Emotional Health Archives - Page 11 of 15

How to Organize Your Closet

On February 11, 2019

In Emotional Health, Environmental Health, Getting Organized, Lifestyle Blog, Stress Management

How is your closet looking these days? Do you feel calm or confused when looking in your closet? This is one activity we all do every day so it can really set you off before your day even begins. Wouldn’t it be better to have some organization so you don’t have to feel overwhelmed when you are getting dressed? I’m sure this is one thing we can all agree on — we have too much stuff.

The next tip from my 6 week Stress Solution coaching program is to DETOX Your Closet. Holding onto that pretty blouse or dress because you just know you’ll wear it again one day? I hear ya. I am one of those people who hold onto jeans that are too tight just in case I lose that extra 10 pounds so I can wear them again.

This isn’t just about throwing clothes away…don’t worry. This time is about decluttering your life, but the organization is also on the list. Depending on your personal situation, a simple organizational system put into place may solve your closet clutter. If you have an abundance of clothes, shoes, and outerwear overflowing from your closet as well, it just may be time to go through it all and downsize.

Organize Your Closet

As you’re going through your closet clutter, take into account what you haven’t used in quite some time.

Remember the 3 pile method— garbage, keep, and donate.

If you can’t remember the last time you wore an item of clothing… toss it in the donate pile. Come on, we all have way too much stuff in our closets that we do not need, just doesn’t fit anymore, or is way out of style.

Sometimes it is just a matter of refolding clothes or hanging up stuff to get it out of that unorganized pile in the corner. You would be surprised how much better your closet can look with some new hangers and some cloth bins to organize the miscellaneous items. Out with the old and in with the new! Setting time aside to tackle this task may seem daunting, but you will feel so much better after it’s over.

Less clutter = less STRESS!

DIY or Professional Advice

There are plenty of options when it comes to cleaning up your closet. Going all out and having someone build and design one for you is one way to go if you can afford it. If you want to stay on a budget, check out places like Home Depot for more economical options. My go-to favorite is Amazon because they always seem to offer affordable solutions. You can even visit the Dollar General store for some simple fixes that will make your closet ten times better than it is now.

Organizing is a fun DIY project for snowy winter days at home. If this makes you feel overwhelmed, try enlisting some help from that organized perfectionist friend. You know we all have at least one! Unless you are already blessed with an amazing walk-in closet, it can get pretty expensive so buy a little at a time.

So get to it! It doesn’t have to take up all of your time. As I always say, keep it simple and do one thing at a time. I promise being less cluttered at home will make you feel good and accomplished. What would you like to challenge yourself to start in the very near future?

Comment below and let me know what challenges you are facing with the organization. Always love to hear from you!

xoxo

Jill DeMasi is a Lifestyle Blogger, Licensed Massage Therapist, and a Certified Wellness Coach with a passion for helping others manage stress, chronic pain, and anxiety. Learn more about her journey and wellness practice that offers natural solutions to stress at www.AtTheHeartofWellness.com.

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5 Ways to Fight Anxiety & Depression

By Jill Ciampi

On January 29, 2019

In Anxiety & Depression, Emotional Health, Lifestyle Blog, Physical Health, Spiritual Health, Stress Management

Anxiety and Depression are both widespread problems in our society and something I have experience with. My work as a Massage Therapist and Wellness Coach has been therapeutic for me and allows me to share my journey to help others. To be honest, it is still sometimes a struggle to get the motivation to do things especially when it comes to working. However, once I do get going, it fuels my passion for helping others, which is what I thrive on.

My Mental Health Story

If you have read some of my earlier posts, I shared that I have Anxiety. To be exact, I have what is called Generalized Anxiety Disorder which goes hand in hand with Depression also. I have had it at least half of my life and I didn’t do anything about it for a long time for a few reasons. One is that I didn’t even know I had mental health issues.

All along, I thought I was just a more sensitive, introverted person who couldn’t handle too much stress at once, had obsessive thoughts, and felt sad at times. Once I realized what was going on, I felt ashamed and embarrassed to admit it. For a few years, I tried anti-depressants and anxiety meds and they did help but I never really felt my best on them.

Discovering alternative methods for treating anxiety and depression has been extremely helpful for me. With a lot of trial and error, I found that a mix of traditional medicine and holistic supplementation works best for me along with living a healthier lifestyle.

I would like to share some of the things that continue to help me battle both anxiety and depression. These work for me but I understand that some people do need to be on some kind of prescription medication. I would never recommend someone going off medication but would only suggest other adjunctive methods to assist in the fight.

My 5 Top Ways to Fight Anxiety & Depression

1. Reach Out for Help

Battling the fight alone is never an option. You simply can’t do it on your own so my first tip is to ASK FOR HELP from a trusted loved one, friend, or mental health professional. Having seen my share of therapists, I learned a lot about myself what triggers me, and also how to cope with my emotions. I admit way back that I used alcohol and smoking to relieve my stress and although it seemed to help at the time it didn’t and just caused more health issues.

Sometimes just talking to someone and sharing your struggles will help lift you out of a funk. One phone call can do the trick for a friend who gets it and lovingly supports you.

2. Feed Your Spirit

Another extremely helpful practice in this battle for me is to consistently feed my SPIRITUAL life so I pray and read positive devotionals daily like Jesus Calling. Filling up on positive messages helps tremendously when I am feeling low. My favorite uplifting preacher to watch is Joyce Meyer. She is funny and real and her messages always hit home.

Having a spiritual practice may be the most important to me. I believe in the power of prayer and that God is an anchor and loves me no matter what is going on in my life. It is truly comforting and I honestly don’t know how I would survive in this world without my faith and knowing that I am never alone!

3. Get Enough Sleep

Hands down getting enough REST is another important way to battle anxiety. When you don’t get enough sleep, your body will secrete more stress hormones and this is not good for anyone especially those with mental health issues.

What works for me is getting 8 to 9 hours of sleep each night. I usually need a little extra especially when I am under a lot of stress. For those of us battling with mental health, sleep is high on the list of self-care remedies. Read about some research about sleep and anxiety here.

4. Make Time for Physical Activity

As I have shared before, making time for physical activity is crucial in battle and will boost those happy hormones when feeling blah. It can be as simple as a walk in the park or cleaning your house that can help tame those anxious feelings.

I can’t say enough about how important movement is so find what works for you and try to do something each day. Although I don’t need more evidence that exercise helps me feel better, here’s a good article about how good it is for mental health.

5. Lend a Hand to Others in Need

Lastly and probably my favorite way to battle anxiety is to help others. Hey, I get it… sometimes you just don’t feel like even talking to other people. It is easy to be a hermit and not interact with the world. Getting out of your comfort zone is part of the healing process. I can think of hundreds of times I did not want to go out with friends, and family or even go to work.

After forcing myself to get out, I usually end up having a great time and doing so breaks me out of a dark place. We do need that alone time as long as it doesn’t take over our days and nights. Believe me, it is no coincidence that I have ended up in a helping profession. When I help others in pain or suffering, I get a boost of positivity and it always lifts my spirits tremendously. In addition, focusing on someone else makes me forget about anything I was worried about.

Self-Care Products we all need!

Help is Available!

We can all help people who suffer from mental illness. Please have patience with your loved ones who deal with mental health issues. Our brains are wired differently and it is not our fault when we don’t deal with stress like others. My experience is that the most authentic and loving people are the ones who suffer most and may not even realize it. There’s nothing wrong with you!

If you or someone you know ever feels hopeless and needs help immediately, don’t hesitate to get in touch with the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention, and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals.1-800-273-8255.

You are always stronger than you think. Keep fighting and be a WARRIOR!

xoxo

Jill Ciampi is a Lifestyle Blogger, Licensed Massage Therapist, and Certified Wellness Coach with a passion for helping others manage stress, chronic pain, and anxiety. Learn more about her journey and wellness practice that offers natural solutions to stress at www.AtTheHeartofWellness.com.

3 Ways to Declutter Your Home

By Jill Ciampi

On January 22, 2019

In Emotional Health, Environmental Health, Getting Organized, Lifestyle Blog, Stress Management

How organized is your house right now? Do you need some extra help to declutter your surroundings? There will always be times when you feel unorganized and a little behind on cleaning. There is nothing wrong with that because life gets super busy sometimes. I may be the exception but I love to clean. I find it extremely therapeutic and helps my anxiety a lot.

Cleaning and organizing are my top ways to handle anxious thoughts and helps to calm me down and forget about my issues for a while.

The next tip from my premium Stress Solution program is to Detox Your Space. This one is best to be done perhaps one room at a time or even 1/2 room at a time. A couple of months ago, I blogged about how important it is to have a clean and organized home environment. Your environment around you has a big impact on the state of your health and can either help you or harm you.

The Three Pile Approach

This past weekend, we were stuck in the house because of a snowstorm. So I got the motivation to clean one of the kid’s rooms.. instead of watching Netflix which is what I really wanted to do! Although it took a few hours, I was able to sort through games, clothes, and some other junk that really needed to go!

To keep it simple I made 3 piles. Donate, Keep, Throw Out.

It always feels really good to complete a project like this and I have to say that his room now looks pretty damn good. Let’s see how long it lasts for!

Make a Declutter Plan

Your home is your sanctuary. Your place of retreat, comfort, and stability. Over the years, it is possible to accumulate a lot of junk. When you walk throughout your home, what feeling do you get? Is it peaceful and calming? Or, perhaps there is clutter that is causing anxiety for you. More often than not, we have quite a bit of stuff we could stand to get rid of.

Clutter in the house will breed clutter within your mind. Making a plan to give your home a thorough deep cleaning will revitalize your mood and get you ready for the next stage of your refreshed life. Having a clean living space is a wonderful way to give yourself a more peaceful demeanor.

What can you do to make your home more enjoyable for you? Don’t get overwhelmed with the idea of going through all of your belongings all at once. Spreading this out over time will help make this task enjoyable and attainable. Committing to one or two tasks a day will have you done in no time at all.

Start slowly. First, make a declutter plan and write a checklist. Second, think about what steps to take to achieve this project. And then get started and I promise you will feel better in no time! Check out these tips from Good Housekeeping.

xoxo

Jill DeMasi is a Lifestyle Blogger, Licensed Massage Therapist, and a Certified Wellness Coach with a passion for helping others manage stress, chronic pain, and anxiety. Learn more about her journey and wellness practice that offers natural solutions to stress at www.AtTheHeartofWellness.com.

Subscribe to my Lifestyle Blog!

Guide to Achieving Peace of Mind

By Jill Ciampi

On January 15, 2019

In Anxiety & Depression, Emotional Health, Lifestyle Blog, Stress Management

Achieving peace of mind is not an easy task and some say it is not possible to do it. However, there are ways that you can get close. This is a popular time of year to think about your personal and business goals. Are you working to improve anything in this new year?

We all like to think we will finally make positive changes and work towards reaching our goals. Furthermore, we all probably consider changes to our diets, making more time for physical activity and maybe even getting our house more organized. How about working on feeling more at peace?

All of these are really important to maintain your health. In the next month or so, I want to talk about 7 ways to detox your life, which comes from my Stress Solution 6-week coaching program. The first of these is Detoxing your MIND.

Daily Time Out

Taking care of your mindset is crucial in a world full of distractions and negativity. Do you feel like your mind never slows down? I know mine does not!

How about giving yourself at least a 15-minute mind-break daily.

It’s kind of like a reset. Pray, meditate or whatever floats your boat. You will value these 15 minutes and look forward to it — I promise! I find that sometimes I need more resets throughout my day but the most essential time for me is in the morning before my day starts. It helps to ground me and starts my day on a positive note. This gives me a little peace!

Check Your Thoughts

Reevaluating your thought process is a fabulous way to jumpstart this mind detox.

Creating positive mind-talk practices can start a healthy habit that will last you a lifetime.

Learning your triggers will help assist you in rewiring your mental conversation. Pay close attention to what runs through your mind daily and the manner in which you perceive these thoughts. That quiet time will help calm the outer noise and help you listen to and evaluate your thoughts more deeply. There are many ways to treat yourself to a break daily, and you will discover what works best for you during your practices.

Ask yourself these questions: What is one aspect of your life that’s leaving a lingering negative feeling? How can you adjust this to bring more positivity into your life?

It is impossible to entirely evade negativity in the real world (that would be nice though, right?) – but it is an unfortunate reality that we sometimes pile on more than necessary.

One way to reduce negative damage is to alleviate those things that we can control.

What are some negative influences in your life that you can cut out? This could include people, TV shows, negative habits, etc.

Surround Yourself with Positivity

Be aware of what you allow into your sacred body (emotionally, physically, and mentally). Think hard about some sources of negativity in your life that you can begin to eliminate. Again, if you surround yourself with like-minded and positive people you will be even more successful. Find some quiet time each day and you will see how it restores your energy!

xoxo

Jill DeMasi is a Lifestyle Blogger, Licensed Massage Therapist, and a Certified Wellness Coach with a passion for helping others manage Stress, Chronic Pain, and Anxiety. Learn more about her journey and wellness practice that offers natural solutions to stress at www.AtTheHeartofWellness.com.

Subscribe to my Lifestyle Blog!

The Gratitude Challenge

By Jill Ciampi

On January 10, 2019

In Anxiety & Depression, Emotional Health, Lifestyle Blog, Spiritual Health, Stress Management

Gratitude Goals

Gratitude is all about being thankful for what you already have in your life. What are you grateful for? Think it’s hard to come up with a few things to be grateful for every day? In that case.. listen up! There are endless things, people, experiences, nature, etc to be grateful for. It just may take a while to realize what they are.

When life is not going your way, my first suggestion is to write a Gratitude List. This is an extremely simple and positive practice to add to your day. There are even apps for it! I like the Gratitude Journal app. You simply just add one or two things daily that you are thankful for. It is so SIMPLE! It keeps a record of every entry and gives you the opportunity to look back and see how your list builds up over time.

Very therapeutic and a good reminder when you are not feeling so great about life. I also like to write in a journal because I am old school like that!

Positive Vibes

Acknowledging your gratitude on a daily basis will change your attitude and overall health. Expressing gratitude generates a more optimistic mindset and we know for sure that being positive leads us down the healthier road. Being positive is definitely a perk because it will help you heal from physical and emotional trauma and attract good things in life.

Practicing gratitude is a habit that you will grow over time, and soon will become a way of life!

Knowing all of this, I admit that I still have times of feeling low and forgetting to be grateful for what I have in life. That’s ok because you just can’t be “happy” all the time! But this practice will help you get out of those lows in life and keep you going. Life is too short to be miserable. It helps to have a partner or other like-minded people to remind you of the good stuff!

Try This Simple Gratitude Exercise

List 1 skill or personality trait you are proud of.
Think about 1 experience you are grateful for having had in your life.
Name 1 person you are thankful for.

Gratitude Challenge

Consciously practice daily gratitude for 30 days and notice what kind of difference it makes in your life and relationships.

Give THANKS with a grateful Heart 🙂

Remember Bing Crosby’s song… “I’ve got eyes to see with, Ears to hear with, Arms to hug with, Lips to kiss with, Someone to adore —How could anybody ask for more?”

xoxo

Jill DeMasi is a Lifestyle Blogger, Licensed Massage Therapist, and a Certified Wellness Coach with a passion for helping others manage Stress, Chronic Pain, and Anxiety. Learn more about her journey and wellness practice that offers natural solutions to stress at www.AtTheHeartofWellness.com.