4 Ways to Prevent and Relieve Stress

Stress is a natural part of life and we all experience stress from time to time. This might be caused by work deadlines, relationship issues, or stressful life events like divorce or illness. Some stress is normal, but prolonged stress can have a serious long-term effect on your physical and mental health. Fortunately, there are lots of things you can do to reduce stress in your daily life. Here are four ways to prevent and relieve stress: 

1. Schedule daily downtime

Scheduling downtime is one of the best things you can do to reduce stress and improve your emotional health. The amount of leisure time you need to be happy will depend on several factors such as your stress levels, your work, and your schedule. However, most people are happiest when they have between four and five hours of downtime each day, according to a survey by Ladders. This might seem like a lot, but most people can easily create this much leisure time. For instance, if you get home from work at 6pm and go to bed at 10pm, then you will have four hours to relax and unwind. You can also enjoy downtime in the mornings or on your lunch break. Use downtime to do hobbies and activities that you enjoy such as watching television, reading, cooking, or socializing with friends. 

2. Know the signs of burnout 

Burnout is when a person experiences physical and emotional exhaustion and it is often caused by intense or prolonged stress. Many people have days when they feel overwhelmed, but burnout is different to normal stress. You must recognize the signs of burnout and act quickly to protect your mental health. Here are some physical and emotional signs of burnout:

● Feeling exhausted and drained all the time. 

● Low immunity level leading to regular infections and illnesses. 

● Losing motivation in work, relationships, and daily activities.

● Isolating yourself from others and feeling alone. 

● Feeling like a failure and having a negative outlook on life. 

● Using drugs, food, or alcohol to cope with negative emotions. 

3. Try herbal stress remedies 

There is a wide variety of herbal remedies that can potentially help relieve feelings of stress. For instance, CBD oil may reduce stress and relieve the symptoms of mental disorders like anxiety and depression. However, there is not enough evidence to suggest that CBD can effectively treat these health issues. You can visit a reputable site like itgelcbd.co.uk to browse the latest range of CBD products being sold. Some other herbal supplements that may help to relieve stress include chamomile, lavender, and valerian.

4. Get enough sleep 

Sleep plays a vital role in your health and it is closely connected to your mood. Failing to get enough quality sleep will make you more susceptible to stress and harm your physical and mental health over time. Get into a regular sleep pattern and go to bed at the same time every night. If you find it difficult to get to sleep, then avoid technology in the evenings and create a relaxing bedtime routine.

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My Life In Pictures Nov 21 - 30

November 21 - My little classroom tree. I got it and all the decorations for it at Dollar Tree. While it literally looks like the $4.00 I spent on it. 2 trees, garland and lights; my class called it a Christmas tree immediately and loved it! They were so excited. 

November 22 - I saved a copy of my son's Instagram pic and couldn't agree more. Our kids NEED to get back to school. Enough already. 

November 23 - Just my girl and I hanging out and LUNA decides to make herself comfortable. Never really happens to anyone else in the family. Luna comes to me at night when I first get in the bed but only stays about 25% of the time with her usually playing coy and leaving. 

November 24 - Thanksgiving! 

November 25 -  NADA

November 26 -  JINXY!

November 27 - Some Thanksgiving food! This looks amazing right now.

November 28 - My girl helping her daddy with Christmas decorations. Her brother was playing a video game as usual. OH well, at least one of them helps.

November 29 - The mantel looks amazing. I love it although next year there will be a TV above it so no room for anything, I am enjoying this.

November 30 - My assistant did these really cute Santa hands with the class. Aren't they they cutest?

My Life In Pictures - Nov 11 - Nov 20

Nov 11 - So very busy these days. Here I am waiting in the car for the kids to come out of school. Basically my life. Working, cleaning, school work, blog work and my kids. Life is exhausting but it makes me feel alive.

Nov 12 - One of my favorite things to do is come up with a curriculum for my class.  This was for ocean. I covered cardboard in aluminum foil. Gave the kids paint and let them finger paint the ocean. They then glued fish on however they wanted and as many as they wanted. It was a favorite art project for them because they got to use their hands. 

November 13 - Lulu's Garden was a review consisting of succulents inside a pretty container. We loved it so much I ended up giving one to my sister-in-laws for Christmas. 

November 14 - My Daughter and her Stormy. Stormy is such a good girl. We love her and her sweet little face.

November 15 - Stormy and her cute little Cheerio mouth. She likes to hang out in her basket near us and eat her lettuce and hay. Oh and poop  A LOT.

November 16 - JINXY! 

November 17 & 18 - NADA

November 19 - Such a beautiful sky! My view from work. 

 

November 20 - My work face! This is what the kids see. Hopefully my eyes are always smiling because they cannot see my face these days. 

You Were Made For Me by Jenna Guillaume - Book Review

 

The 411:

Overall a very enjoyable book. I absolutely love this premise. Based on Weird Science the movie from the 80s, two friends (Katie and Libby) somehow create the perfect fantasy guy for Katie after she realizes she will never get her crush Declan.  Guy magically appears and is everything Katie had asked for. He is devoted to her, smells like springtime, lips taste like cookie dough, and is literally the perfect male specimen.

Some of my favorite parts of the book were where Katie and Libby are doing a voice over as I read  the story of how "Guy" came to be and all their fun, humorous back and forth as well as how innocent Guy is! I mean how could he not be? He was just created. 

I also loved Katie's friend Theo the next door forever friend who is always there for her including now holding her "perfect boyfriend" so she doesn't get caught.

This fun, innocent read for grades 7+ made me laugh and entertained me.  I highly recommend it.

Sometimes You Have To Look Back To Move Forward

 

We have all heard the saying, never look back. Well, I disagree because sometimes looking back allows us to see how far we have come. 

Every once in a while, look back, reflect and give yourself props for how friggin far you've come. 

Sometimes We Just Have To Breathe

Have you ever just wanted to have the whole world stop so you can focus on nothing at all? It's been happening to me a whole lot lately. I just want to sit back and watch the sunrise, listen to some music and talk about nothing! 

That is what I get when I hang with my daughter. Organic conversation that comes from just being in the same space. 

Taking that time to just be allows us to breath and shake off the worries and energies surrounding us that may be bringing us down. The ones that weight heavy on us and make us feel as if we are living in constant stress. We aren't. It may sometimes feel that way but it isn't constant. If we allow ourselves the moment to just sit and listen to the world around us, we will see that nothing is constant, life is always moving. We are NOT stuck. We are fluid and the only thing holding us back is ourselves. 

Take time to grab a coffee or whatever you enjoy, head out to a beautiful space (it could literally be the side of a nice long road) and watch the sun come up.  Radio on, seat warmer on (on this particular day we needed it), windows down and breathe!!

Can You Catapult The Jumping Monkeys Into The Tree? I Need Practice!

 

The 411:

I love unplugged play! It is the best kind of play and I have made an attempt to try to play board games with my kids whenever they asked me even at the youngest of ages. I cannot even begin to tell you have many times I played Guess Who. Now, we spend time playing different board games but this one was so much fun, my daughter asked to play the last time her friend was over. 

It does take some practice but it was so much fun. Basically everyone grabs a catapult one of 4 colors and start slinging your Monkeys into the tree. The first one to get all their monkeys hanging from the tree wins a banana for that round. The winner is the one who has the most bananas. We had a blast although my class was unable to play this game. It takes some hand-eye coordination which is too hard for my 2+ year old toddler class but they did love playing with the monkeys and hanging them from the tree branches which is still great for their fine motor skills. Watch us below. 

Lucky Ducks The Perfect Memory Game For Kids Ages 3 And Up

 

The 411:

This is the perfect matching game for children. It is for 4 players and  ages 3+. There are 4 shapes to choose from. Pick your shape and try to match it as the ducks swim by. There are 3 ducks for each shape.

I took this game to work for my 2+ year old toddler class to try it. They loved it and ask to play with it almost daily. What I love about it is how easy it is for them to understand the concept of grabbing just one of the 4 ducks, turning it over and seeing if it is their color. The hardest part for this age group was placing the ducks back in the pond without knocking all of the ducks up but if you watch the video of my teen and her friend play below, you can see that it isn't always the easiest thing. My toddler class love pressing the button and starting the ducks going around so we have to take turns doing just that too. 

Honestly, this game is fun for all ages. If you want a game to play with your little ones or even for older folks who love playing but have trouble with their cognitive abilities, this is a fun, easy game to teach.  

How to Help Your Parents Make the Most of Their Retirement

 

When your parents retire, they might have all kinds of plans that will help them to really make the most of their time now they’re no longer working. Some of those plans may involve your help, and since your parents have taken care of you your whole life, it’s great to be able to give back. So, if you need to give your parents a helping hand to ensure they enjoy their retirement as much as they can, here are some ideas of what you – and they – can do:

 

Downsizing 

Retirement is the ideal time to downsize your property. When you retire, you will have less money coming in, so the bills that were once easy to pay may start to become an issue. If your parents own their home and they feel it’s time to move, you can help them with the search for something new. Ideally, they will want something smaller because their family will have moved out by the time they come to retire, and they’ll want something that costs less money. They might even be able to sell their current home and use the money to buy a place outright, using the rest of their funds to live off and have a wonderful, stress-free retirement. 

 

Another option is to move into an assisted living community if they require a little extra help. Again, retirement is the perfect time to do it. When considering a senior living apartment, Brightview, assisted living in Baltimore County, suggests you answer the following questions: is the layout designed to provide a safe living environment? Does the kitchen provide the amenities you will need? What kind of technology is offered, including wifi to connect to the internet?

 

Find Classes and Events for Them to Enjoy 

Many people assume retirement is a time for doing nothing at all, but although this might be very enjoyable for a week or two, perhaps even a little longer, in the end, it’s going to get boring. Retirement lasts for many years, and it’s important to be active during that time so that you can keep your brain healthy and your life interesting. 

 

If you are concerned that your parents might start to get bored during their retirement or that they aren’t going to truly make the most of their newly acquired free time, why not search out some great classes, events, and societies for them to get involved with? They might start a new hobby or discover new friends, and it will help them enjoy their retirement as much as possible. 

 

Encourage Them to Take Care of Their Health 

One of the best things you can do for your parents when they retire is to help them take care of their health. It would be disappointing, to say the least, if your parents were to retire and then become sick and be unable to enjoy their free time. 

 

Although you don’t want to nag your parents, it is good if you can help them be as healthy as possible. Offer to take them to and from health appointments and check-ups and show them how they can be active (this may link to the point we made above). When it comes to food, maybe you can cook for them a few times a week to ensure they’re eating healthily or pay for a food subscription service to give them a wide range of healthy foods every day.

Just Finished The Voices Available NOW On Demand

 

The 411:

I have watched some bad horror movies. This was not one of them! Lily has suffered more trauma than anyone. She is blind and orphaned. She starts hearing voices and doesn’t realize that these voices don’t belong to the living.  The synopsis doesn’t do the movie any justice. I loved the main character Lily. Lily now a psychiatrist is helping a little girl who lost her mom. This scene takes us into how Lily lost her mom. We learn a lot about Lily in flashbacks, 

As a child everyone assumed Lily was speaking to imaginary friends. Her doctor gives her headphones to drown out the voices. She hears voices all the time and since she is blind doesn’t know they are not really there. She meets a little girl who Is looking for her cat, we can see she is an undead based on her clothes, Lily just hears a little girls she is trying to help. 

One of Lily’s patients tells her that she needs Lily to pick the soul of her recently deceased son before Lily hears the heartbeat of her own unborn child Lily’s. Suddenly every dead walker wants to be Lily’s unborn child.

The Director didn’t spend enough time on Lily’s aunt’s illness and I wondered why Lily forgot all the voices she heard as a child and young adult to not realize that this is what was happening to her again but I guess we wouldn’t have a movie then. 

It was enjoyable.

Dawn of The Beast On Demand and DVD April 6th

The 411:

Well, this isn't a bad movie at all. I was entertained HOWEVER, about 25 times I kept asking my husband...did we see this movie already? His answer was no since it hasn't come out yet but honestly, it felt like every other movie about a group of nincompoops going into the woods searching for something, splitting up and many dying.  I think the reason I felt like I had already seen this movie was because we had recently seen Monstrous another Bigfoot movie staring kinda like this. Hmmmm I just looked it up and it was written by the Anna Shields who wrote and starred in both of these movies. So I wasn't crazy. I knew it felt familiar. 

So a bunch of students ahhhh they look like adults to me but anywhooo head out to the woods searching for Bigfoot but what they find is even more sinister and ugly. The Wendigo are some nasty nightmarish creatures and there are many of them. 

The movie opens with a woman and man staying at the cabin that eventually our Bigfoot search party stay at after the credits. I like foreshadowing and this mini preview to the creatures sets up the movie and eventually we do see the original cabin folks in the movie with a skeleton wearing a necklace from the woman in the opening scene. 

The acting wasn't horrible and honestly it wasn't bad for a horror movie. The effects were definitely quality which made Dawn of the Best less of a B. I love the way it was shot. Many times it felt like it skated on the verge of cheesy but since the cinematography didn't look like it could have been shot on a handheld camcorder the movie gets a thumbs up.  

There were some creepy scenes. 

Look cheesy movies have their place in my heart too but this was better than cheesy. 

The 5 Best Exercises for Chronic Pain

A reported 50 million adults across the United States are living with chronic pain, such as rheumatoid arthritis, endometriosis, fibromyalgia, or chronic fatigue syndrome.

If you are one of them, physical activity might be the furthest thought from your mind, but it could help alleviate the pain and discomfort you experience each day. If you want to experience a better quality of life, consider the following five best exercises for chronic pain.

1. Yoga

According to a study published in the Journal of Pain Research, yoga can decrease psychological and physical symptoms for women living with chronic pain. There are various yoga exercises you can perform to match your needs, such as traditional yoga, hot yoga, or aerial yoga.

The gentle workout can stretch out your muscles, help you control your breathing, and improve your posture. However, you must invest in the right clothing and equipment to feel comfortable during the exercise. For example, you could enjoy ultra-dense support with a thick yoga mat. Also, you’ll need to wear leggings, a vest, or a t-shirt that will not restrict your movement.

2. Stretching

If yoga isn’t right for you, incorporate other stretching exercises into your lifestyle instead. Stretching out your muscles can combat chronic pain, as it can loosen stiff muscles, increase flexibility, and provide you with a better range of motion. As a result, you might find your pain subsides after the exercise. 

3. Walking 

If you’re looking for a light exercise that will not exacerbate chronic pain, walking is an ideal option. It will increase oxygen to your muscles, ease pain and stiffness, and boost your energy levels. Put on some walking shoes to enjoy a stroll in a park, around the block, or at a museum. It’s theperfect activity for those living with fibromyalgia or chronic back pain. 

4. Pilates

If you struggle with arthritis, back pain, or joint issues, Pilates could be an ideal solution to your discomfort. The low-impact workout will require you to focus on small movements that will stabilize your core and back muscles. Following regular workouts, you could enjoy greater flexibility, improved muscle strength, and a decrease in joint or back pain. Similar to yoga, you’ll need to buy non-restrictive clothing and a supportive mat to get started. 

5. Swimming

Swimming is a fantastic exercise for those struggling with debilitating chronic pain. Water can relax the muscles, while its buoyancy can take pressure off the joints. Therefore, it can help you move your body with ease while improving your flexibility, strength, stamina, and cardiovascular health. There are different exercises you can perform in the water to match your preference and range of motion, too. You could opt for slow strokes, enjoy water aerobics, or use a floatation device. 

Conclusion

If you are living with chronic pain, you must not avoid exercise. Inactivity cannot only lead to serious health consequences, but it can actually exacerbate chronic pain. If in doubt, talk to your doctor about the best exercise for your needs. Also, ease into each exercise and stop right away if you experience any pain or discomfort.

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