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What Being Left or Right-Handed Reveals About Your Thoughts

June 24, 2016 by Power of Positivity

Left or right-handedness is something you might not give much thought to, unless you have to use lefty scissors. However, what it reveals about how you think might surprise you.

We have one brain but it has a left and right half. Scientists call these hemispheres, and they connect in the middle. Each hemisphere of your brain does different tasks. Indeed, whether you are right or left-handed relates to how you think about problem-solving, your preferences, and it is also related to other personality factors as well.

Let’s look at what being right- or left-handedness says about how you think compared to people who use the opposite hand.

What Being Left or Right-Handed Says About How You Think

Researchers in the Journal of Experimental Psychology created an experiment where people looked at fictional characters called Fribbles and chose either a Fribble on the right or on the left column that looked the most trustworthy, attractive, smart, and other traits. They found that right-handed people had a bias toward selecting the Fribble on the right and left-handed people toward selecting the one on the left.

This side-bias also reflects negative traits but in reverse. For example, when asked to pick which Fribble is the most deceptive, unattractive, or unintelligent, right-handed people choose the Fribble on the left. Conversely, left-handed people chose the one on the right. Clearly, we associate good things with the side that our dominant hand is, and we associate bad things with things that are on the side of our opposite hand.

Awareness of this side-bias is helpful to make sure you are thinking clearly when making decisions. If you know that you tend to prefer things on the right side of the aisle, see what you’re missing on the left. Mind blowing!

Side Dominance

Are “righties” also right-eye or right-leg dominant? It appears that this is the case for most people. Only about 1% of the population is ambidextrous, meaning that they can equally use their left or right hand. Being one-side dominant in how you approach everything from dancing to sighting a target makes you different than your other-side-dominant friends.

How Right-Handed People Think and Their Personality Traits

The good news for right-handed thinkers:

Right-handed people have it easier at school than left-handed people. Conversely, teachers often encouraged lefties to change hands when writing.
Right-handed people score higher on intelligence tests. But testing is not everything, right?
Right-handed people live an average of nine years longer.

The bad news for right-handed thinkers:

Right-handed people have very few downsides to being right-handed. However, they may fail to see the more creative left-handed way of thinking as a viable option. Not being able to see more creative solutions may limit a right-handed person’s thinking to fewer options.

One other small piece of bad news for right-handed thinkers; a study of psychiatric patients found that ‘among psychotics in general there was a higher proportion of fully right-handed subjects.’ Being right-handed does not cause you to be psychotic, it’s just that coincidentally more psychotics use their right hand than their left.

How Left-Handed People Think And Their Personality Traits

The good news for left-handed thinkers:

Left-handed people only make up about 10 to 15% of the population, so you are a rarity if you are left-handed. Additionally, left-handed people tend to be more creative in the arts and in creative problem-solving skills than right-handed people.
Left-handed people score higher in measures of trust than right-handed people.
Lefties people are slightly more likely than right-handed thinkers to be geniuses.
Left-handed men are more likely to out-earn right-handed men, by as much as a 26% increase in income if they were also college graduates.

The bad news for left-handed thinkers:

Left-handed thinkers have to adapt to a world created by right-handed people. From your computer desk layout to the can-opener, you find struggles in places that the right-handed majority cannot appreciate. Here are a few differences in how left-handed people think.

Left-handers score lower on intelligence tests than right-handed thinkers
Left-handed people tend to be better at creative problem-solving tasks
Left-handed women are more likely to be introverted and have fewer close friends

Other interesting facts about left-handed people

Interestingly enough, being left or right-handed might be coincidentally connected to sexual preference. Researchers found that gay participants in a study were 50% more often left-handed than heterosexual people in the study. Homosexual men had 82% greater odds of being non-right-handed than heterosexual men. However, the difference was only 22% greater odds of gay women being non-right-handed than heterosexual women.

(C)Power of Positivity, LLC. All rights reserved

Should You Put Onions On Your Feet Before Bed?

June 23, 2016 by Power of Positivity

You may have heard that people are slicing onions to put on their feet before bed. So out of curiosity, you wondered what would happen.

In this article, we will look at the reasons you should put onions against your feet and in your socks before you go to bed, and why you might want to try this interesting health remedy.

Here’s What Happens When You Put Onions On Your Feet Before Bed

Our skin is our body’s largest organ and it can absorb chemicals, ions, minerals, drugs, cosmetics, and other things that we put on it. Transcutaneous absorption is the name for the process by which substances are absorbed through the skin.

Studies show that it is possible that you can absorb some of the nutrients from onions when you put them on your feet as you sleep. Researchers studying the skin of newborns found that coconut oil and safflower oil rubbed onto a baby’s skin resulted in a rise in the triglycerides and fatty acids in the bloodstream of the baby. The oil that was rubbed onto the skin actually showed up in the bloodstream as though the babies had eaten it.

Foot reflexology, Ayurvedic medicine, acupressure, acupuncture, and traditional Chinese medicine all have healing practices that involve stimulating areas on the feet that correspond to the health of our overall body. The points at which you stimulate the feet correspond to energy meridians that lie in the body.

Antibacterial Properties of Onions

whfoods.org says that onions are similar to garlic in their antibacterial properties, but have not been as widely researched as garlic has been. The San Francisco Globe’s online newspaper quotes Joe Schwarcz, director of McGill University’s Office for Science and Society, who says: ‘Onions feature a variety of sulfur compounds that have antibacterial activity. … Furthermore, cutting an onion triggers the release of enzymes that initiate a chemical reaction producing propenesulfenic acid, which in turn decomposes to yield sulphuric acid … sulfuric acid also inhibits the growth of bacteria.’

How To Put Onions On Your Feet Before Bed

Slice any type (white, yellow or red) to about a half-inch thickness. Place a slice of onion against the bottom of your foot covering the bottoms of the toes and slide your sock on over your foot and the onion until it covers the first onion slice. Add a second or third slice of onion to cover the arch and heel of your foot before pulling your sock on all the way.

If you have any hard skin growths on your feet, also known as corns, onion can also help remove them while you sleep. First, soak a slice of onion in vinegar and then place it on top of the corn on your foot before you slip on socks and go to bed. The combination of the acetic acid in vinegar and the sulfuric acid from the onion will help soften the skin of the corn and may make it easier to slough off the skin on the corn when you use a pumice stone or foot file.

Nutritional Benefits Of Onions

Onions are a stinky food that we love to add to pizza, salads, salsa, sandwiches, and other foods to enhance the flavor of the other ingredients. The stinky reason that onions smell this way is sulfur.

Sulfur is a very important nutrient in our diet because it helps the formation of proteins. When you put onions on your feet before bed, you are making a source of sulfur available to your body to absorb while you rest.

Sulfur is important to building healthy hair and fingernails, for making insulin in the body, and for building muscles. Putting onions on your feet before bed allows the onion oil to penetrate your skin, providing sulfur for your body. Of course, you can eat onions to get this benefit as well, just don’t eat the same ones.

Health Problems That Improve By Putting Onions On Your Feet

Onions have been used to ‘purify the blood’ for centuries as far as folk remedies are concerned. There are several health problems that may be helped when you put them on your feet before bed.

Liveandfeel.com lists the following health problems that you might help by applying onion oil to the skin:

Common cold and flu
Gland imbalance
High blood pressure
Immune system complaints
Inflammation
Nausea
Loss of appetite
Weakness

Buying oil in concentrated form is also an option for those not looking to wear slices of onions to bed. Look for a high-quality, organically grown essential oil variety. To apply the oil to your feet before bed, mix 2 drops per teaspoon of carrier oil like coconut, jojoba, or avocado oil. Rub the mixed oil on the soles of both feet before bed and wear socks to keep your sheets from getting messy.

(C)Power of Positivity, LLC. All rights reserved

4 Simple Exercises That Improve Balance and Strength

June 23, 2016 by Power of Positivity

Graceful fluidity of motion can be something you either lose with age or can improve upon every day by doing 4 easy exercises for strength and balance. Aging doesn’t have to mean that you lose your joint mobility and strength, but keeping active does help prevent the decline of your physical abilities.

Dancers are highly aware of their body position in the dance floor space. The same is true for athletes within the space of their sport.

People who give great attention to their physical form are said to have excellent proprioception.

Proprioception is your sense of your physical body and the force or effort it takes to move your body concerning your surrounding environment. This back-and-forth communication from the brain to the body and from the body to the brain is important for strength and balance. Improving communication by doing these four daily exercises will give your movements more fluidity.

Doing These 4 Exercises Every Day Can Improve Your Strength And Balance

Your posture, movements, and the force you use to move your arms, legs, and torso all require your brain to talk to your body. Your brain begins the process by sending a signal to your body to move, and the brain also tells your body the amount of energy to use when it moves.

For example, jumping from a standing position up to a platform one foot high requires less force than jumping to a platform two feet high. Your brain knows that, but your body doesn’t.

In our example of jumping on a platform, when you jump up, your feet and ankles send signals back to your brain about the position of your feet. Then the brain uses this information to decide if another movement is needed. For example, if you jumped onto a slippery surface, which your feet would know by their position and movement, your brain might need to decide to move again quickly.

Working on speeding up your brain-body communication is the easiest way to improve your balance and strength, as well as your posture and reaction time.

1. Joint position matching

As we age, we lose some of our body-brain communication, and we can fall more easily. Instability for elderly adults can be dangerous as it can result in hip joint fractures that result in limited mobility and decreased quality of life.

In a study of patients who had ankle injuries, muscle weakness and poor ability to perceive the position of the foot with eyes closed resulted in greater instability and the likelihood of another fall and injury.

Practice joint position matching with a partner or physical therapist to prevent injuries. To practice joint position matching, lie down, close your eyes, ask your partner to move your arm or leg into a specific pose, and then return your arm or leg to a flat resting position. With your eyes either open or closed, try to duplicate the arm or leg position and have your partner check your guess.

Your goal is to duplicate the exact body position and angle from the resting posture. The better you are at re-creating the angle and position of your body, the better your awareness of your muscle and joint position.

2. Plyometric exercises

Stretching and contracting muscles at a fast pace is a type of conditioning exercise called plyometrics. Plyometrics is also called jumping or jump training due to the use of trampolines and 18 platform jumping exercises for the lower body.

When jumping from a height, the joints and muscles are shocked when they hit the ground. This force then translates into upward momentum, which enables the body to jump higher. The muscles stretch when you land and contract as you jump up.

In a rehabilitation study after shoulder injuries, researchers used plyometric exercise equipment such as trampolines, weighted balls, and elastic tubing to test proprioception and mind-body communication in patients. They found that plyometric exercises can help nerve changes that enhance mind-body awareness and muscle performance.

3. Balancing exercises

Balance ball, wobble board, one-legged, and hand or shoulder stand yoga poses all help improve balance as well as muscle strength. While you are in a safe place and practicing balance, close your eyes and focus on your body position.

4. Strengthening exercises

Weight training isn’t the only strengthening exercise. Resistance bands provide the effect of weight training, as do isometric muscle exercises. Yoga is beneficial for both strength and balance, as is Tai Chi.

The muscle fibers are tested with strengthening exercises until they send pain signals to the brain. The brain learns the force it takes to create the pain signal and the mind and body connect to learn if the movement should continue or stop. Small tears in the muscle fibers are responsible for increasing muscle mass and the body tells the brain to initiate the repair of the muscles.

Believe it or not, certain strengthening exercises are best for certain personality types. You can read more about your Ayurvedic personality type and the exercise recommendations of Ayurvedic medicine in our related article What Exercise is Best for Your Body Type.

4 Steps To Healing After A Breakup

June 23, 2016 by Power of Positivity

Through every breakup we are left depleted, heartbroken, and undergoing several stages of loss. Many times there is shame, disbelief, unworthiness, and other traumatic emotional issues that arise. You can heal after a breakup. You can regain your confidence and place your heart back in balance. After the initial shock, anger, sadness and acceptance, you can pass on to the greatest source of healing, which is forgiveness.

An article in HelpGuide.Org shares that “breakups launch us into uncharted territory. Everything is disrupted: your routine and responsibilities, your home, your relationships with extended family and friends, and even your identity. A breakup brings uncertainty about the future. What will life be like without your partner? Will you find someone else? Will you end up alone? These unknowns often seem worse than an unhappy relationship.”

Romantic relationships give us tremendous highs of joy and hope for the future. When they fail, we experience the sense of loss beyond words. This leads to emotional and physical issues including stress, anxiety, and grief.

Here are four steps to healing after a breakup:

Try these four steps to begin healing your heart.

1. Mourn the loss during a breakup.

It doesn’t matter how long you were in a relationship. Breakups don’t take time into consideration as to how much the pain will be endured. You still must go through the 5 stages of loss that were first proposed by Dr. Elisabeth Kubler- Ross in her 1969 book, “On Death and Dying,” whether it was two months or twenty-two years.

Five stages of loss:

Denial and isolation. Sometimes a breakup catches us by surprise. We didn’t notice the red flags (or maybe there weren’t any). The moment it happens, and we are done with the relationship, we begin to deny that it happened. We return time and time again to the scenarios. It is then that we isolate ourselves from the world. Denial and isolation are defense mechanisms dealing with the shock.
Anger. This stage usually comes from vulnerability. We begin to blame the other person for doing this to us. We question everything in the relationship, angry for not taking action sooner. Anger can be explosive. It even escalates and magnifies guilt and shame.
Bargaining. This is the middle point to the stages of loss. We begin to rethink any decisions and even feel hopeful about a possible rekindling with our loved one. We begin to bargain with everything, including spiritual beliefs, friends, and egos.
Depression. Once bargaining ends its cycle of getting nowhere, we enter into the stage of deep sadness and depression. We begin to worry about what others think, how you will be talked about in social circles, and start regretting ever falling in love. This stage can linger for a long while and it’s important to get help. Depression can mask itself into feelings of hopelessness and even desperation.
Acceptance. Finally, when you are out of the darkness of deep grief, you enter acceptance. Acceptance is a deep breath of hope. Coping with any loss is a personal experience. Acceptance is finally acknowledging the loss. And, it’s in this stage that you can let go of all resentments, regrets, and start healing.

It is ok to get help!

While you are undergoing the deep mourning process, it’s important to seek help. This can be through conventional therapy, spiritual counseling, friends or other support groups. This is not the time to retreat into your own little space. It’s important to write, create, and talk about your feelings.

2. Start taking care of your body, mind, and spirit.

The first thing we deprive when we are sad is our health. We stop exercising, eating right, and doing the things we enjoy. You don’t have to return to normal habits immediately. You get a grace period to mourn. However, the faster you begin to care for your physical body, the easier it is for your emotional body to also heal.

Be in nature. Give yourself the gift of breathing clean air. You don’t have to start running or hiking, but you can just walk around the neighborhood. Sit outside under a tree. Allow nature to heal your soul.
Eat better. Cut out the sugars and fatty foods that you have been craving. Recognize any addicting habits that have taken over such as alcohol and drugs. Return your body to the equilibrium of continuum health by slowly integrating back your dietary needs. Watch cooking shows or search for recipes on the Internet for inspiration.
Join a gym or support group. Sometimes you need a new environment to start over. Take a yoga class. Join a cycling group. You can check your local newspaper for hiking or other groups. It is important to put yourself out there in new experiences. Check out spiritual gatherings or other like-minded subjects you have put aside because of the relationship.
Have a makeover. Get that haircut you have been thinking about getting. Buy new clothes and donate old ones. Get that beard shaven or trimmed. Rearrange your closet and your home to make it only yours.

3. Give of your time to heal from your breakup.

Volunteer for a hospital, church, library, homeless shelter, or other organizations. It’s satisfying to give of your time. You can’t focus on feeling sorry for yourself when you are seeing others who need so much more. Giving time to a charity raises your self-esteem and you begin to feel good about yourself.

Read to an elderly person. Many assisted living facilities to encourage volunteers to spend time with their folks. You will witness gratitude from these people who usually have no one come to visit.
Adopt a pet. Giving your love to a new animal has many healing benefits. You will start to feel an immediate unconditional love in return. Pets bring out the selfless generosity in us.
Babysit for a neighbor. Children can teach us how to play. They can show us how to take things lightly and enjoy life.

4. Meet new people.

As you begin to heal from the trauma of the breakup, it’s just as important to go out again. Reinvent yourself and put yourself in healthy places where you can be enriched and supported.

Go out with friends. Start going out to movies, dinner, or other social gatherings. You don’t have to go to a nightclub or a bar. You don’t have to rush into exposing yourself into social interactions. Restart socializing and feeling good about yourself.
Use your creativity to meet others. You can join a writing or book club. You can take a cooking or pottery class. Creativity opens you up and brings you joy.

Breakups are difficult events in our lives. We begin to question everything about ourselves. Remember that for every ending, there is a new beginning. You might just be making room for something much better in your love life.

(C)Power of Positivity, LLC. All rights reserved

3 Reasons Why Delaying Intimacy Is Good For Your Relationship

June 23, 2016 by Power of Positivity

When you met your partner, a definite spark made you want more. But there are at least three reasons why you should consider delaying intimacy for the good of your relationship.

Being aware of your physical attraction to another person and choosing not to act on it takes self-control. Self-control can be developed with training, just like a muscle in your body that you exercise. Let’s look at why delaying intimacy by practicing self-control is good for your relationship.

3 Reasons Why Delaying Intimacy Is Good For Your Relationship

When we are teenagers, we are encouraged to wait to have sex. We learn that it will benefit our own physical and emotional development. These are also good reasons to wait as an adult. We are still in the process of learning and becoming who we are. So rushing into things with a romantic partner can stop or delay our own growth due to the distraction that the other person makes.

It can be very difficult to make good decisions, like delaying intimacy for the good of your relationship, while your hormones tell you to go full steam ahead. Delaying your passion with your partner is like saying to yourself, ‘This person might be worth waiting for so I am making a deliberate choice to wait.’

1. That initial spark of attraction burns out fast

Is this true love? Very few people believe they can tell they have met their true love at first sight. It is indeed possible. But usually, the attraction you feel for someone will last only a month or so, and that quickly, it is gone.

Part of the quick burnout of that spark is that you are fresh and new to your partner in the first part of your relationship. As you become accustomed to each other, what was once special and new about you is now less so. The less mystery there is about you, your partner may show interest in you.

When you are delaying intimacy, you are building trust with each other, which is very important to a relationship. During this time, you can spend time bonding with conversation and learning about what is important to your partner.

Are you two compatible with your core values? Do you feel strongly about something that your partner feels differently about? It’s better to know now than when it is time to get out of a complicated relationship.

2. Research shows delaying intimacy is better for making a relationship last

Doing what scientists say doesn’t sound romantic. But delaying intimacy is necessary if you hope for a successful relationship with your current mate. Think of it this way. If you choose to stay together, you can have sex as long as you are in a happy relationship, but delaying intimacy now means you will have a long happy relationship.

Researchers in the Journal of Family Psychology asked the question ‘Is it better to test sexual compatibility as early as possible or show sexual restraint so that other areas of the relationship can develop?’ What they found reveals a reason why delaying intimacy is good for your relationship. The research showed that delaying intimacy ‘was associated with better relationship outcomes, even when controlling for education, the number of sexual partners, religiosity, and relationship length.’

A second study in the Journal of Marriage and Family found that having sex early was associated with poor relationship happiness in marriage, especially for women. The researchers say that when couples have sex early on in their relationship, they also decide to move in together too quickly. As a result, they put an extra strain on the relationship.

3. Waiting is rare and, therefore, more valuable

We have many things, like air and water, that are relatively easy to get and cost little. As a result, we value them little. What is cheap or free is not valued. On the other hand, what is rare, like pearls, is treated carefully, highly prized, and highly valued. Think of the first time with your partner as a valuable gift that you can give only once.

Although you want your first intimate moment together to be special, you also don’t need to put pressure on yourself to make it memorable. The longer you can delay intimacy, the more you get to feel comfortable. Furthermore, when you are closer to your partner, you will feel less stress about intimacy.

Your initial spark of romance includes a rapid pulse, higher blood pressure, breathing faster, and sweating. You know–all of the usual signs of anxiety or stress. Allowing yourselves some time to become more relaxed around each other will help make the eventual intimacy more relaxed and pleasurable, which is good for your relationship.

7 Warning Signs Of Anxiety

June 23, 2016 by Chris Butler

People with anxiety can tell you how exhausting and frustrating their disorder can be, and the worst part is, that finding a cure for it isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. People respond differently to different treatments, and finding the one that works for you is just a matter of trial and error. Even if one attempts a full recovery, totally getting over anxiety may not happen for some people.

Despite all the research and information available about anxiety, scientists remain baffled as to the direct cause of anxiety. Because anxiety can creep up on anyone at any time, we thought we’d make a list of common symptoms to look out for so that you can prevent anxiety before it rears its ugly head.

Seven Common Anxiety Warning Signs

Here are some of the most frequent warning signs of anxiety:

1. Muscle Pain

Anxiety affects the entire body, plain and simple. One such area of discomfort lies in the muscles, as stress can make muscles tighter and cramp easier. People with anxiety can experience almost constant muscle tension, and those who have lived with the disorder for a while, may not even notice it anymore. Regular exercise can help to keep this symptom under control, but those with anxiety may still experience muscle tension despite moving their body regularly.

2. Headaches

Since anxiety causes the whole body to tighten up, the head is no exception to this. People with chronic anxiety report frequent headaches and migraines, as the tension causes a buildup of cortisol in the body. This stress hormone can cause you actual physical pain, as the body essentially prepares for a situation in which survival is at stake. Our bodies still have this fight-or-flight response, but in those with anxiety, it doesn’t seem to operate properly.

3. Fatigue

Anxiety can severely deplete the body’s energy stores, resulting in extreme fatigue and exhaustion. If you regularly feel tired despite a good night’s rest, you might have anxiety. Your body is using most of its energy on simply staying alive and avoiding a dangerous situation, so you have no energy left for anything else. Also, anxiety causes you to ruminate over things, which can leave the body and mind feeling depleted as well.

4. Craving Sugary or Starchy Foods

When we experience high levels of stress or anxiety, we want to reach for the first sugary or fattening treat we can find in order to stabilize our body. However, this is heightened even more in those with anxiety, as their bodies feel under constant attack from their disorder. If you find yourself using food to cope with your emotions often, you might have a hidden anxiety disorder. Keep note of when you start to crave these types of foods so you can better understand when and why you use these foods to cope with your feelings.

5. Digestive Issues

Chronic anxiety has been directly linked to poor digestion, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). When the brain is “not right,” the digestive system generally isn’t either. In fact, between 80 to 90 percent of the brain’s “calming” neurotransmitter, serotonin, is produced in the gastrointestinal tract. The result is two-fold: poor digestion and inefficient production of serotonin.

6. Fluctuating Moods

When our brain is inundated with anxious thoughts, we have very little patience for things that demand our attention. Note that is obviously counterproductive – it is far better to focus on things that are constructive than to allow anxiety to run amuck. However, for those with chronic anxiety, their default reaction is to “snap” or “lash out” when someone or something requires attention.

7. Insomnia

This is relatively obvious, but when the brain is rapidly firing it can be quite difficult to enter a state of relaxation. When relaxation is difficult, sleep is as well. It is common for someone with chronic anxiety to be “exhausted in body, but restless is mind;” in other words, they may be more than willing to enter a deep sleep but their brain simply won’t allow it.

17 Behaviors to Help Beat Anxiety

Here are some steps you can take to restore your peace of mind.

1. Learn about anxiety

Learning everything you can about anxiety helps you better understand it. This will also help you understand how to respond when you feel anxious. Educating yourself about anxiety helps you feel in control instead of the anxiety controlling you.

2. Explore the outdoors

Being outside is a natural way to beat anxiety. When you’re in the sunshine and fresh air, your body releases a chemical called serotonin. It’s a natural mood enhancer that makes you feel happier. Get outside every day for at least 15 minutes to raise your vitamin D. This vitamin helps your immune system and allows your body to absorb and regulate calcium. Try outside activities such as:

Walking
Gardening
Birdwatching
Biking
Having a picnic
Swimming

3. Read a good book

Reading gets overlooked to beat anxiety. But reading not only strengthens your brain, but it also relaxes your heart rate and lowers your blood pressure. One study found college students who read every day were less prone to anxiety. Reading slows down your heart rate and breathing so much that it’s been compared to meditation.

4. Watch your diet

One way to beat your anxiety is to eat a healthy diet. When you’re eating well, you feel better and have more energy. This boosts your positivity. Eating less sugar, low fat, and low sodium are great choices. Choose to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, whole fibrous grains, and low-fat meats to stay fit, so you can maintain a positive outlook.

5. Relaxation

If you’re feeling anxious, find some relaxation strategies to reduce your anxiety. These techniques put you in control of your anxiety, rather than being controlled by it. Try relaxation techniques, such as:

Deep abdominal breathing
Isometric relaxation
Muscle relaxation
Yoga
Ta chi

6. Sufficient sleep

Individuals who are well rested are less prone to depression and other mental health conditions, like anxiety. When you sleep, it recharges your mind and body. An adequate amount of sleep can

Help you remember things better
Protect your heart
Improve your decision-making skills
Prevents weight gain
Improve your ability to learn new things

7. Laughter

Laughter improves your mood and relieves depression and anxiety. It’s a natural way to lower your stress, so you feel better about your life. Studies show that laughter decreases cortisol levels, so the stress in your body goes down. Laughter also increases the dopamine and serotonin levels in your body. Many therapists are incorporating laughter into their patient treatments.

8. Let your creativity flow

Creative experiences stimulate your mind and lower your stress level. Being creative allows you to focus. Creative endeavors produce positive emotions, which give you a sense of well-being and happiness. People who let creativity flow say they have more energy and feel happier. Try some simple creative activities:

Doddle-Let your mind wander as you doddle. This stimulates brainstorming.
Write a little song about the problem you’re having at work
Try some new today-Breaking out of your routine, frees your mind to think creatively
Move your desk-Rearranging your office can stimulate creativity.
Listen to music

9. Write about it

Writing your thoughts and feelings is a wonderful way to beat anxiety. It helps you work out exactly what’s bothering you and can ease your stressful feelings. The act of writing doesn’t take away your problems, but it makes you feel better.

10. Socialize with friends and family

Resist the urge to isolate yourself when you’re struggling with anxiety. Being alone is the last thing you need. Having friends and family around you gives you a new perspective on your life. As you focus on others, the anxiety fades. Talk to your family and friends about how you’re feeling. This breaks the secret hold anxiety has on you.

11. Avoid alcohol and recreational drugs

Alcohol and drugs make anxiety worse. If you’re already feeling depressed and anxious, they will only make you feel sadder. If you feel you’re addicted to these things, find a support group to help you break free from the control alcohol and drugs have on you.

12. Quit smoking

Nicotine creates a sense of calm, so you think smoking helps you to relax. But it’s a temporary experience. Soon after you smoke, you’ll have cravings for more nicotine. It’s classified as a stimulant because it speeds up your breathing and heart rate. It’s hard to withdraw from nicotine, and this adds to your feelings of anxiety.

13. Avoid caffeinated drinks

Too much caffeine creates the same feeling as an anxiety attack. Your heart rate speeds up, you breathe quickly, and your mind races. It’s important that you’re aware of this when you choose your drinks. You don’t need to give up caffeine entirely, but if they give you anxiety symptoms, you want to find alternative drinks.

14. Identify triggers

If you suffer from anxiety, you need to understand what triggers it. As you learn your triggers, you can be better equipped to beat anxiety. Triggers for anxiety include:

Finances
Work problems
At home issues
Health problems
Feeling isolated
Falling into bad habits

If possible, limit your exposure to your triggers, or use coping strategies to get through situations you can’t avoid. You may need extra help from your therapist, your friends, or your pastor.

15. Catch your negative thoughts

Negative thoughts trigger anxiety. If your mind focuses on something negative, stop your thoughts and redirect them. Pick to think about positive things. It takes deliberate effort, but there is always something positive in any situation. Negative thoughts steal your joy about your life.

16. Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy reduces anxiety, giving you a sense of calm. Whether you use a scented aromatherapy candle, incense or diffuser, the soothing scent helps activate certain brain chemicals that ease your anxiety. Choose scents like these for best results.

Lavender
Sandalwood
Chamomile

17. Belief in God

Believing in someone bigger than you can help you beat anxiety. Faith releases you from feeling as if you need to control every little thing in your life. You find strength in trusting God. Prayer to God helps you let go of your fears. Write your prayers in a journal and read the Bible to find peace. Find other friends who share your same values to draw strength from them.

Final Thoughts on Understanding Anxiety

Anxiety is exhausting to deal with. There is no one way to deal with it. Plus, different experiences or situations trigger anxiety. Everyone’s a little different which helps them fight anxiety. Hopefully, these suggestions help you beat your anxiety and find peace in your life.

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What Being Left or Right-Handed Says About How You Think

Side Dominance

How Right-Handed People Think and Their Personality Traits

How Left-Handed People Think And Their Personality Traits

Other interesting facts about left-handed people

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Here’s What Happens When You Put Onions On Your Feet Before Bed

Antibacterial Properties of Onions

How To Put Onions On Your Feet Before Bed

Nutritional Benefits Of Onions

Health Problems That Improve By Putting Onions On Your Feet

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Doing These 4 Exercises Every Day Can Improve Your Strength And Balance

1. Joint position matching

2. Plyometric exercises

3. Balancing exercises

4. Strengthening exercises

Here are four steps to healing after a breakup:

1. Mourn the loss during a breakup.

Five stages of loss:

It is ok to get help!

2. Start taking care of your body, mind, and spirit.

3. Give of your time to heal from your breakup.

4. Meet new people.

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3 Reasons Why Delaying Intimacy Is Good For Your Relationship

1. That initial spark of attraction burns out fast

2. Research shows delaying intimacy is better for making a relationship last

3. Waiting is rare and, therefore, more valuable

Seven Common Anxiety Warning Signs

1. Muscle Pain

2. Headaches

3. Fatigue

4. Craving Sugary or Starchy Foods

5. Digestive Issues

6. Fluctuating Moods

7. Insomnia

17 Behaviors to Help Beat Anxiety

1. Learn about anxiety

2. Explore the outdoors

3. Read a good book

4. Watch your diet

5. Relaxation

6. Sufficient sleep

7. Laughter

8. Let your creativity flow

9. Write about it

10. Socialize with friends and family

11. Avoid alcohol and recreational drugs

12. Quit smoking

13. Avoid caffeinated drinks

14. Identify triggers

15. Catch your negative thoughts

16. Aromatherapy

17. Belief in God

Final Thoughts on Understanding Anxiety

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