Best Wellness Practices to Undo Holiday Stress

When life gets busy, our wellness practices can take a hit. We compromise on the things we know we should do because the achievable outcomes feel worthwhile.

The truth about stress is that it won’t go away by itself. You need coping mechanisms to get the results you want.

When the holidays come around, it becomes even more critical to handle stressful situations immediately. If these wellness practices are in your toolbox, you’ll be more likely to have a successful outcome. 

List of the Best Wellness Practices to Adopt Today

  1. Call for your annual check-up a couple of months before it is due. Once your schedule starts getting busy, it can feel like a runaway train.
  2. Block out some time on your calendar for fun assignments. It might be a chance to coach soccer, play dodgeball, or work toward a professional degree or certificate you’ve wanted to obtain.
  3. Have healthy snacks available to eat at your desk or office. The best choices are items you’ll eat when feeling hungry without binging on empty sugar calories.
  4. Create a plan for your hydration. Most people don’t get enough to drink each day, and caffeine infusions to compensate for fatigue might worsen the problem. If you bring a reusable water bottle with you each day, it’ll be easier to meet your needs.
  5. Avoid the trap of a high-calorie lunch by bringing something from home.
  6. Have a three-day weekend at least once every quarter to give yourself something to look forward to on your calendar. If the only thing on your schedule is work or rest, you’ll reach a burn out stage faster than you might expect.
  7. Have five go-to recipes that you can make at home after work. If it is easy to make and has healthy ingredients, you’ll save money and reduce your calories compared to eating out more often.
  8. Take your time back by staying accountable to your schedule. If you create a standing appointment for therapy sessions, time at the gym, martial arts classes, or afternoons with your family, you’ll have more moments to enjoy.

Wellness happens when you make bold choices to include ideas like these in your life. How could you restructure your schedule to be more inclusive of what you love to do?

Why Does Self-Discipline Often Lead to Happiness?

Let’s talk about your morning routine for a moment.


After you get out of bed, you might make a quick bathroom run before grabbing some breakfast. Do you get a bowl of cereal, or is it a full meal with eggs, bacon, and toast?

Do you settle for taking items from Quality of Life or Standard Process to get you to lunch?

When you brush your teeth after, is it for the full two minutes.

Once you get in your vehicle for the commute, how fast do you drive? Are you close to the speed limit each time, or does riding with you feel like you’re on an IndyCar street track?

If you stay within the structures that keep you disciplined, happiness grows. This joy comes from the contentment that develops when you’re within the guidelines of an established routine. 

What Are the Benefits of a Daily Routine?

A daily routine’s health benefits are crucial to review, especially if you are at a place in life where disruptions frequently occur.

One of the most significant challenges of 2020 has been to adapt to new circumstances. It can be a struggle for some people, leading them to a place where mental health and wellness are more challenging to find.

When you take your vitamins and supplements, that’s one step toward a healthy outcome. It feels good to get those items in your body, but you’ll feel better when you can add your usual breakfast into the mix!

Routines provide us with stress relief. When you have more time to relax, less anxiety comes along to threaten how you feel.

If you experience less anxiety, you’re more likely to have better sleep patterns. When you get 7-9 hours of rest each night (or the amount your body requires), you’re more likely to be healthy.
Everyone is unique, which means each routine requires individualization to be successful. That’s why self-discipline is such a critical component of this process. When you can stay disciplined with your choices, the results will help happiness grow.

Activities that Lonely People Can Participate in to Make Friends Quickly

Families had the benefit of being with each other during the coronavirus lockdowns and COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. Singles got the short end of that stick.

Being stuck in an apartment, condo, or house alone was a devastating experience for many. Although tools like Zoom and video chats were helpful, it isn’t the same as having a direct connection with others.

When you start to feel lonely, these creative activities can help you begin to feel better.

1. Have a Solo Date Night

Treat yourself to something you love. When you’re flying solo, all of the questions about where to go or what to do disappear. You’re in control of the entire experience, even if that means having a steak while watching your favorite movie at home.

2. Separate the Isolation

Isolation is the issue that many people faced (and some still are) because of COVID-19. Loneliness is an emotion that gets triggered by feeling sad or worthless because of that separation. It is okay to acknowledge how you feel without overreacting.

3. Find a Meetup

Wearing a mask and social distancing might not be the most fun, but it could be a step toward getting you out of the house. Resources like MeetUp let you find people in your city that could become your next friends.

4. Volunteer in Your Community

You could coach youth sports, join a Scout pack, or work with homeless veterans. Some people read books to kids at the local children’s hospital. If you start looking, you’ll discover several ways to begin giving back to your community. As you meet more people, the connections start growing.

5. Adopt a Pet

If you really can’t go anywhere, the unconditional love from a pet can be a healthy boost for your mood. When you rent, the options might be closer to a goldfish than a puppy, but you can still find positive steps forward.

6. Read a Book

When you read something interesting, your mind transports you to that imaginary world. It might not solve your loneliness, but it can get rid of it for a little while.

What steps do you take when you start feeling lonely?

When You Make a Decision, You Should Stick With It

How many fathers have you heard say, “Make a decision and stick with it,” when providing advice to their children?

It is a common lesson taught in today’s world. When your word is your bond, it is much easier to develop trust with others. This process creates consistency and predictability, enabling people to know what to expect from you.

Following this advice isn’t always easy. Some choices can be heart-wrenching! When you stay true to who you are, the outcomes typically work out in your favor in one way or another.

How to Stick with Your Choices

1. Create a vision for your life.

It’s challenging to accomplish goals if you haven’t set any for your life. Think about what you’d like to do, where you’d travel, or what kind of people you want to meet. Once you have some definition, outline the steps needed to achieve these outcomes.

2. Take baby steps.

Moving forward always brings you closer to your goals. You can climb any mountain, albeit slowly, when taking baby steps. When you can see the momentum building toward all of your dreams, the way you see yourself starts changing.

3. Start building some bridges.

If you construct walls around yourself, it is almost impossible to break free of them to achieve something incredible. You’re safe and comfortable in your protected space. It takes great risks to reach the biggest goals. If you’re not willing to put yourself out there by sticking to your choices, it’s challenging to make good things happen.

Build bridges over the walls to reach new lands. If obstacles get in the way, take a detour. Don’t let your eyes lose sight of the prize.

4. Love living.

Some decisions may not be the best. You wouldn’t want to stick with the choice to place your hand on a burning oven element! Perseverance is necessary when you work toward something meaningful. The only time you fail is when you give up.

5. Start this process today.

Your goals are waiting. The best time to start chasing your dreams is when you first had them. Beyond that, the next best time is right now.

Stick to your healthy decisions. It isn’t always a comfortable process, but it is one that will turn you into the person you were meant to be.

5 Common Misconceptions About Meditation for Beginners

Meditation is a practical way to reduce stress. It can also help provide focus, concentration, and energy benefits.

The only problem with meditating is that many beginners find that the effort doesn’t seem to work for them. That outcome causes them to quit.

It is essential to know that several misconceptions exist about meditation. If you believe any of them, you’re more likely to avoid this healthy practice.

1. Meditation is misinterpreted.

We use meditation as a loose term to describe contemplation, thinking, or having a clear mind. If you attempt to achieve these outcomes and fail, it’s easy to give up. Meditating is a technique the provides rest, allowing you to observe instead of judge. You keep redirecting yourself.

2. People must meditate in specific ways.

You don’t need to repeat mantras, sit in the lotus position, or create a contemplation center for your meditating. The only requirement is your commitment to the process. You can sit, stand, lie down, take a walk, or even color pictures.

3. Individuals miss their meditative state.

You can meditate anywhere. Some people even say they take mini-meditation breaks when stuck in traffic! The goal is to relax the body while quieting the mind. Whenever you can achieve that result, you have a successful experience.

4. One meditating type isn’t better than others.

The only meditation effort that is better is the one that works for you. This practice is an individualized experience. We live in a competitive culture where everyone wants to find that edge where success is possible. What you need to do is figure out why you want to meditate, how to achieve that goal, and how long it takes to get there.

5. You miss the chance to feel at peace.

Meditation isn’t going to feel the same each day. You might feel energized after one session, relief after another, and even disappointed at times. Some individuals feel at peace while others become anxious that they’ve missed something. There isn’t a right or wrong outcome here – only the one you achieve.

The best thing you can do for your body while embracing meditation is to prepare for the experience. When you have items from Amazing Grass and Douglas Labs available at home, you can get ready for whatever your next meditating session may bring.

How to Build Up Low Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is more than a trend or a buzzword. It allows you to understand how others think and feel so that you can respond appropriately to each situation.

Although some people have high emotional intelligence levels naturally, it is a skill that you can build with practice. If you want to start improving personally and professionally in this area, here are the steps you can take to have a successful experience.

List of the Best Ways to Increase Emotional Intelligence

Respond to Conflict Instead of Reacting to It

People with high emotional intelligence stay calm when stressful situations occur. Instead of being impulsive, they take an analytical approach to the problem. Their goal is to find a resolution that works for everyone while avoiding potential conflict points.

Be Assertive With Your Communication

Assertive communication translates to confidence. You’ll earn respect for your expertise without seeming overly passive or aggressive.

Maintain Your Motivation

Emotional intelligence inspires self-motivation. Your attitude can motivate others to find the success they want. If you show what it takes to persevere, those actions serve as a standard for others to follow. That places you into a natural leadership position.

You can support this effort with product assets from brands like Davinci Labs or Premier Research Labs. 

Keep a Positive Outlook

Although negative attitudes seem beneficial because of how they attract others to you, that energy can infect your soul and fester into something unpredictable. When your focus is on growing emotional intelligence, it is necessary to guard your attitude. You don’t need to be an optimist, but it helps to strive toward positive outcomes.

Practice Your Self-Awareness

When you know who you are, what you can accomplish, and where you’ll be in five years, it is easier to pick up on like-minded progress. Your body language and emotions communicate specific results that can enhance communication skills.

Embrace the Idea of Constructive Criticism

People with high emotional intelligence can handle constructive criticism. They take the feedback as fuel to help them get better. They also know how to let go of the frustration that arises when unjustified negativity comes their way.

Building up low emotional intelligence takes time. If you make these ideas a priority in your life, you’ll start seeing improvements faster than you may realize.

How to Trust Again: What Does It Take to Put Faith in Others?

When someone hurts you, the need to get even can feel overwhelming.

The only problem with that reaction is that you can leave a lot of collateral damage in your wake. That’s why you might hear someone say that hurting people tend to harm others the most.

Once you get beyond that initial shock, a defensive mechanism starts. You decide that the best way to prevent getting hurt again is to stop trusting anyone except for yourself. 

You may put up physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual walls to block others out of your life. Although it feels lonely, that emotion is better than the pain someone else inflicts.

Learning how to trust again isn’t easy, but it is possible to do it.

Trust Yourself Again

A lack of trust in other people is often a reflection of low self-esteem or self-confidence. It says that you don’t know that you’ve got a handle on what life can throw your way. No one can make you feel anything without your permission to let them, which means you are always in control. Put yourself in the driver’s seat of your life.

Let Go of the Fear

People who abuse your trust don’t deserve a second thought. The only problem is that those individuals might be your singular focus point. People who cheat, take advantage of you, break your heart, or abandon you are toxic. Let them go. It is scary to meet new people because they might do the same, but those individuals deserve a fresh start.

Stay Put Where You Are

When someone has a history of people leaving them, it is challenging to put faith in a stranger. Why continue to go through love and loss when you can manage the days by yourself? If you stay put, it is easier to encourage others to do the same. You can’t control what other people do, so accept that sometimes life may pull you apart. That’s not your fault.

Earn Trust from Others

The issue you face with trust might reflect your guilt or regret from hurting someone else. Although cheating can devastate a relationship, the negative consequences can impact both individuals. You may need to prove to yourself that you can earn trust from others.

Trust can happen again, but it won’t appear like magic. You must push forward each day to earn it from yourself and others.

How to Get Rid of Guilt

Guilt happens after making a regrettable decision. Although it is an uncomfortable emotion to manage, it also shows that you have a consciousness that strives for balance.

Honest mistakes from harsh words, poor financial decisions, or cheating can trigger guilt. You might also experience this emotion for reasons beyond your control.

Although guilt should start the grieving mechanism, some people get stuck in it for a long time. When that happens, you might experience depression, changes to your eating habits, relationship stressors, and self-harm thoughts.

How can you get rid of guilt?

Test Your Reality Each Day

Guilt distorts personal perception. It suggests that your mistakes, real or perceived, are responsible for the current reality. Before you can work on this emotion, it is crucial to determine if it is valid. 

Forgive Yourself

Your mistake may have life-changing consequences. It may lead to a broken relationship, divorce, getting fired, losing custody of your children, or even jail time. Until you can admit to yourself that what you did was wrong, forgiveness will not come. You must acknowledge regret, understand the decision-making process, and create a plan never to duplicate the issue again.

After that step, attempt to make amends. It doesn’t matter if others accept or reject your offer because personal forgiveness comes from the effort.

Eliminate Invalid Guilt

Adopt new habits that enable you to let go of the guilt that likes to show up. Instead of apologizing for everything, be assertive when stressful situations come along. If you take on the blame that others create for themselves, make the conscious choice to stop doing that. All you’re doing is enabling their mistakes. If something isn’t yours to carry, let it go.

Embrace Your Spirituality

People find tremendous strength in their faith. You can meditate, follow a religion, study science, or spend time in the forest – everyone takes a different path to their spirituality. When you embrace this part of the soul, it is easier to gain a new perspective on what and how you feel.

Guilt can be devastating. It may serve as a warning at first, but it is not a penance you must bear eternally. When you can learn to forgive yourself and others, this emotion has less power over your life.

Ways to Build Self-Confidence

Confidence is a perfume that attracts great things to us, it is often said that confidence can open doors to the greatest of places. Self-confidence is tantamount to good self-esteem. A person that is devoid of confidence would not take chances that could potentially lead to a great life.

Taking chances and maximizing opportunities is one of the unique traits of humans, imagine you didn’t have the self-confidence to pursue your dreams and live your best life, would that not be a form of death? Also, imagine if you could find enjoyable ways to build your self-confidence and be on your way to living your best life, is that not something worth exploring? Well, that is what we are going to do in this article. 

Ways of Building Self Confidence

The recommendations we are going to explore in this article may seem simplistic but they work. Ways of building self-confidence might be as simple as learning an instrument or as tasking as seeing a life coach. 

Learning an Instrument

Rockstars are considered one of the most confident sets of people on the planet.  Learning to play an instrument as classic as a guitar or owning a vintage guitar that you know how to play is a great confidence booster. Learn how to play an instrument today, perform before an audience, and see your self-confidence soar. The process of learning how to play an instrument can calm your anxieties, help increase your cognitive abilities, and help your mood. Learning an instrument can be a complex process that tasks your cognitive process, this tasking can help you build new neural networks that would make you more confident in your ability to do things.

Learning how to play an instrument can make you feel less idle and less like a failure. When you learn an instrument you might be viewed by others as a cool person, think of those people that walk around with their classic vintage guitars, and how people pay them more regard, such positive feedback can help you get out of the doldrums and be more self-confident. Good cheer and applause from a number of people can be very powerful.

Most people that are not self-confident are often crippled with anxiety, this would make them overthink everything and worry needlessly, and this decreases their efficiency and makes them more anxious. This vicious cycle of anxiety can easily be broken by playing an instrument, it makes you calmer, less worried, and more efficient, invariably you would become more self-confident without anxiety holding you back. Furthermore learning how to play an instrument teaches you alternative ways of expressing yourself and expression helps build self-confidence.

Writing 

Writers are thinkers that express themselves and face their thoughts. Engaging in writing whether creative or otherwise can be a great way to face the issues preventing you from being as self-confident as you could be. Write out the things that hold you back from being your most self-confident self and seek to find remedies to them, if you do this, you would be on your way to building your self-confidence.

Meditating

Being self-conscious is being aware of yourself,  this is practically the first step you can take toward being a better version of yourself. Meditate, look into yourself to find yourself, when you do that you would discover who you are and the weaknesses you have. After identifying your weaknesses you can meditate more to find the root of those weaknesses. After discovering all of this you would be in a position to help mend yourself mentally and it would reflect through you as you become a more self-confident, self-aware individual.

Self-confidence is not impossible to have, try the ways explained above and see yourself improve.

Alternatives to Yoga That Are Great for Your Body

You want to take care of your body.

You get some exercise each day, eat healthy foods, and get enough sleep at night. Your cabinets are stocked with products from brands like Douglas Laboratories, Jarrow Formulas, and Pure Encapsulations.

You might even get in some stretching and resistance with yoga.

If you want to increase your movement without using yoga, here are some alternatives to consider trying. 

1. Climbing

Scaling a wall requires concentration on each muscle as you ascend. It targets each body area in the same way yoga does while letting you adapt to different circumstances. When you reach the top of the wall, you know that you’ve accomplished something incredible.

2. Parkour

If you don’t have the money for a gym membership, find outdoor elements to become your workout area. The art of parkour involves jumping, rolling, swinging, and running as you navigate an urban landscape. You’re always looking for a dynamic way to push your body to new limits.

3. Trapeze

As you go through a yoga routine, your body develops more strength and flexibility. The same dichotomy occurs with this art when using ropes, ribbon, silks, and swings to create beautiful movements in the air. The motion can free your mind, whether you work individually or with a partner.

4. Taekwondo

Numerous martial arts have belief structures that provide a similar foundation when compared to yoga. When you join a dojang, you’ll work on stretching your muscle groups while learning self-defense techniques. You don’t need to earn a black belt to appreciate what this discipline can do for your strength and flexibility.

5. Ballet

Although we often think of ballet as a profession, it is also an accessible exercise format. Adult classes are becoming more available globally, helping you to embrace the concepts and structures without the pressure to perform.

What activities do you plan to try this year to get your body into shape?