Our smartphones can be so helpful. They keep us connected to friends living halfway across the world, can help us stay in touch with family, and can even helps us look at news reports and perform Google searches. But one thing our smartphones can't help us with is the Coronavirus currently plaguing the world. There's almost a zero percent chance that you're reading this without knowing at least some information about this Coronavirus. But, if you need a refresher, listen up!
Think about it: we are on our phones almost all of the time. Even if we aren't, we inevitably will pick up our phone when our hands are dirty to use it. I personally found myself touching my phone after pumping gas and stopped myself until I got some hand sanitizer.
HOW TO SANITIZE YOUR SMARTPHONEAll smartphones are different. Do this at your own risk after researching the best thing for your personal phone! 3. Lightly spray a microfiber cloth with the mixture and wipe down the front and back. You can use a cotton swab for smaller areas like the camera or buttons on the side. 4. Let the phone dry for at least 15 minutes before you put it back in the case. PLEASE DON'T PANICThe best thing to do at a time like this is to make sure you're washing your hands and sanitizing those items you use or are around daily. If you are sick, stay home if you can! The U.S. is already starting to encounter cases from travelers. If you feel you have this virus, please seek medical attention.
One thing to remember is how easily people can get ramped up over things like this. We saw similar headlines with ebola, the Zika virus, and swine/bird flu. That doesn't mean it shouldn't be taken seriously. It just means that we need to be realistic on how it is impacting different areas of the world.
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Halloween is most known for scares and sweets, which can be daunting to those who are trying to stay healthy this season. What could prove to be difficult this season is teaching your children healthy habits to accompany celebrations this season. While I don't have my own children, I've watched a fair number of them and their attitude around the holiday. Today, I want to share with you four health and wellness concepts you can teach to your children this Halloween. 1: HOW TO EAT CANDY IN MODERATION
Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think they should have to do anything they wouldn't normally do for the candy. If they usually do their homework or do some exercise, this will be OK. They already kind of worked for the candy by walking to each house. Just teach them how to eat it a little at a time and teach them about what can happen if they eat too much candy at once (belly aches, sugar rushes, etc.). 2: HOW TO CHECK PACKAGING
This is so terrifying. I'm not even a mom and it breaks my heart to know that some kids might fall victim to this over the season and, unless you're paying close attention to where each piece of candy is coming from, you likely won't be able to know who gave your child this disturbing treat. You can follow this guide that I found to check your candy and keep hazardous things away from your children. 3: WALKING TO TRICK-OR-TREAT
4: MENTAL HEALTH STIGMA
It would be really helpful if you tell your children that the straight-jacket-wearing, bug-eyed, hysterically laughing crazy person is just a stereotype linked to mental illness. It is important that they know some people do fit that descriptor, but it is rarer than someone with more common mental illnesses like depression and anxiety.
As a mental health advocate myself, I always think teaching your children about mental health and letting them know that they can talk to you is always a good idea. Halloween, for this reason, could be a great teachable holiday for tackling this difficult topic with your children. North Carolina is an amazing place to live. However, I wish we didn't have such humid weather in the summer. Last week, things at my job ramped up. We had a ton of photoshoots and things to attend outside and my hair and body was having none of it. Naturally, when you're busy, you forget to keep hydrated. That's exactly what happened to me. A few days ago, I woke up feeling like I had been hit by a bus. I knew immediately that it was due to dehydration. So, since my blog has served as a source of information gathering for myself and for all of you lovely people reading this, I wanted to look up some tips on how to stay hydrated in humid weather. Let's get started: 1: AVOID THE HOTTER HOURS
2: DRINK ELECTROLYTES
Sports drinks like Gatorade help to replenish your electrolytes, which keep your muscles from cramping while also keeping you hydrated. It also helps that sports drinks are flavored! 3: LIMIT SODAS AND ALCOHOL
4: EAT MORE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
College season is rapidly approaching. Some of you reading this might already be in college or have children who are already on campus somewhere. Trust me when I say that the freshman 15 (or the freshman 50 for some people) is a thing. Additionally, burnout, anxiety disorders, and depression can form during collegiate years. I will say that I didn't do the best I could to stay and my best. But, I know some things now that I wish I had known then! In today’s #WellnessWednesday post, I will be giving you a few tips to assuring your mental and physical health stays as balanced as possible during your time in college. Let’s get started! LEARN QUICKLY THAT IT IS OK TO SAY NO
Learning quickly to say no so that you can focus on your mental health and your scholastic health will be good in the long run. DON’T TREAT THE CAFETERIA LIKE A BUFFET
It may be tempting at first, but use your will power to keep yourself away from eating excessively. SAY NO TO FAST FOOD RUNS EVERY NOW AND THEN ENGAGE YOUR SPIRITFor some, this means going to church. For others, it may be meditation. Heck, some people may connect with their spiritual self with a face mask, a lit candle, and some soft music. Do what you can to engage your spiritual side. TRY TO WALK EVERYWHERE
I also wore makeup and dressed relatively nice at least a few days a week. I drove at that point. However, when I lived in my sorority house, I was able to walk to classes and the cafeteria with ease! MAKE YOURSELF A SCHEDULE
It is so important, and it is something I wish I had known years before.
Like many writers, I love to write about experiences that I have that I know other people have dealt with themselves. I recently noticed that most of my health and wellness posts are about keeping my brain healthy more so than keeping my body health. I need to have my head in the right mental state to start losing weight again. How many times can someone say that they were mentally or emotionally exhausted, so they ordered out for their dinner? As for me, I do this a lot. I don't have a physically demanding job. In fact, my job is considered a desk job. I spend my lunch time eating my lunch in hopes that it gives me the boost of mental energy I need to get through the day. I have the most energy in the morning, but spend that on my blog or YouTube channel trying to make it better. At the end of the day, I feel exhausted mentally. And, thanks to my anxiety disorder, I feel emotionally exhausted on some days.
An update on me, specifically, is that I am still maintaining my last weight loss weigh in. However, I'm really wanting to move forward and lose more, purely for my health. I found a few tips that are supposed to help motivate weight loss: 1: SET GOALS AND REWARDS
I plan to continue using the goals and rewards system to help motivate me. I need something awesome to work toward. 2: VIEWING WORKOUTS LIKE YOU WOULD A SHOWER, BRUSHING YOUR TEETH, OR EATINGSome health professionals say that you only really need about an hour workout to start losing weight while eating healthy. They say to look at working out as you would any other self-care routine. 3: USING HEALTH APPS
Some of my favorite health apps include the FitBit App as well as an app that tries to make sure you're drinking enough water. You basically get a virtual plant. When you drink water, you log it and your plant drinks water, too. Your goal is to help your plant grow big and strong. I also want to find some quick workout apps. If you have suggestions, leave them below! 4: ENTERTAIN YOURSELFShe is usually in a crate all day, and I sometimes wouldn't get to the gym until 4 or 5. I would stay for an hour and then get home at 6 or 7, leaving only a few hours for her to be out of her crate.
I'm thinking of listening to a podcast while I walk her in the mornings. I definitely think mornings are going to be better for me, mostly because it is cooler outside and I have more energy at that time. When I'm working, I find that listening to TedTalks can be therapeutic and enlightening. After having a tough week a few weeks ago, I decided to look up some TedTalks on attitude and anxiety. After clicking on one TedTalk and listening to it, I was recommended the below video from Isabelle Mercier-Turcotte. I promise that this 20 minutes will help change your perceptions on worry! SYNOPSIS
"What you tolerate, you worry about." According to Isabelle, more than 90 percent of Americans wake up worrying about something. She said that 40 percent of what we worry about will never happen. That's like putting a downpayment on a house you won't own. She goes on to talk about the fact that 30 percent of what we worry about has actually already happened! And 12 percent of what we worry about is health issues that aren't actually cause for concern. Isabelle wraps up her TedTalk with a formula for dealing with worry: H.E.R.O: H- Hush. Take some time for yourself and quiet your worries. E- Evaluate. Is this something worth worrying about, or one of those needless worries? R- Ritualize. Come up with a way to deal with worry. O- Own. Own yourself. Don't let others cause you to negotiate. WHY THIS SPOKE TO MEIt is so simple to change your perception on this. I'm not saying that I don't worry anymore, but simply that I worry a little less about trivial things. As a matter of example on a change that I've made, I have decided to delete my work email off of my phone. A ton of successful people do this. This has allowed me to stop checking my email when I'm not on the clock. I find that, sometimes, checking my email can cause stress when I'm supposed to be out of my work environment and in my home environment.
HOW TO DECIDE YOUR NON-NEGOTIABLESYour non-negotiable might be that you must leave time at the end of the day to spend an hour taking care of yourself. If anything interferes, you're not going to worry about it!
My non-negotiables are:
This is my base list! I'm still working on this and probably always will! I hope you will start taking this approach to dealing with worry. Burnout has become an increasingly big problem in our world today. It’s something that I am rather passionate about because I realized the other day that I have the occasional burnout myself. Burn-out: a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. So today, I want to talk about what causes burnout as well as a few ways you can remedy it. Let’s get started: WHAT CAUSES BURNOUT?
They include fatigue, cynicism, headaches and other physical symptoms, emotional exhaustion, and reduced performance. There are a number of people who are susceptible to burnout more so than others. These people usually have a diagnosed mental health disorder such as depression or general anxiety disorder. However, burnout can happen to anyone and almost everyone reading this post can say that they’ve experienced it themselves. WHAT CAN YOU DO TO PREVENT BURNOUT?
However, many employees feel they have been handed far too many projects to do in far too little time. Being open to discussions on lightening workload can really help your employees feel better.
You need to know that you’re going in to an environment that is conducive to productivity and mental care. Lastly, and please read closely, take your earned vacation time! According to a survey from CNBC, only 28 percent of Americans plan to use all of their vacation days in 2019. Use them all! At some companies, you earn vacation and sick time each time you get paid. At others, you are given an allowance of days to use. Either way, they are a part of your benefits, so use them. SOCIAL MEDIA BURNOUT
Do you have tips for other content creators? Let everyone know in the comments below! Recently, I heard news that 12 people had been killed by a man in Virginia Beach. The man, who's name I don't want to share because I don't want to glorify or publicize him, was described as a "disgruntled employee" who came in and shot down 12 people, injuring several others in the process. Like everything else that happens after a mass shooting, the gun control debate came up yet again, despite the fact that the shooter was using a legally owned .45-caliber handgun with a silencer. Most gun control debates involve limiting the type of weapon, usually automatic weapons, available for sale to the public.
BUT WHY ARE WE SO FOCUSED ON THE TOOL OR METHOD OF KILLING RATHER THAN THE PERSON BEHIND IT? MENTAL HEALTH IN MASS SHOOTERS
As I mentioned before, today's post does not intend to take blame away from the mass shooter. However, there are very limited resources and a strong negative stigma associated with mental illness all over the world and in the United States. A lot of people either have no money to be treated for mental health problems, or they are told to just "get over it" by relatives, friends, classmates, teachers, and church officials. I have general anxiety disorder. This means that I get anxious about certain things. I still operate normally in life and try to keep my reactions behind closed doors between trusted people like my mom, best friends, or my husband. However, I have had to fess up to my disorder to a church official who told me that, despite physical ailments that were coming to light because of my anxiety disorder, I still needed to come to church every single service, even if that meant distracting others. I've had family members shrug off my issues. I've had coworkers unknowingly say things about my nervous energy in a bit of a negative way. Unless you've experienced my illness full-time, you don't know what it's like. Even if I told you. WITH MANY SIDE EFFECTS OF MENTAL ILLNESSES TRANSLATING TO PHYSICAL HEALTH, MOST PEOPLE WITH A MENTAL ILLNESS WOULD GLADLY "GET OVER IT" IF THEY COULD, BUT OUR BRAINS ARE SICK
HOW WE CAN ALL HELP1. STOP REACTING BADLY WHEN SOMEONE TELLS YOU ABOUT THEIR MENTAL HEALTH Mental health problems are becoming increasingly more common as the years go on. If someone tells you they have a major mental health issue, don't get "creeped out." Many people who have major health issues are getting treatment of some sort. Don't villainize those who are upfront about their struggles. 3. CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT AND WORKER'S RIGHTS Your representative can bring up your concerns in front of other representatives. They can help normalize the mental health talk in your country. But another big thing that needs to be handled is worker's rights. A lot of other mass shooters are people who worked at the place they shot up, like the Virginia Beach shooting. Some employees who may have a hidden mental illness will try to take things into their own hands if their issues aren't being handled, if they feel there is a problem in the workplace, or if they feel unfairly compensated. There are companies that don't give lunch time to their employees, don't provide proper breaks, and threaten to black-ball the employee if they leave for a new job. Americans need more time off and need to be compensated fairly to avoid mental exhaustion which might lead to depression or general anxiety disorder. BE THE CHANGESpeak out about unfairness toward those with mental illnesses and disorders. Instead of droning on about what gun someone used, look at that person's humanity and ask if we as a nation did enough to prevent what happened not at the gun store, but in the school, workplace, and the home.
I will say once again that while mental illnesses can't be "controlled," most reactions from them can be. Those who have committed a mass shooting should not be excused for the awful atrocities they've committed. I just think there is a better way to handle this issue. I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve been a pretty bad skin caretaker. Yes, I was that person who didn’t mind sleeping in old makeup or scratching away at dry spots. But recently, I decided that enough was enough, and I needed to try something new. I reached for Tarte's new cleanser brush as well as the company’s Squeezy Clean face wash. I want to tell you, from my experience, five things to think about when starting a new skincare routine: 1: IT'S COMMON TO HAVE A FEW MORE BREAKOUTS AFTER STARTING A NEW ROUTINE
Tip: If you start to break out in hives, you may be allergic to the skincare product. Discontinue use until you speak with your doctor. 2: IT'S OK TO CUSTOMIZE
3: USE BRUSHES FOR YOUR ROUTINE
Lastly, using a reusable brush to remove your makeup, cleanse your face, and moisturize your face will reduce waste that is commonly associated with makeup removing wipes and swabs. I never have any residue left on my skin, and I always feel like my skin has been exfoliated and cleaned thoroughly. 4: SCIENCE VS. THE PRODUCT
5: DON'T FORGET ABOUT YOUR OTHER SKINThis is why I stopped using Bath and Body Works soaps. My skin was just SO dry! But, I will say that the aromatherapy lotions, specifically the one for stress, are highly moisturizing. I actually ran out!
Tell me below what other skincare tips you have! I don't know why it has taken me so long to actually put myself first. The truth is that, if you're a mess, you can't trust that you'll be able to pull yourself together to handle someone else's mess. Mess is very broad. If you don't have yourself somewhat together, you can't have it together at a job, in a relationship, or in your business. So, I've come up with a self-care routine that will benefit me in 2019 and help me to live my best life! I've done many of these already, but I plan on adding some of them to my routine still. Check out my self-care routine. 1: LEAVE WORK AT YOUR WORK DESK
You can always do like my coworker did and disconnect your email account from your phone. You can also make a habit of letting things go to voicemail or let emails go unanswered. I still need to work on this, especially on sick and vacation days. However, I'm happy to do what I can to limit exposure to stress outside of the work day/work week. 2: TAKING CARE OF MY FACE
3: BODYWASH AND LOTION
4: MAKING A SCHEDULE
5: MAKING TIME FOR EXERCISE
6: STAYING AWAY FROM PERSONAL DRAMA
7: DO SOMETHING NICE FOR YOURSELF
CONCLUSIONThat's it! Those are the five things that I'm doing to take better care of myself. I need some more self-care tips! Let me know what you do to take care of yourself in the comments below!
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