Using Crystals to Ease Anxiety



Tackling, managing and reducing my anxiety is something that I'm constantly working on. Whether that's through mindfulness techniques, facing my fears, crying in bed for an hour or simply by reading a positive quote. I do think that different techniques work for different people depending on what speaks to you on a mental and spiritual level, but today I thought I'd share something with you that I personally find helps with my anxiety: crystal therapy.

Little Lifestyle Changes

 

Challenging anxiety one step at a time...

10 Self Care Ideas

If there's one New Year's resolution that I feel like everyone should make, it's a pledge to self care. I think we're all pretty hard on ourselves and feel like setting aside time to take care of ourselves is self-indulgent and unimportant, when it's actually one of the most necessary things to do for yourself. I have to admit that I struggle with this sometimes - I almost feel like I don't deserve to take time to care for myself - but once I do I feel so much better.

 

1. Get clean. Brush your teeth, wash your hair, put on some perfume and a clean outfit. Sometimes if I'm having a really hard time, I find it difficult to get out of bed and to just start my day. Something that really helps is just getting ready - I always feel a lot more human when I'm in fresh clothes and have brushed my teeth. You don't have to apply make-up if you don't want to, and if you're not seeing anyone then maybe you could just take a quick shower and change into some clean pyjamas before settling down to read a book!

 

2. Make a collage of your future plans and dreams. You could do this in a scrapbook, in the form of a sketch, a list or a Pinterest board. I find it's a lot easier to focus on where you're headed if you can visually see everything you're hoping to achieve. You don't have to show anyone this either - so you can pin down exactly what it is you really want.

10 Self Harm Alternatives

As of today, I'm one year self-harm free!! To celebrate this, I thought I'd list 10 self-harm alternatives to hopefully help some other people who are still struggling. If just one person can be helped, then I feel like my self-harm period won't be just a sad, destructive part of my life anymore. It'll be something that I've experienced, but that I've used to help someone else. That's my aim, anyway. I know that there are several different forms of self-harm, not just cutting, and I feel that almost all of the options listed can be used as alternatives for all of the different kinds.

Flat Chested & Fabulous

So today, I'm going to talk about boobs. Or should I say lack-of boobs. Yep, you read that right: todays post is all about us flat chested ladies.

Book Rainbow | #LoveWins 2015

Unless you were hiding under a rock on June 26th, you'll have heard the wonderful news that same-sex marriage has been legalised in all 50 states in America! I'm not gay personally, but I wholeheartedly love and support the LGBT community in everything they do and stand for, and was so pleased to hear this news. As a little celebration and show of support, being the book nerd that I am, I decided to throw together a little book rainbow, took a pic and shared it on social media. In case any of you guys don't follow me on social media, I thought I'd write up a little blog post to show you!

Art Therapy At Home

Hihi! Today I thought I'd talk about something very close to my heart: art therapy. I started attending an art therapy group back at the end of last year, and I'm just coming into my last few weeks of attending. When I'm finished, I'm sure I'll write up a whole post about my experience, but today I thought I'd share some ideas for doing art therapy at home.

My Experience Contacting The Samaritans UK

[The Samaritans is UK/ROI service]

 

Hello everyone! Todays post is going to be a little bit different than usual, but I feel like it's a subject that could potentially be quite helpful to some people. I'm going to be talking about the Samaritans, which is a support service for people with mental health issues/people who are having a hard time. During March this year, something happened in my personal life that I needed some help to deal with, so I reached out to the Samaritans through email. Today, I thought I'd share my experience and raise some awareness for the service. Also, just to make you guys aware: you don't have to be suicidal to contact the Samaritans. You don't have to have a history of mental health issues. I wasn't feeling suicidal when I contacted them at all, it was mostly because of anxiety reasons.

Fictional Books About Mental Illness



I've been wanting to write this post for a while, but I was waiting until I'd accumulated a bigger selection of books to feature in it. I actually really like reading books whose characters suffer from mental health issues, although a lot of people think that it's quite morbid.  I also think that people can think it's quite distasteful. Personally, as I myself suffer from some mental illnesses, I like them as I can relate to the character a lot more. And when you have a mental illness, you can sometimes feel really alone and like you can't express how you feel. And for me, there's nothing like reading a book that makes you feel a little less alone. I think that books about mental illness are amazing because those who suffer from them can understand the character better, and feel comforted by them, and those who don't can actually get a little insight into what it's all about.

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

 

 

Title: Wintergirls

Author: Laurie Halse Anderson

Genre: YA Contemporary

Length: 278 pages

Published: 2009 (2011 UK Release)

This was one of those books that I didn't know existed and yet had been somehow surrounded with quotes from it without realising. The writing is that beautiful and lyrical in this novel that snippets can be found all over Pinterest and Tumblr. Naturally, as soon as I realised that these golden lines were actually part of a book I headed straight to my nearest Waterstones and picked it up. I couldn't wait for online delivery, I wanted it now.