Self Care
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Focus on Positivity
Today I am going to talk about focusing on positivity to help with self-care. I know that some people think that this topic is taboo, but let me tell you. I’ve been on both sides. I’ve been at the lowest low and the highest high and I think that focusing on positivity is a choice. We are all given things to deal with in our life. We all have bad things happen. The only thing we can control is how we react.
“What you choose to focus on becomes your reality”- Unknown
I believe that setbacks are not always a bad thing, it is an opportunity to learn and grow. You can learn from everything. For example, I was in a terrible relationship with a man that I believe truly did not care about me or my well-being. After our relationship, I thought it was the end of the world. I honestly never thought I would escape the debilitating depression I was in. One day, I finally stopped feeling so sorry for myself and discovered how lucky I was that I just went through a bad breakup and not a divorce. I was lucky to not spend even one more second with someone who could not see my value.
I like to think that I used my experience to grow as a person. Now, I am even more grateful for the small things that my husband Shane does for me. I made certain that the person I was going to spend my life with was the right person for me. I gave myself space and time to heal, and now I know how to get through whatever life throws my way.
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” -Socrates
I’ve learned a lot about this topic from my husband Shane. He never lets anything stop him! Every time something bad happens, he doesn’t even bat an eye. He inspires me to try harder to focus on the positive every single day. I will share a few examples that I have.
One time, we missed our flight to LA. I was freaking out; I didn’t know what to do. Shane very calmly got in line to talk to an airline representative. We paid a little bit of money (maybe $50) and we had new flights to LA. Yes, we were a few hours later, but everything ended up working out just fine.
This past September, Shane and I went to Hawaii. On the flight there, Shane’s tooth started to ache immensely. By the time we actually landed, his face had swollen a ton. We had to make an emergency dentist appointment for the next morning. It was a failed root canal, so Shane actually had to get his tooth pulled. Did he let it ruin our whole vacation? Nope. The day after he had his tooth pulled, he was ready for the next adventure. He did not let it faze him one bit. People are amazed when they hear this story. Before I tell them the ending, people are always saying “I bet that ruined your whole vacation.” Not even close.
So how can you practice focusing on positivity?
When something happens that is not ideal, see what your first thought is. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had thoughts like “here we go again” or “that just ruined my …”. When these thoughts come to your mind, stop them. Try to think things like “what can I learn from this” or “what can I do to prevent this from happening again”.
Accept that whatever happened, happened and move on. You get to control how you react. Do you want to draw more negative things toward you? You can even feel the bad emotions for a few seconds, if it makes you feel better, but then choose to put those aside and move forward.
Try to find the silver lining in the situation. Sometimes I know this is very hard, but most of the time you can find something. I catch myself thinking things like, “well maybe if I had left at that exact moment, something bad would have happened to me”. I know it sounds weird but it really helps me to get over simple problems.
Ask yourself honestly if you are overreacting. I know when something goes wrong this is usually me. I forgot my coat at home, so I guess this ruins my whole day since I don’t get to go snowboarding now. Why couldn’t I just go home and get it?
Am I perfect with practicing this? Absolutely not. I struggle every day with it, but I always try to choose to focus on the positive. Sometimes, I still need help. All you have to do is make an effort to try and it will help you so much.
I hope that you enjoyed today’s post. Please let me know in the comments below what you think about this. If you loved today’s post please subscribe, it would really mean a lot to me.
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Majestic Massage
Hey Everyone! Today I am talking about using massage for self-care! I believe that it is very important to incorporate into your life. I will also talk about how you could potentially more easily afford it.
There are so many benefits to massage. Massage can help reduce anxiety and depression. It can help to reduce cortisol (up to 50%), which in turn can increase your serotonin levels. This is the chemical that regulates mood. Through doing these things, massage can also help to regulate your sleep!! Massage can improve your immune function. It can help to stimulate the production of more white blood cells, which will help your body to fight off infections. The decreased cortisol (stress) can also help your body to stay strong and fight off diseases. Massage can help to reduce pain, acute or chronic. By improving your bodies circulation, it helps to get your blood flowing to the affected area, therefore aiding in the healing process by increasing the oxygen and nutrients.
Did you know that you can use your health savings account for massage? That means that the money that you used for your massage was tax free! If you are worried that your company will not approve this, explain this to your primary care provider. Mine happily wrote me a “prescription” for massage.
I actually have committed to monthly massages at Massage Envy here in Utah! Through a membership like this, I stay more committed to getting my massage each month. When I walk out of my current appointment, I make my appointment for the next month. Massage Envy has locations all over the US and you can use your membership at any location. Your first hour massage for each month is covered in your membership fee, and each additional service you get is deeply discounted.
I look forward to my next massage each month. I can’t wait to relieve my stress and the tension that my muscles have built up over the month. I do this to maintain where I am at, if you have an injury that needs to be worked you would need to get massages more frequently.
I hope you found value in today’s post, please comment below if you did. If you love the content, please subscribe below. I love to provide you with free health and wellness tips each week.
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Using Vision Boards To Accomplish Goals
Hey Everybody! Today I am writing about using vision boards to accomplish your goals. I thought it would be an appropriate time since everyone is making New Years resolutions. I know some think that doing this is “weird” but try to hear me out.
Vision boards are a visual representation of things you want to attract to your life. This could be a poster with things taped or glued to it, a collage on your phone, or a collage made on the computer. These are only a few examples of what you can do. The trick is putting it somewhere you will look at multiple times a day. You can change your desktop on your computer or the background on your phone. My favorite is a poster in my bedroom.
You want to place it somewhere you can see it all the time because your subconscious will be thinking about it even when you aren’t. I know this sounds a little bizarre but try it out! You wouldn’t believe the stuff I have accomplished from making my own vision boards. I put pictures of places I wanted to visit and without even realizing it I took the same picture while I was there! I didn’t even realize that I did this until months later looking through my trip pictures. It still blows my mind!
You can make these for long or short term. I’ve made them for the current year up to the next five years! It’s completely up to you.
Thanks for reading! If you loved today’s post please subscribe below. Happy New Year!
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Commit to Acts of Kindness
Hi Everybody!!
Today’s post is about committing to doing random acts of kindness to help with your self-care. We often times have way too much going on in our lives and are extremely busy. When you do an act of kindness it doesn’t have to be something elaborate. It can be something small like: holding the door for someone, smiling at someone, greeting someone, giving someone a compliment, helping someone with their groceries, picking up something someone else dropped, etc. The possibilities are endless!
By doing something small you can have a huge impact on someone. They may even want to do something kind for someone else. This can cause a ripple effect and may even come back to yourself one day!
Doing kind things for others can have some amazing benefits. It can reduce your stress levels and boost your mood. It can increase your life satisfaction. It also helps to create a positive atmosphere around you. These benefits alone would make doing these things worth it but there are even more benefits!
Doing a kind act can really help the person that you do it for as well. We don’t know what is going on in others peoples lives. Maybe they are having the worst day ever and you just helped them through it. Maybe they were losing hope, but you just gave them one more thing to hold onto. You really never truly know.
“A Random Act of Kindness, no matter how small, an make a tremendous impact on someone else’s life.” – Roy T. Bennett
Commit to doing at least one random act of kindness every day for the next week. See how it makes you feel. Come back and leave a comment on what you did. If you already do this please share your experience below! I would love to here about it. The holiday season is a perfect time to start this!
Let’s make this world a better place to live.
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The Importance of Mindfulness
So, what does Mindfulness even mean?? Dictionary.com defines mindfulness as a mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique. What I define mindfulness as is being present in what you are doing, no matter what that is. Maybe you are feeding your baby, enjoying music at a festival, eating dinner with your spouse, listening to your grandmother tell you a story. Regardless of what you are doing, you are present. You aren’t thinking about what you are going to have for dinner later, what you are going to respond with, or recording every song or performance so you can watch it another time. You are simply being there and living in the moment.
I first learned about mindfulness in college in my stress management course. It could not have come at a better time for me. I was trying to do way too many things at the same time! It also helped me to learn how to be present even in times of extreme stress. Being present really helped me to relieve the stress I was feeling and deal with it at appropriate times.
“Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way; on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally” – Jon Kabat Zinn.
Examples of ways we can be mindful in a normal day
- Thinking about your breathing
- Doing one thing at a time
- Listening without Fixing
Why should we be mindful? PositivePsychology.com states that there are actually seven benefits to practicing mindfulness. They are: improved working memory, heightened metacognitive awareness, lower levels of anxiety, reduced emotional reactivity, enhanced visual attention processing, reduced stress, and managing physical pain. There are many incredible benefits to practicing this, as you can see. I have personally had the benefits of less emotional reactivity and less stress.
What are some benefits you have experienced through practicing mindfulness? Please comment below with your answers. If you loved today’s post, please subscribe below!
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READ
Hey Everybody.
Today I am going to talk about something that I use for my self-care and that is reading. I know it sounds weird but reading has helped me get through some of the toughest times of my life. It has helped me to escape. It has helped to build my vocabulary. It has helped to improve my concentration and focus. I will highlight each of these benefits below.
Okay so the first thing that I mentioned reading has helped me with was escaping. Sometimes you just need to turn your brain off with what is currently going on around you. In my case, it has been during times of extreme stress in my life. I went through a terrible breakup in my early 20’s with the man I thought I was going to marry. I know it sounds cheesy but it was very traumatic to me and made me question everything around me. When I picked up a book, I could escape for a little while and just worry about what was happening in the book. I know I am not the only one that has been able to do this. It really helped me to relieve the stress. It eventually helped me to work through the situation as well. Each time I put my book back down I was in a much better mood.
I have been able to build my vocabulary substantially from reading. Whenever I am reading, and I don’t know a word I make sure to look it up so that I know what it means. I start to see these words for a while and then eventually I can use them.
I don’t know if many of you know this about me, but I have ADHD. I wasn’t diagnosed until around college time and I believe I can owe this to reading. Over time reading has really helped me to improve my concentration and focus. I have always been into reading from a young age and I know it helped me to get through school without even knowing that I had it!
Reading has changed my life. I think it can help you too!
I have included a list of my favorite lists below that I will be updating frequently.
My favorite books
Just One…: Includes Just One Day, Just One Year, and Just One NightIf I Stay Collection
Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before Boxset
Where the Crawdads Sing
Verity
One of Us Is Lying
The Fault in Our Stars
Paper Towns
The F- It List
If you loved today’s blog or want to share with us your favorite book. Please comment below. You can also subscribe so that you don’t miss out on all of the fun! All you have to do is fill out the Subscribe Now box below! Thanks for visiting and I can’t wait to see you next week.
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Creating a Positive Body Image
Hey Everybody!
Today I am going to talk about what most of us don’t have and that is positive body image. I won’t lie I struggle with this every single day BUT I am getting better at it. I know so many people that I think look unbelievable that look at themselves and think the opposite.
This is hard for me to share but I saw this Victoria’s Secret ad and while I was in Hawaii last year, I decided to recreate it. When I saw the pictures of me, I wanted to cry. It honestly made me depressed. Here I was the most fit I have been in my entire life. I looked NOTHING like the girl but guess what, I’m not her. Nor will I ever be and that is just fine!
It’s so easy to compare yourself to others but guess what? You will NEVER look like any one else. You physically can’t! Your DNA is completely different from anyone else. So, we need to learn how to love our own bodies. Do you know how many people look at your body and wish they had what you have? Yes, I am talking to YOU. I know that so many people would! I know this because of my own experiences. I have looked at pictures that I have even posted and had the thoughts, “wow I don’t even look like I workout” or “look how fat my stomach looks”. On these same pictures I get comments like: “abs of steel” or “you are always so gorgeous”. I am definitely not telling you this to brag, it’s the simple truth. So many people would kill to have your body and on the other aspect of things there will ALWAYS be someone that you think looks better than you!
Our bodies are incredible!! Think of all the amazing things they do on their own, without you even thinking about it. They break down what we put into it and turn it into energy. They can create and develop another human. They can regulate their own temperature. They can heal themselves over time. We have our senses. We can hear, taste, smell, touch, and see! We can learn anything; our minds are so powerful. That is only to name a few!!
So how can we learn to appreciate our bodies?
Here are a few things that I do:
- Give yourself credit!
- When I lift more at the gym than I did the week before, I celebrate! I am getting stronger each day!
- Stop the negative self-talk
- When I look at myself in the mirror and have a negative thought pop into my head. I shut it down immediately. I replace it with something like “I am beautiful” or “I am not defined by my body”
- Focus on what you love about yourself
- Replace your comments with compliments you’ve gotten
- I look so
fat : I have abs of steel!
- I look so
- Remember that no one is perfect
- That girl you think has the perfect body is struggling just like you!
- Also, they are most likely using a filter or editing
- Practice positive affirmations
- Check out my post on this (it deserves its own page)
I love the quote “To me, beauty is about being comfortable in your own skin. It’s about knowing and accepting who you are”. I challenge you to try these things for a week and see how it works for you. I promise that over time these things really can help you!
Give me some tips that you use to combat this in the comments below! I would love to hear them!
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- Give yourself credit!
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7 Benefits of Practicing Meditation
Hi Everyone!
Today’s blog is about meditation. Meditation is a habitual process of training your mind to focus and redirect your thoughts. Healthline states that there are several benefits from meditation, they include: reducing stress, controlling anxiety, promoting emotional health, enhancing self-awareness, lengthening attention span, improving sleep, and decreasing blood pressure. I didn’t even list them all out and look how beneficial it can be for you!
I learned about meditation in high school but really began to use it in my daily life in my junior year of college. I was taking a stress management and yoga course at the same time. Being reminded of this practice couldn’t have come at a better time. I was extremely overwhelmed with everything that was going on in my life. I was working a ton of hours, going to school full time, and had recently went through a terrible breakup. I was having a really hard time turning my brain off at night. Which was really making my energy levels almost nonexistent from lack of sleep.
I learned by doing something as simple as focusing on your breath while you are laying in bed, can be considered meditating. I began doing this and whenever a terrible thought would creep into my mind, I would go back to focusing on my breath. I won’t say that it was easy but eventually I was back to sleeping through the nights.
You can start with something simple like using the breath app on your apple watch. If you don’t have an apple watch you can set a timer for 60 seconds and take deep breaths in and out for that time. It is amazing what a simple minute of meditating can do for you!
I have attached a YouTube video below of a guided meditation that is for beginners so you can learn how to meditate if it is foreign to you!
I hope you enjoyed today’s post. Let me know in the comments below!
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Stop Overcommitting
Hi Everyone!
Today’s blog is about something I have heard about time and time again but I am finally now just getting used to practicing it in my life daily. Stop overcommitting! When you overcommit yourself, you are not only saying yes to something you probably don’t want to do but you are also saying no to something you do want to do. I have had to learn this the hard way.
Recently, I have been working at a new job full time, my old job part time, and trying to keep up with all of the activities that I want and need to do. I found myself stressing out about how I was going to keep doing all the things I wanted but still be able to keep working around 100 hours every two weeks.
I know when I am trying to do so many things it really is my sleep that suffers first. You know what that does to me? It makes me grumpy, tired, and even can make me physically ill sometimes.
So why do we overcommit to things?
Some of my answers to this question for this instance are: I want to help my coworkers out that I have been working with for years, I don’t want them to hate me, I could use the extra money, etc.
You know what questions don’t normally come to mind? How will this make me feel? What sacrifices will I have to make in order to keep this up? Do I enjoy the time I am spending doing this? If I didn’t do this would I be okay? How does this affect myself mentally and physically? Do I feel bitter toward this thing I have committed to do?
So how do we stop overcommitting? Ask yourself the above questions. Weigh your benefits and costs and determine if you really want to do it. It is okay to say no. I get pretty anxious when I tell people I can’t/don’t want to do something they want me to do. Although you may be anxious at first, it does eventually go away and let me tell you it is so worth it.
3 Steps to stop overcommitting
1. Stop and think before saying yes. Think about the above questions and if you really should do the task.
2. Allow yourself time to rest. You don’t have to be doing something all of the time. In fact, your body needs time to rest. If you are already doing too many things just say no.
3. Breathe. As I have stated above it is okay to say no. It is not the end of the world. Just take a deep breath and do it.
This week I practiced what I am preaching. I finally quit my part time job. Guess what guys? It feels so good! I know that if you learn how to stop overcommitting, you too will feel so much better!
Please let me know if you liked today’s post below in the comments. If you loved it please subscribe, I would love to share more free content with you in the future!
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Essential for Life: Water
Today’s topic may seem overly simple but it’s extremely important! I thought it would be a good thing to talk about as summer is the most common time that people get dehydrated. Water is honestly my favorite thing to drink and I always feel so refreshed after drinking it. So, let’s do this.
Water should always be the beverage of choice, with other drinks only being an occasional substitute. The CDC states on their website that, as plain drinking water has zero calories, it can also help with managing body weight and reducing caloric intake when substituted for drinks with calories, like regular soda. In fact, I’ve stopped drinking soda all together because of how terrible it is for you. I have seen an enormous difference in my life from doing this. I’ve also learned to start drinking water when I feel like I am hungry for a snack and that usually is enough for me! Sometimes your body just thinks it’s hungry but it is really just thirsty.
According to the National Health Institute, water represents a critical nutrient whose absence will be lethal within days. Water is literally essential for life! Did you know that your body is about 60% water at any given time? Staying hydrated is critical in order for your body to control its temperature. Water, or its lack (dehydration), can also influence cognition negatively. Drinking water can really help your body to digest food properly! You can lower your risk for many diseases through drinking an adequate amount of water. It is crazy to think of all the things that water does for your body.
It is usually recommended by doctors that you should follow the 8X8 rule. This means that you should be drinking eight, 8-ounce glasses of water a day or in simpler terms 64 ounces. Though this has actually not been proven to be the ideal amount, it is suggested that you should drink water whenever you are thirsty or your urine is a dark yellow color.
A way that I have found to help to get myself to drink more water and lesser my carbon footprint is buying a Hydro Flask. I fill it up in the morning before I go to work and again while I am at work. It keeps my water cold all day long. My current bottle is 32 ounces, so I get in my 64 ounces easily each day. I have included my exact bottle below if you would like to get one too. I also included some extras for your Hydro Flask that I love at the very bottom as well! You can really use any reusable water bottle to do this though!
Get out there and drink some water!
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