The Anxiety Healing Program Review – Self Help for Anxiety

A Review of the Anxiety Healing Program

Having anxiety can be a real pain in the you-know-what! Have you ever experienced anxiety yourself? If you’ve experienced it in you know how hard it can be to shift when it’s in full swing. Having lived a life with anxiety on and off myself for so long I decided to do a review of the Anxiety Healing Program to find out if it works or not.

As anxiety is a very common experience for many people, children, adolescents and adults alike, it’s time to find ways to learn how to manage it and even overcome it. This may be easier for some than others.

There are many ways to work on managing anxiety and healing from its impact on your life. I’ve written another post here if you want to know more about the wide range of ways to cope with it. Let’s look at whether The Anxiety Healing Program can be included as an additional tool for dealing with anxiety.

What is The Anxiety Healing Program?

This program utilizes the therapeutic value of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or CBT for short. This therapy helps one to analyze and gently challenge what one is thinking without judgment. Often our thoughts go into a negative spin if we are stressed or have developed a set pattern of thinking and responding to particular situations. By working on our thoughts and their direction through focussed CBT work, we can become more aware of what our thoughts are telling us and how they are influencing how we feel and act.

The program has 9 MP3 audio downloads that are instantly available upon purchasing the program.

It also comes with either a PDF version or spiral-bound print journal, depending on which you level of program you decide to purchase.

Who Can Do The Anxiety Healing Program?

This program is available for anyone from the age of 12 yrs and over. It can be done with the support and help of a parent or caregiver or followed and completed individually.

Anxiety Healing Program for Adults -$119.99

Anxiety Healing Program for Missionaries -$119.99

Anxiety Healing Program for Teens -$119.99

Anxiety Healing Program for Young Adults -$119.99

Spiral-bound Premium Journal – $19.99

There can be a number of reasons why anxiety is present in one’s life. It’s important to recognize and acknowledge that it’s an issue.

Ask yourself how does anxiety affect you? Does it stop you from doing things you actually want to do?

Simply ignoring it and hoping it will go away won’t make it go away. If anything, if you try to push it away inside your mind, you may even make it worse.

Consider letting others know what’s going on for you if you feel you can trust them. They might even be able to support you on your journey of healing and be on your side as you work through the challenges you have with it.

Being proactive and working on how to overcome anxiety is a positive step towards being free of this condition and its impact on your life.

Therapeutic Model

It uses Cognitive Behavioural Therapy which has many years and extensive scientific research creating long-lasting effective changes for those experiencing anxiety.

It does require the individual to apply the ideas to their own lives and commit to doing the work that is required. No one can overcome any mental health issue without being reflective of what’s happening for them. It takes one to be personally responsible for the work and effort that goes into therapy. Unfortunately, no one has a magic wand to magic away the pain or psychological issue.

It comes with 9 instant downloads, the first being an introduction, the rest are the actual program content. Although it might be tempting to try to do all of the sessions as fast as possible, try to pace yourself with them.

I don’t recommend doing it all at once in a couple of days. Emotional healing requires a bit of time to reflect on one’s thought patterns and processes. It takes time to reflect on your responses to situations and incorporate the learnings from the program. It’s recommended that you do at least one per week, maybe 2 if you feel that you are able to progress further.

How it Works

The first part involves the creator, Kate, lead 4 different individuals through a prerecorded CBT coaching session.

Each person in the program addresses a different type of anxiety:

General Anxiety Disorder (GAD),
Panic disorder,
Social anxiety, and
Situational anxiety

While doing the program you will learn what kind of anxiety you experience.

You will also learn how to use different types of coping tools and how to apply them to your situation.

You can listen to each session as often as you need to.

The program also shows how the participants in the sessions experience their anxiety and how they use the tools to help them manage it.

The second part of the program involves using the journal. This is an important step in the program as it is where you record what type of anxiety you have and what situations trigger you to feel anxious. It also helps you work out which tool is most beneficial for you.

You can listen to the audios anywhere at your convenience.

About the Creators

Kate Wirig (MA-Psych)

Kate created this program as she had seen first hand with a close friend the extent of their mental anguish and not getting the support they needed. She saw the amount of time her friend had spent trying to overcome the anxiety. She also realized how costly it had been for them.

Kate wanted to make it easier for anyone experiencing anxiety to be able to have a program that works and was easy to access.

Kate has completed a Masters in Psychology, with an emphasis on Marriage and Family Relationships and a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology majoring in Neuroscience.

She has also won awards including Brigham Young University’s “Circle of Honor” Award and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation “Hope of the Future” Award.

Stuart Squires

Stuart has completed a Masters in Social Work. He has 10 years of experience working with families and individuals to work through depression, anxiety, defiance, unhealthy communication, addiction, and abuse.

Stuart has worked in a wide range of treatment settings such as outpatient therapy, residential treatment, and intensive outpatient family treatment. He helps people with positive thinking, healthy coping strategies, and honest communication skills.

Pros

It can be done in the comfort of one’s home. No risk of being seen by anyone attending an office (some people find this difficult to do)
No stress about finding a park or dealing with the commute to an office.
One therapy session costs more than the total cost of this program.
It is the equivalent of 8 CBT face to face therapy sessions.
There is no ongoing subscription, unlike some mental health online services.
Easier access for those with mobility issues.

Cons

The only con I think is that since there’s no ongoing subscription, it means there is no access to a support counselor to talk through any issues one might face with doing the program.
It also requires the individual to have the capacity to do this either on their own or with personal support.

Customer Reviews

Here are a few stories of those who have experienced anxiety in their lives and found The Anxiety Healing Program helped them through.

My Recommendation

Yes: I would highly recommend this program

Rating out of 5: ✮✮✮✮✮

My reasons for the high rating:

It can be done from the comfort of one’s own home.
No Subscription is Necessary.
More affordable than seeing a therapist face to face on a regular basis.
Fewer issues with parking and traffic.
Implements a reliable and scientifically backed therapeutic model.
It helps one to focus on relieving and overcoming the anxiety they feel.
CBT is a very effective tool to help work through anxiety
It’s structured which helps one work through it at their own pace.

Final Words

So if you are looking for a way to overcome your experience of anxiety, consider this program to help you heal from the pain and suffering that anxiety can cause. It will take personal work and a commitment to reflecting on how you are affected by anxiety in your life. But doing nothing will make things worse and stop you from enjoying what life can offer.

Click on the button below to get instant access to a brighter future.

December 3, 2019December 11, 2019

The Benefits of Audiobooks – Let’s be Practical

Benefits of Audiobooks

I used to be an avid reader many years ago, especially before kids! Now I have 4 adorable children with one of those darlings now an adult. If any of you have children you might relate to how challenging it is to get the chance to read. Especially by the time it’s bedtime, Some of us don’t have the energy to stay awake reading. Daytime is spent running around doing errands, housework or working which takes away precious reading time. Plus, when I find a good book, it’s hard to put down so can spend too much time reading instead of ticking off my to-do list. Over the years, I’ve really missed not being able to read books. Until now. I’ve discovered audiobooks perhaps later than others, but I am glad I finally have. Books are now on AUDIO! Woohoo! This makes life that little bit easier, so allow me to share with you the benefits of audiobooks and show you how to incorporate them into your life.

Learning Styles

If you are reading for the benefit of learning, it can be quite a challenge for some people who don’t have an auditory style of learning. What I mean by this is, that we all have a particular learning style. The most common is visual. Many of us fit into visual but what if you have an auditory style of learning? This makes it harder if you need to read something but find it hard to concentrate due to either the content of the book or you’re struggling because you have an auditory style of learning. Until now that is. You can download audiobooks instead as an alternative to reading books. This will allow you to learn using your preferred learning style instead of struggle.

Time Management

With so many of us burning the candle at both ends, rushing from one activity to the next, we just don’t find time to sit quietly and read something of value. Having an audiobook, however, would be the perfect time to pop in the headphones and utilize our time effectively listening to an audiobook. This will help make it easier to learn something new while doing our errands.

I know people who have to travel for an hour or longer to work. Being able to listen to an audiobook will help you use your time efficiently on your way to and from work.

Holiday Travel Time

Maybe even on your holiday, you can zone out listening to an audiobook instead of taking your book everywhere with you. In particular while making your way to your destination. Whether you’re driving or the passenger, being able to listen to an audiobook can help you get the chance to listen to a book you’ve been wanting to read but haven’t had the chance as yet.

Books Are Bulky

The bulkiness of books can also be a hindrance, especially when going from one place to the other. I don’t know about you, but if I have a couple of books on the go, I don’t want to have to decide which one to take with me to work or on holiday and increase the weight of my bag. At least when you’ve got your books on your device, you can take your library of books where ever you go and they won’t weigh you down. Also, you don’t have to make a decision on which one you want to take with you. You will have to decide at some point though when you press play on your book :).

Minimalist’s Dream

Having Audiobooks can also be a minimalist’s dream! I have many friends who are minimalist. I’m sure they will be nodding their heads in agreement. Books can take up a lot of space which can be too much for a minimalist. By having them stored on your device instead, you reduce the amount of space they can take up in your home. It also means less dust :).

Vision Impaired

Having audiobooks available now is a blessing for those who are vision impaired. Audiobooks have been around for a long time for the vision impaired, however, the number of books was limited until the boom of technology.

Disinterested Readers

Did you know that there are people out there who aren’t even interested in reading? I didn’t until one of my children came under that definition. So it’s been a challenge encouraging her to read. Now, however, she can listen to books alongside her learning how to read. You might be worried that using audiobooks for children might impact their ability to learn how to read. If they are still exposed to doing the school curriculum and practicing alongside audiobooks, it can actually help build their interest in reading along with the book.

Another benefit of audiobooks is they can also help build on critical thinking. So fear not, your child can still learn valuable skills when listening to audiobooks. Audiobooks can also help improve memory and learning.

Attention span

While listening to audiobooks, one’s ability to focus is enhanced, thus increasing one’s attention span. With so many children struggling to focus, incorporating audiobooks into one’s daily routine could help improve their attention span.

Annunciation and Fluency

When listening to an audiobook you can also hear how words are said, as well as the pace and intonations of sentences. This can help build on how to read with fluency and say the words clearly. this can be helpful for children and young people, as well as those learning English as a second language.

Mental Health

As a parent, and perhaps when you were little yourself, reading to young children has a warmth and connection from the caregiver/reader who’s voice and presence is comforting as they read stories. Storytime can be a calming and comforting time for children. This fosters a love for listening to stories, as well as having a positive connection with.

Stress Relief

It helps relieve stress and takes your focus off everyday stress and thoughts around this and redirects those thoughts to what you’re listening to.

Different Senses

In a world so driven by technology and visual overstimulation using your hearing sense gives you a break from using the visual sense and helps your eyes relax.

Shifts Negativity

Our minds are flooded with negativity. By listening to audiobooks it makes us shift where our negative thoughts are focussed on and instead allows room for alternative emotions.

Heart Mindfully’s focus is within the realm of Mental Health and Wellbeing. We focus on self-love, self-care, self-awareness and being present. There are also books that can help with various aspects of one’s wellbeing and emotional health. Here are a few of the audiobooks that I feel are relevant to this website’s focus…

Final Words

So by considering getting audiobooks into your life, you will have heaps of practical benefits as well as mental health benefits to suit everyone in your family. Fear not that it takes away one’s ability to read. If anything it is a valuable tool in helping build interest in reading, increasing one’s critical thinking, and memory. Audiobooks are also time-saving and save on space.

Do you have any questions or experiences with audiobooks? Share your thoughts below.

September 12, 2019October 10, 2019

How to Practice Self Love and Why it Matters

How to Practice Self Love

Learning to love oneself is one of the most powerful things you can do for yourself. Being human comes with all sorts of challenges. We make mistakes daily, we don’t get things finished that we want done, maybe we have awesome days too! So much can happen in one day and throughout a lifetime. But if we struggle to love who we are and aspects about ourselves, we miss out on so much that life can offer. Learning how to practice self-love can be such a valuable part of our living experience on this planet. What we show to the world around us is a reflection of how we feel about ourselves.

What is Self Love

Self love is not narcissistic as some might believe. When we don’t love ourselves, our mind turns against us which creates havoc with our mental health and wellbeing.

Self Love is to deeply love yourself with a strength no matter what. When we have a healthy attitude towards ourselves, we foster our own self-worth, self-acceptance, and self-love. Practicing self-love is also essential for healthy relationships.

Love Yourself First

As a parent, I know how hard it is to be the best parent I want to be. If I am not able to love myself, how am I going to pass on positive self-esteem and self-love to my children. Children absorb so much from us, things we wouldn’t even expect. Even learning how to love oneself is a valuable skill that is learnt from our environment. When we don’t love ourselves, it will have more likelihood to have a negative impact on our children. Whether we teach them otherwise or not. No matter what we think we are teaching our children, they pick up on even subtle things. So if you are mindful of how to love yourself, you will give out a positive vibration to those around you.

Also, if you don’t look after yourself, which is closely connected with self-love, then you won’t be able to look after others around you.

What about if you are single? It’s still going to make a big difference in your life if you practice self-love than if you don’t. How do you think you will attract people into your life friends or a partner if you don’t love yourself? As humans, we need a social connection with others, it’s how we are made up. It’s one of the pillars of well being. For more information on the Pillars of Wellbeing, check out this post where I discuss it in greater detail.

Negative Opinions of Others

When others share their negative opinion about you, it’s very hard not to have it get under your skin. This is a trigger for me personally, so I know it’s hard when it does happen.

I’ve learnt through living these experiences not to take it personally. My self worth is more than someone else’s opinion. That being said, I go through hundreds of questions about what the other person has said to the point where I question everything about my choices.

Then, I realize it’s not about me. Whatever that person has said is about themselves. They are having a negative reaction to something going on in their own life. They are projecting something about themselves and throwing it out to the world. If it’s directed at me, then I think to myself, what is it about me that is triggering this response from them? What are they struggling within themselves that they perceive as being related to me somehow? And you know what, every time I go through this process, it has always led to them having something going on in their lives in some way. This process also helps my brain settle down with all of the negative thought patterns that arise once I remember it’s their stuff.

The main thing to realize is how you continue to be yourself instead of relying on someone else’s faulty opinion. What is your self worth? Your opinion of yourself isn’t tied to someone else’s opinion. so don’t allow it to be. This is where you will be affected unnecessarily. It’s not their life, this is your life and no one has the right to take how you see and feel about yourself away from you.

Accept that you can’t change them. Only yourself, so don’t let them push you around. Set boundaries around how you are treated by others. Don’t give them any power to change how you see yourself or affect what you think. Choose how you want to live, how you want to do things your way without anyone else’s negativity.

Acceptance

When we don’t accept ourselves, we engage in an ongoing internal battle that will just keep going endlessly until we make a conscious choice to let go of the resistance. Have you ever noticed that when a thought keeps running round and round in your mind about yourself, you try to push it away, or you have a negative response to yourself. I’ll show you a snippet into my mind when I was younger…

Thoughts: “Uggh, I hate my freckles. I wish they weren’t there. I’m so over them. They make me look weird. I just want to cover them up, Winter is my friend so I don’t have to expose these stupid freckles.”

What is going on here with all of those unnecessary, irrelevant thoughts that keep running on replay, over and over again, with no end in sight? What am I doing to myself?

What’s happening is that I’m resisting their existence. I’m fighting with my thoughts about the fact that they are there, and they are something that I’m not happy about. So the endless thoughts keep barraging my brain which if left unchecked will contribute to more than just negativity. It will be a struggle to accept myself the way I am.

The negative thoughts are reinforcing more negative thoughts. This also creates an emotional response to the thoughts, which feed into the next thoughts. This actually used to happen in my mind when I was younger. I was so embarrassed by the freckles, I used to try to cover them up and try not to get too much attention to them. Fortunately, I’m older and wiser and have learned a thing or two about dealing with such negative thoughts and nurturing self-love.

When one isn’t accepting of something, in this case, my freckles, then it causes discomfort, negativity, self-consciousness, and a wide range of other feelings. This can have a big impact on how one views oneself and feel about oneself.

Now if we practice acceptance, the tug-of-war stops, the war on hating oneself evaporates.

Here’s one way of how to practice acceptance…

Thought: Uggh, I hate these freckles.

Acceptance: Hmm, okay, the freckles are a part of me. I can’t stop them from being there once I get them. I have fair skin, so it’s inevitable that I will get some freckles. It’s okay to have freckles. They aren’t ugly. Some people say they’re cute. It really doesn’t matter whether they are there or not. they are part of me, so I am okay to have them there. I will accept them being a part of me.

This creates less of an internal argument within myself and instead creates acceptance.

Acceptance Exercise

Here’s an exercise you can try for yourself.

Think about an aspect of yourself that you struggle to accept. Okay, now with that thought, imagine it floating up to the sky in a bubble. You watch it float up to the clouds. You watch it sit on the clouds. It moves with the movement of the clouds. Stay with it and watch it for as long as you want to.

What did you notice while you did that floating thoughts exercise?

I’m going to guess that you may have found yourself fighting less with the thought being there in your mind and created distance between the thought and your observer part of your mind. This exercise allows you to let go of the struggle with the thought you’re not happy with and allows you to sit with it. You can do this exercise with any thoughts you are struggling with.

The key here is learning how to sit with the thoughts that make it hard to accept. When acceptance happens, the fight reduces and creates a sense of calm. When we can accept ourselves, we can learn to love ourselves deeper and with greater self-awareness. I’m not saying this happens overnight. It’s something to practice on a regular basis so you can learn to love yourself. You are human with all of our imperfections and troubles. Learning to love and accept yourself is a valuable skill that can be learned and nourished.

“We all make mistakes, it’s how we respond to those mistakes that will determine our direction” ~kat

Negative Self Talk

How many times to do you say something to yourself which has a negative tone? We all have a negative self-critic. Its whether we decide to listen to it or not. Become more aware of what our inner voice is saying to ourselves. It can take some time before we notice it and get used to hearing it. Once you are aware of it, try to write down when you notice the negative thoughts. This will give you an insight into how frequently your inner critic has been actively contributing to your negativity.

Don’t be hard on yourself once you discover this internal world if you didn’t realize it before. Growing in self-love and self-acceptance takes time. It’s a process that doesn’t happen overnight. If you’ve been hating on yourself for years, then give yourself a break and be kind to yourself. By being more aware and taking small steps towards a more positive you, things will change and shift over time.

Practice noticing your thoughts daily – write some in a journal when you become aware of them. It’s important not to keep feeding into those thoughts, simply notice it, record it, then keep doing what you were doing. See how many times you might notice any negativity.

Allow me to share a relevant quote from Louise Hay. She said,

“Whatever is happening out there is only a mirror of our own inner thinking.” Louise Hays

When our inner world is negative it will show through in many areas of our lives.

Make a Commitment to Love Yourself

This means you need to make the decision to keep working through the process of learning to love yourself, even on bad days. Cos bad days do happen. If you’ve committed to working on developing and building on yourself love, then this will help you be consistent and it will improve how you feel about yourself.

Reframe It

Once you’ve kept a record of your negative self talk for at least a few days so that you don’t dwell and get stuck on those thoughts. you can create a list of how to reframe those thoughts into something more positive.

For example, let’s say you had the thought,

“I’m so useless with this subject, I’m so dumb at this.’

Reframe it to, “I’m aware that I’m finding this subject challenging and I choose to speak with my teacher about it in the morning. I am working hard and concentrating on this work. I’ve already done some of the work and understand some parts.

Practice Mindfulness

Through the practice of mindfulness, you can become more aware of your thoughts and manage them with focus and kindness. Acknowledge their presence but don’t have a discussion with yourself over them being there. It’s okay to have thoughts, they are normal. The trick is to not engage with them, get angry with them for being there or push them away.

Forgive Yourself

We all make mistakes. We are usually tougher on ourselves than others. This creates an unkind internal world that decimates self-love. Especially if we are prone to dwell on these mistakes. Think about it this way, would you forgive your friend for the same thing you’re upset wit yourself about? If so, then be kind to yourself too and forgive yourself. You’re human and it’s okay to not be perfect.

Many of us are busy and have high aspirations which can lead to high expectations. When this gets challenging it’s common for many to criticize themselves which can have a strong impact on mental wellbeing and love for yourself. Many perfectionists tend to be prone to this type of inner criticism which can wreak havoc on self-love.

Hypnosis Nurture Self Love

Hypnosis is a valuable tool in helping to shift thought patterns that may impact how we feel about ourselves. Especially at the subconscious level.

If negative self talk, a strong inner critic and being unkind to yourself has been an ongoing theme for you, it might take multiple approaches to address changing this pattern. Hypnosis is a very effective way of accessing the subconscious mind and help you adapt new behaviours and changes that you might struggle to do without this additional tool.

Below is just a few that are offered through ehypnosis.com In particular, the self-esteem hypnosis as well as connecting with your body can help one increase self-acceptance and self-love.

Inner Peace Hypnosis

Find Your Inner Peace For Women Hypnosis

Learn To Forgive Hypnosis

Boost Your Self-esteem Hypnosis

Connect To Your Body Hypnosis

Stop Overthinking Hypnosis

Practice Self Care

I value self-care immensely. It’s the action of doing something you enjoy for yourself, not for anyone else. Something that nurtures you, that you relate to and have an interest in.

It might be yoga or going for a walk before everyone gets up. Be sure to look after yourself so you can look after others around you. This also fosters and builds on your self-love and compassion.

Summary

So in order to nurture you and build on your self-love, take action and work out your plan on how to practice self-love in your own way.

Remember to be kind to yourself, be kind to others, and accept the wonderful person you really are. Learn to love your imperfections.

August 27, 2019December 15, 2019

It Was a Good Day Afterall – Turn Around Negativity

How to Turn Your Day Around

I saw this quote on a board out the front of a nursing home and thought this was very apt for all of us. What does it mean to have a good day? How can you learn to say it was a good day when things just don’t go your way sometimes?

We don’t always have good days. Some days just don’t end up the way we intended. Sometimes, we make mistakes, we say something stupid. Or maybe things don’t happen the way we were hoping. Perhaps you hear some devastating news, or something tragic happens. There are things we can control, things we can’t control and things that simply just happen. When we happen to have one of those not=so=good days, it’s important to not take them to heart. We need to self-preserve and not let things get out of proportion.

Reframe It

Reframing is a very handy tool in our coping strategies toolbox. When you can see things from a different perspective it can change the way we feel about it and change our responses. The above quote helps to reframe a bad day and think about how to look for things that happen within that bad day and see them differently.

Here’s a possible day:

Bad Day

You’ve been to the dentist, you’ve had to pay a stupid amount of money to get one tooth fixed. this has increased your stress levels. That money was going towards your new laptop. Instead, you have to put it towards that darned tooth. How frustrating. During that same day, your kids are driving you crazy with their constant fighting. Then you say something to a friend that came out the wrong way which triggers your anxiety. Now you feel this ongoing anxiety with its relentless critical barrage of thoughts running around your mind making you feel worse.

Same-Day but See the Good

You can reframe your dentist appointment by saying to yourself, ‘I am able to keep my teeth healthy. I am no longer be in pain’. Also, remind yourself that you actually had the money to be able to pay for the emergency dental appointment. This took the stress away from figuring out how you will pay for it.

You get a random hug from your eldest daughter and you go for a walk with your dog.

You spent valuable heartfelt time with your friend who was very understanding and compassionate. Even though you said the wrong thing to your friend, they talk about it with you and you feel better for it. The reframe here is, “it’s helped me talk more openly with my friend instead of allowing the anxiety to take over.’

When we notice and become aware of the positives from our day, it can actually help the anxiety lower, as we focus on something else rather than fueling the anxious thoughts. For more ways to deal with anxiety pop over here and have a read.

Within this day, although having to spend hard-earned cash on a tooth might seem like it’s a bad thing, you also had some really cool, positive things that happened too. By reframing the way you perceive the events, you can shift your emotional response to them.

Acceptance

Being able to accept that events have turned out the way they have will help in being able to release the negative feelings about it. Instead helps to sit with what happened. This creates less resistance around the event and lowers the feeling in response. Finding ways to sit with the way things go allows one to find acceptance in it. This doesn’t mean that you accept being treated like crap if that happened. It’s about letting go of your internal battle inside your mind of trying to either get rid of the feeling or wish things didn’t happen the way they did.

We all have an observer part of our mind. It’s the part of our mind that can witness what we are doing, notice how we think. Notice how we respond. When you can become the observer and notice how you think, feel, act, this can help in being able to create distance with the negative thoughts that rampage through our minds. By noticing and being aware of the thoughts instead of resisting them, we can accept them being there. Even find it easier to handle the thoughts being there. Then we might also be able to notice the other parts of our day instead of just the ones that stand out as being awful/bad/crap etc.

End of the Day

At the end of your day, be sure to write down at least one thing that went well during the day. Something you can say that allows you to have bring to mind the good parts of your day.

Ask yourself, “What happened today that went well?’

Maybe your child gave you a random unprompted hug which brought a smile to your face. Maybe it was having someone shout you a coffee during the day.

Focus on remembering what was more pleasant or positive than the other not-so-good parts of your day. This shifts your focus from negative to more positive.

Write down things you are grateful for if you are struggling to remember any of the good parts of your day. There are many benefits to being grateful that I’ve written about here.

When we think of the positives at the end of the day before we drift off to sleep, we are allowing our brains to simmer for the next 7-8 hours on this which can help with waking up with a positive refreshed focus for beginning a new day.

Hypnosis – Another way to do this can be to do a guided hypnosis every night before drifting off to a deep slumber. Here’s a freebie to get you started.

Final Thoughts

Everyone has a bad day here and there. It’s how you deal with it that determines whether it actually is the whole day that went sour or look at it from a different perspective to keep it in perspective. Think about what were the good bits that happened in your day.

Reframing, acceptance, and gratitude are all ways to help shift the way we see things no matter what they are. It can relieve stress, and shift a negative mood to a positive one.

August 25, 2019September 10, 2019

Australian Suicide Helplines and Resources

Where to Find Help for Suicidal Ideation in Australia

This post aims to provide Australians with supports and contact numbers for those experiencing suicidal ideation in Australia. It also includes a list of resources available during times of crisis or struggling to cope with things in their life or someone they know. I also include some tips on how to talk with someone who you suspect may be feeling suicidal.

Although ideally, it is better to manage mental health before it gets to crisis point, it’s not something we necessarily tend to do. Instead can find ourselves experiencing a crisis before learning some strategies to cope with intense feelings.

Some of the resources listed here are to help one manage and work through mental health before things get worse such as Reachout, Mensline and SANE.

One way to prevent and manage mental health for instance is to practice self care on a regular basis. This can help one manage stress and anxiety levels before they escalate. Having a pet can also be a very practical way of managing challenging thoughts as they can be considered protective factors. Read more about the benefits of having a pet for managing your mental health here. Focusing on your wellbeing is also important in managing when your stress increases.

Additionally, practicing self soothing strategies can also be valuable in managing suicidal thoughts. Here’s a thorough list for you to work through.

If you are at immediate risk of harm or risk to yourself or others call one of the numbers below to get immediate help.

Suicide Helplines and Resources – Australia

Suicide CallBack Service

1300 659 467

24hrs a day 7 days a week

https://www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au/

Cost of a local call

Suicide Callback Service is a nationwide service available for anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts. Provided by professionals via telephone and online counselling any time of the day or night, anywhere in Australia.

They have resources on the website to help anyone:

feeling suicidal
worried about someone who is feeling suicidal
has lost someone to suicide
and health professionals supporting those experiencing suicidal ideation

The website also includes a Virtual Assistant called Claire who can provide you with a progressive muscle relaxation program to help manage stress and improve mental function.

There is also a safety plan app called the ReMinder app.

The ReMinder app helps you:

create your own team of supports during times of crisis
what you can do to calm your intense feelings
Create a list for reasons to life.
Make your environment safe
Keep the name and contact details of the nearest hospital to access during times of crisis
Names of professionals you can speak with and resources to keep yourself safe.
Make a safety plan commitment to yourself to keep yourself safe when feeling suicidal.

Lifeline

13 11 14

24 hours a day 7 days a week.

https://www.lifeline.org.au/

Cost of a local call. Could be more from mobiles.

A national charity organisation for crisis intervention and suicide prevention for those living in Australia. For anyone over the age of 18 yrs.

Lists Fact Sheets and Coping Kit to help when feeling suicidal or struggling to manage intense feelings.

Fact Sheets have information for a variety of topics:

depression
loneliness
anxiety
suicide
if you are worried about someone being suicidal
if you have lost someone to suicide
domestic violence
financial stress and food
psychotic illness
grief and loss

Beyond Blue

1300 22 46 36

https://www.beyondblue.org.au

Cost of a local call

For anyone, any age, any background, male, female, non binary, where ever you live in Australia.

They also offer an app called beyond now designed to help develop a safety plan for managing when feeling suicidal and at risk of harm. There is lots of helpful information for anyone experiencing challenging thoughts around depression and suicide.

The website includes information on:

Stats of how many men take their life per day in Australia
Information on wellbeing
Supporting yourself
Supporting someone who is suicidal
Facts about mental health
Personal stories
Treatment options

Kids Helpline

1800 55 1800

24hrs a day 7 days a week

www.kidshelp.com.au

Free call from all landlines, and most mobile phones

Ages: 5 yrs – 25 yrs

Access: Phone, web chat and email

Heaps of information listed on the website for:

primary aged young people,
teens
young adults
parents
schools

It is subdivided into these age groups with sections for particular topics to research that is age appropriate.

Young people can get support for a wide range of issues including bullying, relationships, abuse, self harm, suicidal thoughts, mental health, cyberbullying, friendship issues and anything else that a young person might struggle with and need support from a caring professional. Plus really helpful tips and strategies on the site for a young person or parent to access for support in their world.

There’s quizzes about feelings that Spongebob guides you through. And a new gaming and live streams page called Twitch that you can find out more here.

Reachout

Contact: https://au.reachout.com/

Available for young people, parents, and carers of young people to learn more of young people’s issues.

Has valuable resources for when you are looking into the issues you are facing. Best to look this information up before reaching a crisis point.

Offers support, tools and tips for managing a range of issues from everyday issues through to mental illness and crisis intervention.

Some examples include:

Gender and Identity
Anger
Drugs
Relationships
Anxiety and Depression
Suicide
Self harm

Some of the tools that are included as coping strategies include:

chats for life – an app that helps you plan to have a conversations with someone you’re concerned about their safety and mental wellbeing
theCheckIn – an app also designed to help you learn what to say to a friend you’re concerned about.
MoodMission – an app that helps you manage your moods when feeling low or anxious. Based on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy to help you learn new and better ways to cope with anxiety and depression.
Pacifica – an app that has been designed by psychologists to help one manage stress, anxiety and depression with helpful strategies.
Stop Breathe and Think – an app that helps learn how to meditate and practice mindfulness.

Headspace

1800 650 890

https://headspace.org.au/

Free call from landlines and most mobile phones. Face to face appointments are free when you get a Mental Health Plan through a referral from your GP.

A service for young people aged between 12 yrs to 25 yrs.

They offer face to face counselling as well as online web chat and phone counselling.

eheadspace is the online portal for support using phone and web chat.

If you are looking for a location in Australia to see a face to face therapist go to their find a centre page.

Mensline

Phone: 1300 78 99 78

https://mensline.org.au/mens-mental-health/talking-about-suicide/

Cost of a local call.

Offers phone, webchat and email 24 hours a day.

A service for men struggling with issues happening in their lives. This can range from separation, anger, mental health, relationships, being a parent etc.

Offers phone and online counselling any time anywhere within Australia. Also offers useful tips and information online relevant to managing the wide range of issues men face living in Australia.

SANE

1800 187 263

https://www.sane.org/

Free call from all landlines and most mobiles

Offers phone contact, email support, forums and information on the website.

Sane is a service for those experiencing mental health illness or families of a loved one living with mental illness. Sometimes, however, people with a mental illness might deteriorate with their mental health becoming suicidal or agitated and become a risk to others. You can contact SANE who can help assess the situation and provide support or referrals for you.

You can also contact your local Crisis Assessment Treatment Team (CATT) at the closest major hospital to the person of concern. The CATT team are a multidisciplinary team made up of psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers and nurses. They can assess the needs of the individual struggling with a mental illness and can decide whether hospitalisation is required or can be admitted to hospital to help manage the condition. If the individual is a risk to themselves or others, they are likely to be hospitalised to help keep them safe.

Operating Hours for Phone line – 10am – 10pm AEST

Forums – moderated 24 hours a day

Emergency Services

000 if you are at immediate risk to yourself or others. Free call.

If you are a friend or family member it’s okay to call emergency services if you believe someone is at risk of ending their lives. If you know the address of the individual of concern they will send an ambulance. When you don’t know of the location or unsure if the person is safe, police can be sent to do a welfare check who could also have ambulance arrive too.

Hospital

If you are struggling to keep yourself safe due to suicidal thoughts, or have immediate intention to act on these thoughts, you or a friend can call an ambulance. They will take you to the nearest hospital where you can talk with mental health workers who can support you through this difficult time.

You can also present to your local emergency department who can assess and help you keep yourself or your family member safe from harm.

#YouCanTalk

https://www.lifeinmindaustralia.com.au/youcantalk

Is a collaborative campaign between mental health and suicide prevention national organisations to open up the discussion and empower everyone to find a voice in being able to ask someone if they feel suicidal.

Half of the Australian population are afraid to ask a person if they are feeling suicidal for fear of what the answer might be. #youcantalk is a new direction for suicide prevention in Australia.

Tips for talking about suicide:

You don’t need to be a professional to check in with someone about whether they are feeling suicidal.
Don’t avoid them, it’s better to be around them and check in how they are feeling.
Trust your instincts. If you suspect someone might be feeling suicidal, it’s okay to ask them.
Be prepared for them to possibly say yes.
Use tools for managing how to support the individual
Listen with compassion. Don’t fix their situation. Be empathic.
Find out who they feel comfortable sharing their concerns with including other possible supports such as the ones listed above.
Ensure they are safe and if they can’t agree to keep themselves safe, contact emergency services or take them to a hospital.
Go to https://www.ruok.org.au/how-to-ask for more tips

In Summary

If you know anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts or you yourself have been having suicidal thoughts, talk to someone you feel comfortable with and can trust. Call a professional service for immediate support to help you get through the suicidal thoughts you’re having.

Don’t act on the thoughts. Thoughts are just thoughts, they aren’t real. They can pass if you get support and practice some strategies to help manage how you feel. There’s even more information in this article.

August 24, 2019August 24, 2019

International Suicide Helplines – Get the Help You Need

Suicide Helplines – For Crisis Support

If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, do not act on them. The thoughts you are having are just thoughts. They can shift and you can keep yourself safe from the thoughts. For those of you experiencing suicidal thoughts, the first thing to do is talk to someone you trust. Either let someone in your social network know that you’re struggling, or call a helpline who can support you and talk you through your experience of suicidal thoughts. This is not something you need to suffer alone. There are many helplines throughout the world, so I’ve pulled as many as I could find together to create this list of International Suicide Helplines for you to contact if you are feeling unable to keep yourself safe.

International Suicide Helplines

Develop a Safety Plan

A safety plan is a list of things you do and follow when you are feeling like you are struggling to keep yourself safe.

Do not act on any thoughts to end your life. Many people have felt like there was no hope but with support and help those feelings shifted so they no longer felt like they had to end their life. You too can work through those sad, uncomfortable feelings.

Take it one hour at a time. Maybe even one minute at a time to help get you though.

Tell someone you trust in your network that you are struggling. Get help early before your feelings escalate.
Find something that you can do that can be a distraction. This might be listening to music, listening to a meditation, doing some slow breathing,
Write down how you feel,
Call a suicide helpline in your country. See list above.
Delay acting on thoughts to end your life. Use this time to talk to someone.
Avoid being alone, especially at night.
Challenge your thoughts – they’re not right. They aren’t even real. They are something our brains have come up with and can shift. You might even believe no one cares or would notice you gone, but this is never true. It would have a negative effect on so many people. What if this was your friend saying this to you. What would you say to them?
Practice creating some distance between the thoughts to end your life and your observer mind. Place the thoughts onto a bubble in front of you and release it up and place it onto clouds in the sky.
Create a list of all the positive things in your life
What are coping strategies you already have?

Feelings are Normal

Recognise feelings are a part of being human. Us humans have a big range of feelings and some of them are good, but some of them are not so good. How you feel can shift and will if you focus on something else and shift the thoughts from ending your life to something different like what you can live for.

Think about something you can feel grateful for.

Think about things or people to live for.

Be Present

Breathe slowly in, hold for 2 seconds then release. Breathing helps your body to relax even though it feels like it’s impossible. Keep breathing slowly till you notice a shift. Being present helps you not focus on the past or the future, instead brings you back to this moment. Here’s more information on how to be present.

Ground yourself. You can do this by looking around you and say 5 things you can see, 4 things you can feel, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell or taste, one thing you are grateful for. Here’s more information on this topic in a previous post.

Coping Strategies

We all have coping strategies. However if we have not actually thought of behaviours as a coping strategy then it’s possible to not realise we do have ways of coping already.

Coping strategies can involve many activities as well as ways of using our psychological muscles. What I mean by this is finding something that you can focus on that can help you shift what you’re thinking of. For instance if I said to you purple turtle. What do you think of? Maybe a purple turtle? The same goes for shifting what we are thinking about. Suicidal thoughts can also increase how we feel as they continue and go round and round in our minds and can get stuck in a loop. No matter what pain you are feeling, finding something else to focus on will help get you through those tough thoughts to give you some space and help you work through how you’re feeling.

Some coping strategies can be

Going for a walk
Think about your favorite holiday location.
Imagine a favorite quiet location such as a rainforest, beach, creek, or grassy field. Which ever you are drawn to can help you think and imagine something that you enjoy which can help shift where your current thoughts are.
Write down how you feel.
Do some yoga.
Do some drawing or coloring in. This makes you use a different part of your brain as you use movement and creativity.
Do some self soothing strategies such as listening to your favorite music, or using essential oils. Here’s more information on self soothing strategies.
Look at some cute baby animal pictures – this helps release serotonin in your brain to help you shift how you feel to a more positive space.

Whatever you choose to do as a way of coping, you need to focus your attention on it so you can engage with it and help you think about things from a different perspective, even just to give yourself a break from the suicidal thoughts you’ve been having.

Ongoing Support

For ongoing support you can consider a range of services to help you work through what’s been going on for you. Here’s a list in this post that I’ve put together.

My number one recommendation for working through challenging your thoughts and issues such as depression is online-therapy.com. It’s an online service that involves worksheets, contact via live messaging and texting. You’ll find more information about it in my review here.

Summary

If you have been experiencing suicidal thoughts, do not act on those thoughts, Take time to talk to someone and get support.

You are not alone. You can work through this difficult time. With support you can shift how you feel and have hope.

August 22, 2019August 22, 2019

Online-Therapy Services – Help when you need it

Online-Therapy Services –

Counselling Help When You Need It

Who doesn’t have issues hey? Nobody is perfect. However, when they get in the way of us living a fulfilled life is when we realise we need to do something about it. As humans, we all have something that we could use a little help to overcome. Maybe it’s something from your childhood that’s still affecting you in your adult life. If you are struggling with personal issues that are impacting your life, it might be time for you to consider speaking with someone about what’s going on. Thanks to the progress of technology and convenience of the internet, we can have everything at our fingertips, including help when you need it.

There are a lot of counsellors, therapists, psychologists out there and for good reason. Talking with a trained professional who can help you work through your problems requires specialized knowledge. You wouldn’t get your car fixed by a baker would you? Or how about have your broken leg treated by a computer programmer? Unless they have also trained professionally as a doctor or mechanic as mentioned above. You would only see someone who knows how to work with you on the issues you’re struggling with.Although having good support around you is valuable and essential, sometimes family and friends don’t understand or know how to support you. They aren’t necessarily trained in this area, so the support they have can be limited. You can teach them how to support you once you’ve received professional help and show them what you need from them.

Talking with a professional counsellor/therapist can guide and support you. Here’s more information on this in another post.

The service we will be discussing here in this blog is Online-Therapy.com

Online-Therapy Service

The Online-Therapy Service offers online counselling and therapy from the comfort of your own home. It is a highly effective web based therapy site. This means it utilises the online world where you interact with a real person as well as use tools that give you help when you need it.

Throughout your time with the program, you will communicate with your therapist using the worksheets, live chat and messaging. You are matched with a therapist based on your area of concern, but if you find you don’t feel this is a good match for you, you can request to change therapists.

It is highly accessible and saves you time and the hassle of traffic and parking. All you need is a computer, laptop or mobile phone with access to the internet.

Qualified Professionals

Dr. Elizabeth Lombardo is a licensed clinical psychologist with a Master’s degree in Physical Therapy and a Ph.D. in Psychology.

She has been honored by giving a prestigious TED-x talk and is frequently interviewed by today’s top media outlets including; The Today Show, Dr. Oz, The Steve Harvey Show, Fox News, CNN, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Money Magazine, Health, MSNBC, USA Today and National Public Radio.

Dr. Lombardo is also a best-selling author of: “A Happy You: Your Ultimate Prescription for Happiness” and “Better Than Perfect: 7 Strategies to Crush Your Inner Critic and Create a Life You Love”.

Dr Steven Gans MD. is a board certified psychiatrist affiliated with the McLean Hospital in Belmont Massachusetts. where he leads a team-based approach to the acute management of patients with serious mental illness. He is an active teacher, mentor and supervisor at the Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Adult Psychiatry Residency Training Program and in their Program in Psychodynamics (PIP).

Dr Barbara Musgrove PhD – is a licensed clinical psychologist with a Ph.D. in psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University. Her therapeutic approach for personal change is based on the principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. She also uses techniques captured by mindfulness and client-centered therapy.

Therapists – All professionals who work with Online-Therapy.com are highly qualified caring professionals with a wide range of credentials. They also possess a wide range of credentials and many hours of applied experience.

With a wealth of experienced and caring professionals it’s reassuring to know you can work through your areas of concern with lasting outcomes.

Areas of Concern – Categories

Whatever the issue you are struggling with Online-Therapy have got you covered. Here’s a list of the categories you can receive support and work through.

Addiction	Depression	PTSD - Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Agoraphobia	GAD - Generalised Anxiety Disorder	Relationships
Anger	Health Anxiety	Social Anxiety
Anxiety	Insomnia	Speech Anxiety
Bipolar	OCD - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder	Stress
BPD - Borderline Personality Disorder	Panic Attacks	Weight Problems

Who can use it

IIt is available internationally. For those of you outside the US, simply click on the About Section, click on the Find a Therapist tab and see if there is one in your country.

It is ideal for anyone, but in particular:

Those who struggle to get out of the house, for instance if you have mobility issues due to health or differently abled.
Anxiety issues that make it hard for you to leave the house.
Don’t have access to transport to get you to a face to face counselling service in your area.
Live in a remote location so there aren’t any counselling services available in your area.
Too busy and unable to find time during the day when services are usually open.
Its convenient to access from the comfort of your own home.
You have increased accessibility to your therapist through text messages and email.
Takes away the stigma of walking into a therapy office.

How does it work?

The therapy offered through Online-Therapy Services uses a widely known and highly effective therapeutic approach called Cognitive Behavior Therapy, otherwise known as CBT.

CBT helps you identify and challenge your dysfunctional thoughts, behaviours and actions to help you create positive changes in your life.

Upon enrolling, you are matched with a therapist based on your area of concern.

It offers a complete tool box for you to work through. There are 8 sections that help you work through your concerns. See below.

As it’s an online program, you will be communicating with your therapist through the worksheets, live chats and text messaging. The Sections will guide you using video, audio and reading material and practical activities.

To get started, the process is simple:

Select one or more areas of concern that you want to work on.
Create an account within the private and secure platform.
Choose a plan that is right for you (20% for the first month when you click on the link below).
Get instant access to your online therapy program, Communicate with your therapist through live chat and messages.
Engage in the worksheets, live chats, sections, journal, activity plan, and yoga and soon you’ll start to feel better.

Confidentiality and Privacy

You can rest assured that your confidentiality and privacy is maintained at all times. All information you share is anonymously saved on their secure server which remains there for maximum 2 years. Earlier if you request it. Only you and your therapist can access this information.

Anonymity

If you choose to, you can remain anonymous. This includes not having to be seen going in to an office. You can also choose whether to provide your own name or use an alias or nickname that your therapist can refer to you by. You can also choose another nickname for the online forums too.

Pricing

There is a range of price points to suit your budget and needs.

Upon Completion

When you complete your work with the program you can request a certificate of completion which will be emailed to you.

Success Stories

Those who have overcome their personal struggles through this program say:

I’m not going to list all of the reviews here. Feel free to go directly to the web site to see for yourself how others have found this effective for them. Some find it took some adjusting to doing the program online. However, they also found once they became familiar with it, they were able to benefit and move forward.

Long Lasting Outcomes

Through actively engaging in the program and applying your new learnings, CBT has the capacity to provide long term results.

CBT has a proven track record through years of scientific research. Online therapy is just as effective as face to face work. Doing it online also allows you to have the worksheets available for you to review without relying solely on your memory. Plus using a journal, reinforces your learning helping you shift your thought patterns and develop new ways to look at things.

Who it isn’t for

If you experience complex mental health issues, it might be more effective for you to engage in face to face therapy due to the challenges complex mental illness can be to live with and manage.

If you are at risk of suicide or hurting yourself or someone else in anyway, seek support from your local helpline and work on a safety plan. In Australia a great safety plan can be developed through the Beyond Blue App Beyond Now.

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, keep yourself safe and contact a helpline in your country. Here is a list of International Helplines if you are experiencing suicidal thoughts.

Final Words

If you keep doing what you’ve always done, then nothing will change. Whereas if you tackle and face your problems directly you have an increased chance of making valuable improvements in your life. By actively engaging with the activities and worksheets there is high likelihood that you can make the changes necessary to develop new ways of approaching your life with your newly developed tools. For your 20% discount, click on the button below.

Namaste dear Heart Mindfully friends

August 9, 2019August 10, 2019

Review of Mindplace Kasina Mind Meditation System

Review of Mindplace Kasina Meditation System

Mindplace Kasina Mind Meditation System

Welcome to my detailed review of the Kasina Mind Meditation System.

For those of you who already meditate, you might be looking at ways to enhance or deepen your meditation and state of consciousness. For others, you have trouble meditating so have have the opinion that it doesn’t work for you. Or you could be looking at how to actually practice meditation if you already struggle with it, These are all very valid and common for many people who have heard about the benefits of meditation but not sure how to start or continue.

You may have even heard of mind machines but don’t know what they’re all about. That’s okay, because here I will explore and uncover whether the Kasina Mind Meditation System works or not.

Mindplace have been around for many years. The Kasina system is designed to promote a deeper level of meditation. It helps you to focus on the experience of meditation rather than have that mind chatter include itself in your meditation experience.

Here, I examine whether it can do what it claims to do whether it is user friendly. I also offer my recommendation of the system.

The name Kasina comes from Buddhism which means, all complete, whole. It is a meditation technique to describe focussing on a purely external object to produce and develop increased concentration to enhance meditation.

Mindplace have created a meditation system that is drawn from over 10 years of empirical research of light and sounds on the meditation experience. The current Kasina system has programs that are highly effective in creating a powerful meditation experience.

The 4 main program categories include:

Tranquility
Peak Performance
Learning
Wellbeing

Product: Kasina Deepvision Bundle

Price: US $399

Where to buy: Mindplace.com

Guarantee: 2 year warranty on Console; 1 yr on Accessories

Recommend: Yes

Rating: 9/10

Mindplace Kasina Mind Meditation System

It’s an mp3 player with earbuds, and Ganzframes
Instructions book
Kasina MP3 Player
Earbuds
Kasina Ganzframes Multi Colour Glasses
SD card
3.5mm Stereo Patch Cable
USB cable and wall charger
Rechargeable lithium battery
Carry bag

Promotes

Meditation
Relaxation
Stimulation
Creativity

How does it work

It’s very easy to use, simply plug in and play.

The system contains 70 plus preset meditation sessions.

It’s a combination of light stimulation with sound waves that have been shown to reduce depression in teenagers.

The visual aspects involve use of lights stimulates the brain through it’s 255 shades of color. These colors shine to help stimulate the brain in conjunction with the sounds from the programs.

The Aural (sound) backgrounds used incorporate a range of soothing sounds of nature, ambient electronic tapestries to embedded binaural beats and isochoric pulses that are synchronised with the visual experience.

Add Your Own Music

Another feature of the Kasina Mind Machine has is it can convert your choice of music into pulses of colored music. It helps to use music with a beat but not essential. It maps low audio music to blue, mid frequencies to green and high frequencies to red. They work together integrating the pace of the music into colors. This feature helps enhance the mind entrainment programs and thus user experience.

GanzFrames Two Types

Ganzframes are the ‘light’ components of the system.

There are two types.

The DeepVision Ganzfeld display frames give you the eyes open experience. These are the ones that come with the Kasina bundle.

The other frames are designed to be viewed with your eyes closed. These are recommended for other products in the Mindplace range.

Mental Health

If you’ve been struggling with anxiety and depression, you may be considering incorporating a range of options in addition to therapy and possible medication. Hopefully you’ve been seeing a professional to find out where it’s coming from and engaging in the therapeutic process. The Mindplace Kasina Mind Meditation System can help increase the brain’s ability to meditate and attain a deeper level of meditation while improving levels of depression and anxiety.

It takes more than just one strategy to help work through depression and anxiety. I believe in a holistic approach so in addition to working with a therapist, consider incorporating a range of strategies and tools for managing your mental health. This might also include self care and grounding strategies. Another tool that has been shown to have some help in supporting one’s mental health is through meditation using binaural beats and visual stimulation.

For approximately a third of those diagnosed with depression, don’t respond to medication. Additionally, not everyone wants to rely on medication. If this is you it’s important to know that there are alternatives to help shift this experience. Perhaps you could consider a mind machine to help with creating a different state of consciousness while meditating.

Getting into a deep state of relaxation can help calm the senses and increase your focus among other things as outlined below.

Uses and Benefits

It can create an altered state of consciousness.
Increases your creativity.
Stop thoughts and ‘monkey mind’
Gain a deeper consciousness.
Helps overcome sleep issues such as insomnia.
Can also change your mood.
Help one overcome issues with anger.
Helps facilitate calm and peace
Facilitates accelerated learning.
It can also help those who experience depression and anxiety through helping the brain.
Boosts your immune system
Lowered heart rate and blood pressure.

Cons

Some find the bundle is too bulky for them to carry around during their daily activities.

Others have shared they can find it overwhelming but when they relaxed and allowed the lights and sound to work they could manage.

A more updated model could include it using bluetooth technology connecting to one’s mobile phone instead of being modeled using an mp3 player which is older technology.

Who It’s Not For

This is not for those who experience seizures due to the stimulating lights that can trigger seizures.

Conclusion

Would I recommend this product? Yes I would.

This is a much more affordable option in comparison to other mind machines on the market such as Pandora Star, Lucia Light, and other such expensive options that are priced in the thousands range.

Meditating is a highly beneficial activity to practice on a daily basis to help calm the senses and work on creating a resilient state of being. By using a mind machine to facilitate meditation, you can enhance your meditation experience and gain a deeper level of consciousness, along with the wide range of benefits mentioned above. For some it can be very challenging to meditate and focus, however the Kasina Mind Meditation System can enhance your meditation and take it to the next level. Namaste.

August 7, 2019August 8, 2019

Cute Baby Animal Pictures – For Emotional Wellbeing

Promote Positive Feelings with Cute Baby Animal Pictures

Use of visual pictures to help manage moods can be very effective in shifting how you feel. Have you ever felt a bit down, stressed or low and needed a little pick me up? Here we will discuss the benefits of looking at cute baby animal pictures to help with doing exactly this. Research has shown the benefits of having these images to look at have many positive effects and benefits.

SItting with feelings can be a real struggle to manage at various times and stages of life. Feelings are normal, and it’s good to learn how to sit with them. If you need a break from their intensity however, it can help to simply look at ways to shift how you feel until you can work with those feelings. In my previous post, I’ve outlined the value and grounding effect that having a pet can do for our mental health and wellbeing.

I’ve found that using visual cues can be very effective in helping an individual to manage their mood, while also giving them something different to focus on.

Anyone can benefit from looking at cute baby animal pictures at any age.

Effects on the Brain

A study involving students looking at cute baby animal pictures, showed that tasks they engaged in were done more deliberately and with greater time and care. Looking at adult animals made no difference to the performance of tasks. For details on this research go here.

Help productivity at work.
It also helps boost attention and focus.
A hormone called dopamine is released when we see an image with the cute factor. So it can act similar to cocaine as it can be addictive to want to get that dopamine boost but it’s a much healthier option.
It also promotes empathic responses when looking at cute baby animal images.
Baby animal pics also makes us feel happier

Baby Schema

The baby schema of large eyes, large head and high forehead typically has a positive effect on individuals. Researchers believe the baby schema has the same effect when looking at baby animals.

Shift negative feelings

So if you’re not feeling the best and struggling to sit with how you feel at the time. Or need to shift where your thoughts are taking you, have a look at some cute baby animal pictures to help boost how you feel. Think of it as a fun but effective way to shift the not so good feelings if you’re working through a tough time.

If you are finding you’re having a bit more of a hard time and struggling look into getting some face to face support or online counselling.

Cute Baby Animal Pictures

So without further ado, here’s a few images to help boost those happy hormones and shift how you feel if that’s what you need at the moment.
Remember it can also make you more productive so have a sneak peak while at your desk to see if it helps improve your concentration and productivity.

Babies

And even though these are babies, we too are mammals. So I thought I would include some cute baby pics to boost your feel goods.

Moving Forward

1. So start your day with some cute baby animal pictures so you can set yourself up for a good day with positive brain activity already boosting your dopamine

2. Save your favourite pics as a background on your phone so you can look at them often to help give you some positive feels daily

3. Get creative and print out a few pics. Make a collage, hang it in your office or a space you look at regularly for positive vibes.

4. Save this post for future reference 😉

Can you think of any baby animals that you find are adorable that helps you feel joyful and positive?

Share your comments below for how you have found looking at baby animals make you feel.

August 6, 2019August 13, 2019

Create a Meditation Space – For Calm and Tranquility

Meditating for Inner Peace – Create a Meditation Space

When you meditate it can be a bit difficult to get in the zone sometimes, especially if you’ve been actively running around or feeling super anxious or down.

It can help to have a space that’s been carefully and lovingly created just for your peace of mind.

This is where creating your own meditation space comes into play.

Benefits of Having a Dedicated Meditation Space

Helps you get in the zone. When we have a space that is conducive to meditation, it helps us to surrender to sitting still. It helps create the atmosphere for getting into that way of thinking and prepare your mind for some me time.

Creating a meditation space facilitates a sense of calm and peacefulness to allow your thoughts to slow down and you can focus on being in the moment. Being in the moment is important for managing anxiety as discussed in this post.

It can be reminder for you to practice meditation on a daily basis.

You can also look forward to your meditation as it’s a space that you have created with your own tastes and preferences in mind.

It’s more focussed on meditation making it less likely that you will be distracted by other competing demands in your world.

It is also one way to practice your self care strategies to help manage anxiety levels. For more information you might like to read this post.

Why Meditate?

Research shows again and again how valuable meditation is for our mental health and wellbeing.

In today’s way of living, stress is very high for so many people causing increased physical as well as mental illness. Meditation is an inexpensive tool that can be practiced on a daily basis in a number of different ways.

It has been shown to reduce the stress hormones of cortisol and adrenaline which are the hormones involved in the fight or flight nervous systems of our bodies. Although this bodily response is valuable to help us either fight or run away from a threatening situation, it isn’t helpful when we experience this state in an ongoing way. So in order to be able to manage your ability to cope with the daily stresses you are exposed to, it helps to develop a routine of meditating daily.

How to Create Your Meditation Space

Choose an Area

First choose an area in your home where you can have at least a bit of space to put a cushion and some shelving of some kind.

This will be important in helping you create somewhere comfortable to sit or lie down.

Your meditation space will need to be an area that you can keep as your own space, that will have less likelihood of having interruptions. Although even if it’s in a more public space of your home, it can be an addition to your home’s style and create a sense of tranquility for those who visit too.

Have Some Soothing Aromas

This might be incense sticks. Be sure to use a holder designed to catch the ash residue.
You might like to have an oil burner to create a calming space using essential oils.
Or perhaps you enjoy scented candles.

The choice is yours. Personally I love incense, but occasionally I also get out my relaxing essential oils.

The ones that facilitate lowering stress levels also help create a calm space.

These include:

ylang ylang
lavender
bergamot
basil
geranium
vanilla
rose
German chamomile

Inspiring Decor

Adorn your space with items that you enjoy and appeal to you that can create a sense of safety, relaxation with your own personal touches. What kinds of things represent you and your personality. This helps you relax while meditating and feel comfortable being in your own space and will make the meditation process flow easily.

Use Meditation Malas

These are beads that help you maintain deep focus while practicing your meditation. They help to enhance your energy and help you channel the mantra you might use during your meditation. Not everyone uses these, but they can be helpful in getting into the zone of meditation, particularly as you go through mantras. As you move through your mala beads, they help you know when your meditation will end without sudden sounds or vibrations by electronics. Allowing you to embrace your meditation time without interruption.

Meditate with guidance or use a Mantra

Meditation can be guided where you are talked through to help you relax and concentrate on calming your mind while you lower your heart rate and slow down your breathing. Here’s some you might consider.

Mantras are chants that help you focus on what you want to achieve in that moment. It can be repeated inside your mind or out loud. It can be what your intention or purpose is at that moment of time for you.

Running Water

If you have the space for a fountain, consider incorporating one in your meditation space. The sense of tranquility the sounds of running water can have have facilitates profound effects on how we feel. Have you ever been to a rainforest or creek bed that has natural running water? These sounds of nature are very calming and tranquil, so bringing these sounds into your home can have a positive effect on your mood and sense of peace. Using our senses are an easily accessible way to also calm how we feel. There’s more information about this here.

Final words

So if you are struggling to remember to meditate on a regular basis, consider creating a meditation space for yourself. It is a memory cue to remind you to engage in self care and has numerous benefits for you wellbeing to practice on a regular basis. It can also have a calming effect simply looking at the space you have created for yourself. You can feel proud of your choices in include in this space that brings you joy. It also helps facilitate a sense of serenity and calm.

Namaste