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mental health

Self-Care Habits to Reduce Stress and Improve Mental Health

22/08/2020 By Savanna Robinson Leave a Comment

Self-care—an essential part of any healthy lifestyle—is all about balancing our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual wellness through the actions we take every day. Unfortunately, many of us prioritize the needs of others at the expense of our own mental well-being. If you could use a little mental health boost, try adopting some of the following self-care habits into your daily routine.

Self-care habits to reduce stress and improve mental health
Self-care – an essential part of any healthy lifestyle. Guest post by Brad Krause

Find Exercises That You Enjoy

Exercise has a direct effect on the brain. When we exercise, our brains receive an increased supply of blood, oxygen, and nutrients to support various cognitive functions, from learning to emotional control. Exercise also has an immediate effect on our bodily levels of cortisol and adrenaline—stress hormones that cause us to feel anxious or stimulated. At the same time, exercise results in the release of mood-elevating endorphins in the brain.

There’s a widespread misconception that we have to torture ourselves to benefit from exercise. This just isn’t true! When you enjoy your fitness routine, you’ll find it much easier to maintain. Bustle recommends finding exercises you love by trying new fitness classes, exercising with a buddy, and choosing convenient times and locations to work out.

Cook for Yourself

A healthy diet is the best natural remedy for your mental health. According to The Conversation, simply eating more fruits and vegetables may lead to a significant improvement in your psychological well-being. Filling up on healthy foods will also leave you with less room in your diet for unhealthy options that are bad for mental health, like foods filled with sugar. Take the time to cook instead of ordering takeout or popping a ready-made meal in the oven. This way, you can control everything that goes into your body. There’s also something very therapeutic about carefully preparing a healthy meal for yourself! To control portions, consider ordering meals with pre-portioned ingredients from a food delivery service.

Take Time to Relax

Relaxation is just as important for our mental well-being as healthy eating and exercise. Unfortunately, too many of us rush through our lives without taking a moment to breathe. Try to schedule rest periods into your day. Engage in relaxing activities like meditation, yoga, tai chi, deep breathing, and progressive muscle relaxation. These relaxation techniques can help relieve tension in your body and reduce feelings of anxiety.

A cluttered and unkempt home could be disrupting your relaxation routine and may even adversely affect your relationships with family members. Remove the negative vibes in your home by allowing more light in, decluttering, and tossing out broken items.

Go to Bed Earlier self-care

Relaxation techniques can also help you fall asleep faster at night. This is important because a lack of sleep can be devastating to our mental health, contributing to mood problems and cognitive deficits. If you’re one of the many people who struggle with sleep procrastination, take steps to break those bad bedtime habits. Try giving yourself a window of time to go to bed instead of pressuring yourself to fall asleep at a specific time every night. Also, try limiting your use of electronics before bed and adopting some bedtime rituals that you enjoy.

Learn How to Say “No”

Making more time in your life for self-care might require you to say no to certain obligations or demands. This can be difficult, especially if you’re used to pleasing others. If you’re having trouble saying “no,” think about the time and energy you spend saying “yes” to things you don’t have to do, like going to coffee with someone you dislike or attending fruitless meetings. Reclaim your time by turning people down more often. Try to get in the habit of asking yourself why you’re agreeing to do something and focusing on how you feel about it.

Don’t let anything take priority over your mental health. While it can be tough to dedicate time for ourselves when we have so many responsibilities, tending to self-care will ultimately benefit everyone else around us as well. Find ways to take care of your body mentally, physically, and emotionally, and you’ll have more joy and energy to share with others.

After spending most of his time in a corporate setting and neglecting his own self-care far too long, Brad embraced his calling and decided to become a full-time life coach. He now spends the rest of his life helping people get a better foothold on their wellness above all else.

To follow more from Brad Krause click here. self-care habits

Come read more post related to mental health from Sparkly Bright Eyes.

Having a chronic condition during the 2020 pandemic.

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: mental health, self care

Having a chronic condition during the 2020 pandemic.

03/05/2020 By Savanna Robinson Leave a Comment

To say the start of 2020 has not been great would probably be a huge understatement. In Australia we were still dealing with bushfires in January (The Gospers Mountain Fire was active from October till January). In February we had floods. Then in March the spread of Covid 19 started to impact us. Social distancing began to be suggested more, businesses started to be affected and the great toilet paper saga began. But it has been more worrying for those who have a chronic condition during 2020 pandemic. Having a chronic condition during 2020 pandemic

having a chronic condition during 2020 pandemic

Background to the 2020 pandemic

A little background on Covid 19. Also known as Coronavirus disease, it’s an infectious disease caused by a new virus. It causes flu-like symptoms and is spread mostly by contact with people with the virus. This virus started in China in December 2019, and by my birthday at the end of January was declared by the World Health Organisation as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. On 11 March 2020 it was declared a pandemic. At that stage the virus had spread to all areas of Italy and was beginning to impact the US. chronic condition during 2020 pandemic

Now for most people Covid 19 just causes mild to moderate respiratory symptoms. Some people infected with the virus have even reported not even feeling unwell, yet testing positive after being in close contact with other confirmed cases. And the information about is still evolving.

But for those of us with chronic conditions, immune suppressed or compromised people and the elderly it is not such great news. As in the most severe cases require hospitalisation and possible ventilator use in the ICU. And the death rate from Covid 19 has varied from country to country, seeming dependent on the strategy governments and health authorities have taken in this pandemic.

My chronic condition situation with MS

At first I wasn’t so worried about having a chronic condition during the 2020 pandemic with my multiple sclerosis. Advice from MS Australia and neurologists was that we shouldn’t be at more risk of catching Covid 19 than anyone else.

But then more information started coming out about specific MS medications and the potential risks. You see not many people with MS have had the disease yet for them to really know how Covid 19 might affect MSers. And a lot of the medications available in Australia aren’t so in China where the majority of cases had occurred at that point in time. So specialists are making educated guesses on how they might affect each group of medications.

My medication, Gilenya, has a mild to moderate risk of complications on current advice. But a real risk of relapse if medication is discontinued. However they ask if we do develop Covid 19 to contact our Neurologist as well as the other requirements of the Health authorities…so they can track the data more specific to the Multiple Sclerosis community world wide.

Not having a clear idea about how this pandemic is going to affect your family is worrying and exhausting. As a teacher I was required to be at my school until Monday 23rd March, until they finally brought through some guidelines allowing at risk people to work from home. Knowing how quickly things spread through schools of normal conditions like gastro and colds/flu, I was getting quite panicky at the risk of catching something that could land me in hospital. And every little symptom my family reports is a cause for thinking “Do I need to be worried about that?”

Things to do

The only things we know for sure on how to help when you have a chronic condition during the 2020 pandemic is the strategies being advised to all people. Wash your hands well for 20 seconds (as we know sanitizer has been super rare since at least January) and maintain social distancing. In New South Wales we’re being recommended to keep 1.5 metres away from all people (tricky with preschoolers) and simply to not go out unless absolutely necessary and essential. Plus for the last 4 or 5 weeks we have been staying at home, seeing very few people…which is hard on all.

Facemasks at first were not recommended as effective in avoiding Covid 19. As the types that are able to keep the virus out are needed by medical personnel for if we do come down with it. But since I started writing this blog post the advice has varied as to whether you should be using them or not and the protection they offer. I do know that some medical practices in Australia have required patients attending to wear a mask whether displaying symptoms or not. I started sewing up a couple for us and a friend who needed a mask to see her doctors.

It has been a trying and scary time for all and I think the whole world is completely over the need for distancing from all other people! It’s just not natural for a social creature, which we humans are. But it’s even more trying and scary for those more at risk of complications than the average person.

Living with a chronic condition can be hard enough at times without thinking about your own mortality and what the risk of going to the shops could hold. But as to following the advice for staying healthy, I think that my fellow chronic condition people are on top of being able to follow through on that, as it’s part of our regular lives anyway.

Stay safe everyone and let me know in the comments below how you have been feeling during this pandemic with a chronic condition. chronic condition during 2020 pandemic

Living with MS – A day in the life of an MSer

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: chronic illness, mental health, Multiple Sclerosis

Having multiple sclerosis at Australian Christmas

06/03/2020 By Savanna Robinson Leave a Comment

Having multiple sclerosis at Australian Christmas

It sucks. Trying to deal with multiple sclerosis in the summer heat is bad enough. And lately for Australian summers those have been pretty darn hot (many times the past few summers we’ve had far too many days of over 40 degrees Celsius, and often in a heatwave for 3 days duration). Trying to deal with having multiple sclerosis at Australian Christmas when relatives are reveling in the heat is utterly awful. It never turns out to the lovely holiday celebration that you hope for.

If you go outside in the heat your day doesn’t go well. Brain function slows right down, so you can’t keep track of conversations properly. I find that if I’m in any situation since diagnosis with a lot of people talking, that I have to focus so hard on listening to the conversation, which in turn makes my fatigue (another typical MS symptom) more pronounced. Movement slows down and you worry about accidentally knocking things over…like your precious Christmas drink. Your body starts to ache deep in the muscles and you know it is very likely to have you seeking out pain killers to be able to sleep though the night.

via GIPHY
How you feel with fatigue when having multiple sclerosis at Australian Christmas

If you stay inside you choose to be socially isolated, as you miss out on interacting with relatives you rarely see all year. Christmas for me is the time to catch up with all those relatives. I really look forward to catching up with my aunts and cousins that I barely see through the year and find out what is new in their lives. Or just chill out in their company. But not many people want to stay inside unless it’s extremely hot. (Just a regular hot day with multiple sclerosis at Australian Christmas can make life tough).

Missing out on those social interactions can bring on feelings of depression. Why me? Why do I have this stupid disease that stops me enjoying Australian summer like the rest of my family? Why should I go out to an event, if I can’t be around where all the people are? This negative self-talk also aggravates your fatigue.

To help combat these feelings and symptoms from having multiple sclerosis at Australian Christmas here are a few suggestions I have used to try to make your day better and a more enjoyable experience for you as an MSer (person with multiple sclerosis).

  • Arrange for Christmas to be at your (hopefully air-conditioned) house. It’s easier to arrange where tables and chairs will be for visitors and you can situate them in the coolest part of the house. Fans also help move the air around which can help make you feel cooler too.
  • If you have to go elsewhere, keep an eye on the weather forecast and plan your day to conserve energy/spoons for social interactions. Rest when you can. Ask to lie down in a quiet room for a few minutes to recharge through the day.
  • Sip iced water regularly. Current research shows that doing that can help reduce the effect of heat on your body pretty efficiently. Using a water bottle that keeps it chilled saves you filling up so frequently too if out and about.
  • Invest in quality cooling garments such as cooling vests, scarves and headbands. Wear for any outdoor activity but also cool when indoors.
  • Be kind to your self. Realise that you have to look after yourself before others and if you can’t deal with some Christmas activities, then so be it. Your well-being comes first! Having multiple sclerosis at Australian Christmas

So although having multiple sclerosis at Australian Christmas can be difficult, it’s not all bad! Know your limits of what your body can deal with in the summer heat. Learn the best way for you to look after yourself in the heat with some of these tips and still enjoy the Christmas season. HaHaving multiple sclerosis at Australian Christmasving

Let me know in the comments below how you go dealing with your Multiple Sclerosis during the heat of summer.m Having multiple sclerosis at Australian Christmasultiple sclerosis at Australian Christmas

Starting on Gilenya

Filed Under: Health Tagged With: mental health, Multiple Sclerosis, Spoonie life

When your husband cooks for you

23/10/2018 By Savanna Robinson Leave a Comment

when your husband cooks for you - Joining the 'Men who cook" club again

Tonight my husband cooked us dinner. Now in most households, this might not be such a big news item. Men who cook- what’s new? Well with my husband he has cooked for us maybe 4 times in the last 6 ½ years I’ve known him. And 2 of those have been in the last couple of weeks. Plus when your husband cooks for you and helps relieve some of the strain of the household duties it is such a wonderful feeling! So of course I had to celebrate that with a blog post.

You see, in his past relationships my husband’s partners have criticised his attempts at cooking and ridiculed him for any efforts made as not good enough. He even had dishes thrown at him as they were not good enough in her eyes.

when your husband cooks for you - joining the men who cook club - man cooking spaghetti

For someone with chronic depression, this was not great. My husband was made to think through this constant negative reinforcement that he was unable to cook. So he believed it was true for many years. And would not even want to think about trying to cook something, even basic things. The most cooked item he probably had done for years was putting bread into the toaster.

When your husband cooks for you – Joining the ‘Men who cook’ club again.

With a lot of sessions talking with his psychologist about it and a lot of encouragement from me, he finally decided to try again. Mostly to start helping me out as a partner should, but also to prove to himself that he could do it. when your husband cooks for you

when your husband cooks for you - joining the men who cook club - man cooking spaghetti
All set to cook spaghetti

You may know a lot of men who cook regularly and happily do so. But it has been very trying to live with someone whose answer to being called upon to arrange a meal because I simply can’t do it due to fatigue from my MS is to say “Let’s get take out”. This might be okay every so often, but I don’t know a single family whose finances could stretch to do that all the time! And sometimes I may be out of action for several days in a row. So it simply wasn’t a good option.

Even the favourite Aussie male past time of barbecuing hasn’t enticed him to cook more than one meal before. (Crazy I know!) So tonight I celebrated that he has now created a dish in the Thermomix (with some back up from me on what things meant in the recipe) and his all-time favourite dish of spaghetti bolognese.

He may still call me to ask how some things are done (okay probably a lot of times). But he is slowly building back up that confidence to know he belongs to that group of men who cook once more. And I love that he is doing that! Maybe I will add a few cookbooks on to his Christmas wish list.

Come see more posts about life with my husband here.

And let me know in the comments how you feel when your husband cooks for you! How often does your husband or partner cook for you? when your husband cooks for you

Living with depression in marriage- Depression and relationships can it work?

Filed Under: Marriage Tagged With: chores, husbands, mental health, planning

Living with depression in marriage- Depression and relationships can it work?

12/06/2018 By Savanna Robinson 2 Comments

Being in a relationship with a partner who has depression is tough. Depression and relationships can work, but it takes a lot of work from both people. And depression in marriage can be slightly tougher if you hold the view of being there for your other half through sickness and health seriously. This is my own view on how depression can affect relationships and what it’s like actually being married to someone with depression.

Depression can be a huge thing to admit to with your partner. It’s your brain constantly having dark thoughts, and nothing from your usual life being able to lift you back up out of that darkness. The chemical imbalance of the brain just will not allow any good thoughts in at that time. It can change you from a loving caring partner, to the nastiest piece of work out there. And to a lot of men, that can be so humiliating that they have little control over that.

My husband Steve has chronic depression. He’s had it for over 20 years. And it seems to originate from an incident of being assaulted and being critically injured at that time. Since then he’s been on various medications to help with depression, anxiety and impulse control. He sees various medical professionals that help him in dealing with this condition- psychologist, psychiatrist, and his regular doctor. But quite often he can be forgetful and not attend booked appointments which can lead to a long wait for a new appointment date.

It is chronic depression as it is ongoing and unlikely to be cured by any means. It’s trying to manage the worst of the symptoms and let him live as normal a life as possible. Because some days just getting out of bed itself can be a challenge for someone with depression.

If your partner is on medication, it is so crucial to your relationship that they take it as prescribed by the doctor and take it regularly. This can be hindered by other behaviours at times too, such as not coming home regularly at night (or at all). But if it’s not taken as prescribed, it can’t do its job. This is a big issue with my husband- he’s started medication for impulse control, but it needed a higher dose as wasn’t working well enough. But then he doesn’t come home on time to be taking it and getting enough weeks of it into his system to stop the impulsive behaviours.

It’s important to work together on triggers that make the depression worse. Your partner might not notice the behaviours that lead up to bad episodes, but you certainly will after a few times. Note these down for them to talk about with you or a psychologist, so strategies can be formulated to work on those in the future. Some triggers that might be causing issues are special occasions (birthdays, Christmas, etc), toxic relationships with others, big life events.

You could witness a whole range of behaviours come out due to depression. Ones that are common here are avoidance of talking to me, panic attacks, obsession over things like football and hobbies, gambling, suicidal or bad thoughts and running away to a place to think (or overthink as they tend to do).

Know that times in any relationship can get tough. And with depression, this is probably an absolute guarantee. The statistics of couples staying together with unmanaged depression in the mix can be frightening. When your partner isn’t pulling their weight in your marriage or relationship for an extended period, and exhibiting all sorts of behaviours that are not socially acceptable, you may want to throw in the towel. And many, many people do. Hence why opening up to others about their depression can be so difficult to sufferers. They are afraid of getting close, hurting someone else, and then feeling worse in themselves. And then the cycle repeats itself.

beautiful lady's eye with single tear running down side of face.-Living with depression in marriage blog post

If you do need to step away from the situation (for a few minutes or a permanent break), don’t be afraid of the excuses either. To help support your partner, you need to be looking after yourself too. Don’t let their problems eat away at you and become your problems too. Take time out to relax from managing issues with them. Take care of your own health and the rest of your family. And if it all becomes too much, let them know about it and go talk to someone who can help you decide if it’s in your best interests to stay or go.

But know that if you do stick around with your partner, they are grateful that you can look beyond the illness, the behaviours and love the person they can be. They love that you are a strong person they can depend upon to support them through the difficult times. And maybe you’ll be able to help out others thinking of whether living with depression in marriage is for them.

If you or your partner are showing signs of depression and need some help, here are a few resources available in Australia. Lifeline Australia is a national charity providing all Australians experiencing a personal crisis with access to 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention services. And Beyond Blue provides information and support to help everyone in Australia achieve their best possible mental health, whatever their age and wherever they live.

Come and see more of my posts about marriage here.

7 different ways to spoil your Valentine without flowers

Filed Under: Marriage, Health Tagged With: invisible symptoms, marriage issues, mental health

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Jessie decided Farmers Market Dry Dog Food was pre Jessie decided Farmers Market Dry Dog Food was pretty good. She would have eaten the whole packet if we let her.

#bordercollie  #bordercollielove
#mypuppyiscuterthanyours 
#SpringIntoSummerBlackBoxAU
Good vibes for my darling girl celebrating her 18t Good vibes for my darling girl celebrating her 18th tonight with her friends. 
#18thbirthday #goodvibes
Not so sure if this is true, but I guess less thin Not so sure if this is true, but I guess less things impact on you when you are happier.
 
Even so, summer impacts on my life more so than winter does with my MS. 

#happiness #behappy #multiplesclerosis #msmom #ms #sparklybrighteyes #mumoftwo #girlmum #girlmom
Go on. Go outside and look around you. Life is pre Go on. Go outside and look around you. Life is pretty amazing when you stop just to look around you at what is there.

This is a great way of just grounding yourself and helping to be mindful that you can’t solve all the world’s problems yourself.

#life #amazing #nightsky #mindfulnesspractice #sparklybrighteyes #breathe #quotes #quarantinelife #quotesaboutlifequotesandsayings
After trying to transplant my avocado tree in summ After trying to transplant my avocado tree in summer, and it not coping at all with the intense heat and bushfire season, I was given a new one for my birthday by mum and dad. 
Avocado #3 is now in its new home. With lots of strawberry plants for company and the lemon tree that keeps pulling through, even when dad is sure it’s died on me. 
With being on school holidays, and socially isolating, I may get the  dirt moved that has to come out for the house extensions... whenever they may start now.

#gardenlife #aussiebackyard #SparklyBrightEyes #avocado #mygarden
#mumlife #mummyblogger #momlife #dowhatyoulove #dreamlife #spooniemumlife #lifegoals #liveyourpassion #workathomemum #gardening #gardeninspiration #gardenlove #avocadotree #isolationcreation #iso #isogardening #2020experience
Trying this out for a few weeks. My teen thinks it Trying this out for a few weeks. My teen thinks it’s pretty good when she doesn’t feel like much breakfast (anxiety affects her feeling up to eating in the mornings). She loves the Ensure vanilla flavour. To me it’s bearable. Not a big fan of vanilla drinks. Will be interesting seeing what the chocolate is like.

#ShakeItUpWithEnsure #Gifted #mumlife #breakfast #Ensure #vanilla #teenanxiety #anxiety #momlife #sparklybrighteyes #bloggermum #parentinglife
Missing this view today. We spent the last week wi Missing this view today. We spent the last week with this beautiful beach just outside our holiday place. 
But today was back to school for me. Bit of a comedown from this great spot.
Something to aim for again for next year though.
#dreamplace #holidays #beachlife #sparklybrighteyes #forrestersbeach #backtoschool #mumlife #empowersocial #mamatime #thinkpositive #socialboss #dreamlife #mummyblogger #myinspiration #lifegoals #teachersofinstagram #beachday #beachtime #iteachtoo #socialsouper
A busy and exciting day for my big girl today. Gra A busy and exciting day for my big girl today. Graduation day for Year 12. Where did the time go; from a timid little girl in kindy to a confident young lady who came first in drama! Dream big my love! There are so many more great things ahead of you! Xxoo

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@leishy_lu7
When your 3 year old is already planning her next When your 3 year old is already planning her next birthday party. 
Little Miss Organiser!

#preschooler #birthdayprep #sparklybrighteyes #eleanorrosewinifred #mygirl #mumlife #spooniemumlife #empowersocial #mamatime #loveyoutothemoonandback #mummyblogger #mumsofinstagram #parenting #lifegoals #aimhigh #toddlerfun #parenthood #uniteinmotherhood #daughter #preschool #parentlife #mumblog #mommylove #mumblogger #mydaughter #momsofinstagram #loveher #myprincess #momlifeisthebestlife #letthembelittle
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