The Link Between Movement and How You Feel
Many of us are already familiar with the fact that anxiety can either cause paralysis or rushed movements. Sadness and depression can lead to slower and fewer movements. Meanwhile, the adrenaline rush from excitement can lead to more energetic movements. These are all examples of how the way we feel influences how we move. They show that the brain and our bodies (in motion) are linked. Again, these are all examples of how the way we feel influences our movements. But let’s take a moment to consider the opposite: How can our movements affect the way we feel? Can movement be another way to better our mental wellbeing–another tool to…
Foods and Drinks That Help Boost Your Mood
Have you ever felt like your mood improved after eating or drinking something? Or maybe you’ve experienced the opposite. Not long after you eat or drink something you feel a bit dull. Well, there’s a logical reason for that; and I’m not talking about what is referred to as emotional eating, which is an unhealthy eating habit. I’m talking about the fact that foods and drinks contain nutrients. And the nutrients we consume affect the brain. The nutrients that tend to have a more positive effect on the brain include omega 3 fatty acids, zinc, magnesium, folate, selenium, and vitamins C, D, and B6 (1). These nutrients have been shown…
Is SAD Making You Sad?
It’s that time of the year again. Depending on where you live, the leaves have started to change color. But while the leaves are transitioning from green to vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows, some people are transitioning to not so bright emotions. This may be due to Seasonal Affective Disorder, also known as SAD. What Do You Need to Know About Sad? Seasonal Affective Disorder is characterized by depression that occurs with the changing of the seasons. Most notably, the transition into winter months, from late fall to the start of spring. However, SAD is also known to occur during other seasonal transitions including spring to summer. Whatever the case…
Depression Part 3: Finding the Cause and Working Toward the Solution
How is depression caused? What can you do about it? Those are two big questions, and it would take a whole book to cover both of them–each. So attempting to do that in a single blog post is quite a challenge. But, through this attempt, we get a short yet comprehensive summary that can hopefully lead to reflection and appropriate action. Causes First of all, it can’t be emphasized enough that depression is a very complicated condition that can have not just one but multiple causes. The key thing to note is that whatever the cause(s), they ultimately alter a person’s brain chemistry. Similar to how someone who goes through…
Depression Part 2: What is it? How and Why You Should Know
In Depression Part 1, we talked about the stigma that exists around depression. That was an important step because we’re not going to get anywhere if we’re too afraid to talk about it in the first place. But what exactly is it? Understanding what depression actually means is another step that’s often overlooked. But it turns out that there are specific signs and behaviors that signify depression. They include: Signs & Symptoms of Depression Sadness and hopelessness that never seems to go away or occurs very frequently (i.e. an overall depressed mood that lasts longer than two weeks) AND Loss of interest in things you normally enjoy Frequent feeling of…
Why We All Need to Have Things to Look Forward to
What are you looking forward to, besides your next day off work? I asked myself this question and realized the sad truth. Lately, I’ve been so busy that the weekend is all I ever look forward to. It’s my days off, time to get more sleep, do errands, hang out with friends and family, and occasionally get more work done. But there has to be more to life than anticipating the next weekend filled with the same old activities. After a while, the same pattern starts to get old. But sometimes, when you don’t have anything really exciting to look forward to, you have to create it. One thing I…
Depression Part 1: Eliminating the Stigma
There’s been a series on anxiety and self-esteem. There’s even been one on motivation. It’s about time we take a closer look at depression—the other category under “Mind.” Not surprisingly, Part 1 of this Depression series is solely about eliminating the stigma that surrounds talking about it in the first place. But there shouldn’t be any stigma. If you were to research depression online, you’ll realize three things 1. Depression is a disability with many unfortunate side effects, 2. It’s more widespread than you probably thought, and 3. It’s on the rise. According to the World Health Organization, depression increased by 18.4% from 2005 to 2015 (1). That’s almost 20%…
Why It’s Necessary to Make Time for Hobbies
“I like to (insert hobby) but I just don’t have the time.” You’ve probably heard someone say this. Or maybe, you’ve said something along these lines. “I like to–paint, write, bake, go biking, go hiking, read, sing, play an instrument, play a sport, etc.–but I just don’t have the time. Whatever the hobby is, it seems time is its worst enemy. There never seems to be enough of it to fit in a hobby. But in the hustle and bustle of our busy schedules, we can end up stripping our lives of the very things we’re most passionate about–our hobbies. Consequently, our lives might begin to feel more empty–lacking the…
The Struggle is Real–Why We Need Empathy and Perspective
What are your struggles? Just like you’re probably able to come up with a few responses to that question, so can everyone else. Why is knowing this important? Ability to Empathize Not recognizing that everyone has struggles of their own makes it easy to minimize or overlook what they might be going through. It also makes it easy to assume things are going much better than they actually are. However, the grass is not always greener on the other side. Unless you’re also walking in their shoes, you may not fully understand or be able to judge how impacting their struggles are. Just because theirs may not be the same…
How Less Can Mean More
Can having less stuff mean more? It seems counterintuitive, but the answer to that is yes. Conversely, can having more stuff mean less? Again, yes. I never really thought about these two contradictions until a few years ago when I watched the documentary, Minimalism, on Netflix. It literally changed my outlook on life. Or rather, my outlook on stuff. I experienced the quintessential paradigm shift. It turns out, having less stuff can actually add more value to our lives. For example, more peace of mind, more contentment, more time, more meaningful relationships, and more space. Meanwhile, having more stuff doesn’t always necessarily add value. It can mean less; resulting in…
