Relieve Self Isolation Tension with These 5 Strategies

Staying home might be the healthiest option right now, but that doesn’t make it easy. Especially for couples and families, tensions are high with everyone in such close quarters. There are ways to make things easier, though. Here are five strategies for restoring peace at home.

Unplug and Head Outside

It’s a scientific fact that spending time in nature can help reduce stress. But unfortunately, many kids (and their adults) don’t spend enough time in nature. To combat nature deficit, the whole family can head outside together—whether to the backyard, a nearby park, or even a campsite.

Once you’re in the great outdoors, active pursuits can help the whole family burn off stress and stay healthy. Biking, hiking, running, and even rock climbing are excellent ways to get moving while enjoying the fresh air and sun.

If you’re not sure where to start, or just need some motivation, consider working with Holistic Divine Innovations for personalized support to help you connect with nature and, therefore, yourself.

Plug in (Together)

While too much screen time can be detrimental, there are perks to technology, too. For example, bored kids and adults can bond over gaming. Studies suggest that intergenerational game play is great for kids’ development and family relationships, notes Forbes. Choosing games you can play side-by-side can also encourage kids to open up about their fears and stressors. For couples, gaming together can help strengthen your bond.

Of course, if you want to play online multiplayer games like Fortnite, you’ll need the right equipment. If your internet is lacking, consider an alternative fiber optic service from a company like Verizon. With robust internet, the whole household can play games and handle downloads without unbearable lag time.

Enlist Outside Help

Whether it’s seeking therapy with remote check-ins or getting assessed for a health issue, “doing work” on yourself can help ease tension at home. Very Well Mind highlights online therapy options for everything from couples therapy to peer support to psychiatry consultations.

Whatever you choose, learning new coping strategies can help you handle your kids’ meltdowns, your partner’s frustrations, and household drama a bit easier. Plus, if you’re struggling with your mental health, talking to a professional might be the first step toward feeling better.

Start New Routines

Being stuck at home has thrown a wrench in many families’ regular routines. Since no one’s leaving for work, school, or even grocery shopping on a regular schedule anymore, days can become muddled. One way to reclaim the calm in your home is by establishing new routines.

Parents know that routines are beneficial for babies’ and toddlers’ development, but they’re helpful for the whole family, too. As Motherly explains, “routines and rituals” can help your family connect more effectively and experience more joy together.

Think about implementing routines for mealtimes, schoolwork, and your working hours. But be sure to factor in memory-making routines like movie nights, special desserts, or backyard campouts, too. You can even have a routine of regular house cleaning and decluttering together so that you can cut back on chores and spend more time doing the things you love.

Learn a New Hobby

For both children and adults, spending time on enjoyable hobbies can be rewarding. Relaxing indoor activities can also help you recover after a tough day or help reduce anxiety. Of course, a hobby like rock climbing or birdwatching can be rewarding, too.

All ages can get in on family-friendly hobbies like learning a new language, knitting, scrapbooking, or cooking. Whether you want to stay indoors or head out, a hobby can help pass the time and keep your brain busy.

Staying home in self-isolation can mean lots of pent-up frustration. But by being proactive about relieving stress, you can help your household feel calmer and more at ease. It’s not easy to isolate, but implementing these strategies is a step toward a more bearable lockdown experience for everyone.

Photo via Rawpixel

Article written by Emma Grace

Why Should I Practice Gardening

Gardening is a widely practiced activity and intervention used to help connect us to nature, and our purpose. Gardening is our way of saying, “We are investing in our tomorrow, and serves as a reminder that what we nurture will grow. Gardening is used as a way to nurture our mind, body, and spirit. Gardening serves as a way to regulate the brain, and redirect our thoughts. When the brain is regulated, we are able to produce more positive thoughts. Plants are used to feed the body, which powers us to put in the work necessary to bring our dreams in to existence. Being around plants soothes the soul by bringing us closer to nature. When we become closer to nature, we become more in tune with our purpose in life.

Practicing Stillness Through Guided Meditation

Meditation is essential to our health and wellness. Our minds are racing throughout the day, and are full of wanted and unwanted thoughts. It is important for us to practice stillness meditation to slow down our thoughts, and become one with the present moment. The world is forever moving as we progress through different thoughts, scents, movements, and emotions. With the world moving so fast, everything we come across, and the forever changing emotions we are constantly feeling can cause confusion. Stillness meditation helps creates balance, and helps us connection to our divine selves. When we engage in stillness meditation, we are closing down our speech, and resting our body to help our mind come to a rest. This does not necessarily mean that we will have a moment of complete silence, nor does this mean we will be able to make ourselves come in to a complete stillness. We have to simply allow it to happen.

Being still physically will help us to allow internal stillness. Once the flow of our internal selves come to a state of stillness, we will be able to have a sense of heightened concentration. When this is occurring, you may have thoughts and emotions that will occur. Be present. Welcome your emotions and become the observer of your thoughts. In that moment, you will feel a sense of oneness. Stillness meditation can increase your awareness and consciousness. Also, it will allow you to enter a deep relaxation.

Watch this video as Ms. Wang guides us through a stillness meditation practice.

Creating Self-Sustainability in Your Home

Upon purchasing my home in 2019, my goal was to turn my home in to a sanctuary filled with many different species of plants to serve as a place of relaxation. I knew this would be very challenging because I was moving my wife, and kids to the desert where individuals have difficulty growing plants. I started off by buying and building two greenhouses. One greenhouse serves as a house for my organic cannabis plants, and the second greenhouse houses my starter plants, and different plants depending on what time of the year it is. I have been pretty successful with growing plants, and harvesting them. I have also had some failures from simple mistakes I’ve made during the winter season. All in all, the whole family have been involved in turning our yard in to a mini agricultural farm, and a sanctuary for plants.

Along with my two greenhouses, I built 6 raised beds using bricks. I filled them with a mixture of organic soil, native soil, and compost. Having 6 raised beds, and two greenhouses gives me endless opportunities to grow many fruits, vegetables, and herbs. I have well over 50 plants and seedlings that are growing in both our greenhouses, and raised beds. They are flourishing, and I am always sowing new seeds. I organize my beds by what grow well together, and I am prepping new areas in my yard for planting. I have a wide range of plants in my yard. Here are the different variety of plants I have to show how you can create self-sustainability in your yard.

Oregano, marjoram, mint, chocolate mint, spearmint, peppermint, sweet mint, sage, rosemary, chamomile, aloe vera, lavender, Spanish lavender, cannabis, parsley, cilantro, purple basil, curly kale, dinosaur kale, swiss chard, arugula, purple tomatoes, strawberries, goji berries, blueberries, watermelons, cucumbers, yellow peppers, jalapeños, lemon tree, lime tree, strawberry guava tree, plum tree, pear tree, almond tree, cherry tree, and more than what I can think of at this current moment.

My goal is to show and teach individuals how to utilize what they have to grow fruits, vegetables, and herbs. Plants can be used as food and medicine. It is important that we learn how to tap in to all that plants have to offer. Plants can be used as a tool to help us deal with our mental health, and overall health.

Plant Spirit Medicine Woman: A Story on Herbalism

If you want to know my story with herbalism, then you need to know it all, and that includes the ugly parts. Like waking up in a psychiatric ward - by far my rockbottom of bottoms. I didn’t understand the meaning of self-care back then. For far too long, I was living outside my body, completely dissociated from reality and ignoring all the signs that I was sick. I was working myself to death at very high-stress job, and numbing my pain at home with drugs and alcohol to cope. I was completely out of control and I couldn’t handle it anymore, so one night I tried to end my life. Thank God I was unsuccessful. But when I woke up in the psych ward the next morning, I couldn’t even believe this was my life now. I mean, this was some Girl Interrupted shit (see the movie if you don’t know what I’m referring to). Once I got over the anger of still being alive (and now being trapped in a hospital), I realized that it was actually a gift and embraced the surrender. My mind, body and soul were completely exhausted from doing life the old way; and unless I wanted to continue living in a place where I had to trade my yogurt cup with another patient just to get a second cup of coffee, then I needed to get my shit together and get healthy.

Plants are magically resilient organisms with the power to regenerate and heal themselves. Even if they have been previously neglected (by being kept in darkness or starved of basic nutrients), they can completely restore homeostasis when given the proper care and medicine from NATURE. Surely, if something as delicate as a plant can heal itself with nature, then that means I could heal too. I needed some time, so my psychiatrist put me on medical leave for a few months. During that time, I dove deep into self-care, self-discovery and herbalism. When I wasn’t in outpatient care for my mental health, I was self-teaching about adaptogens, nervines, relaxants and nutritive herbs. I wasn’t allowed to take benzos anymore for anxiety (nor did I want to), so instead, I experimented with different teas and smoking blends of lavender, catnip, skullcap, linden, rose, and chamomile. And of course the occasional cannabis as well. Holy life-changer! I was hooked and needed to know more, so I joined The Herbal Academy and graduated in 2019 from their Intermediate Course! I highly recommend their beginner and intermediate courses for those who are interested in getting certified (not sponsored I just love their courses and recipes). 

These days I'm stable and although I do take a daily SNRI, I don’t take any additional medication for anxiety or sleep anymore… only plant allies. I am obsessed with making tinctures, elixirs and tonics and who knows what else I’ll make next. I’m slowly starting an herbal business, however sourcing the herbs is pretty difficult right now - I wish I grew my own!!! I hope that eventually I won’t need my daily pill anymore, but I am not willing to quit taking it just yet (at least not during this unpredictable health and financial pandemic). In addition to herbalism, I am also a HUGE advocate for neural reprogramming, EMDR, breath work, mediation, yoga and doing some serious shadow work. Herbalism and connecting with plant medicine has truly transformed my life. My story has some dark & terrifying moments, but it has shown me the power of resilience and I wouldn’t change it for anything. 

Disclaimer: It is extremely dangerous to stop taking psychiatric medication cold turkey. Please do not attempt. Tapering off meds is only recommended under the care and supervision of a licensed professional.

Follow her on instagram: @brooke_alyssa

Gardening: An Intervention for Young Children

Gardening is one of the most fulfilling, exciting, and educational activities parents can do with their children. Gardening offers so many benefits that’s understated in today’s society. Gardening is one of the simplest, and most convenient ways children and adults can connect to nature, and the energy attached to nature. When it comes to activities that that offers a wide range of behavioral outcomes, gardening would be number one on my list. Let’s look at some of the benefits of gardening.

Gardening helps with self-regulation in young children and adolescents

Gardening can be used as an intervention to help children and adolescents with their self-regulation skills. Gardening is a tool to aide children in regulating their thoughts, and emotions to be more at ease. Gardening was my top intervention I used when I worked in mental health as a family specialist. Gardening is a powerful tool for children who have ADHD, trauma, and other developmental issues. Engaging in gardening with your children is important. Having a garden with a large range of aromas such as rosemary, lemongrass, lavender, mints, and other herbs aids in children’s ability to self-regulate. Planting, and up keeping a gardening can offer a sense of pride and responsibility in young children and adolescents.

Gardening encourages positive social interactions with young children

When you think of the impact gardening have on young children, it’s amazing. Children display more positive social interactions when gardening with other children, and adults. Gardening offers a positive stimulation when children are actively engaging in gardening. Gardening offers a lot of opportunities to learn about bugs, insects, plants, fruits, vegetables, and growth. With so many things to do, it is appropriate to engage in gardening in large groups. Some children will naturally be interested in playing with dirt, digging, finding worms, planting, picking flowers, watering, and picking out weeds.

Gardening is a great educational tool for children

There are so many educational opportunities for young children when engaging in gardening. There are so many things to learn about such as the process of plant growth, composting, identifying insects and which insects are good, or bad for plants. There are insects that goes through a transformation stage. Children love learning about those concepts, and children love interacting with insects. Gardening offers education on the role nature plays in our life, and how plants helps us breath in clean air and beautiful scents and aromas.

Gardening increases family bonding time

There is a saying I like, “A family that grows together will grow together.” Families that garden as a family have increased bonding time. Gardening is an everyday activity for my family. We spend at least 20 minutes a day either in our greenhouse, watering plants, tasting herbs, and checking on plants, and seedlings. Gardening brings our family together, and creates happier moments.

Watch the video below to see how gardening impacts children:

Home Gardening for Beginners

Home gardening is one of the best ways to practice self-sustainability. Home gardening allows you to grow your own produce, including fruits, vegetables, herbs, and so much more. There are many ways to create a thriving garden at your home, some which includes:

1.      Building raised beds

Building raised beds allows you control the soil. It gives you the opportunity to create what I like to call super soil by either buying soil from your local nurseries, or to do a mixture of native soil, and compost. Either way, plants tend to thrive and do better in raised beds. Raised beds also contains the spread of your plants. For an example, if you are growing mint, you would want to use either a pot, or a raised bed. This will keep your mint contained, and prevent your mint from spreading all across areas you want to utilize to grow other plants.

2.      Using pots

Pots are amazing tools to use to grow plants. I especially like the idea of using pots to grow plants if you do not have a lot of yard space, dirt areas, or if you are growing single plants. Pots are great tools to use to help contain certain plants such as mint, marjoram, and oregano. Pots can also be great for plants such as tomatoes, and strawberries which will spread from seeds dropping if not contained.

3.      Plant Directly in the Ground

Planting directly in the ground has its advantages, and disadvantages. When you plant directly in the ground it tends to take much more maintenance because there will be weeds growing more frequently. Planting herbs that spread in abundance will take more maintenance, and can take over your garden if not trimmed often. I had my experiences with planting directly in the ground, and it took a lot of work, but was well worth it.

Each tool of gardening can be utilized, and will help you get one step closer towards self-sustainability.

Click on the video for a quick tutorial on a simple way to start your garden.

The Benefits of Cannabis

As we know, Cannabis is a powerful plant. The United States is decades behind on the power of Cannabis due to it being illegal for so long. There was a powerful study done about the effects of cannabis. There were 100 participants. The participants were instructed to take cannabis for chronic pain. The pain rate was on a scale 1-10. On average, participants said their pain dropped 5 points. The average number of pain was a 7.8 before taking Cannabis, and the average number of pain dropped to a 2.8 after taking the Cannabis. In other words, Cannabis was shown to give significant relief in chronic pain. Participants also reported that Cannabis gave them a relief in stress and anxiety, and insomnia while give no side effects. Only 6% of participants reported to have a cough. Many of the participants noted that they stopped taking medicine for chronic pain, stress and anxiety after using Cannabis.

Let’s dig in to how beneficial Cannabis is. There are many benefits to cannabis as we know. We discussed how Cannabis is substantial to relieving chronic pain. Cannabis can also work to aid in treating cancer patients who are receiving chemotherapy. Cannabis also increases appetite, which helps with weight gain in cancer, and anorexia patients.

It is shown that Cannabis is widely used in the medical field. How can Cannabis be useful for the day to day consumer? What are the benefits of self-medicating with Cannabis? Well, cannabis is highly recommended as a home remedy for may illness and symptoms by individuals who practice herbalism. I am going to list 8 things we can use Cannabis for as a home remedy.

1.     Cannabis can be used for bladder pain

2.     Cannabis can be used to prevent and relieve headaches and migraines. Let’s also remember that too much cannabis consumption, just like any medicine can cause headache and migraines.

3.     Cannabis can help lower blood pressure, especially for individuals who has high blood pressure due to genetics.

4.     Cannabis can relieve anxiety, and decrease your cognitive impairment by aiding you in gaining a heightened consciousness.

5.     Cannabis can be used as a home remedy to help aid in overcoming depression. The use of Cannabis on a day to day basis can help fight depression or completely eliminate depression. Cannabis heightens your consciousness and helps you effectively reflect on the issues that’s causing you to be depressed. Cannabis must be used in low doses in to fight against depression.

6.     Cannabis can help with insomnia. Cannabis users, depending on the type of cannabis you’re using, can increase one’s ability to sleep. Indica is the most common Cannabis that is used for sleep deprivation. To add to insomnia, if you are having nightmares, cannabis can help decrease, or eliminate nightmares.

7.     Cannabis can shrink or stop the growth of brain tumors. When cannabis is used in the form of oil, cannabis can kill brain tumors. This indeed was actually proven in a 2014 study. The study can be found here: https://mct.aacrjournals.org/content/early/2014/11/12/1535-7163.MCT-14-0402.abstract.

8.     Cannabis can decrease the amount of stress we have. Stress comes from worry, and Cannabis puts you in a conscious state where you’re your cognition is higher, and you are able to conceptualize your thoughts better. Cannabis helps relax you, and relaxation is a therapeutic tool used to relieve stress.

I strongly suggest individuals, if legal where you reside to grow both Indica and Sativa plants to help aid as a home remedy for the 8 things listed above. Cannabis also strengthen one’s creative abilities. We will learn how to grow Cannabis, and the different forms we can use Cannabis to serve as home remedies for sicknesses and therapeutic practices.

Parent Guided Meditation for Young Children

One of the most practiced ways of relaxation is meditation. Meditation helps relieve stress, and helps redirect your thoughts, and regulate your emotions. For these very reasons, it is important to practice meditation with young children. As we may or may not know, or do not acknowledge regularly, children go through a lot of stress daily. Let’s put ourselves in the mind of perhaps a five-year-old. You have been on this earth for merely 5 years. You are expected to adapt to many different environments such as home, school, family, and social environments. You are expected to behave how your parents want you to behave at home, and how your teachers want you to behave at school (which in many cases are not aligned). You are expected to try new foods, and eat your veggies because they are good for you. You have to go to bed at a certain time, and wake up early with added pressure of being independent. You absolutely cannot have temper tantrum. You are expected to know how to express emotions. You are learning all new ideas and concepts. Your imagination gets put in a box because your ideas are too wild for the conditioned mind of adults.

Anyways, I can go on with many factors that can cause a child stress, and anxiety. This is why parent guided meditation with children is so important. Some of you are thinking, “I can’t even get my child to sit down, let alone meditate.” It is very possible. That’s why I call it parent guided meditation. You, as the parent will guide, and participate in meditation with your child. You are modeling the desired behavior.

Many of us have this perception of meditation as sitting in total stillness, and having this outer body experience. There are many different ways to participate in meditation. For children, I suggest:

Deep Breathing Meditation Exercises

For this exercise, I would recommend children 3 and up. Deep breathing exercises can be done in intervals of 2-5 minutes (preferably 5 minutes). It is important to do this exercise in silence, or with meditation music. You may sit in any position that brings you comfort. Parents, you will be your child’s guide by giving instructions such as

“breath in slowly for 3 seconds, now breath out slowly.”

“Okay, let’s breath in and out 2 more times.”

 You can also count as your child is breathing. The deep breathing will help your child release pressure from their chest, and calm them. That in itself is regulating their body and emotions. Ways to redirect their thoughts would be to guide their thinking by saying statements such as,

“Now think of a beach, now think of an ocean.”

“Imagine beautiful colorful fish in the ocean.”

After redirecting their thoughts, go back to guiding their breathing techniques. These are just examples to give you an idea on how to use meditation for young children. Once you start, and do it more consistently, you will find what works for your child, and tailor it to fit your child’s attention span and temperament. You will even see rises in your child’s attention span over time. Your child will be just as comfortable and confident as you, the parent when meditation.

The Benefits of Meditation for Young Children

1.      Self-regulation- Children who practice meditation learns how to self-regulate their own emotions. By self-regulation, I mean they are able to control their emotions without the help of an adult. They become more in tune with their emotions.

2.      Relieve Stress and Anxiety- Meditation will help relieve the stress and anxiety children undergo on a daily basis. It will help us adults to be more in tune with their child’s experiences with stress and anxiety due to the meditation being parent guided. It builds a connection.

3.      Proper Breathing- Your child will learn how to breath properly. Your breathing is tied in to your emotional regulation. If you practice deep breathing throughout your day, you are actually relieving stress as it comes. You are releasing stress. Stress is your body’s response to your environment. Your child can learn and practice deep breathing throughout the day, and especially when they are feeling stressed (sad, angry, etc)

4.      Increased Focus- Mediation increases focus and cognition in young children. This is one of the most impressive benefits of meditation for young children. It helps them to be more present and aware.

Of course, you will not see a sudden shift like something magical just changed your child’s behaviors after one day and five minutes of meditation. I mean, you may see some immediate behavioral changes such as increased focus and regulation, but meditation is a practice, and I suggest taking 3-5 minutes every day doing this meditation exercise for best results in your child’s behaviors and well-being.

Mental Health: Anxiety and Depression

Mental health has been widely overlooked throughout modern times. I mean, things such as anxiety, and depression cannot be measured in a way where we can see depression and anxiety levels. Anxiety and depression has no face. Anxiety and depression wears the faces of many of us, and can hide behind smiles, and loads of success. In other words, the people who look the happiest, and who has achieved the most success can be suffering from anxiety and depression. Our children can be suffering from anxiety and depression. I am going to help us define and identify symptoms of anxiety and depression, and different ways to approach and overcome anxiety and depression. There is no cure in its totality, but we can all fight it together.

Anxiety is something we all have dealt with at one point or another. Some of us deal with anxiety on a daily basis with no known approaches other than prescribed medicines from psychiatrist. Some will describe anxiety as an over amplified feeling of worry. High levels of worry turns in to anxiety. Others may describe anxiety simply as your body’s response to stress. I like to look at anxiety as both. Your body’s response to high levels of stress, and high levels of worry will result to high levels of anxiety. I have been dealing with anxiety since I was a small child. Throughout my childhood, I was not aware of the term anxiety, or depression. I was not able to label my behaviors, or feelings. My body would shut down in various situations where I experienced high levels of stress and worry. I would shut down to the point where I wouldn’t speak to people for days, weeks, and even months. Every time I was around the people who was causing me stress and/or worry, I would shut down immediately. I thought this behavior was normal. This is something I am still healing from.

It Starts with Women

Many of us are dealing with anxiety, and depression, and have been dealing with it from childhood. It’s time to break the curse, and heal ourselves, and our children. Mother’s, did you know that anxiety and depression can be inherited through genes that only you carry? Yes, mothers, you pass down the gene that is inherited by your children that passes on anxiety and depression. We, as a society, have to nurture our women, and help them heal because they give birth to our nation. They are the creators of life. They are the creators of the world. Healing the future from anxiety and depression starts with healing our women.

Another big factor is environment. Many of us grew up, and is currently living through rough, and stressful environments. Many of us have been working very stressful jobs in harsh work environments where we are underpaid, and overworked. These are also major contributors to anxiety and depression. There is an array of factors that contributes to the rise of anxiety and depression.

Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression

If you are having moments of highs and lows, or are having moments where you where you are shutting down or shutting people out, you may be suffering from anxiety or depression. Let’s list some symptoms of anxiety and depression to help you identify with what you could be possibly suffering from.

Anxiety

-        If you are constantly nervous, restless or tense

-        If you are feeling weak, and a lack of energy

-        If you are feeling fearful, and is constantly panicking

-        If you are having a strong need to avoid things that triggers your emotions

-        If you are performing repetitive behaviors and responses

-        If you are having constant negative thoughts, and are fixated on those thoughts and ideas

-        If you are experiencing selective mutism

Things that may cause anxiety

-        Death of a close friend or family member

-        Major life changes

-        A stressful living environment, community, or work environment

-        Poor eating habits

-        Fear and insecurities

-        Too much screen time (media, tv and video games)

Depression

-        Trouble concentrating, and making decisions

-        The feeling of worthlessness

-        Major loss of interest in things that once brought you pleasure

-        Suicidal or homicidal ideologies

-        Restlessness

-        Fatigue, or sleeping too much

-        Loss of appetite, or overeating

Things that may cause depression

-        A major death or loss/rejection

-        Major life changes such as change of job, community, school, etc

-        Genetics

-        Major illnesses

-        Poor diet and lack of exercise

-        Overstimulating and negative environments (home, work, community, etc)

How to approach anxiety and depression?

Overcoming anxiety and depression is a lifestyle and a lifetime commitment. It’s an everyday fight. There are far more things in our society that causes anxiety and depression than we have to actually help heal them. There are many sacrifices to be made, and we must take full accountability for how we choose to maneuver through life. We must take charge of our own lives. Here is a list of things you can do to help heal yourself from anxiety and depression.

-        Read more books on self-development: Reading more books will help you to develop and maintain effective ways to live life, and to develop yourself in to a more positive thinker.

-        Surround yourself with more positive people: Having more positive people in your corner will help create a balance in your life. We are surrounded by so much negativity by default. Having positive friends, and family will help you keep positivity flowing in your life.

-        See a therapist: Some of us do not have many positive people in our lives. It is great to see a therapist, even if you do not have a huge need to because you will be able to have support in overcoming small issues before they become bigger issues that will cause anxiety and depression. If you are currently suffering from anxiety and depression, having a therapist can help you take accountability, and control the things you can change.

-        Eat better and exercise more: Depression is a chemical imbalance in the body. Stress is one of the things that creates that chemical balance. What you put in your body is a major contributor to that chemical imbalance. Many of the foods we eat have chemical in it that causes your body to experience stress because your body is constantly fighting those chemicals. What we eat plays a huge role in how we experience out external world. Exercising helps our body deal with stress. Exercising helps us to regulate ourselves which will result in better responses to stressful situation, and a more positive way of thinking.

-        Change your environment: This is so overrated. Sometimes the environment you function is the cause of your anxiety and depression. Having a dysfunctional living environment, and work environment can be cause you to feel low and worthless. Living and operating in messy and unstructured environments can translate in to how you feel about yourself. Being surrounded by negative people will have an effect on how you feel about yourself.

In conclusion, take charge of your life. Your mental health matters. If you need to rid of negative people, do it. If you need a change of environment, do it. We have to be accountable for our own lives. We all deserve happiness. Happiness starts with you. Let me know what you think. I would love to hear some of stories!