Keep away anxiety

6 Ways How Words Can Affect Your Hormones And Improve Wellbeing

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Words can have a powerful impact on our bodies, both negatively and positively. Words are spoken, thought, heard, and even seen. All these sensory inputs cause ease or stress. Words have the power to generate negative emotions that will further cause you stress. One aspect that many of us have not thought about is the fact that the lack of positive words that we do not hear from the outside or in our mind, we do not read and do not see, can cause us as much stress.

According to doctors at Best HGH Doctors and Clinics, during times of negative emotions or stress, cortisol levels rise, which can affect various aspects of your life, such as concentration, anxiety, learning, and memory processes. 

1. Improve concentration

One of the enemies of concentration is interruption and distraction. Research shows that it takes you more than 20 minutes to get back to your original level of concentration if you are interrupted even by a simple message. In order to remember how harmful the interruptions are, you can put different reminders either on the phone or on small notes on your desk to remind you to stay focused. Words are useful because with their help you can write a simple message of “stay focused” or “take a break for 10 minutes after 50 minutes of focus”.

2. Have a better memory

A good memory is needed for everyone. Many times our memory is good not because we have not trained enough in our mind but because we have too many words in our heads. The easiest way to get rid of mind clutter is by journaling. Take an A4 sheet of paper and simply start writing any sentence that comes to mind. Don’t bother writing meaningfully. In fact, the more unrelated sentences you have, the more you clear your mind.

Our brain can only support a certain number of words a day. These words depend on the person. Think about it! In one day you hear words, you think words, you say words, you read words. There are so many words! Research shows that one day a book passes through a person’s mind. That means 7 books a week and 30 books a month. Journaling is the best way to get rid of negative thoughts. Journalism can help you come up with new ideas and improve your creativity.

3. Fight against depression

One of the best ways to fight depression and to overcome it is by practicing gratitude. Gratitude is a strong positive feeling that gives you a state of joy. It means taking time to think about the good things that have happened to you so far in your life. Think of the little things you can enjoy in the present and be grateful for the opportunities of the future. One of the processes of depression is to remember the bad things that happened to us, to remember the sufferings of the past. The emotion of gratitude is exactly the opposite, we help our brain to think and to remember happy events from the past.

4. Release anxiety

Anxiety is a destructive feeling that paralyzes your life. It’s not just the fear of something. It is a generalized fear combined with negative generalizations of all kinds. If you read a book from time to time about psychotherapy against anxiety you will start to understand more about this condition. With understanding comes solutions and the power to take control of your life. I highly recommend the books on anxiety and how to conquer it by the psychotherapist Dr. Albert Ellis.

5. Balance heart energy

Often the heart picks up packages of negative thoughts from all around. Yes, you read that right, I wrote thoughts because it has been scientifically proven that the heart has its own brain. As we know, the heart reacts positively to beautiful words. So I recommend that you write a list of positive words at least once a week. Then find out on the internet what resources you can find about these words. You can start with harmony, peace of mind, peace of mind, hope, gratitude, blessing, resilience, and more.

We often ask ourselves and read all sorts of articles and books about the differences between mind and heart. And we wonder which is more important? The answer is both. Both the heart and the mind are important to the human being. Think about it! If your heart stops then you die and if your mind doesn’t work at all you are in a coma at the hospital. You could say it’s better to be in a coma than dead. The perspective I am trying to emphasize is that life is neither dead nor in a coma, so life is lived with both heart and mind working together.

6. Think Positive

We often hear and read about the benefits of positive thinking. But what is positive thinking and especially how to think positively? Simple. To think positively all you have to do is form sentences and questions with positive words. Search the internet for lists of positive words and start memorizing them and getting used to them. Then your mind will do the rest. You will wake up talking about those words in your mind. And you will feel good.

When you think positively, the solutions come faster, you manage to control your anxiety because you don’t worry too much and stay away from sadness. A positive attitude is contagious and helps you a lot in relationships. Research has shown that the productivity and efficiency of a project are ensured by positive thinking.

When you have problems with projects, positive thinking helps you not to give up. When you don’t give up, you manage to find a solution in the end. In order to be able to complete the projects, you have to believe that you will succeed and have the hope that in the end, you will complete the project with flying colors. Confidence in yourself and your abilities, that “I can”, also comes from the ability to think positively.

In conclusion, good and nice words can help you focus better, have a better memory, develop your gratitude and gain against depression, fight anxiety, make sure your heart has good energy, and help you think positively.

Words Can Affect Your Hormones

Simple Strategies to Control Performance Nerves and Anxiety

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Sweaty palms, anxious jitters, a racing heartbeat – we’ve all been there. Pre-performance nerves are seemingly universal to the human species. If you dread the thought of presenting in front of a large group of people or fear failure in any performance-related activity, you’re not alone. Although the physiological responses of our bodies may be difficult to completely control, there are undoubtedly some practical ways you can start to improve how you respond to and cope with performance stressors, nerves, and anxiety. Let’s take a look at just a few of these helpful tips.

Be well-prepared

Confronting a stressful situation head-on is already hard enough but doing so while underprepared is much worse. Think about a time when you’ve begun something challenging without putting in the prep-work it required beforehand. There’s a high chance your performance wasn’t as successful as it could have been because you were ill-equipped for the task. The expression “practice makes perfect” is so overused for a reason – it really works. Human beings are less likely to feel mass amounts of nerves and anxiety if they are prepped, rehearsed, and organized.

Just consider how people with potentially adrenaline-inducing jobs handle their performances. Professional rock climbers and poker players both agree that working through the fear is possible by practicing over and over again, and that level of preparation is directly linked to the level of emotional energy necessary in order to perform well. Listen to the experts if you are skeptical: being prepared will not fail you. One of the most helpful strategies for calming performance-related stress is to acquire confidence in your ability to succeed. This self-assurance is best attained from knowing deep down that you have prepared as best you can.

Control Performance Nerves and Anxiety

Concerts, sporting events, university presentations, and adrenaline-inducing activities are all examples of situations that often produce nerves in their participants

Find ways to relax daily

Most people say that reacting calmly in the exact moment of an anxious experience is extremely difficult. While preparation helps dramatically, sometimes the body cannot help but feel the physical weight of stress. However, training the mind through daily practices of relaxation can provide you with the necessary tools to tackle these situations differently when in the thick of them.

Whether it’s through meditation or yoga, practice taking control of your breath at least once a day. Concentrate on every sensation in your body and let wandering thoughts enter freely, but without giving them the power to distract you from the moment. Find the right meditation technique for you and commit to practicing it consistently over a long-term period of time. While it may seem futile at first, you will begin to notice how your first reactions in moments of stress are more contained and calmer than in the beginning.

Studies show that daily meditation practices often see positive results in as short a time as three weeks

Be kind to yourself

When it comes to anxiety, our biggest enemy is often ourselves. Negative self-talk leading up to or during an important event can be cause for an emotional breakdown. Rather than focusing on the negative, the words we speak to ourselves should be kind, encouraging, loving, and true. Even if performance does not produce the result you were hoping for, it doesn’t mean you are the embodiment of failure. Speak to yourself the way you would like to be spoken to, however silly that may sound. Adopting a few positive affirmations that you can repeat to yourself in the midst of an anxiety-inducing situation can help you to remember what is true and what is not.

Another huge part of caring for yourself means filling your body with the right nutrients it needs to be happy. Combining daily exercise with healthy eating habits is a foolproof recipe for success. The truth is this: being kind to yourself is a multifaceted job that takes awareness, commitment, and practice. But, ironically, if you truly want to grab a hold of your anxiety and have the power to respond to any stressful situation with ease, the most transformational changes may begin with you.   

Best 9 Tips On How to Use Journaling for Mental Health

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As teenagers, most of us kept diaries. We used to write what we were going through and then hide them somewhere safe. A diary was the only place we could confess our fears and struggles without being judged or punished by anyone.

It really felt good getting all of those thoughts and emotions out of your chest and down on paper. Everything seemed clearer after performing this exercise.

Most of us stopped using diaries when we reached adulthood. As an adult, you are faced with struggles on a daily basis which may result in stress, anxiety and depression. Journaling is as important today as it were during your teenage years.

In fact, it is much more important for you to start doing it now especially if you have children. If you are stressed or depressed, your children will definitely be affected.

Journaling helps you gain control of your emotions. It improves your mental health. Today, we are going to discuss how to journal for mental health. But first, let’s understand effective journaling and its benefits.

1. Effective Journaling Defined

Effective journaling is a practice that helps you achieve your goals or improve the quality of your life. Every person has different perspectives and expectations when it comes to journaling. However, the effects are always positive.

 Journaling helps in clearing the mind and making crucial connections between thoughts, emotions and behaviors. Mental illness is also reduced drastically. You might be asking yourself how a piece of paper and a pen can impact your mental health. It is surprising that such a simple practice does work. Especially for those people struggling with mental illness.

Journaling uses both the left brain and the right brain. It requires an individual to use the logical left side of the brain. While the lefts side is occupied, the right side which is normally the creative and emotional side is given the freedom to play and wonder. Journaling enhances and expands your creativity which makes a huge difference in your life.

2. Benefits of Journaling

Journaling or writing in an expressive way boosts the mood of individuals, enhances a sense of well-being, reduces the symptoms of depression before a crucial event such as an exam or job interview, reduces avoidance and intrusion symptoms and improves memory.

Journaling is really beneficial to those with a history of trauma or PTSD. Creative writing enhances mental health by guiding a person to face his or her inhibited feelings. It helps him or her analyze difficult or painful events and compose a clear narrative about his or her experience.

For those without traumatic experiences, writing is still beneficial to their mental health. Writing can make you aware of sneaky unhealthy thought patterns and behaviors before they take control of you. It helps in putting things in proper perspective. In fact, writing helps in shifting from a negative mindset to a positive one thus improving your self-esteem.

For journaling to impact your mental health positively, you need to have an appropriate method in place. Simply writing words on a page may feel wonderful at the moment but there is little proof that it will enhance your well-being and decrease your depression symptoms.

3. Journaling Effectively for Mental Health

The following tips will ensure your journaling or expressive writing is comprehensive and constructive thus beneficial to your mental health:

  • Write in a personalized space that has no distractions
  • Write at least three times in a day
  • After writing, give yourself enough time to reflect
  • If you are journaling to overcome trauma, you do not have to write about the traumatic event. Write what you are feeling at the moment.
  • Structure your writing the way you want.
  • Your journal is private. It belongs to you – not your therapist, spouse, family or friends. You can always discuss your experience with your therapist.

The Center of Journal Therapy has an effective journaling guideline that can help you improve your mental health. When you are journaling, keep in mind this simple acronym: WRITE

  • W – What are you writing about? Think of your thoughts and feelings and what is going on in your life right now. Think of your goals and what you are trying to avoid. Write it down on paper.
  • R – Reflect or review. Take a moment and be still. Breath calmly and focus. In this step, mindfulness or meditation is important. When writing, focus on the present moment with sentences such as “Today…”, “In this moment…” Start your sentences with “I” statements such as “I think…”, “I feel…”
  • I – Investigate your thoughts and emotions through writing. Just keep writing. If you feel you have written everything or your mind starts wandering, take a moment and reflect. Meditate. Or read what you have written and keep on writing.
  • T – Time yourself. Write for at least five minutes or whatever time your therapist has advised you. Write your start time and the projected end time at the top of your page. Set an alarm or timer.
  • E – Exit in a strategic way with introspection. Go through what you have written and take a moment to review and reflect. Sum up everything in one or two sentences. Start with statements like, “As I read this, I feel…”, “I am aware of…” If you have an action plan or a series of steps to follow, write them down.

4. The Science Behind Journaling or Expressive Writing

The outcomes of journal writing are evident across the world. Journaling is very effective in helping people identify and accept their thoughts and emotions, manage stress and reduce or eliminate the symptoms of mental illness.

It has been revealed that journaling affects physical well-being. Michael Grothaus, an avid writer and journalist notes that journaling strengthens the immune system, lowers blood pressure, improves the quality of your sleep and keeps you healthier in general.

There are other benefits for people struggling with mental issues.

5. Journaling Can Help You Manage Depression

Journaling is an effective tool in helping a person manage his or her depressive symptoms. Keep in mind that journaling is not a substitute for professional help especially when depression is severe. However, it can be used together with various forms of therapy treatment.

Journal writing has proved to manage depression in the following ways:

  • Journal writing reduces depression symptoms in women who are struggling with the effects of intimate partner violence.
  • Writing a journal is as effective as cognitive behavioral therapy when it comes to reducing depression symptoms in adolescents.
  • In some cases, expressive writing may not decrease the frequency of intrusive thoughts in depressed people but it can moderate depressive symptoms hence reduce the symptoms.
  • Journaling can reduce brooding and rumination among college students. Brooding and rumination are the biggest factors of depressive symptoms.
  • Individuals diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder reported lower depression scores after only 3 days of journal writing, twenty minutes every day.

Journal writing gives them an avenue to release negative thoughts and emotions and create a positive state of mind which ultimately leads to a sense of well-being.

6. Journaling and Anxiety

Journaling is well-suited to help you deal with anxiety. It always has positive outcomes. Barbara Markway, a popular psychologist says that there is no better way to understand your thoughts and emotions than to write them down. To address any problem, you have to know what it is first. Journaling is tool that helps in identifying the problem and getting it out.

Expressive writing positively affects your anxiety through:

  • Clearing and calming the mind.
  • Releasing negative feelings and stress.
  • Releasing negative thoughts.
  • Enabling you to explore your experiences with anxiety.
  • Helping you understand your successes and struggles.
  • Enhancing self-awareness and understanding about your triggers.
  • Tracking the progress of your treatment.

Journaling has helped students suffering from anxiety by improving their engagement and enhancing meaning in the classroom.     

7. Journaling and Stress Management

Journaling is great tool for anyone who wants to manage his or her stress to prevent it from pushing him or her to anxiety and depression. Keeping a journal will help you understand your emotions, connect thoughts and experiences and release tension. Additionally, it can help you do away with sources of stress to reach your goals.

Journaling can help you manage stress through:

  • Improving the functions of your mind.
  • Decreasing or eliminating several health conditions.
  • Strengthening the immune system.
  • Proper planning through considering several possible outcomes of a situation.  
  • Decreasing rumination while enhancing action.

8. Journaling and Recovery

Journaling can help you heal fast regardless of the event, disorder or habit you are struggling with.

If you are struggling with the effects of trauma, expressive writing will enable you to see the good side of life. It can change your perspective and help you discover the advantages of the trauma you are experiencing which ultimately reduces severe symptoms that come with trauma.

If you are struggling with an eating disorder, journal writing can be a source of your healing and recovery. Keeping a journal will help you stop avoiding issues and instead confront them head on.

If you are grappling with a psychiatric condition, expressive writing can help you understand your thoughts and stop worrying over them. This will ultimately free up your mind to cope with stress and manage your feelings.

One of the most traumatic events is the death of a loved one. Journaling can help you deal with this as well. Expressive writing will give you a chance to think about the loss and reduce severe symptoms that come with grief. This works even for children dealing with the loss of a loved one.

To fully recover, journaling is an important exercise because it allows you to write your thoughts, emotions and emotions. Doing this maintains and solidifies your identity. It gives you a chance to reflect on your experiences and rediscover yourself.

9. When You Have No Idea What to Write About

Some days, you will simply have no idea what to write about. You should not put your journal away if this is the case. Here are a few suggestions:

  • Describe an experience – Sometimes, all you can do to start writing is describing what you worked on today or what you thought about. You will definitely have more to say than you thought.
  • Affirmation – When you have run out of ideas and your self-esteem is low, write affirmations such as, “I like myself” or “I am a great writer.” After this exercise, you will find something to write about and at the same time, boost your confidence and enhance your well-being.
  • Gratitude – Writing with gratitude works like magic. Write about the people and everything in your life that you are grateful for. Gratitude will help you get ideas to write on and enhance your well-being.
  • Self-Analysis – Ask yourself deep questions such as “Who am I?”, “What did I do right today?” and “What will I do differently next time?” Once you answer these questions, ideas will start flowing in your mind.

Conclusion

Journaling has many positive outcomes for everyone. However, it has its negative side such as dragging up memories that you forgot, overwhelming emotions and pushing you into introspectiveness. The good news is that its benefits far outweigh the disadvantages.

Journaling can help you manage stress, anxiety and depression. It is a tool that can improve your mental health. And you do not need to be a terrific writer to write down your thoughts and emotions. If you need help to process all your thoughts and emotions that can arise from journaling, try speaking to a licensed therapist.

Remember, your journal is private. Keep it somewhere safe after use. And write every single day.    

About the Author

Tiffany Harper is an experienced writer from New York (USA) and an extremely active woman. She began her career as a journalist, now she works as a consultant with professional essay writers, essay writing service uk, UK Assignment Holic, makes researches for rush essay, Essay Mama writing service, and UK Assignment Holic. Also, Tiffany works as a special mentor with RushMyEssay, BestEssay, boom essays reviews, AustralianWritings, mostly in wellness and healthy lifestyle area. She gets inspiration for writing from travels and meeting new people, feel free to contact her on Twitter.

Positive Words Research – How to Use Journaling for Mental Health

How to Use Journaling for Mental Health

Why Is Important To Take 10 Mindful Minutes And Do Nothing

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Here is an incredible video from TED. The speaker is Andy Puddicombe. His speech is called “All it takes is 10 mindful minutes”. The following words are the transcript of this talk and at the end of this post, you will find the video. Enjoy below the speech!

Transcript of “All it takes is 10 mindful minutes”

We live in an incredibly busy world. The pace of life is often frantic, our minds are always busy, and we’re always doing something.

So with that in mind, I’d like you just to take a moment to think, when did you last take any time to do nothing? Just 10 minutes, undisturbed? And when I say nothing, I do mean nothing. So that’s no emailing, texting, no Internet, no TV, no chatting, no eating, no reading. Not even sitting there reminiscing about the past or planning for the future. Simply doing nothing. I see a lot of very blank faces. You probably have to go a long way back.

And this is an extraordinary thing, right? We’re talking about our mind. The mind, our most valuable and precious resource, through which we experience every single moment of our life. The mind that we rely upon to be happy, content, emotionally stable as individuals, and at the same time, to be kind and thoughtful and considerate in our relationships with others.

This is the same mind that we depend upon, to be focused, creative, spontaneous, and to perform at our very best in everything that we do. And yet, we don’t take any time out to look after it. In fact, we spend more time looking after our cars, our clothes and our hair than we — okay, maybe not our hair, but you see where I’m going.

The result, of course, is that we get stressed. You know, the mind whizzes away like a washing machine going round and round, lots of difficult, confusing emotions, and we don’t really know how to deal with that. And the sad fact is that we are so distracted that we’re no longer present in the world in which we live.

We miss out on the things that are most important to us, and the crazy thing is that everybody just assumes, that’s the way life is, so we’ve just kind of got to get on with it. That’s really not how it has to be.

So I was about 11 when I went along to my first meditation class. And trust me, it had all the stereotypes that you can imagine, the sitting cross-legged on the floor, the incense, the herbal tea, the vegetarians, the whole deal, but my mom was going and I was intrigued, so I went along with her. I’d also seen a few kung fu movies, and secretly I kind of thought I might be able to learn how to fly, but I was very young at the time.

Now as I was there, I guess, like a lot of people, I assumed that it was just an aspirin for the mind. You get stressed, you do some meditation. I hadn’t really thought that it could be sort of preventative in nature, until I was about 20, when a number of things happened in my life in quite quick succession, really serious things which just flipped my life upside down and all of a sudden I was inundated with thoughts, inundated with difficult emotions that I didn’t know how to cope with. Every time I sort of pushed one down, another one would pop back up again. It was a really very stressful time.

I guess we all deal with stress in different ways. Some people will bury themselves in work, grateful for the distraction. Others will turn to their friends, their family, looking for support. Some people hit the bottle, start taking medication. My own way of dealing with it was to become a monk. So I quit my degree, I headed off to the Himalayas, I became a monk, and I started studying meditation.

People often ask me what I learned from that time. Well, obviously it changed things. Let’s face it, becoming a celibate monk is going to change a number of things. But it was more than that. It taught me — it gave me a greater appreciation, an understanding for the present moment. By that I mean not being lost in thought, not being distracted, not being overwhelmed by difficult emotions, but instead learning how to be in the here and now, how to be mindful, how to be present.

I think the present moment is so underrated. It sounds so ordinary, and yet we spend so little time in the present moment that it’s anything but ordinary. There was a research paper that came out of Harvard, just recently, that said on average, our minds are lost in thought almost 47 percent of the time. 47 percent. At the same time, this sort of constant mind-wandering is also a direct cause of unhappiness.

Now we’re not here for that long anyway, but to spend almost half of our life lost in thought and potentially quite unhappy, I don’t know, it just kind of seems tragic, actually, especially when there’s something we can do about it, when there’s a positive, practical, achievable, scientifically proven technique which allows our mind to be more healthy, to be more mindful and less distracted.

And the beauty of it is that even though it need only take about 10 minutes a day, it impacts our entire life. But we need to know how to do it. We need exercise. We need a framework to learn how to be more mindful. That’s essentially what meditation is. It’s familiarizing ourselves with the present moment. But we also need to know how to approach it in the right way to get the best from it.

And that’s what these are for, in case you’ve been wondering, because most people assume that meditation is all about stopping thoughts, getting rid of emotions, somehow controlling the mind, but actually, it’s quite different from that. It’s more about stepping back, sort of seeing the thought clearly, witnessing it coming and going, emotions coming and going without judgment, but with a relaxed, focused mind.

So for example, right now, if I focus too much on the balls, then there’s no way I can relax and talk to you at the same time. Equally, if I relax too much talking to you, there’s no way I can focus on the balls. I’m going to drop them. Now in life, and in meditation, there’ll be times when the focus becomes a little bit too intense, and life starts to feel a bit like this. It’s a very uncomfortable way to live life when you get this tight and stressed.

At other times, we might take our foot off the gas a little bit too much, and things just become a sort of a little bit like this. Of course in meditation — we’re going to end up falling asleep. So we’re looking for a balance, a focused relaxation where we can allow thoughts to come and go without all the usual involvement.

Now, what usually happens when we’re learning to be mindful is that we get distracted by a thought. Let’s say this is an anxious thought. Everything’s going fine, and we see the anxious thought. “Oh, I didn’t realize I was worried about that.” You go back to it, repeat it. “Oh, I am worried. I really am worried. Wow, there’s so much anxiety.” And before we know it, right, we’re anxious about feeling anxious.

You know this is crazy. We do this all the time, even on an everyday level. If you think about the last time you had a wobbly tooth. You know it’s wobbly, and you know that it hurts. But what do you do every 20, 30 seconds?

It does hurt. And we reinforce the storyline, right? And we just keep telling ourselves, and we do it all the time. And it’s only in learning to watch the mind in this way that we can start to let go of those storylines and patterns of mind. But when you sit down and you watch the mind in this way, you might see many different patterns. You might find a mind that’s really restless and — the whole time.

Don’t be surprised if you feel a bit agitated in your body when you sit down to do nothing and your mind feels like that. You might find a mind that’s very dull and boring, and it’s just, almost mechanical, it just seems it’s as if you’re getting up, going to work, eat, sleep, get up, work. Or it might just be that one little nagging thought that just goes round and round your mind.

Well, whatever it is, meditation offers the opportunity, the potential to step back and to get a different perspective, to see that things aren’t always as they appear. We can’t change every little thing that happens to us in life, but we can change the way that we experience it. That’s the potential of meditation, of mindfulness.

You don’t have to burn any incense, and you definitely don’t have to sit on the floor. All you need to do is to take 10 minutes out a day to step back, to familiarize yourself with the present moment so that you get to experience a greater sense of focus, calm and clarity in your life.

Positive Words Research – Why Is Important To Take 10 Mindful Minutes And Do Nothing

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