Holistic Therapy Tips: How To Celebrate Yourself More Often

November 16, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Tips: How To Celebrate Yourself More Often

When you work hard to get things done it can be exciting just to think, “Yay, I’m glad it worked out and I got it done” and next pivot our attention and start looking at the next task to be done. In society there’s a not so subtle push to rush, run, and sprint to get things done, and then take on even more things to work on. The pace of following a moving target of goals also creates a feeling of being on a continued hamster wheel with little to down time or time to reflect in-between. When we feel as though we’re on a revolving hamster wheel in our lives, it can also make us feel a sensation of emptiness emotionally. Without making space to feel more connection to our wins, obstacles, and growth opportunities we can miss out on the beauty of feeling more present and presence in our day to day lives.

In the paragraphs below, I’m going to walk you through 2 methods to increasingly celebrate yourself more often. This will help you stay anchored in self-connection, which ultimately makes us feel more centered and confident.

Stop and Savor The Small Victories

When you decide to work on your goals it’s worthy to also celebrate your small victories on your way to task or goal completion. It may seem odd to stop and celebrate completing another day of effort placed towards your goal but, trust me it’s a great way to nurture your practice.

Imagine if we celebrated all of the small efforts that create the end results of growth, increased knowledge, or success and accomplishment. It’s like enjoying a long beautiful scenic car ride without having to wait until you get to the final destination on your road trip. You’ll naturally get more from your experience and efforts. Remember to stop and enjoy the view on your journey to success, not just when you get to the top of the mountain as they say.

Create A Celebration Ritual

If you don’t normally practice celebrating your small victories you may not have a celebration ritual worked out just yet. That’s okay, let’s start thinking of different ways you can celebrate, smile, and savor your small wins. Sometimes we attach a large celebration to the completion of a goal like going out to a nice dinner, getting a new outfit, inviting all of our besties over to have wine and dish about the job well done. This is fine to celebrate the whole experience but you can decide how to celebrate based on what feels right and best.

Sometimes we don’t go big-party mode at the end of the goal, we might just opt to rest or have a drink, or shift in to downtime mode so we can rest a while post goal completion.

But if we focus on the journey instead of the end result you get a bunch of milestones that will be within your view for celebration. Some simple ways to celebrate the journey while on the journey may be to smile and verbally commend your own progress. You can say “great job on x, y, z” as though you are talking to a friend (you’re the friend). You can break into a mini- journal session to process and savor your win, aim for a single paragraph or go for a whole page just to feel more present and celebratory. You can also talk with a friend or support about your recent win and of course please be open to remember that our loved one’s may not be as engaged or happy (as we would be) about our play by plays so they may be supportive in their own ways but your happiness is not reliant on how much your loved one demonstrates enthusiasm for your updates and successes. That’s our job for our goals, we are the one’s who need/ will be excited at 100%+ percent.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

DID YOU LOVE IT?

Did you enjoy this Holistic Mental Health Therapy Post? Comment below! Help me pick my next holistic Mental Health Therapy topic by sharing suggestions in the comments, or contact me directly to share other ideas for future posts!

SHARE THE LOVE!

Please share this post with your friends, family, or anyone you think may benefit from wellness support. Sometimes sharing information can really help people to be inspired to create a wonderful physical, mental, and emotional recovery or start their Wellness Journey!

JOIN THE FIT LIFE NEWSLETTER AND GET CONSISTENT HOLISTIC INSPO, TIPS, TOOLS, RESOURCES, AND INFORMATION TO HELP YOU INCREASE ENERGY AND REDUCE STRESS FOR BOTH AT-WORK AT HOME!

Learn more

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE 10-30 MINUTE WELLNESS CONSULTATION FOR ONLINE HOLISTIC MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY OR WELLNESS COACHING SERVICES

Are You Interested to Work Together:?

See Our Online Holistic Therapy Service Information

Sign up for your free 30-minute wellness consultation session to help you glow and live a happier lifestyle. Together, let’s use our Online Therapy and Wellness Coaching sessions to help you overcome your seasonal depression so that you may live your best life during this holiday season and to help you start fresh during the start of the new year.

Join Our Holistic Ambition Community:

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more

Holistic Therapy Tips: How To Practice Courage And Growth

November 10, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Tips: How To Practice Courage And Growth

I get it, courage is something that we all aspire to practice on some level. We as humans naturally want to be successful and able to do things that can feel emotionally difficult with grace and intention. Most humans are usually busy with their many responsibilities and trying to nurture themselves with enough sleep, food, and down time in between all of the other responsibilities they have going on. Opportunities to practice courage will show up in our busy schedule most often as moments “we need to put our foot down” and correct some interaction that we find simply unacceptable. As a parent, my own courage is often called on when supporting my children in their school setting. Courage for some may show up in the work place when your co-worker attempts to hand you their workload. It takes courage to say no, “wait just a minute” and then correct the interaction for long term change.

There’s also a secondary style of courage. Courage can also happen when we self assess personal opportunities for growth and to then step up to close the gap. This can be a personal goal that is important for long-term health or wellness like finally starting a weekly budget. Another version of self assessed courage is to do something you’ve dreamed of doing because it will bring happiness or fruition like learning to dance, learning to box, or finally starting that Podcast.

In the paragraphs below, I’m going to share some of my favorite Holistic Therapy tips to help you practice courage and personal growth with more ease and enjoyment.

Do Something That Makes You A Beginner Again

It may be difficult to silence perfectionist thoughts and self-doubt on the road to practicing more courage but if your mindful that the elements of fear will be present, you are more likely to be able to manage any negative thoughts coming in. Please see perfectionist thoughts and self-doubt as possible and a natural part of having a new experience. Starting as a beginner again will help to keep our perspective in balance vs. being in a continued mind state of expert which can cause limits to how creatively we’ll be able to think and work.

When we learn or experience something new, it’s important to cancel out the automatic thoughts of fear or potential doom by remembering that you can take on the challenge and be successful. Remember your reasons of “why” attached to creating change in your life. A simple tool that may help is to complete a post-courage journal session about what went well from your practice, what made you feel good in practice, and one thing that you want to keep practicing to improve. You are the person who can make your courage-based action and process stick. It’s important that your mindset supports progress long term instead of immediately. Try to self-coach patience and small wins in order to feel more present in your efforts.

Share Your Journey With Supportive Friends

It’s a big value upgrade to your personal growth to share your goals and active journey with friends and loved one’s who can support you and help you maintain some accountability. Tell a few friends about what your working on and ask them to check back with you along the way so you can feel supported with positivity even when the going gets rough. Your friends will help you hold the vision when you feel low motivation. Just make sure to keep communicating as you go.

Show Up Present For The Learning Journey

Here’s the secret sauce that makes all the difference in your growth and courage practice. Show up as present as you can possibly be. It might be hard as you work on change to stay present, observant, positive, and enthusiastic with high energy but you will need to try. Being present helps immerse you into your experience at a deeper level, you will be more apt to infuse what your learning into your life with more dynamic approach when you are present. Presence is a tool that helps you use more of your experience to your benefit because you have a greater view of how your efforts can be applied to your lifestyle.

Consider actions to increase presence such as paying attention to your/ in your experience, putting your phone on airplane mode, stepping away from loved ones and children to have time to focus on your task and making the intention to show up with positivity and openness. Having clarity in how you show up gives you a path to be present to truly absorb all the courage and growth that’s located inside your change making and courage based actions.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

DID YOU LOVE IT?

SHARE THE LOVE!

JOIN THE FIT LIFE NEWSLETTER AND GET CONSISTENT HOLISTIC INSPO, TIPS, TOOLS, RESOURCES, AND INFORMATION TO HELP YOU INCREASE ENERGY AND REDUCE STRESS FOR BOTH AT-WORK AT HOME!

Learn more

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE 10-30 MINUTE WELLNESS CONSULTATION FOR ONLINE HOLISTIC MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY OR WELLNESS COACHING SERVICES

Are You Interested to Work Together:?

See Our Online Holistic Therapy Service Information

Join Our Holistic Ambition Community:

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more

Holistic Therapy Tips: How To Wake Up Earlier

November 5, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Tips: How To Wake Up Earlier

For some it’s just going to be easier to wake up early. For others getting up early may not happen with any ease at all. Of course, there’s some choice benefits that are attached to waking up early for most in our daily American social and professional structures. If you wake up even 15-20 minutes earlier, you are gaining a free bonus 15-20 minutes to do something that you want to do; this is where new habit shifts can be made. Imagine waking up to have 20 minutes to walk each day, finally starting your hydration practice, getting in a brief meditation, or simply having more time in the morning before starting your workday. You’d be able to get things started or create more time in your day. You’re also more likely to sleep better when you wake up earlier vs. when you sleep in.

In the paragraphs below, I’m going to share a few holistic therapy tools that can help you to wake up earlier. And we’ll review additional ways to spot opportunities from waking up even just a little bit earlier. Essentially the most powerful opportunity is to have more time and space to practice your most useful/ effective mood management coping skills and practices. What if you woke up 15-20 minutes earlier and as a result you were able to have time and practice for your mood management symptom improvement. What if your symptoms could be reduced by intentionally dedicating 15-20 minutes to your daily self care routine? It’s completely possible!

Go To Bed Earlier To Wake Up Earlier

It seems pretty simple to suggest that we all go to bed earlier in order to wake up earlier. You may be thinking, but what about those of us that have kids, partners, or insomnia? I think your children and partner may be supportive of the early bedtime plan or adapt if you share the importance and your “why” attached to your plan to get up earlier. Your children and partner are prone to want you to be healthy and happy so if they understand going to bed early is a part of getting to be healthier and happier, they may be easy to convince. Your children or partner might begin to go to bed earlier too. Remember, there is more than one way to spend quality time and it doesn’t have to overlap with when you would benefit from more time to rest to wake up happier and healthier.

Avoid Situational Insomnia

In regards to insomnia, I want to support you to first look at your daily habits that actively increase your likelihood of insomnia symptoms. Consider if you practice the behaviors below, you may not have long term insomnia but instead situational insomnia where the behaviors themselves are effecting your circadian rhythm success for restful sleep.

Spending long or consecutive time periods on screens/ social media/ or playing video games or games on your phone.

Watching TV late or before bed (blue light glasses can help but it’s better not to have screen time at least a few hours before bed).

Sleeping in warm clothing. Wear clothing that breathes well to allow your body to keep cool as your temperature changes while you sleep.

Avoid your phone and TV if you wake up in the middle of the night. Reach for your journal or a book instead.

Consider Melatonin, Tryptophan, Acupressure Mat Therapy, or Sleepy Time Tea before bed.

Write A List Of Good Reasons To Get Up Earlier

If you take even just 10 minutes to think about how you want to use your extra time in the mornings when you wake up earlier you may find yourself day dreaming about crossing off items from your bucket list. A great way to increase your inspiration to get up early will be to take some time to write down all of the potential benefits of what you want to get done and how you expect it to help you feel more in control of your time, mind, and mood.

This helps because when your alarm clock goes off the next morning you can remind yourself of your list of reasons that waking up earlier can include more happiness and health for your day ahead. When you start combing through your list of why it’s a better idea to get up earlier your more likely to get up even when you’re tired or unmotivated. Think of this “why” system as a tool to get up and create your own mini Christmas each day.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

DID YOU LOVE IT?

SHARE THE LOVE!

JOIN THE FIT LIFE NEWSLETTER AND GET CONSISTENT HOLISTIC INSPO, TIPS, TOOLS, RESOURCES, AND INFORMATION TO HELP YOU INCREASE ENERGY AND REDUCE STRESS FOR BOTH AT-WORK AT HOME!

Learn more

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE 10-30 MINUTE WELLNESS CONSULTATION FOR ONLINE HOLISTIC MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY OR WELLNESS COACHING SERVICES

Are You Interested to Work Together:?

See Our Online Holistic Therapy Service Information

Join Our Holistic Ambition Community:

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more

Holistic Therapy For Anxiety Treatment: Negative Thought Loops + Ruminating Thoughts

November 2, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy For Anxiety Treatment: Negative Thought Loops + Ruminating Thoughts

Have you ever felt anxious about something going unexpectedly wrong in your life where you did not feel like the situation was in your control? Did the negative thoughts and emotions keep circling around in your head for hours? Sometimes negative thoughts will loop in our minds because we are interested to naturally problem solve. But sometimes we have an issue that will need time to resolve which means the negative thought loop or ruminating thoughts will potentially do more harm than good.

In the paragraphs below, I would like to share some of my favorite anxiety management treatments for negative thought loops also known clinically as ruminating thoughts.

Meditation Can Help Your Anxiety

It may seem difficult to believe that meditation would even be possible when you experience ruminating thoughts. The truth is you can practice focusing your mind on your breathing and focusing on bringing your energy into a calmer space by trying and being intentionally single focused. If you struggle with thinking clearly when anxious like most, consider meditations that are meant for body awareness like completing a relaxation body scan or sending peaceful energy throughout your body for increased sensation of relaxing more deeply.

You can also follow a guided meditation to help channel focused thoughts and needed relaxation when you feel overwhelmed by ruminating negative thoughts. I have several guided meditations that are free and available on my YouTube Channel. You can also opt to follow a mantra-based meditation where you will verbally or mentally repeat a healing or calming phrase for the duration of your meditation session. Ideally after even a 5-10 minute meditation session you are likely to feel more relaxed than before making time to focus on energy shifting and reducing stimulus. You may not feel like you won the lotto after a meditation but 99% of people who genuinely practice will feel better.

Use Internal Narration To Stay Present

When your struggling with ruminating anxious thoughts something that may help you focus your thoughts, attention, and memory is to single task where you complete literally just one thing at a time without moving on to do anything else until you complete the task you are working on.

The other part of what makes this tool/ practice so amazing for anxiety is the internal narration component. As you single task your work try to also repeat/ narrate your task in your mind. For example if you are washing the dishes consider narrating the process for washing the dishes in your mind as you wash the dishes. This helps block out ruminating thoughts because you are intentionally using all of your awareness to complete your single task. This practice works! You can also use this practice of narration to be a more present parent or partner; you’ll notice your ability to engage in time together feeling increasingly happier.

Slow Down/ Rest Your Anxious Mind

When you are feeling anxious it can be hard to think clearly. Something that can help is to intentionally slow down. You may notice your productivity decreases when your anxious anyway so slowing down will likely give your new energy to complete your goals better. Be sure to take a break for rest and relaxation. Sometimes just choosing to sit down and rest for 20 minutes can make all the difference. Usually when you allow yourself some room to sit down you might realize how tired you feel. Rest for a moment, hydrate, and take intentional deep breaths.

You might find that coloring is a great way to shift your anxious mind when you take a rest break, you can also break out the play dough, or knitting supplies. It’s ideal if you need a break to reach for relaxing thought free activities if you need to buffer rumination or anxious thoughts.

The goal is really to create a space for calm and relaxation and to buffer negative thought loops where you will need time to resolve and problem solve. Try these tips and see how they can work to treat and reduce anxiety and negative thought loops. Remember the more you genuinely practice the better your tools become. When your tools for mental wellness gain strength so does your ability to feel more in control on your mood management.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

DID YOU LOVE IT?

SHARE THE LOVE!

JOIN THE FIT LIFE NEWSLETTER AND GET CONSISTENT HOLISTIC INSPO, TIPS, TOOLS, RESOURCES, AND INFORMATION TO HELP YOU INCREASE ENERGY AND REDUCE STRESS FOR BOTH AT-WORK AT HOME!

Learn more

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE 10-30 MINUTE WELLNESS CONSULTATION FOR ONLINE HOLISTIC MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY OR WELLNESS COACHING SERVICES

Are You Interested to Work Together:?

See Our Online Holistic Therapy Service Information

Join Our Holistic Ambition Community:

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more

Holistic Therapy Tips: How To Feel More Joy + Happiness (Right Now & Today)

October 27, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Tips: How To Feel More Joy + Happiness (Right Now & Today)

Being authentically happier is possible even right now and today. It’s useful to first make the mental note “I could go for more happy vibes” and from there you can start to seek out more moments of joy. Sometimes you may find that others are kind enough to gift these moments of joy to you. But it’s a great idea to create your own moments of joy and happiness so that way you don’t have to wait for anyone. There’s a popular saying that I find to be completely true, “happiness is an inside job”. This means that we can always count on looking within instead of looking outside of ourselves for the things we need most emotionally. In the next few paragraphs, I’m going to share some of my favorite Holistic Therapy tools to feel more joy and happiness.

Choose to Laugh Everyday

Laughter is a medicine of sorts when we authentically laugh we feel happier and in a greater state of emotional ease. Laughter works by connecting us with something to focus on that not only makes us smile but also makes us verbalize our joy via laughing. When you laugh you also get the benefit of reduced stress. Your body physically reduces tension, you get more oxygen, your immunity is increased and you can even burn calories from daily laughter.

When we laugh we feel happier, it’s something we know in the moment as good but it’s also something we may not necessarily seek out on a regular basis. Try taking time at least 1-3x per day to create laughter with friends of alone to boost your personal sense of joy and happiness.

Locate Daily Awe-Worthy Inspiration

Life feels so very different when we cultivate and create a daily experience of accessing awe worth inspiration. I know every day can’t be equally awe inspired but if you reach for the stars as they say, you’ll land in the clouds. Creating a daily inspiration practice is great for making brain connections and cognition development. Imagine looking and finding inspiration daily so much so that you automatically look for it. This method create a great approach to seeking joy via inspiration of the good in the world, the beauty of a blooming rose, a smiling baby, a contagious laugh, a delicious meal, a amazing conversation with a loved one, or time tending your urban indoor garden.

No matter the items or experience you choose as a part of your daily inspiration routine, it should feel re-energizing and like a pleasant treat for you to enjoy. But you also get the bonus ripple effect of your mood likely being brighter which can extend into your important relationships and with the general public as well.

Connect/ Create With Your Hobbies Often

When we take time to connect or cultivate our hobbies we get to access a very unique and special experience called “Flow State”. Flow State is described as becoming completely immersed in the task where you achieve an “optimal state of consciousness” where you feel your best and can access best productivity and performance. When we connect and attend our hobbies we feel more happiness, more creative mindset, we’re learning to evolve from beginner, intermediate, and over to expert every time we engage. There’s a relationship happening that brings joy to us. I won’t lie, sometimes our hobbies can drive us up the wall when we experience set back but it’s a necessary part of the growth process and if we continue to hold space for hobbies, we gain an advantage of increased joy and happiness.

It may go without saying but just in case, it’s useful for your hobby to be something that can be done independently. When your hobby can be done independently you have more access and freedom to enjoy your developing relationship. You can also share hobbies with others but it’s great to save something that’s just for you as well.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

DID YOU LOVE IT?

SHARE THE LOVE!

JOIN THE FIT LIFE NEWSLETTER AND GET CONSISTENT HOLISTIC INSPO, TIPS, TOOLS, RESOURCES, AND INFORMATION TO HELP YOU INCREASE ENERGY AND REDUCE STRESS FOR BOTH AT-WORK AT HOME!

Learn more

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE 10-30 MINUTE WELLNESS CONSULTATION FOR ONLINE HOLISTIC MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY OR WELLNESS COACHING SERVICES

Are You Interested to Work Together:?

See Our Online Holistic Therapy Service Information

Join Our Holistic Ambition Community:

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more

Holistic Therapy Tips To Get Up And Exercise Even When You Feel Tired Or Unmotivated

October 23, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Tips To Get Up And Exercise Even When You Feel Tired Or Unmotivated

It can be hard to find the mental power and commitment it takes to get up and exercise when you feel tired or unmotivated after a long day of working and taking care of others with a packed schedule no less. You might want to get up and go walking, biking, or to do anything that resembles cardio after your busy action packed workday or life day. Then you have the weekend to recover where working may feel like a chore while your goal is to rest, relax, and recover.

I get it, it’s tough to be in action mode when you’re tired. Maybe you’re not getting enough sleep. Maybe you’re feeling over stressed from work or your responsibilities. Ultimately there will be enough good reasons to not workout when you feel tired or unmotivated but there’s also likelihood that you won’t feel as energetic, productive or resilient with your stress when you remove at least moderate fitness from your weekly practice.

In the paragraphs below, I will be sharing 3 tips that make a helpful difference for your holistic practice of bringing physical movement into play more often for your health and wellness efforts.

Start with a Small Approachable Goal

The goal of having more movement or exercise can feel like a big undertaking first thing in the morning and at the close of your day. With a busy schedule and down time being rare it’s not always easy to find the will power or motivation to commit. It may be difficult to get yourself to commit to an hour workout. Honestly, it may be difficult to commit to a 20-minute workout just the same. In these moments where you’d like to workout but find it difficult to commit consider the 5-minute or even the one-minute rule. Instead of committing to a workout that feels long-winded of 10-minutes or more, aim to complete a 5-minute or 1-minute workout instead.

When you commit to just a one minute walk around your home or jogging in place, it counts. You can also consider walking outside for fresh air and sunlight. Once you start your one minute or 5 minute workout you’ll likely naturally add more time to your practice. Even if you don’t add time you still did something for the day and any effort is always going to be better than no effort at all when it comes to fitness.

Make it A Concert: Use Your 5 Senses

Using your 5 senses for your exercise practice makes your efforts feel like an experience similar to going to a concert (remember when that was something to go and do pre-COVID). You want to bring in your 5 senses of taste, smell, sight, feel, and hear when you choose to work on getting more movement.

For Example: Walking Using 5 Senses Approach

Taste: Chewing spearmint gum or mints for refreshment/ bringing delicious tea to drink on the go

Smell: Wearing aromatherapy spray, essential oils, or aromatherapy jewelry

Hear: Listening to your favorite music or podcast

Sight: Walking where you can see nature, plants, water, or flowers

Touch: Wearing comfortable clothes, bundling up if you want to feel cozy, and wearing a comfy walking shoe.

When you use your 5 senses to create an experience where fitness isn’t a chore but a unique custom relaxation or happiness experience, you’ll definitely be able to convince yourself to create time and flexibility to participate more often. Who knows you might even look forward to working out and getting more movement.

Create An Accountability Partnership or Accountability Carrot

Consider inviting a friend or loved one to support or encourage your practice. Maybe they can offer to check in with you a few days a week and encourage/ remind you that you are starting a practice that’s for your self care and wellness. They can ask how your practice is going, if you did your practice today, or if you need any support to get your practice done for the day. It may help to pick an accountability buddy that can be consistent to check in with you which will help you to keep the conversation going until your routine begins to stick.

If you can’t locate a good accountability buddy, consider an accountability carrot where you can work on self-motivation with small rewards when you complete your weekly practice. Maybe at the end of a good week of meeting your practice goals you can treat yourself to a Starbucks run, a home mani-pedi, or a new book or magazine that you want to read.

The idea is to celebrate your progress in a tangible way. You could also enjoy a rest day and feel proud of showing up for yourself even when you didn’t always feel motivated or well rested. With practice your practice can keep getting better so don’t give up, just try your best to work with what you can do.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

DID YOU LOVE IT?

SHARE THE LOVE!

JOIN THE FIT LIFE NEWSLETTER AND GET CONSISTENT HOLISTIC INSPO, TIPS, TOOLS, RESOURCES, AND INFORMATION TO HELP YOU INCREASE ENERGY AND REDUCE STRESS FOR BOTH AT-WORK AT HOME!

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE 10-30 MINUTE WELLNESS CONSULTATION FOR ONLINE HOLISTIC MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY OR WELLNESS COACHING SERVICES

Are You Interested to Work Together:?

See Our Online Holistic Therapy Service Information

Join Our Holistic Ambition Community:

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more

5 Ways To Know If You’re Really Ready For Holistic Therapy

October 19, 2020 Brandi Jackson

5 Ways To Know If You’re Really Ready For Holistic Therapy

In 2020 everyone is talking about going to therapy. Therapy is definitely becoming more normalized socially now than before in Communities Of Color. I’m sure you know people like your friends or family who have “a Therapist” at this point. Maybe your friend so and so has a Therapist and she’s doing better than before. Maybe this friend has been raving about how therapy helps and has been encouraging that you should go and see a Therapist as well. But how do you know if you’re emotionally ready?

Sure, maybe you could use some life improvement or emotional progress but is therapy what you want or need to achieve success to change your life? To be frank not everyone who goes to therapy is ready for therapy. It’s easy to be seduced by the idea of working with a therapist in order to heal current or past pain and trauma but ultimately there’s a lot more happening in a Client-Therapist relationship beyond just having a simple conversation about your current feelings. Consider the 5 signs of readiness below as a self-assessment that can help you know if you’re ready for Holistic Therapy.

Commitment to Be Open And Explore

A part of being ready for therapy is to feel comfortable to be open and explore your emotions. This means that you can actively talk about how you feel. This means you are able to talk about what’s bothering you. This means you are open to self reflect what would help you feel better. This mean you are open to explore behavioral patterns and determine with support if alternative coping methods could be more supportive of your needs.

This means you will attempt to answer questions from your therapy sessions without saying, “I don’t know” as a final answer. It’s important that you move beyond the feeling of not knowing an answer to find an answer in session. It’s important also that if you don’t feel comfortable talking with a Therapist about everything that comes up in session that you be able to share this with your therapist by pinpointing your own comfort level and readiness.

Being open and explorative is a big part of how talk therapy will help you to know where you have opportunities to heal and improve. If you are closed and not feeling comfortable exploring there’s likelihood that you aren’t ready for therapy just yet.

Your Willing to Commit Your Time Consistently and To Commit Financially

Therapy is often deemed as affordable, moderate, or expensive depending on the different methods of payment and reimbursement that are available. Some individuals who receive therapy will use their insurance and pay a co-payment. Some people will use their employment benefits for reimbursement and receive Super Bills for their therapy sessions to gain reimbursement. Some people pay out of pocket for their therapy sessions.

Therapy isn’t just a financial commitment. Therapy also requires a time commitment. You will benefit from therapy by going to your initial session and follow up sessions. If you don’t attend sessions consistently or play any part of investing financially in your sessions you may feel less connected to the therapy work that is being provided to you. The relationship, connection, and rapport with your therapist are also established with consistency in attendance for your sessions. Going to therapy 1x per month or every other month is ideal as the most distance to keep between sessions with some consistency. If you wish to work a therapist less than every other month, consider that you probably don’t require therapy support.

Commitment to Share How You Feel

In therapy it’s important for you to have space to share how you feel. You may find that you have not shared enough about your feelings overall in life and this may be a key goal you’d like to work on in therapy. I encourage you to bring your feelings to your therapy sessions. Be prepared and comfortable sharing when you don’t feel comfortable or upset. It’s also a great opportunity while working with a therapist to verbalize (not text, thank you) when or if you ever feel frustrated, unheard, disrespected, disregarded or misunderstood in session by your therapist. Your feelings are always valid and it’s best to make sure you and the therapist your working with stay on the same page about your emotions and feelings for best therapy outcomes. Therapy is a key space to talk about emotions including difficult emotions.

You Aren’t Sure What Makes You Feel Stuck

You are ready to move forward in your life but you’re not sure what to do to get some progress going. You might want to feel better emotionally but your not sure what could help you feel differently. If your experiencing discomfort or symptoms for your mental health you may not be clear on what behaviors or coping tools to try. If you already know what makes you feel stuck, then you can work with your therapist to look at different ways to get progress where you would like to experience change.

When you work with a therapist, you can work jointly to look at which coping tools will possibly be most impactful for resolving and reducing your symptoms or emotional discomfort.

You Are Willing to Work On Your Coping Practice With Some Consistency

In therapy a term that is often used for symptom management and behavioral change is the term coping tools. In your therapy session you will be able to jointly work with the therapist to create a coping plan for improving and reducing symptoms. It’s important that you practice your coping outside of the session. It’s completely okay and expected that you may not be perfect but if you are not practicing any coping from session or designing healthy alternative coping practices independently you will not feel the change you want is likely happening. Emotional change is most connected to change in behavior and changing your thinking process to help you feel healthier and comfortable.

When considering therapy, please consider the 5 signs of readiness first. I hope this holistic therapy post feels informative. I’m encouraging you to reach out for therapy if you feel ready and if you find that you aren’t ready, consider the alternatives that you feel more comfortable with.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

DID YOU LOVE IT?

SHARE THE LOVE!

JOIN THE FIT LIFE NEWSLETTER AND GET CONSISTENT HOLISTIC INSPO, TIPS, TOOLS, RESOURCES, AND INFORMATION TO HELP YOU INCREASE ENERGY AND REDUCE STRESS FOR BOTH AT-WORK AT HOME!

Learn more

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE 10-30 MINUTE WELLNESS CONSULTATION FOR ONLINE HOLISTIC MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY OR WELLNESS COACHING SERVICES

Are You Interested to Work Together:?

See Our Online Holistic Therapy Service Information

Join Our Holistic Ambition Community:

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more

Holistic Therapy Tips: What To Eat To Reduce Anxiety Symptoms

October 18, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Tips: What To Eat To Reduce Anxiety Symptoms

There’s a lot of conversation going on about how what “you are what you eat”; we’ve all heard that saying before. So yeah, we can understand; what we eat will play a role in how we feel on some level but what does this really mean?

If we eat healthy nutritious foods then we should feel healthy with more energy, have more strength, feel more stamina, and an overall sense of wellness. The other part of the story that doesn’t get as much conversation is the benefits of healthy nutrition implementation for your mental emotional health. It’s so important to consider what you eat as a potential tool to support mood management and emotional wellness as well.

In today’s article were going to look at how holistic nutrition can apply to mental emotional health and wellness in 3 key ways. First we’ll look at your basic rules for increasing general mental emotional health and wellness, then we’ll look more closely at supplements that support and help manage anxiety, then we’ll look at the behavioral support options that are also useful for creating a well-rounded holistic approach to anxiety management and anxiety reduction.

Eat Your Plants, Sprouts, Fruit, Fats, And Seeds

There’s definitely a standard blueprint or set of actions to take to reduce mood overwhelm or symptoms for depression, anxiety, and other mental health diagnosis and mood disorders. Let’s look at the basic rules of food and mood management.

Eat More Veggies: Aim to eat leafy green veggies daily. 4-5 cups is a great start. You can add spinach to smoothies, make sure to eat one salad per day or make soups with veggies as well.
Eat Less Fruit: Consider eating fruit daily as well with moderation of 1-2 servings (or pieces). Consider eating fruit with lower natural sugar content like pears, apples, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, lemon, lime, and avocado.
Eat Healthy Fats: Try coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil, and fish oils. Try to eliminate use of vegetable oil and also eating foods with vegetable oil (canola oil, vegetable oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil, sesame oil, safflower oil, linseed oil, and rice bran oil) in the ingredient list.
Eat Sprouted Grains: Look for sprouted grains in the form of cereal, English muffins, bread, and tortillas. There’s also plenty of options for almond, oat, and coconut flour options. Avoid traditional bread and grain options as most have higher levels of sugars, gluten, carbs that ultimately cause higher patterns of glucose spiking, general sugar/ carb addiction.
Eat Spices: Adding spices to your foods have great medicinal value for your mood and emotional health. Eating spices like cinnamon, ginger, turmeric, onion powder, garlic powder, sea salt, black pepper, rosemary, oregano, and the list goes on all play a role in providing nutritional value for your health where your body also gains increased antioxidants.
Eat Nuts And Seeds: Reach for your nut butters over peanut butter to access lower sugar content. You’ll also feel increased satiation via having access to nut butters and seeds like hemp seed, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, sprouted seeds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds, and sesame seeds.

What to Avoid Eating

Please reduce your simple carbohydrates (like white bread, white potatoes, chips etc.) and sugar intake (sweet foods made with high amounts of sugar over 5 grams per serving) because both sugars and carbohydrates cause a glucose spike in your body, which equates to your body feeling increased deregulation. This bodily deregulation also occurs for our mental emotional wellness.

Supplements That Help Reduce Anxiety

All right let’s look at anxiety supplements more specifically. Although anxiety is a disorder that has a great response to behavioral efforts for increased mindfulness, there are supplements that can help as well. All of the listed suggestions below are natural herbs or Adaptogens that have proven to be beneficial for anxiety maintenance.

Holy Basil Tea
Hemp Oil
CBD Oil
Lemon Balm Herb
Ashwagandha Herb
Kava Kava

It’s Your Mindfulness That Matters

I know this answer is not a favorite for clients experiencing anxiety but mindfulness and stimulus reduction does matter when it comes to anxiety. I want to encourage you to reduce screen time before bed and first thing in the morning. Carve out time for self-care and meditation if you want to see reduction of your anxiety symptoms. There are tons of free guided-meditations that are available if you feel like independent meditation is difficult or distractible.

Ultimately all of the suggestions combined will work best with implemented together but even starting with just one small effort can be just as useful for your holistic therapy approach to anxiety management through your nutrition practice.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

DID YOU LOVE IT?

SHARE THE LOVE!

JOIN THE FIT LIFE NEWSLETTER AND GET CONSISTENT HOLISTIC INSPO, TIPS, TOOLS, RESOURCES, AND INFORMATION TO HELP YOU INCREASE ENERGY AND REDUCE STRESS FOR BOTH AT-WORK AT HOME!

Learn more

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE 10-30 MINUTE WELLNESS CONSULTATION FOR ONLINE HOLISTIC MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY OR WELLNESS COACHING SERVICES

Are You Interested to Work Together:?

See Our Online Holistic Therapy Service Information

Join Our Holistic Ambition Community:

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more

Holistic Therapy Tips: How to Feel Less Emotionally Sensitive Or Reactive

October 17, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Tips: How to Feel Less Emotionally Sensitive Or Reactive

Feeling emotionally sensitive or reactive is not much fun. One minute your mood is good and then the smallest of unexpected events can change the rest of your entire day. For example you go to Starbucks and the Barista doesn’t greet you or get your name spelled right. You may feel slighted and “in your head” for hours thinking of different reasons why the interaction went the way it did. You might even decide to not go back to Starbucks for a while because the anxiety of having to deal with the Barista makes you feel like you’ll have to bat away potentially more negative energy. Maybe this example reminds you of an interaction with a co-worker, or a partner, or maybe this example reminds you of a friend.

The feeling however is the same. The feeling is one where you feel your emotional resilience being swept from under your feet by an unexpected interaction, conversation, or behavior. The person on the other end could be someone you care about or love, or it could also be an interaction with a complete stranger and it still feels just as painful. When you feel emotionally sensitive or reactive consider the tips I will be sharing below in order to feel more grounded and steady.

Connect More With Your Needs

Did you know you are more likely to have emotional reactivity if you are not taking time and space for your own personal needs consistently? One of the superpowers of self-care and feeling grounded is that when we spend time and attention connected to our own needs we feel emotionally nurtured and cared for. If we aren’t spending time connecting with our personal needs you may begin to feel emotional overwhelm more quickly as your needs begin to pile up and compete which makes it easier to become emotionally reactive and focused on external experiences, behaviors, and conversations.

It’s important that we carve of space and time daily to take care of our personal needs to do basic acts of self-care consistently. Some basic self care practices that help you include eating meals regularly, hydrating, showering daily, getting dressed daily, seeking out daily inspiration, laughing, and practicing affirmation daily all matters in how you will feel emotionally and how you will react to others.

Think About Why You Feel Emotionally Sensitive Or Reactive

What is it about the interaction that causes you to feel reactive? What makes you feel triggered emotionally? In repeat interactions or experiences where you find yourself feeling more and more triggered consider what it is about the interaction that makes you feel upset. Consider using a curious and neutral process where you can look at the interaction that happened without blame or reaction to look deeper at what about the interaction makes you feel your personal expectations were not considered or respected. In the case of the Starbucks Barista, maybe your expectation is that they would be kind and say good morning as a standard pattern. When store clerks don’t greet you it triggers old feelings of being ignored or mistreated from other areas of your personal past.

Once you can pinpoint your link to the emotional reactivity, you can also dismantle the impact by asking yourself an alternative question of:

“What if this has nothing to do with any of those experiences”
“What if I isolate this experience from my past or similar experiences”

These questions are meant to help our logical brain connect with the present and to separate our emotional reactivity into one experience rather than grouping our experience with all of our similar past emotional experiences that causes the emotional overload aka emotional pile up. Ideally separating and isolating your interactions to make them singular vs. collective also helps your emotional mind rest and you step away from being “in your head” for hours and days at a time.

Recover With Independent Creative Learning And Expression

Your emotional recovery can speed up when you make time to recover by taking time where you focus on doing actions that make you feel happy and recharged. Consider your favorite past times or hobbies. Consider learning a new hobby as well. Spending your time learning a new skill takes time and attention where your brain actively engages in the process, which makes it easier to stop thinking about your emotions, interactions, and relationships. Consider activities like painting, coloring, doodling, reading, Listening to upbeat positive music and cleaning, cooking, organizing your home or office, or going for a long walk to change your environment.

Applying the practice of increased self-care daily and doing personal reflection of why you feel emotionally reactive can help you feel more grounded and emotionally strong. Also consider writing down the 2 emotional organization questions listed above and seeking space for independent creative learning or expression. You’ll notice your reactivity decreasing and a feeling of being more in control of your emotions.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

DID YOU LOVE IT?

SHARE THE LOVE!

JOIN THE FIT LIFE NEWSLETTER AND GET CONSISTENT HOLISTIC INSPO, TIPS, TOOLS, RESOURCES, AND INFORMATION TO HELP YOU INCREASE ENERGY AND REDUCE STRESS FOR BOTH AT-WORK AT HOME!

Learn more

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE 10-30 MINUTE WELLNESS CONSULTATION FOR ONLINE HOLISTIC MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY OR WELLNESS COACHING SERVICES

Are You Interested to Work Together:?

See Our Online Holistic Therapy Service Information

Join Our Holistic Ambition Community:

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more

Holistic Therapy Tools: How To Stop Being So Pessimistic Or Negative

October 16, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Tools: How To Stop Being So Pessimistic or Negative

I recently posted a video and blog post sharing tools about how to feel less alone and how to connect with others. I enjoyed offering holistic therapy tips and support in hopes that even 1 person could walk away from the video blog info and consider additional tools for their personal success.

The next day 3-4 comments left on the video post were variations of “this doesn’t work, I tried that before”. I thought about what I would want to say to support people who feel stuck being lonely or being stuck at all. Sometimes feeling stuck can look like pessimism about moving forward. Sometimes feeling stuck can look like making excuses as to why you can’t move forward. Sometimes pessimism can look like creating validation to why you are stuck. If you’ve thought of your looks, finances, religion, or other identity factors as a rule of thumb to why being stuck is your destiny. I encourage you to consider some of the holistic therapy tools I will be sharing below.

Mindset And Readiness Matters For Pessimism

So if you find yourself unmotivated or pessimistic to do the things that are being offered to you like going after a promotion, making new friends, going on a date or changing in any way that makes you feel vulnerable it’s reasonable to stop and ask yourself if you feel ready to change. If you don’t feel ready to change, it will be easy to listen to negative and pessimistic thoughts that are ultimately useful in staying where you are without change or progress.

Mindset is also a very important part of being able to release pessimism and negative thoughts. Your mindset is a form of being ready and open to change. This is where you are building out your expectations for experiencing change and to expect to do something different. Building mindset may look like choosing to make new friends and then having an expectation that some attempts will probably go great, some will go okay and others will not go well at all. Mindset means your considering the climate of your change experience including the variables (like rejection) and still choosing to proceed because the overall benefit of change is worth the risk and moments of discomfort.

Go Slow To Get A Rolling Start For Change

As much as we could minimize the moments of discomfort that often accompany change, it’s worth stating that it does suck to feel rejected, passed over, dismissed and so it’s reasonable to have a reflex of avoidance. The best tool you have in your defense arsenal is to go slowly to work on continuing to work on changing your life with bravery. To change is to be brave enough to tolerate the moments of discomfort and growing pains.

Choose to do one small effort at a time. Maybe not daily change work but what about weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly and so on. Aim to continue working on changing your life if you wish to have a new experience. As you practice making small changes and giving yourself some down time in between you may notice it get easier and easier to see things going well in the way you’d like them to and the pessimism and negativity also decreasing.

Limit Exposure to Negative Reinforcements Daily

Lastly, if you want to stop being pessimistic and having negative thoughts, it’s important that you reduce your exposure to negative environments, negative media, negative relationships, and negative self talk. Ultimately how much negative energy you allow in your life will start with you. If you need to support to work on negative self-talk seek out therapy if you feel ready to do the emotional work to change negative self-talk behaviors. Also consider if what you watch, who you interact, with and where you spend time. Ask yourself if these places, people, and environment encourage your pessimism or if they help reduce it. If it’s encouraging pessimism, consider reducing or limiting your personal involvement.

I hope your enjoyed learning more about Holistic Therapy Tools to stop being so pessimistic. I’m hoping you are feeling more ready to create change and to feel empowered for the work ahead.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

DID YOU LOVE IT?

SHARE THE LOVE!

JOIN THE FIT LIFE NEWSLETTER AND GET CONSISTENT HOLISTIC INSPO, TIPS, TOOLS, RESOURCES, AND INFORMATION TO HELP YOU INCREASE ENERGY AND REDUCE STRESS FOR BOTH AT-WORK AT HOME!

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE 10-30 MINUTE WELLNESS CONSULTATION FOR ONLINE HOLISTIC MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY OR WELLNESS COACHING SERVICES

Are You Interested to Work Together:?

See Our Online Holistic Therapy Service Information

Join Our Wellnista Community:

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more

Holistic Therapy Anxiety Treatment: How To Use Aromatherapy For Anxiety and Stress Management

October 14, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Anxiety Treatment: How To Use Aromatherapy For Anxiety and Stress Management

Aromatherapy is an amazing tool to treat anxiety, restlessness, and stress. The art of aromatherapy has been acknowledged to go back to times of ancient Egypt and ancient Greece. The benefits of aromatherapy are also present in today’s time. Over the years aromatherapy has come to be included in some medical settings as a treatment and recovery method for substance addiction recovery, post surgery recovery, and patient rehabilitation. Aromatherapy is now being integrated into more hospital settings as a treatment to support patient health.

The benefits extend in your personal use at home or while traveling as well. There’s now essential oil based car fresheners and diffusers, essential oil travel blends that can be work as perfume/ cologne. Now you can find aromatherapy necklaces, watches, and bracelets for essential oil diffusing that can be worn as multi functional jewelry. My favorite way to diffuse aromatherapy essential oils is to use a traditional diffuser with essential oils that are meant to target and treat stress and anxiety relief.

What is Aromatherapy?

In the simplest of terms aromatherapy is described as the practice of using scents to alter and or improve mood and emotional wellness. What is important to remember when it comes to aromatherapy it’s very important to utilize therapeutic grade essential oils instead of chemically enhanced fragrance oils. When you utilize essential oils that are clean and free of synthetic fragrance and chemicals you are ensuring your wellness outcomes to be increased and more effective without side effects that may present from synthetic fragrances, which can be harmful. It’s worth noting that essential oils also require attention to detail for use, there is potential to have too much of a good thing if you don’t consider the appropriate amount of aromatherapy. An example would be to use 10 drops of your essential oil with 1 cup of water vs. using 50 drops of essential oil with ½ cup of water. How you measure your aromatherapy treatment is important for your health and mood treatment.

How Does Aromatherapy Work

Aromatherapy is a simple process where you diffuse therapeutic essential oils through a carrier mechanism. I have mentioned aromatherapy necklaces, bracelets, car diffusers, and home and office diffusers. You can also add essential oils to your shower routine or when taking a relaxing bath. There are additional methods for aromatherapy for linen sprays, candles, body lotions, and hair products, even deodorants.

When you apply your aromatherapy ideally you are using a therapeutic ratio for the method you select. From there the essential oil should be within range of your sense of smell for better effect. The essential oil fragrance then activates your smell receptors, which send information to your limbic system. Your limbic system is responsible for mood, emotional awareness, physical and mental emotional reactivity. Within 20 minutes you may find the benefits of the essential oils to increase with noticeable improvement of your mood.

Best Aromatherapy Methods When You Feel Anxious

When you feel anxious it’s helpful and quite valuable to work with essential oils that are specifically beneficial for stress and anxiety to encourage direct symptom relief. The list of essential oils vary but consistent result for anxiety and stress have been confirmed for:

Lavender Essential Oil

Chamomile Essential Oil

Valerian Essential Oil

Jasmine Essential Oil

Holy Basil Essential Oil

Ylang Ylang Essential Oil

Frankincense Essential Oil

Lemon Balm Essential Oil

I hope you enjoyed learning more about Holistic Therapy Anxiety Treatment via aromatherapy for anxiety and stress management.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

DID YOU LOVE IT?

SHARE THE LOVE!

JOIN THE FIT LIFE NEWSLETTER AND GET CONSISTENT HOLISTIC INSPO, TIPS, TOOLS, RESOURCES, AND INFORMATION TO HELP YOU INCREASE ENERGY AND REDUCE STRESS FOR BOTH AT-WORK AT HOME!

Learn more

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE 10-30 MINUTE WELLNESS CONSULTATION FOR ONLINE HOLISTIC MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY OR WELLNESS COACHING SERVICES

Are You Interested to Work Together:?

See Our Online Holistic Therapy Service Information

Join Our Holistic Ambition Community:

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more

Holistic Therapy Anxiety Treatment: How To Use An Acupressure Mat And Pillow + More Benefits

October 12, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Anxiety Treatment: How To Use An Acupressure Mat And Pillow + More Benefits

Anxiety can be immobilizing and distracting so much that it’s hard to think with clarity or any sense of direction. When we feel anxious, it’s a great reminder that we need to be able to access different tools to slow our racing mind down to return to a healthy state. Acupressure therapy is a great tool to treat anxiety holistically. It’s a simple and self governed process of simply getting your acupressure mat and pillow, then spending time lying on your mat and pillow to receive the therapeutic benefits, then storing your mat and pillow to returning to your day with improved refreshment.

What is Acupressure?

Acupressure is an ancient form of massage practiced in Chinese Medicine. The goal of acupressure massage has been to increase and encourage balanced flow of Qi (energy) through the meridian channels of the body.

In current history acupressure mats and pillows have also been created and utilized for the same purpose and practice. Now acupressure therapy can be achieved by lying on an acupressure mat and pillow minus the masseuse, which is helpful with everyone currently spending more time at home to prevent and reduce COVID risks.

Acupressure mats can be found online at holistic health stores and amazon.com. Some people will simply buy the acupressure mat without the pillow. I personally find the pillow and the mat combined to be most beneficial for therapeutic response for anxiety and stress management.

How Does Using An Acupressure Mat Feel?

Using an acupressure mat does take a little time to acclimate to as the pillow and the mat is covered in small plastic “needle like” points. When you lay on the mat it’s ideal to move slowly and gently while wearing as little layers between your skin and the mat for maximum application.

Once you find a comfortable position on the mat it’s ideal to stay in a resting position on the acupressure mat and pillow for 10-20 minutes for best anxiety and stress relief. Usually within the first 5 minutes of your acupressure session, you will feel an endorphin release of calm and soothing energy. This feeling is often maintained throughout the remaining time in your acupressure session.

How to Use Acupressure When Anxious Or Stressed

When you’re feeling anxious or stressed, using an acupressure mat can be helpful to calm yourself effectively. It may be harder to think clearly when anxious but planning ahead helps. Anxiety is an emotional experience that happens more than once and ideally you may even know the times and locations that your anxiety or stress may peak.

If you find yourself anxious at home, consider keeping your mat in a space where you can practice for example your bedroom may be ideal or near the living room couch. If you are working in an office space, consider keeping your acupressure mat at your desk or in your car to be used during your break. If you happen to have an office with a quiet room, consider using your acupressure mat while in the quiet room space.

Additional Benefits of Acupressure

We talked about the benefits of using an acupressure mat and pillow for anxiety and stress management and there’s a extended list of additional benefits you will gain from using acupressure therapy. Some additional benefits from using acupressure therapy include increased pain management, reduced neck and pack pain, reduced insomnia symptoms, fibromyalgia pain, and headache reduction.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

DID YOU LOVE IT?

SHARE THE LOVE!

JOIN THE FIT LIFE NEWSLETTER AND GET CONSISTENT HOLISTIC INSPO, TIPS, TOOLS, RESOURCES, AND INFORMATION TO HELP YOU INCREASE ENERGY AND REDUCE STRESS FOR BOTH AT-WORK AT HOME!

Learn more

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE 10-30 MINUTE WELLNESS CONSULTATION FOR ONLINE HOLISTIC MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY OR WELLNESS COACHING SERVICES

Are You Interested to Work Together:?

See Our Online Holistic Therapy Service Information

Join Our Holistic Ambition Community:

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more

Holistic Therapy Tools For Stressful AF Days At Work

October 9, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Holistic Therapy Tools For Stressful AF Days At Work

Work can be a busy place. Even now while most people report working from home, there’s still other responsibilities that need to get done. While you work you may also be considering the housework, laundry, and home school. You are home after all and that means that you may find distractions and stress surfacing more easily at the home office than the work office. What about your partner, children, or roommates if you have them? What about your parents if you’ve returned home? What about your pets?

Then, you have the zoom meetings that you need to attend and then the other parts of your work commitments that are important as well. Stress at work could also primarily be coming from the pace of your work and the type of work you do. It varies person to person. The first and best thing you can do when your feeling stressed at work is to stop and acknowledge that you are feeling stressed in that moment. I have some tips to help you deescalate your stress while at work.

Holistic Mindful Breathing

Let remember the power of your breath. You can take a simple and intentional inhale, pause briefly and then exhale slowly to allow you body and mind to reduce stress symptoms like racing mind, speeding heart rate, high blood pressure, tight muscles, and feelings of emotional overwhelm. When you practice mindful deep breathing you want to aim for breathing in through your nose, down through your chest and allowing your inhales and exhales to reach the base of your stomach. Deep breathing in this way is also known as belly breathing. When your breathing is deep and able to access the base of your stomach you can trigger the full oxygen exchange in your body. When you practice diaphragmatic breathing you can also reduce symptoms for depression, anxiety, PTSD symptoms, and Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Change Your Environment: Go Outside

When you are feeling stress during the workday it’s important to consider your environment and how long you have been working. Have you had your break today? It’s a great practice to spend time away from your desk when you take breaks instead of surfing the net and staying in your seat. Your mind and body recognize the benefits of change of environment and this creates recovery and increased productivity for the workday. Think of it as going on a small vacation daily when you step away from your desk. When you return to your work after stepping away you will likely notice a feeling of improved energy and stronger concentration.

Meditate For Re-Centering

Meditation is a great tool when your feeling stressed, even when you’re at work. You can take a moment while seated at your desk, dim your screen, and complete a brief meditation when you feel stress coming in. You can put on ear buds if you’d like and if you share a work space just put up your “do not disturb -available in 5 minutes” sign so people can see it and take some time to just close your eyes, breathe deeply and think of relaxing the muscles throughout your body starting with your scalp and going all the way down to the tips of your toes. When you return from your meditation break you will likely feel much calmer and have improved clarity in your efforts.

Listen to Positive Uplifting Music While You Work

Something that always seems to work and work quickly no less is to listen to upbeat and encouraging music while you are working. There are many great productivity music stations that you can listen to on YouTube while you work which help you to keep a productive pace while you work. You can also consider listening to productive binaural beats, Lo-fi Chill Hop or Gospel music to keep your mind and actions feeling upbeat and relaxing at the same time.

Take Water And Walk Breaks

It’s important to stay hydrated and get a little walking done during the workday. You may even enjoy going for 1-3 walks throughout your workday. Consider going for a walk and water break before you begin your work shift, even if it’s just around the home office or your work office. Next, try to complete a midday walk and water break as well. Your midday walk and water break is the most important chance you’ll have to rest your energy for the second half of the workday. Also if possible, try to conclude the workday with a brief walk and water break to transition from work mindset to home and relaxation mindset. The walks can be as little as a couple minutes. Every little bit of stress management practice counts for your stress reduction process and over time you may notice your tools become more efficient because your mind and body is more accustomed to the tools you’re using. It’s a win-win for healthy stress management recovery.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

DID YOU LOVE IT?

SHARE THE LOVE!

JOIN THE FIT LIFE NEWSLETTER AND GET CONSISTENT HOLISTIC INSPO, TIPS, TOOLS, RESOURCES, AND INFORMATION TO HELP YOU INCREASE ENERGY AND REDUCE STRESS FOR BOTH AT-WORK AT HOME!

Learn more

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE 10-30 MINUTE WELLNESS CONSULTATION FOR ONLINE HOLISTIC MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY OR WELLNESS COACHING SERVICES

Are You Interested to Work Together:?

See Our Online Holistic Therapy Service Information

Join Our Wellnista Community:

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more

Holistic Therapy For Black Women: How Holistic Therapy Can Help Women Of Color

October 8, 2020 Brandi Jackson

What is Holistic Therapy for Black Women and how is it different or the same as holistic therapy for any other gender and race experience?

As a Holistic Therapist, I see Holistic Therapy as a best practice and concept to create harm-free, dynamic, and intuitive approach to mind body and spiritual healing that is, well; holistic. This is a valuable conversation to have regarding the black woman experience to achieve wellness with mental emotional health.

If this article interests you, chances may be higher that you are a Black Woman interested in Holistic Therapy, or perhaps someone interested in supporting a Black Woman to achieve mental emotional health.

How Holistic Therapy Can Help Black Women

Holistic Therapy is a great mental health and wellness support for Black Women, historically speaking Black Women are more likely to go without support for emotional needs, space for emotional safety, non-biased medical care, and non-biased mental health support. There’s been a breech of trust in the field of medical care and limited support in therapy services historically in the Black community. Please look up the Tuskegee Study or ask the family of Henrietta Lacks. Let’s not even get into the historical past where Black Women were sterilized without consent in order to reduce personal rights for family planning due to racism. I’m sharing these historical traumas to demonstrate the lack of trust when working with helping professionals as Black Women. This is an undercurrent of what feels safe or not safe when working with a health professional. Considering the social unrest of current day America, this energy has not dissipated for many, but to be fair; I can’t speak for all Black Women.

The Diversity Factor Is Important

There is more diversity in the mental health field than ever before and there’s still more experiences of unmet emotional needs for Black Women. Most Black Women have personal experiences where their expectation to have mindful and present support for medical and therapeutic services were underwhelmed. The good news is there are more positive experiences than in the past. That doesn’t mean everything in the system of health and wellness support for Black Women is in perfect order just yet.

Changes Are Happening: Let’s Keep It Going

As a Black Woman Holistic Health Therapy Provider, I’m excited to see and personally work with Black Women for Holistic Therapy support services. I see a great increase of Black Female Therapy Provider’s existing, which is helpful for Women of Color to feel safe in therapy to explore their feelings with a certain familiarity of the lived experience of being a Black Woman without having to stop and explain that when you’d much rather stay focused on your emotional needs. Some women don’t mind at all, and some find this to be helpful as a feature of emotional safety.

Is it Different At All? Is it The Same?

I would say that Holistic Therapy can be provided by a whoever you ultimately feel most comfortable with and it’s worthy to think about what factors of your support team feel useful to have when choosing your holistic support team. Each Holistic Therapy Provider will likely have a varying background of expertise. Find what feels right for your emotional wellness needs.

I’m personally trained in Fitness and nutrition as supplemental support for emotional wellness. But there are other Holistic Therapists trained in Reiki therapy, yoga, acupuncture, massage, and so on. All of it’s useful but you’ll get to decide what is most useful to you.

You essentially will get to work a provider you feel comfortable and safe with who is also qualified to support you holistically in the areas of your life that will be an asset to your emotional health and wellness journey. I hope this post inspires you and feels like good food for thought.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about some of my tips to improve your wellness and health journey. Be sure to share your real life wellness questions below!

DID YOU LOVE IT?

SHARE THE LOVE!

JOIN THE FIT LIFE NEWSLETTER AND GET CONSISTENT HOLISTIC INSPO, TIPS, TOOLS, RESOURCES, AND INFORMATION TO HELP YOU INCREASE ENERGY AND REDUCE STRESS FOR BOTH AT-WORK AT HOME!

Add footer image:

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE 10-30 MINUTE WELLNESS CONSULTATION FOR ONLINE HOLISTIC MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY OR WELLNESS COACHING SERVICES

Are You Interested to Work Together:?

See Our Online Holistic Therapy Service Information

Join Our Wellnista Community:

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more

Holistic Therapy For Seasonal Affective Disorder: How To Stay Emotionally Resilient

October 6, 2020 Brandi Jackson

Welcome to the most wonderful time of the year. In many places the weather is becoming cooler, the holidays are coming, the time of daylight hours will be shifting, the foods we eat are even within a transition. There’s a lot changes that come into play for most during the fall and winter months.

What About Your Mood?

Your mood is often more vulnerable during the fall and winter as the transition of time, season, daylight, sleep, holidays, and interpersonal relationship is all called into transition for most people. Your mood is likely to have more highs and lows with a great season of transition. We also must consider the current and real experience of COVID 19, Quarantine, Home Schooling, Election Season, and how that also impacts this fall and winter.

This is a big thought and question to ponder? How can you best stay healthy and safe? How can you thrive through this winter and minimize/ prevent your risk of Seasonal Affective Disorder?

What Is Seasonal Affective Disorder?

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a form of Depression that is related to change of season and daylight, which effects mood and energy. You may find that you generally feel higher levels of depression and sadness during the window of SAD. The window where seasonal Affective Disorder is most prominent is during the months of November and ongoing through February depending on the person, stressors sleep patterns, nutrition patterns, and available support network.

Seasonal Affective Disorder Symptoms

Seasonal Affective Disorder has a distinct set of symptoms that usually overlap with Depression symptoms as well. Some of the symptoms that may be easier to self-monitor are listed below.

Increased experience of low energy and feeling tired often
Low interest to do the activities you previously enjoyed
Social Isolation and avoidance
Irritable mood and emotional sensitivity
Feeling hopeless or guilty
Difficulty concentrating
Low sex drive
Brain fog

Holistic Therapies For Seasonal Affective Disorder

Light Therapy: Seasonal Affective Disorder has been treated with light therapy in 2 primary ways, the first way is to open the blinds to allow natural light exposure to occur daily for natural vitamin D support which correlates back to mood management. You can also find light therapy lamps for daily light therapy practice indoors while at home or at your workspace.

Vitamin D Supplementation: Also taking Vitamin D in supplement form can be very helpful for maintaining a certain amount of vitamin D in your blood system as a baseline through the winter months. This helps maintain a preventative approach to keeping your vitamin D established at a certain level during the fall and winter season.

Exercise: Try to keep your fitness practice in good shape. Consider going for daily wellness walks, doing daily yoga or indoor cardio. Your body will naturally produce cortisol, serotonin, and additional endorphins that will naturally support your mood management and potentially prevent SAD or reduce impact of Seasonal Affective Disorder.

Support Circle: Reach out to friends, family during, and your natural supports during the SAD Season as much as feels appropriate for you to feel that your practicing healthy and supportive social interactions. Isolation is vulnerability when it comes to likely increase of depression symptoms. Humans are social creatures and without enough social interactions there is a posed risk for your sense of wellness.

Self Care: Having a winter self care practice is priceless! Be sure to look forward to updating your self-care routine as the seasons change and your routine is likely to change. You want to keep your self care practice as relevant to your present needs versus doing what may have been practical for the previous season.

MY #1 HOPE:

I hope you enjoyed learning about my favorite post-party detox strategies. Be sure to share your real life wellness issues below! I will try to share more posts for you to help you keep up a healthy self care practice for the winter season.

DID YOU LOVE IT?

SHARE THE LOVE!

Please share this post with your friends, family, or anyone you think may benefit from wellness tips. Sometimes sharing information can really help people to be inspired to create a wonderful physical, mental, and emotional recovery or start their Wellness Journey!

GET INSTANT JOY, PEACE, FITNESS, AND NUTRITION MAGIC DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

If you found this information helpful, sign up for The Fit Life Newsletter for bi-weekly updates, tips, tools, and resources for health, fitness, happiness, wellness, and lifestyle to feel your best life right now!

Learn more

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE 10-30 MINUTE WELLNESS CONSULTATION FOR ONLINE HOLISTIC MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY OR WELLNESS COACHING SERVICES

Are You Interested to Work Together:?

See Our Online Holistic Therapy Service Information

Join Our Holistic Wellness Community:

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more

Sleep Hygiene: How to Stop Stress and Anxiety Insomnia

October 5, 2020 Taylor Hornbeck

Your sleep affects so many aspects of your life so it’s essential to ensure you’re always getting the best sleep possible. If you aren’t getting good sleep you may be experiencing low moods, your stress levels may increase and you may be eating more for comfort than substance. Lack of sleep can also increase your risk of health concerns like diabetes, stroke and heart disease. Stress and anxiety can cause insomnia. This type of insomnia can usually be helped without the need for medication by focusing on proper sleep hygiene.

Holistic Bedtime Routine

A great place to start is to assess what you are doing before bed that could be causing anxiety and stress and preventing you from getting good sleep. You’ll want to take a look at the four hours before you get into bed and determine if those activities are activating or deactivating you. You may want to implement a decompression plan that you can do everyday before going to sleep. Some of the things that will help you decompress would be no screen time, light eating, maybe making a tea, listening to something calming or reading.

Holistic + Mindful Insomnia Hygiene

If you are someone who wakes up and has trouble falling asleep you will want to have a before bed routine and an insomnia hygiene routine. The first thing you will want to check in your insomnia routine is if you have any stimulating things like a tv on, the lights on, your phone next to you, etc. If you don’t think you will be able to go back to sleep quickly I encourage you to get up, go to a quiet place in your home, keep the lights dim and stay away from any screen time. A great practice at this time would be to get out your journal and jot down anything that’s on your mind. Sometimes when you have had an emotionally draining day or you are working through a challenging time, getting these thoughts and emotions out on paper can be a great release and it allows our minds to relax. Once you’ve gotten your thoughts out it's a great time to relax by meditating. One of my personal tried and true favorites is using an acupressure pillow. On nights that I have too much on my mind and wake up I use my pillow for about ten to twenty minutes and I’m good after that.

Supporting Holistic Supplements

You may want to consider supplements at bedtime as well. Melatonin is a great option for sleep. It’s an all natural product that helps the body produce sleep inducing hormones. Tryptophan is another supplement that you could try. It’s a naturally occurring chemical that makes our body chemistry tired.

The Consistency Factor: Stick With It

It typically takes two to four weeks for your sleep cycle to shift but you need to determine if you want to be consistent with your sleep routine and what is going to work best for your lifestyle. For those hot summer months when you’re having trouble falling asleep try my summer sleep tips and tricks. This article was a brief introduction on what I cover in my Fit Mind & Body Program. If you want to dive deeper into your health and wellness then click the link below and let's get started!

Watch This Video to Learn More:

MY #1 HOPE:

DID YOU LOVE IT?

SHARE THE LOVE!

GET INSTANT JOY, PEACE, FITNESS, AND NUTRITION MAGIC DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX!

SCHEDULE YOUR FREE 10-30 MINUTE WELLNESS CONSULTATION FOR ONLINE HOLISTIC MENTAL HEALTH THERAPY OR WELLNESS COACHING SERVICES

Are You Interested to Work Together:?

See Our Online Holistic Therapy Service Information

WORK WITH ME

Join The Wellness Community:

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more

How To: Breakup With Anxiety and Depression in 7 Days! Anxiety and Depression Breakup Plan Workshop 7 Day Program

July 8, 2017 Brandi Jackson

Hi, Beautiful Wellnista!

How are you doing? No. Really. How are you?

I hope you are doing amazing, feeling amazing and living your "feel your best life truth". But if you have been having a time with anxiety, stress, depression, FOMO (fear of missing out), or feeling just plain burnt all the way out, I have something special to share with you.

How to Breakup With Your Anxiety and Depression in 7 Days?

I am a practiced clinician with a decade of experience helping people reach change and transformation, many of the folks I work with experience real anxiety and depression. I also have my own experience with anxiety and depression. Over the last 15 years and counting, I have mapped my own road to long term recovery. I want to share the top 10 methods that I have found scientifically impactful for changing the human relationship to anxiety and depression.

This workshop and workbook materials are completely free and available online. To learn more about the course to see if it's a match for you please read below!

Are you currently struggling with:

Constant Distraction
Uncontrollable Roller Coaster Mood Swings
Constant Overwhelm
Limited Focus/ Difficulty Concentrating
Increased Stress/ Exhausting Life Demands
Limited Free Time
Depression
Anxiety

If so, the Anxiety and Depression Breakup Plan (7 Day Plan) is a match for you! The workshop was designed to:

Improve Mood
Buffer Stress + Negative Energy
Improve Stress Recovery Time
Improve Patience
Improve Concentration
Increase Emotional Control
Improve Communication
Provide a Custom Plan to Manage Anxiety + Depression

This course if for women who are motivated to live beyond anxiety and depression. It's time to get in charge and be vibrant!

Are you ready to increase the amount of freedom, confidence and vibrancy you feel in your day?

So, let me tell you just a few more items that come with this juicy and FREE Anxiety and Depression Breakup Plan Workshop 7 Day Program.

When you Join the Anxiety and Depression Break Up 7 Day Program:

Here is what you'll get:

The Top 10 Methods you can practice daily to get in charge of your Anxiety & Depression
A Simple but Powerful Anxiety and Depression Daily Workbook
A custom Video Course for the Top 10 scientifically founded daily practice methods
A "before and after" Journal for your 7 days of practice
Daily emails for mood support and encouragement
A Graduation celebration letter and surprise gift on Day 7.

The AD Breakup frequently asked questions are also available for any questions or navigation support you may need. Just click the AD Breakup Registration button located above to see if your question is posted in the AD Breakup FAQ's List.

Watch the video to learn more details regarding the video below:

I hope you enjoyed learning more about The Anxiety and Depression Breakup Plan Workshop and how it can help change your relationship to anxiety and depression for the long term. Sound off in the comments below, what's your biggest gripe about anxiety and depression?

If you found this information helpful, sign up for The Life Newsletter. The Newsletter provides biweekly updates, tips, tools, and resources for health, happiness, wellness, and lifestyle to feel your best life right now!

Wishing you all the best,

Brandi J.

Feel your best life now! Let me support your special and unique Change Journey, book a Wellness Coaching Session or Hypnotherapy Session with me by clicking the link below.

Work With me

Gallery Block

This is an example. To display your Instagram posts, double-click here to add an account or select an existing connected account. Learn more