Note on a scale of one to ten how positive you are daily.
Write down the main negative thought occupying your mind and come up with solutions.
Start today with 3 positive affirmations e.g I love an approve of myself, I am strong and powerful, I can do it. Put them on a post it note and on a mirror say them to yourself every morning.
Spend time with a positive friend - someone who makes you laugh or even just someone who always makes you feel better.
Keep a gratitude journal for the next 30 days and write 3 things every day for which you are grateful for.
Try to spend one day without complaining about anything.
Write down your dream life and take steps to make it happen.
One of my favourite films is Pay it Forward. Pay it forward to 3 people.
Give 3 people a genuine compliment.
Plan a silly day/evening with someone you love where you just go someplace and have fun, laugh etc.
Hobby - do something that brings you joy write, run, photography, read, music, draw, bake, paint etc.
Do a mindfulness meditation and just be present.
Listen to a song that makes you happy. Optional - dance :)
Get out in a nature, go for a walk, tend to the garden, pick flowers, chestnuts, berries, nuts etc Depending on the season. Appreciate your environment.
Print out a positive quote you love and put it someplace you can see it daily.
Print out a photo that makes you smile of your loved ones and put it someplace to make you smile.
Do something kind for someone else, cup of tea, chat, bake for them, look after someone who is sick.
Before you fall asleep think of one good thing you did today that you are proud of.
Tell a friend/loved one what you love and appreciate most about them.
Visualize a situation causing you problems and then see yourself succeeding and winning.
Watch your favourite funny film or TV series.
Note what or who made you smile today and note who you made smile also.
Have a you day/hour - go have a nice lunch or get your nails done, have some downtime.
Note what people in your life make you feel negative and try to reduce your interactions with them, If they are family try and see if you make them think more positively. Maybe they have something going on their life that is stressing them out.
Try to not to judge anyone or anything even yourself for one day.
Think of 3 things to celebrate about your life today if you can think of more add them to the list.
What are you most proud of achieving. Think back on your past successes and how it made you feel when you succeeded. Know you can do anything you set your mind to do.
Focus on the words you use are they positive or negative ?
Note on a scale of one to ten how positive you are- has it gone up or down through doing this challenge?
Treat yourself - you did it? Note what you learned from the experience.
I would like to see stronger legislation in place to prevent discrimination against mental health in the workplace. Particularly in cases where mental health issues are caused by burnout in the workplace.
Why is this important?
Its important because anxiety and depression can affect one in 6 people. As one of them I want to be able to contribute positively to society. I want to be able to be able to work. I want to be able to work with an organisation where having anxiety does not mean I live in fear of loosing my job if my employer finds out. Or be discriminated from promotions or progressing in an organisation if they know I have anxiety. I want to fulfil my potential and be treated with dignity not with misunderstanding or stigma.
If you want sign I would really appreciate it and thank you.
Putting together a link of resources and groups that can help with anxiety. I would love to get recommendations from different counties in Ireland. So if you are a counsellor or work in the area of mental health and would like your name added to the list please let me know. If you have anxiety and want to recommend someone who helped you with your journey I would love to hear from you too. Thanks:). I would appreciate it if you could share with anyone you might think would be interested.
Love this video its very inspiring its about creating fear projects where if something scares you you put in place a plan to conquer it and move forward. Be a warrior not a worrier.
You can contact me at forrealllemail@gmail.com
Group is on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Anxiety-Ireland-698827876958574/
Join the discussion lets all help each other out.
I am self confessed hoarder of all things. I collect things, I am sentimental, I love books and I a good deal.I found out about minimalism online from some other bloggers who said they felt more calm once they de-cluttered and switched and so I thought why not give it a go.
Minimalism is basically living as simply as possible and with less. The amount of things we own today is baffling and really we do not need half of them. We live in a consumer world and the constant need to keep up with the next door neighbour or latest trend can not only be expensive but also result in clutter in our lives.
I would describe my journey with miminalism over the past year as a slow but steady one. I have managed to probably cut what I own in half at least. It was amazing when this resulted in one whole drawer of items that were reduced. This spurred me on to reduce another shelf and even though last week I told myself I had no clothes to throw out I found myself with another black bag for charity.
How I started was with a capsule wardrobe each 12 weeks. Basically, this means tailoring your wardrobe to around 30 essential items from jeans to jumpers and t-shirts. Doing this made me look at my wardrobe, what I needed, what I loved what I did not wear anymore. Generally, if I do not wear something within the 12 weeks it has to go. This meant reducing my wardrobe massively. The pro of this is pretty much everything in a capsule wardrobe goes with each other so there is always an outfit in the wardrobe and it makes it so much easier to decide what to wear.
Then I started to adapt this to other things I owned. I went down through everything make up to stationary. If I do not love it, use it or like it then it had to go.
It makes everything in your life so much simpler and who does not want to come home to a calmer and easier to clean house. Not to mention it saves you money too. Give it a go and see if it helps. I learned about it from Sugar Mamma see video below.
You can contact me at forrealllemail@gmail.com
Group is on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Anxiety-Ireland-698827876958574/
Join the discussion lets all help each other out.
Since I learned this I have not had a panic attack. If you suffer from anxiety its well worth learning.
Step 1: Breathe in through the nose to a count of four
Step 2: Breathe out through the mouth to a count of eight
Continue (2-3 times) or for as long as required.
You need to breathe deeply in and out so your chest rises and falls.
There is a method called BUteyko which can help. I tried it but it did not work for me. But it might for others. I like yoga breathing for anxiety and find this helpful and yoga too for relaxation.
You can contact me at forrealllemail@gmail.com
Group is on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Anxiety-Ireland-698827876958574/
Join the discussion lets all help each other out.
I think the Loose women raise some important points. It can be hard to talk about it and I resonate with Stacey's comments that sometimes you might not know what it is but you know something is wrong.
I did not know I had anxiety. My family and friends told me.
I knew I felt stressed out and overwhelmed.
I didn't ask for help. I screamed for it and it fell on deaf ears in some parts of my life.
I would say to people 150% do talk to people BUT :
Don't just talk to anyone about it. Talk to someone you trust and someone you know will have your best interests at heart. Not someone who will judge. Someone I know had depression and anxiety and he didn't know I had it. I could have talked to him but I made the assumption that if I did he would think I was weak, mad etc. But in retrospect it was silly we were both struggling and if we knew we could have helped each other.
If you think something is off but you are not sure talk to your doctor.
If you decide to go see a counsellor do your homework. I went to a counsellor for a year and paid 70 euros a session. I was told I was just seeking attention, he told me he did CBT . I brought a book on CBT and did Awares course online and we never touched on any of those things covered in the book or Awares course in the sessions. I had a panic attack in one of those sessions and my anxiety got worse. I was so restless I could not sit down for the duration of the sessions. I had to switch counsellors and I have not had a panic attack since I started with my present counsellor. Ask for recommendations from your doctor for someone in the locality. If you see someone and its not clicking don't be afraid to say so and go elsewhere. Sometimes its a case of finding someone that fits with you.
You can contact me at forrealllemail@gmail.com
Group is on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Anxiety-Ireland-698827876958574/
Join the discussion lets all help each other out.
All opinions expressed are my own.I am not a qualified doctor or therapist and therefore
