Are You Making These Personal Hygiene Mistakes?

Image Source. Licensed under Creative Commons.

In our efforts to stay clean and groomed, many of us make mistakes without realising. Such mistakes can sometimes cause damage to our health. Here are just a few personal hygiene mistakes that you could be making.

Washing your hair daily

If scrubbing your hair with shampoo is part of your daily routine, you could be doing more harm to your hair than good. Washing your hair daily strips it of its natural oils and leads it to become dryer and more brittle over time. Resist the urge to clean your hair every day and you could keep a fuller head of hair longer.

Cleaning your ears with cotton swabs

You should never insert anything into your ear canal. Whilst cotton swabs can be used to get earwax around the ear hole, putting swabs into your actual ears can push earwax further into your ear canal. This can lead to hearing loss or even damage to your ear drum. There are much safer ear cleaning strategies that you can try if you have excessive earwax such as using baby oil to loosen it up. Don’t clean your ears too regularly – having some wax in your ears is natural and healthy.

Clipping your toenails into a curved shape

When clipping toenails, a lot of people try to create a curved shape. This is one of the leading causes of ingrown toenails – instead of growing upwards, nails can start growing into the sides of your toes. Always cut straight across in order to prevent this. A pair of specialist toenails clippers will be straight – avoid using fingernail clippers that are usually curved in shape.

Brushing your teeth too hard

There are lots of mistakes people make when it comes to brushing teeth. One surprising mistake is brushing too hard. Some people can end up brushing their enamel off which can expose yellow dentin beneath the enamel and make teeth sensitive. It’s for this reason that some people with strict dental regimes can still end up with yellow teeth. Make sure that you’re only applying light pressure when brushing teeth – try to brushing in small circles over each tooth rather than using a back-and-forth scrubbing motion.

Not changing your toothbrush regularly enough

A lot of people also fail to change their toothbrush regularly enough. Ideally, we should all replace our toothbrush every three to four months. After this periods, bristles are likely to get damaged and be less effective at brushing teeth. You should also replace your toothbrush after being sick as some of the illness causing germs are likely to stay on your brush no matter how rigorously you clean your brush.

Not cleaning your mobile phone

Many items that we touch daily can never get cleaned. Mobile phones are a big culprit for this – some of us use phones whilst we’re eating and whilst we’re on the toilet and yet never clean our devices. It’s thought that the average phone in ten times dirtier than a toilet seat. You can find smartphone cleaning kits online.

3 Unexpected Reasons Why You're Always Unwell

Sick and tired of feeling sick and tired? Here are three unexpected reasons why you might be feeling vaguely unwell, but have been unable to pinpoint why.

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You’re chronically stressed

We all know the feelings of stress in the short term- low mood, anxiety, heart palpitations and an inability to focus. However, if you’ve been experiencing low levels of stress for a long time, you might not even recognise that’s what’s causing your issues. Things like pressures from family, financial stress, work problems and more can all contribute and leave you feeling frazzled over time. If you’re not sleeping well, your mood is low, you can't think clearly and you’re experiencing appetite changes (eating too much or too little) then stress might be the underlying factor. We can never fully eliminate stress in our lives, most of us will always have something going on that we will need to overcome that’s just the way it is. What we can control is the way we respond to things, we can find ways of relaxing and reducing stress rather than adding to it. If you have a bit more money to spend, a spa day complete with pampering massages and treatments could be a great option. Otherwise, a hot bath at home with some nice products and a massage from your other half would do the trick. Try journalling, meditation or find a relaxing hobby. On top of the negative feelings of stress, it can lower immunity opening us up to opportunistic infections and illnesses.

You have a food intolerance

Food intolerances can be tricky things. While they’re not life threatening like allergies can be, if you have a food allergy you’ll almost certainly know what it is. The effects are severe and come on quite suddenly after eating or drinking a certain thing. With intolerances, the effects can take hours, sometimes even a day or more to full come on. They’re not severe symptoms to the point that you’d see a doctor, but they can make you feel generally unwell. You might be tired, achy, bloated or feel nauseous. Because in the time it’s taken for the effects to show, you could have eaten lots of other things since then making it hard to pinpoint exactly what it is. However, if you have your suspicions that it’s food related, there are some things you can do. Certain ingredients like wheat, dairy and gluten are badly tolerated by lots of people so you could start by keeping a food diary and cutting out one thing at a time. Otherwise, you could have a food sensitivity test done by a company like Everlywell who will be able to get to the bottom of which ingredient (or ingredients!) are aggravating you.

You have an underlying medical problem

Lots of medical issues present symptoms that are vague and aren’t necessarily things you’d worry about on their own. But if they’ve been causing you to feel slightly unwell or tired for some time then it’s worth getting checked over by your GP. It could be something as simple as a vitamin deficiency which can be resolved with vitamins and lifestyle changes in your diet. But either way, it’s best to know.

Best Ideas for Getting Better When You're Unwell

Illness is something all of us will encounter in our lives, and the more we can do to deal with it right now, the better it will be. It’s essential that we do our best to look after ourselves and try to work towards getting better and improving nicely. When you find yourself out of action after being unwell, it can be difficult to get your life back on track following illness.

This is something that you need to make sure you work on as much as you can, and there are a lot of factors that can allow you to do this more effectively. The thing to keep in mind is that there is no set process, and everyone is going to deal with this sort of thing differently. But, here are a few options that are going to help you to get better after illness.

Rest is Crucial

One thing that is absolutely crucial when you are trying to deal with this is the fact that rest is crucial. You need to make sure you are getting as much rest as you can, and this is something that can have a massive impact. Ensure that you are going to sleep well and work on recuperating from your illness - this is something that is essential when you are looking to get serious about wellness.

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Take Your Time

A lot of people like to try to rush back to their lives when they are unwell, but this can often make the problem worse. So, you need to make sure you think carefully about what it takes to improve and convalesce in the best possible way, and this sometimes means taking your time and understanding that healing and getting better is a process.

Use Medication & Therapy

There are a lot of options to consider when you are looking to get well after suffering from illness. Some things you can merely sleep off, while more serious problems are going to mean that you need to take medication or have therapy. Energy healing for colds and flu might be a unique idea, but it’s definitely something that works well on illnesses that have no medication. For other sickness, you might require ibuprofen, penicillin, or other medication that should be prescribed.

Consider Rehabilitation

In some more extreme circumstances, you will find that you might need some rehabilitation following your illness. Serious sickness can knock us for six, and it is best to have a little bit of rehab beforehand to help you deal with this as much as possible. There are a lot of things that play a part in this, and you have to make sure you think about this moving forward.

Make sure you do as much as possible to improve yourself and your body and look at the way you are dealing with yourself after illness. There are a lot of things you can do to help you ensure you are making the most of the opportunities available, and you need to have plenty of rest and take the necessary medication to get back to normal again.

The Most Common Skin Problems Women in Their 30s Face

After you reach the age of 25, you’ll start noticing that your skin doesn’t act as it did when you were in your early 20s. More hydration needed, slower cell turnover and various changes appearing on your skin will become more prominent as you reach 30. From rosacea to hyperpigmentation and cystic acne, your 30s may not be so amazing skin-wise, after all. But worry not, because no matter the problem, you’ll certainly find the solution for it.

Hyperpigmentation

Remember how you loved spending summers at the seaside in Greece or suntanning in the countryside when visiting your grandparents? Well, if you’ve spent too much time under the sun, your 30s will let you know you’ve overdone it. Dark spots that pop up out of nowhere and won’t go away that easily are the first sign of hyperpigmentation caused by UV rays. Hormonal changes and certain medications can make these spots even worse, so it’s essential that as soon as you notice them you start using retinoids and improve your skincare routine. They will also promote collagen remodeling and help in exfoliating the skin more effectively too.

Rosacea

Have you noticed that your face suddenly looks flushed and no matter what you do your cheeks stay red? After you reach 30, a chronic inflammatory skin condition called rosacea is likely to occur. From hot beverages or foods through spicy foods to stress, hormonal changes and weather changes, there’s a plethora of factors that will cause redness, blushing and red bumps on your face. It can be the worst inconvenience if you’re visiting a new country, and instead of looking your best while you’re in Dubai, you look like you’ve put on way too much blush on your face. Luckily, you’d be able to turn to some of the renowned skin specialist clinics in Dubai and solve your problem in a blink of an eye. A dermatologist can also prescribe you some of the medications that can help control rosacea effectively.

Psoriasis

Psoriasis is another skin condition that can cause plenty of discomforts and wreck your self-esteem. It is a skin condition that causes scaling and swelling, and even patches of thick, red skin with silvery scales. Psoriasis becomes terribly uncomfortable if it causes itching or starts to feel sore. The elbows, knees, and other parts of the legs are usually the body parts that become affected by psoriasis. However, it can also appear on the scalp, lower back, face, palms and soles of the feet. Considering it’s similar to other skin problems, psoriasis can be difficult to diagnose. In some cases, the dermatologist will need a small sample of the skin to look at under a microscope. The treatment will vary, depending on the type of psoriasis, the seriousness of the disease as well as on the size of the patches and the patient’s reaction to certain medications.

Eczema

Atopic dermatitis is a long-term skin disease that causes almost the same amount of discomfort as psoriasis. Dry and itchy skin, rashes, or red dry patches on the face, inside the elbows, behind the knees, on the calves, on the back of the thighs, and on the hands and feet are just some of the symptoms of eczema. If you are prone to eczema you can get eczema cream for face to help relieve and prevent flare-ups. Stress and genetics are the two main factors that will cause eczema, so it’s essential that you de-stress as often as possible when you notice new patches coming out. Certain types of food may also be the cause so it would be best if you went to see your dermatologist and did all the tests that may tell you what your eczema triggers are. Suntanning the parts of the body covered in eczema is one of the great ways to deal with this skin condition, so the next time you go on a beach vacation in Australia or Hawaii, don't forget to soak up the sun as much as possible.

Just because you've reached your 30s, it doesn't mean your skin problems will diminish. Hyperpigmentation, psoriasis, eczema and rosacea are just some of the skin conditions that many women in their 30s face, so be prepared.

Are You Happy?

I am starting this blog post of with a question that everyone should be able to answer...

Are You Happy?

hap·py

/ˈhapē/

adjective

1. 1.

   feeling or showing pleasure or contentment.
2. 2. fortunate and convenient.  

I sometimes feel like my happiness is based on circumstance... like for example if everything is right at home, work, etc then I am happy the minute something goes wrong, I am sad, upset etc.  how can I combat that? 

Many of us have been believing in a lie. We’ve bought into the myth that happiness is something we achieve when everything in our life finally looks the way we’ve been thinking it should. Cue the relationship, ring, job, country house, wardrobe, vacations, beauty products, weight loss. But here’s the challenge: These things alone don’t create lasting happiness, so happiness becomes this elusive thing that we desire but don’t know how to achieve.

We can choose happiness in this moment.

The truth is that happiness is not circumstantial. And this is really good news. It means we don't have to wait for everything to be perfect, nor do we have to control anything outside of ourselves in order to feel a certain way. Becoming aware of this truth is a total game-changer, because it means we can choose happiness in this moment. And something beautiful happens when we do this: When we feel happy first, our outward experience begins to shift in ways we’d only dreamed of.

In reality, self-love is the baseline of happiness. When we live from a pure space of self-love, we are able to achieve sustainable happiness, because our internal feelings of abundance will reflect back to us in the form of beautiful relationships, purpose-driven work, and financial freedom. In short, self-love puts us on the fast track to healing. Our work is to clear out our fearful perceptions and shift them back to a loving perspective on life, which reveals our perfection and wholeness.

We don’t need to be fixed and nothing is wrong with us—these are just the stories we’ve been telling ourselves. When we let go of our limiting beliefs, we can finally experience freedom, happiness, and our highest potential.

Set an Intention to Be Happy

Despite what we may have been taught, happiness is as simple as just choosing to be happy. When we truly realize this—that happiness is a choice—we instantly empower ourselves in any situation, whether it’s a relationship, job, or pattern of thinking that's been creating judgments, worry, doubt, fear, or confusion. The moment we choose to perceive things differently by choosing a loving perception of ourselves, others, and our circumstances, we not only strengthen our capacity to feel happy—we also open ourselves up to limitless possibilities where there once was seemingly no solution. A creative flow reveals itself, and we're able to experience more ease and less struggle sometimes instantly.

Sherpa throw

I have wanted a throw with our pictures on it for some time so when asked to do a collaboration i jumped on it.

It was so easy to go on the website and create it... You can choose background, pictures, words, font etc. The colors for the pictures and the outside is perfect, just what I wanted and the Sherpa is so warm.

The shipping from the day i order til it arrived was I think 7 days which was really fast for Canada.

The throw has become a favorite to curl up and read a book with.

It fits on my queen size bed nicely, this thing is huge.
It is super silky and soft and we love it.

Every family should have one like this, to order yours go here.  Not only blankets but also canvas, photo books, wall art,coffee mugs, one stop shop for any gifts you need. 

Keep you and your kids safe as pedestrians

Picture by JESHOOTS.com

It's possible that we may not as be conscious about how important being safe when walking along/across the road is until we are made aware of an awful accident. For some of us, using the paths/roads as a pedestrian may even be something we tend to do on auto-pilot. Some of us may even silently presume that drivers on the road will always try for the most part to keep themselves, other road users and pedestrians safe. However, just as pedestrians may act on auto-pilot, the same is true for drivers who may have passed their driving test a long time ago, and may not be completely focused when driving. Unfortunately resting our safety on other road users is what contributes to millions of deaths caused by car accidents each year. To keep your family and you safe on the road, let’s go back to the beginning of road safety to learn how we can best protect ourselves and little ones from the road dangers.

High Visibility

To keep you and your family safe while walking on the sidewalk make yourselves as visible as possible. Which means for nighttime walks, wear fluorescent/reflective clothing to alert car users of your presence. Always stay on the sidewalk if you can, however, if you need to walk on the road, it’s advised to walk facing oncoming cars so that you may see vehicles driving towards you and your family, and move out the way when necessary.

Look Both Ways

A simple step that’s often overlooked is looking left and right when crossing the road. When you are with your younger ones, instigate that they must look left and right a few times when crossing the street and explain why this is important. Some oncoming cars can be deceptively quiet, meaning depending on your hearing is not always enough to get you and your family to the other side of the road safely.

Limit technology

A reoccurring issue with both drivers and pedestrians is the avid use of technology bombarding the senses, making us incapable of being completely focused and aware of what is going on around us as we walk. If you’re walking down the sidewalk, keep your senses alive to any hazards or imminent danger by putting away the mobile and removing your earbuds. This can also be taught to your younger children to prevent them from relying solely on your eyes and ears to get them somewhere safe while walking.

Hold Hands

If the sidewalk is big enough for you and your child to stand side by side, you can hold hands to reduce the risk of them running off or being distracted by something that’s blown into the road that they’re insistent on following. Holding your children’s hands when walking could help to keep them safe as vehicles are driving past you all.

Follow And Teach The Road Signals

It’s essential to follow road signs, such as pedestrian crossings, however, don't solely depend on these signs to provide you with complete safety. When approaching a crossing, for instance, it's advised to still look left and right and left again to see whether the cars approaching are going to stop. By losing a sense of dependency on other drivers for yours and your family’s safety, you can begin to protect and teach your children how to pre-empt road dangers that could transpire.

A parents main job in life is to keep their children alive by protecting them from danger but also to teach them skills independent of you to practice taking care of themselves. In doing so, you can do your part to help prevent a terrible car accident following the need to contact personal injury lawyers due to your or your family enduring an unfortunate accident. Teaching road safety could be an essential skill that protects and saves your children from harm from a young age, which is why it's so important to follow the tips above.

Things to Check Before Your Baby's First Car Ride

Traveling with a baby for the first time can be a bit intimidating experience for the parents, but you know what? It doesn’t have to be like that at all, so stay with us and learn about four important things to check before your baby’s first car ride. Just keep on reading and enjoy!

Make sure to get a rear-facing safety seat

Babies under six months should be seated in a properly adjusted and fastened rear-facing seat, in the center of the back seat. In fact, it’s illegal (and extremely dangerous) to carry a baby in a rear-facing seat in a front car seat that has an active airbag, so stick to this rule and keep the baby seat on the back of your car. You should also know that rear-facing car seats do a great job when it comes to supporting a young child’s head, neck, and spine. This is because they distribute the force of a collision over the entire body, so be sure to get this seat as this is one of the most important aspects of your baby’s first car ride.

Use the harness in the right way

When it comes to buckling your baby into the car seat, you should use the harness in the right way. A car seat that features five harnesses is probably the best possible option as it contacts your baby in five important points – the shoulders, the hips, and the crotch, which are the strongest points of the body. Once your baby is buckled, the straps should lie flat in a straight line, without sagging or twisting. Besides that, you should never put a blanket between your child and the harness, as it can interfere with the tightness of the harness. Instead, place the blanket over your child and the harness to keep your baby warm and cosy.

Check your tires

Correct tire pressure indeed matters a lot – especially when it comes to your baby’s first car ride. Apart from helping you stay safe on the road, keeping your tires properly inflated also provides a range of performance benefits such as boosting your fuel economy, prolonging the life of your treads, and improving your handling. Basically, having the right amount of air in your tires will enable your vehicle to perform at its best, which is of the utmost importance when you have your baby in the back seat. On the other hand, if you need brand new tires and you don’t know which ones to pick, you can either browse some really good tires here, or find a local store near you and do your research. As simple as that!

Keep loose items in a safe place

Even though we believe that you’ll be doing your best to keep yourself and your baby safe on the road, you should bear in mind that a crash can happen no matter how cautious you are. The fact is that loose items can fly about in a crash, which is exactly why you need to keep them somewhere safe. A glove box is a great idea, as well as the trunk, so don’t forget to gather items such as water bottles, sunglasses, keys, and other stuff that can potentially hurt you and your baby and store them in one place. Apart from that, you should bear in mind that an empty baby seat or a booster seat can be hazardous, too, so fasten the seatbelt around it to prevent it from injuring someone while on the road.

There are a lot of things to check before your baby’s first car ride, and these four are undoubtedly the most important ones out there. All you have to do is to stick to our tips and everything will be more than fine. That’s a promise!

Don't Let Stress Win The Battle

Stress is a natural part of life. While psychologists tend to describe it as a physical and physiological response to a situation, what they actually mean to say is that you can’t live an entirely stress-free existence. Whether you’re stuck in traffic on your way to work or you’re struggling with a tight deadline, stress is everywhere and unavoidable.

Unfortunately, it’s not as much a matter of keeping stress at bay – because you can’t, no matter how hard you try – to stay happy and healthy. As you can’t escape stress, what you need to learn is how to handle a stressful situation in the best possible way. The secret to staying as sane and healthy as possible is to eliminate tensions and pressures before they break you. Here are some ideas to tackle everyday hurdles with a smile.

Photo from https://fshoq.com

Stress makes you sick at so many levels

It’s easy to understand what stress does to your emotions, but you may not be aware of all the damaging ways it can affect your everyday life. You might find yourself snapping at your partner for no good reason, simply because you haven’t been able to manage pressures at work, for instance. You’ll also find that stress can create distance between you and your loved ones, which, in return, increases your stress level – it’s a vicious circle!

As stress can affect your ability to judge a situation, it can drive to make bad and costly decisions, both at work and as a driver. Taking the wheel when you’re stressed out increases the risk of accidents as you’re more likely to misread a situation. Even if you can rely on your analytical skills to avoid dangerous and impulsive actions, stressed individuals experience difficulties to stay focused for a long time. Ultimately, you end up making poor decisions because you were not able to concentrate. Now imagine not concentrating on the road and you can understand how much is at stake.

Physically, the effects can be just as harmful. Stress affects your thyroid, which can lead to hormonal imbalance, weight gain and weakened immune system. Additionally, chronic stress also affects your cardiovascular health, which can lead to heart disease and even strokes.

You need a coping mechanism

The best response to unexpected stress is to develop a coping mechanism that helps you to release pressure rapidly. Unfortunately, when it comes to coping solutions, most people end up developing unhealthy habits, not because they don’t care about their health, but because these habits provide substantial relief. Smoking is one of those beneficial evils that scientifically helps you to feel calmer and happier as it releases dopamine in the brain. However, regular exposure to tobacco is not a satisfying approach when it comes to relaxation. Unfortunately, if you’ve already developed the habit, you know that quitting cold turkey can increase your stress levels. But you can switch for a less-harmful alternative, such as vaping with a tasty choice of vape pen flavors from raspberry to melon. The vaping gesture also promotes the production of dopamine in the brain, while reducing your dependence to dangerous substances. If you’re trying to quit while struggling with a complex situation, it’s an excellent alternative to cut down on nicotine gradually.

You need someone to talk to

There’s no good reason why you should keep everything to yourself. If you don’t open up, the steam builds up, and you’re only going to feel worse. When something is bothering you and keeping you awake at night, you should find a trusted friend you can talk to. Venting is good for your mental health as long as you understand how to do it properly. Indeed, talking about your issues help you bond with others and also validate your feelings. It’s a positive way for you to get things out of your system. However, the secret to positive venting is to let it go once you’ve talked about it. There are so many wonderful therapist that you can now get in your area and they are great at listening

Find a hobby that works for you

De-stressing doesn’t mean that you have to face your emotions. On the contrary, you can distract your brain and help it to relax through a hobby that takes your attention away from problems. One of the favorite hobbies for grown-ups at the moment is coloring because of its simplicity. You become aware of each color and each shape and let your brain focus on these. It doesn’t solve the problems you may be facing in your life, but it certainly gives you the mental break you need to relativize and think clearly.

Coloring does wonders to the mind

Laugh your stress off

Laughing may not be the best medicine for everything – you can’t cure a broken leg with a good joke, regardless of how hard you try – but it can do wonder to your mind. That’s precisely why you can find more and more laugh yoga classes around. Indeed, our hectic lifestyles sometimes make us forget the essential. Laughing releases endorphins and decreases stress hormones such as cortisol. So, if you’re feeling stressed, take the time to watch a funny video, read your favorite joke or merely do something silly with your best friend.

Sleep and stress have a mutual relationship

Typically, stress keeps you awake at night. However, did you know that the relationship between sleep and stress works in both ways? Indeed, lack of sleep can lead to hormonal imbalance, which can generate stress. So, if you’re the kind of person who goes to bed late and wakes up early, you might want to get your 8 hours sleep to relax.

Additionally, some people find that THC beverages help them unwind more effectively before bed, therefore you may be curious to understand how quickly do THC drinks work?

Knowing this and being informed on dosages can help you confidently and safely explore this as a viable option for your sleep schedule and aid in lowering stress levels.

Be kind to yourself

Last, but not least, it’s easy to fall for the trap of a fast-paced lifestyle and short deadline. You feel in a hurry all day long, and you don’t want to take time for yourself. In reality, not making time for the things you want and love can increase your stress levels. So take a deep breathe and book the afternoon at the spa or go shopping. There is no rule as long as you reward yourself.

In conclusion, you can’t eliminate stress from your life. But you can control the way you react to it, from choosing the most suitable coping mechanism to embracing hobbies that take your mind off things. Remember, each moment you come closer to peace and happiness is a battle you are winning against stress!

6 Things You Could Be Doing Besides Checking Social Media

We’re at a point in time where social media is a regular part of our everyday lives. Now

that we’ve known the distinct joy of posting a selfie and receiving external validation in the

form of “likes” and “follows,”

it can seem extremely hard to quit our addiction to social media and be present. Here are

six things to help limit your social media consumption.

1. Read

Put down your electronic device and pick up a book, newspaper, or magazine. It doesn’t

matter what the reading material is—carry it around in your bag and pull it out when you’re

waiting in line at the grocery store or mall; you can actually get through a ton of reading material

this way. You could also leave a book on your bedside table and do some light reading before

you go to bed. This will also help prevent you from staring at blue light on your phone screen

before you go to bed (which can tremendously improve your sleep).

2. Exercise

Another great way to stay off social media is to use the time you would be

spending on it to get moving.

Create a wellness routine, go for a walk or run, lift weights at the gym, or make up

some choreography to your favorite songs. However

you decide to work out, you’ll be too busy and focused on the exercise at hand to

scroll through social media.

3. Cook

It can be hard to make time to cook with our hectic lifestyles, and scrolling on social

media for an hour when you get home doesn’t help. Put your phone down, crack open a

recipe book, and try to make something new and delicious. You could also cut down on

social media usage by consistently meal prepping for work every Sunday.

4. See people in real life

This one needs no explaining. Meet up with someone on your lunch break, plan a happy

hour after work to get to know your co-workers, or call up a friend you haven’t talked to in

a while and make plans to hang out. There’s something so special about meeting up in

person instead of conversing through social media.

5. Clean your house

Go through all your stuff and Marie Kondo it all or just grab a trash bag and put some stuff in

there that you haven’t used in years. According to House Method, you should schedule any

home repairs that have been building up, deep clean cracks and crevices, and purge

your fridge, counters, and drawers of all clutter. Even by cleaning your house for

20 minutes every week can cut down on time you would be spending on social media.

6. Catch up on self improvement and self-care

Watch a TED talk, browse through articles that will help you learn how to reduce stress,
and do things that bring you joy. Consider meditating, taking a walk, catching up on your
skin care regimen, or going out in nature. Try these tips and you won’t even miss your daily
social media fix.

Simple Life Changes to Improve Your Mental Health

With May being Mental Health Awareness Month, there have been plenty of discussions on the serious mental problems that affect the nation. However, there should also be discussion on the many ways we can make some small steps to improve our overall mental health. Having strong mental health can help you improve at work, while you’re parenting, and can help you enjoy life even more. Here are some simple steps to help.

Eat Right and Exercise

Many people associate these two with losing weight, but few realize just how well working out and eating right can help with your mental health. First, eating foods rich in omega-3s and other goodies can help improve the overall health of your brain. Meanwhile, eating less junk food can help keep you more alert and functioning better, which is always a plus.

Meanwhile, exercise helps release endorphins, which help you relieve pain and allow you to feel better about yourself. Not to mention, doing both of these things improves your self esteem and energy, which works in harmony with having great mental health.

Strive to eat right, exercise, and receive all the benefits of doing so.

Get More Sleep!

We all have busy lives, and many of us have a “we’ll sleep when we’re dead” philosophy. However, you may go to an early grave if you don’t sleep enough. Not getting enough sleep comes with plenty of health consequences, including taking a toll on your mental health.

How much sleep you need depends on the person. Some need your average of 8 hours. Others may need up to 10. There are some who can go with 6 and be at full power. You probably know how much sleep you need, and you should make strides to improve your sleep levels. Unwind before bed with a good book and a hot bath. Don’t do anything that can excite you. Try supplements like melatonin. If all else fails, talk to a sleep doctor.

Get a Hobby

Having a new hobby can encourage creativity and allow you to express yourself in many different ways. Being creative opens plenty of passages in your mind and keeps you thinking outside of the box. Hobbies can be as complex as building structures, or as simple as collecting stamps. Try a new hobby if you find yourself bored at your old one.

Drink Less

A glass of red wine on occasion is good for you, and the occasional social drinking is fine. However, too much drinking can wreck your physical and mental health. If you drink to cope with your problems, try finding a different outlet. Drinking offers a temporary feeling of release, but it does not solve any of your problems and will usually end up making things a whole lot worse. Cut back on the beer and instead look for more pragmatic solutions to your problems. You’ll be glad you did and your liver will thank you for it.

Talk to a Counselor

You don’t need to have severe mental health or marital problems to benefit from talking to a counselor. A counselor can give you guidance on where to go next in your life and can help you grow as a person. There are many ways you can talk to a counselor these days too. Online counseling, which has helped those who can’t travel, has seen a rise in popularity. Sites like Regain have helped many, and we believe that they will help you too.

Improving your mental health is something anyone at any age should try. Give it a try and see the difference.