Stress and Anxiety

Feeling Good Tip of the Day ~ Quieting the Mind Down

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The human mind is designed to think and process information constantly. However, there are techniques you can use to calm your mind and reduce the number of thoughts you have, which can be helpful for relaxation and focus.

Here are a few techniques you can try:

  1. Mindfulness Meditation: Sit quietly and focus your attention on your breath or a specific sensation. When your mind wanders, gently bring it back to your breath or sensation without judgment.
  2. Deep Breathing: Take deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. Focus on the sensation of the breath filling your lungs and releasing through your mouth.
  3. Exercise: Engage in physical activities like jogging, swimming, or cycling to release pent up energy and clear your mind.
  4. Journaling: Write down your thoughts in a journal. This helps you to process your thoughts and clear your mind.
  5. Progressive Muscle Relaxation: Tense and then relax each muscle group in your body starting from your toes and working your way up to your head. This helps release tension and reduce stress.

Remember, these techniques take practice, so be patient with yourself. With regular practice, you can train your mind to focus and relax, which can lead to a more peaceful state of mind.

Kindness Works ~ Connecting with Others Is Kindness in Action

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Connecting With Others is an Act of Kindness

Connecting with others benefits us in several ways

Improve your Quality of Life: If you’ve ever moved away from your social “home base” then you probably understand the degree to which social connections shape your everyday life and well-being. One study showed that a lack of social connection is a greater determinant to health than obesity, smoking, and high blood pressure. Social connection doesn’t necessarily mean physically being present with people in a literal sense, but someone’s subjective experience of feeling understood and connected to others. One scale that experts use to determine a person’s subjective level of loneliness is the UCLA Loneliness Scale.

Boost your Mental Health: Friendships offer a number of mental health benefits, such as increased feelings of belonging, purpose, and confidence, amplified levels of happiness, reduced levels of stress, and improved self-worth. A study conducted at a free health clinic in Buffalo, New York found that respondents with insufficient perceived social support were the most likely to suffer from mental health disorders like anxiety and depression.

Help you Live Longer: Research has shown that social connections not only impact your mental health, but your physical well-being as well. A review of 148 studies (308,849 participants) indicated that the individuals with stronger social relationships had a 50% increased likelihood of survival. This remained true across a number of factors, including age, sex, initial health status, and cause of death.

Decrease your Risk of Suicide: There are a variety of factors that can either increase or decrease your risk for suicide. Boost your chances of staying safe by raising your level of connectedness, which the Center for Disease Control (CDC) defines as “The degree to which a person or group is socially close, interrelated or shares resources with other persons or groups.” Relationships can play a crucial role in protecting a person against suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

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Today’s Positive Thought ~ Choose Good Thoughts

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“Busy your mind with the concepts of harmony, health, peace, and good will, and wonders will happen in your life (Joseph Murphy).”

Our thoughts direct our attention. Our attention grabs hold of our energy. Our energy drives us toward what we think about. When we fill our mind with good thoughts and direct our attention to them. Good things inevitably surround us. 

Something to Think About

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One cannot rip the past out of his/her life. it’s stuff that happened to us and it’s stored at a cellular level in our memory. The best we can do is to make peace with the past. It’s not always easy to make peace with the past because lots of the characters in our personal drama are no longer in our lives (they’re either dead or no longer live near us). If we can find ways to forgive those who hurt us, we loosen the past’s grip on us. That’s easier said than done. Yet, it has to be done if one is to find peace and eventually happiness. 

Something to Think About

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We can wear ourselves out if we try to please all people all the time. It is impossible. When we do, we leave no time for ourselves. Taking time for ourselves is not selfish. It is essential to renew our strength, refresh our spirit, and gain fresh perspectives. Those who demand our time may not understand why we are temporarily withdrawing from them. There’s not much one can do about how they feel other than to tell them we need to take a personal time out to renew. Try taking a time out for yourself. You’ll feel better, you’ll come back stronger with more energy. 

What If . . .

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What if today I chose to do something totally different that what I normally do, what would it be like? I might not watch TV tonight. Yikes, what will I do with all that time? Would I slide into staring at my handheld phone, watching videos on my iPad, or going on social media? Can’t do that, it’s just substituting one drug for the another drug. I could go for a walk. I could read a book. I could handwrite a journal entry. I could bake healthy muffins and even eat one as soon as they come out of the oven. I might even sketch a design for landscaping my yard.  There are plenty of alternatives.

What If . . .

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What if today I decide to roll with it and take the day as it unfolds? I’ve never met a day where every single thing went my way. I’ve had plenty of good days. Yet, even in my good days, there are bumps here and there. I didn’t notice them because they were overwhelmed by the good things that were happening. If I’m looking for a perfect day, I may as well search for gold or an oil well on my property. I’m not going to find either one. If I roll with the day as it unfolds, I’m likely to enjoy the day, maybe get a few laughs out of it. And, maybe I’ll get a few great surprises I otherwise would not have noticed. 

Today’s Power Thought ~ It Doesn’t Have to be Complicated

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Simple things down. Let go of the temptation to make things complicated. The less complicated, the less stress. The more time to enjoy life and those you love. 

Something to Think About

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Imagine a bowl of bread dough gently rising. If no attention is paid to the rising dough, it will spill over, and the bread will not turn out as well as one hoped. It is the same way with us when we hold things inside too long. Our emotions build up and eventually spill over and it usually does not turn out well. Speak to a trusted friend and talk about things you’ve been holding inside. You’ll feel better.

A Better Life ~

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It’s often the small, trivial things that disturb us. We may go to dinner and find the wait time for a table is forty-five minutes. We let it upset us and leave. A better way may be to enjoy each other’s company over a drink and appetizer while waiting. It’s similar with other trivial things. When we learn to roll with them, life takes a 180 degree turn for the better. Today go on a trivial fast. You’ll feel a lot better. 

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