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SELF CARE
Self-care helps to prevent stress and anxiety.
By incorporating self-care activities into your regular routine, like going for a walk or socializing with friends, you give your body and mind time to rest, reset, and rejuvenate, so you can avoid or reduce the symptoms of stress and anxiety.
Exercise is SO good for both our physical and mental health. There are many of different types of exercise you can do from home, thanks to YouTube and apps.
Check out Hannah Roberston's Youtube channel for some great workouts from strength training to HIIT classes.
I love Heather's classes. There are so many to choose from and they are easy to follow. Pretty sure i won't be returning to the gym even after lockdown now i have found this!
Yoga can help reduce stress because it promotes relaxation, which is the natural opposite of stress. Yoga can benefit three aspects of ourselves that are often affected by stress: our body, mind, and breathing.
This is my favourite app! It is easy to follow along to mixes up your workouts so you never do the same one twice, can download classes to take offline, choose the class length, type, music and even voice.
There is a free and paid version.
MEDITATION
Meditation is the practice of focused concentration, bringing yourself back to the moment over and over again.
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Meditation can reduce the areas of anxiety, chronic pain, depression, heart disease and high blood pressure.
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Focuses Your Energy.
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Boost your Immune System.
I find my days much calmer and I feel more grounded on days when I meditate in silence. Guided meditation is a great way to get started and get used to sitting still for a period of time.
My favourite website for meditations is mindful15.com, they also have many mediations on Spotify. My newest app which i am really enjoying is Insight timer. Hundreds of guided and silent meditations to choose from and self-development courses. Great!
A Japanese study also looked into the mental health benefits of bathing, this time, in comparison to showering. They found that bathing resulted in less stress, tension-anxiety, anger-hostility, and depression, in the people who took part.
It’s believed that hot baths are particularly transformative because they warm us up. Increased body temperature at night helps synchronise our natural circadian rhythms, leading to better sleep patterns, along with improved quality of sleep and overall wellbeing.
My must-have bath salts are from Epzen in lavender are just amazing!
Gua sha is an ancient Chinese practice for energy flow and blood circulation.
What does it do?
Improves blood circulation, Lymphatic drainage. Skin elasticity, muscle tensions and wrinkles reduced over time.
There a wide variety of stones to use which offer different results. The one I use is my birthstone, Rose Quartz - Considered an 'emotional healer' and the stone of compassion and all things love-related, rose quartz is said to be best for detoxing, lifting and softening fine lines and wrinkles, alongside draining toxins and negativity.
You could use the back of a tablespoon as an alternative to the gua sha stone.
