed to be efficient. This means that while it helps to perform everyday functions such as breathing, digestion, and pumping blood, it only wants to use the bare minimum of energy. So instead of immediately going into reactions like fighting or fleeing when faced with a stressor, your body will first use the prepackaged stressors from hormones such as cortisol. These hormones inform your body that the things going on around you are risky or dangerous, and will help to prepare your body to cope with such threats.

CBD oil for help with depression. These hormones won’t be necessary and instead will work as harm reduction techniques. Your body will begin to use its own fat stores as fuel and essentially “upgrade” itself so that it can handle whatever stress it is currently dealing with. Because of this, your blood pressure, blood sugar levels, etc. will adjust to what your body is currently experiencing. CBD oil oral products such as tea or CBD capsules are very effective at treating both our body and mind, and you can freely try them out yourself and see the results.

One study that explored these effects surveyed the participants’ levels of cortisol before and after CBD oil treatment. It was found that, for people with high baseline levels of cortisol, CBD oil treatment resulted in a dramatic drop in cortisol. CBD is also seen as a neuroprotectant which means it can help to protect your brain from damage caused by things like stress. This is very important because cortisol levels can spike when you are dealing with things like PTSD.

This is why CBD oil for anxiety is so promising. If stress and anxiety result in high levels of cortisol, and CBD helps to reduce this, it could be a great new way to help treat these conditions. Studies have also explored this benefit and found that people who suffer from chronic stress saw a reduction in their symptoms after using CBD oil. The details are explained on www.midss.org/health/best-cbd-vape-pen.

CBD: Health Benefits, Curbing Anxiety and Depression

CBD is the abbreviation for cannabidiol, a non-psychoactive compound that you may have heard of in relation to medical marijuana. Studies have shown that CBD can induce relaxation and reduce anxiety and depression. Neuroscientists are now studying the effects of CBD on brain structures in order to understand how it works to reduce neuropsychiatric symptoms.

The endocannabinoid system is distributed throughout the brain and body, with receptors located in the brain, immune cells, and organs. This system can be stimulated by various compounds that are similar to some of the naturally occurring cannabinoids in the body. CBD is one such compound – a non-psychoactive chemical that interacts with cannabinoid receptors on nerve cells.

In the early 2000s, studies in both animals and humans identified CBD as an effective treatment for anxiety and depression. CBD seems to influence serotonin, a neurotransmitter that is linked to mood. Both human and animal studies of CBD have found it can reduce anxiety, although its effects vary across individuals. For example, some people report no noticeable change in anxiety levels following treatment with CBD while other people report an improvement. Human studies have also shown that CBD may be effective for depression.

There is a lot of conflicting information about the efficacy and safety of CBD. Human studies have shown that it can be effective in treating several types of chronic pain, including arthritis, nerve pain, and some types of cancer. However, these studies have not yet been able to find a clear link between CBD and its health effects.

One of the most common types of medical marijuana is CBD oil. While marijuana contains THC, the compound that causes the “high,” CBD does not contain enough THC to produce a high. Instead, it is extracted from cannabis plants to produce CBD oil. But unlike hemp, which has been used for centuries to make clothing and other items, CBD is not yet listed as a legal substance in Canada. It would have to do its time in court before it could be approved as a food additive or drug under Canadian law.

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Loving someone with Anxiety:

As someone with anxiety I know that there are times when I’m making more out of things then they are. I know that I’m totally overthinking everything, and falling down the rabbit whole. I know that being in a relationship with me is hard because things that are said, can often lead to a full blow anxiety attack. This can lead to miscommunications, and hurt feelings.

Here are a few things to remember when loving someone with anxiety:

Stop texting: you can tell when my anxiety is high even by a text message. Tell me, we are clearly mis-communicating so, we need to talk face to face. This will relieve my anxiety, and keep me from feeling crazy!

Listen to what I need: if we are in an a stressful situation I will tell you what I need you todo. That is what I need in that moment. That might mean you cannot comfort me right then. That’s okay, I don’t need that I need you to listen and do what I’m asking.

Tell me I need to be quiet: if I start to ramble you need to tell me that I need take a breath. That is my anxiety that I’m not always aware of.

Let me get it out: sometimes it’s not me rambling it’s me needing to get my thoughts out. You might have to just listen. I’ll tire myself out. It’s me venting. Let me vent. We will move on soon!

Dealing with anxiety is just as frustrating for me as it is for you. Probably more so. There are things I’m not always aware of. Remember that I’m trying. Help make me aware. Also, remember I’m not as fragile as I make it sound. Tell me what you are thinking and feeling.

Let’s work together, because this is hard. But I’ll keep getting better. I promise.

If you are suffering from anxiety, I urge you to find coping skills that work for you. Be patient, and if you need it find someone who can help you learn more about it and learn more about the things that can help you!

Stay healthy

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