Tips to Manage Anxiety In These Difficult Times:

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Anxiety is an uncomfortable feeling which many of us have experienced during these difficult times of 2020. Fears and catastrophic thoughts that put the body in an alarm state are often the consequences of common anxiety. However, just because it is happening, it doesn’t mean we should let it control our lives. That said, you want to manage your anxiety, the following tips will help.

1. Start understanding your anxiety better

Sure, your anxiety sometimes feels uncomfortable, and you want to get rid of things that feel uncomfortable. However, if you throw it overboard without taking a look at it, you will lose a lot of important information. Dare to look at what actually scares you? If so, question yourself first. Which situations trigger anxiety for you? What exactly was it that made you restless or anxious?  For me, I usually get anxiety over things that I cannot control. So that is what I personally try to work on….

How realistic is it that your fears are true? Alternatively, what could happen – and how likely would that be? As far as possible, these considerations should be tested in reality or checked in conversation with others. The constant weighing of probabilities helps to deal with inappropriate and exaggerated fears.

Also, check critically against reality, whether you consider your anxiety to be justified afterward. With such questions, you can take a step back out of the situation. You gain distance from the feeling of fear by looking at it from the outside. 

2. Get moving

Regular sporting activities and relaxation exercises not only make you feel more youthful, but can also help reduce anxiety reactions in the long term. With some disorders, they also help in acute cases, among other things because physical relaxation and exhaustion are difficult to reconcile physiologically with an anxiety reaction. However, the effect can be reversed during a panic attack!

If there is panic-related hyperventilation (strong breathing due to shortness of breath),  breathing in a bag is recommended so that the ratio of oxygen to carbon dioxide in the blood returns to normal.

3. Stop your thoughts

It can also be about stopping thoughts that scare you. You are the master of your thoughts. You can also choose to put thoughts back in their place. Make a clear “stop”. Think about helpful and appropriate thoughts. Thoughts that satisfy your need for security and calm you down.

If that doesn’t help, distraction is allowed. What would you do now? Watch a film? Read a newspaper or a book? Or phone a good friend. Focus consciously on something else instead of the fear-triggering thoughts.

4. Take natural calming herbs

Calming herbs such as valerian are commonly used can be used as a tea, tincture, or powder for all conditions of nervousness, anxiety, and insomnia.

In the case of insomnia, a tea made from valerian tea is recommended before going to bed, which is slowly drunk in small sips. To do this, pour one or two teaspoons of valerian root with a cup of water. The tea is left to steep for about twelve hours. Then you filter off and heat the tea to drinking temperature.

Additionally, CBD oil also offers a calming effect and is commonly used to reduce anxiety-related symptoms. For more information, you can find the nearest Harvest House of Cannabis.

Let’s be honest, nobody likes feeling old. We all grow older, and we all go through different changes as this happens. Typically, this includes a lot of physical changes like wrinkles, a more bent-over posture, sore joints, etc. But, there can also be some mental signs of aging as well – like memory loss. 

Sadly, there’s no way of freezing time and stopping yourself from getting old. It’s something we all have to learn to live with, but there are ways of slowing down the obvious signs of aging. When you do this, you will look and feel a lot more youthful. In turn, you’ll be amazed at what you can achieve as you get older! 

So, how can you do this? In this guide, you’ll find a few tips and tricks to tackle some of the most common signs of aging. As you read through the advice, you’ll soon realize how easy it is to slow down the signs of aging and feel more youthful.

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Use natural supplements to banish wrinkles

Now, wrinkles are probably the most obvious sign of aging you can think of. Most of you have clicked on this article hoping to get some anti-wrinkle advice. Well, you’re not going to be disappointed! There are loads of great treatments out there to deal with wrinkles, but some are more extreme than others. We’re going to focus on some of the less extreme things that you can do from home, rather than any cosmetic procedures. 

Mainly, as the title of this heading shows, we’ll look at natural supplements. What does this include? Well, anything that’s naturally occurring and doesn’t involve loads of harsh chemicals. Essential oils fit this description perfectly! One of the key health & beauty benefits of essential oils is that they help with anti-aging. Rose otto is one of the main ones, and it’s easy to apply by mixing it with other oils and using it on your skin. The natural healing properties of essential oils go deep into your skin and encourage collagen production. In turn, this creates firmer and smoother skin, free from wrinkles. 

Of course, other natural supplements exist, but few are as easy to get ahold of than essential oils. Plus, they’re safe and will only benefit your skin. By banishing wrinkles, you will visibly look and feel a lot younger. It can literally take 10 years off your age!

Work on improving your posture

As you get older, your posture is one of the first things to suffer. You may have noticed a lot of your elderly relatives seem to all stoop over or have a rounded back. This can also cause them to look a lot smaller than they actually are. This happens because the discs in your spine can deteriorate with age, weakening the spine’s ability to hold an upright position. Hence, you start to round forwards and become hunched over. 

Most people experience this change because they aren’t aware that it’s a thing. But, when you become more aware of maintaining good posture, then you can stop it from happening. It’s a simple case of staying upright and keeping your back as straight as possible. Try to avoid sitting down or using a computer for long periods with no breaks. This trains your brain to get used to your body being in a hunched-over posture. As a result, it almost sticks to this position even when you stand up.

A good way to know that you have postural problems is to try and maintain good posture. Sit or stand with your shoulders rolled back and down, your chest out, and your lower back in neutral (this means not overly arched and not completely flat). If this is a challenge, then you know your body isn’t used to this position! So, try and maintain it for as long as possible throughout the day. You should also do some exercises to strengthen the main postural muscles in your back, as well as stretches for some overly tight muscles. This helps to bring your spine back into natural alignment, releasing a lot of pressure on your discs and keeping them healthier for longer. As a consequence, you can delay or avoid the hunchback posture as you get older!

Look after your joints

You’ve seen what happens to your spine as you get older, and similar problems exist in the joints throughout your body. A joint is basically any point where two bones meet one another. We have loads of these in our bodies, and some are more problematic than others. Without getting too technical, the biggest issues lie in our synovial joints – which are basically joints with a lot of movement in them. Common examples include the hip joint, shoulders, ankles, knees, and wrists. 

When you get older, the muscles around these joints can weaken, and you can also lose a lot of the synovial fluid that helps them move freely. As a consequence, this leads to bones rubbing against one another, which causes inflammation. From here, you’re close to lots of problems – mainly arthritis. Your life is plagued by pain, and you find it hard to do a lot of normal activities. While arthritis and joint pain are commonly associated with the elderly, you can suffer from both at a fairly young age. It all comes down to how well you look after your joints. A regular visit to one of your local Orthopedic Specialists when you experience joint pains can help to get you on the right track to looking after your joints. 

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Exercise regularly

Speaking of exercise, you really need to do it as regularly as possible. This is a wonderful way to decrease so many different signs of aging. As already mentioned, it can help keep your joints healthy. But, staying active could also improve your posture, so that’s two things ticked off already. 

Furthermore, exercising is amazing for your heart and lungs. It encourages your heart to work harder and become more efficient at pumping blood around your body. It also improves your capacity to breathe, leading to fewer heart or lung problems. This is a surefire way to avoid any health conditions related to aging – like heart disease. Exercise also deals with another sign of aging; weight gain. Most people gain weight as they get older because they become more inactive. Exercising prevents this from becoming an issue!

Lastly, it helps with the mental side of aging as well. The older you get, the more prone you are to memory loss and other mental health conditions. So, you must find ways to stimulate your brain and keep it healthy. Exercising requires lots of coordination and forces you to think quickly. There’s also an element of memory training in there as well – you have to remember how to do certain things while you exercise. All of this means that physical exercise can also be a great mental exercise and will keep your brain healthier for longer. 

Eat a healthy diet

Yes, changing your eating habits can help you delay the signs of aging. Funnily enough, this is actually one of the few things that can also extend our life expectancy. A good diet – combined with regular exercise – will help you live longer. 

From an anti-aging standpoint, how does your diet impact things? Well, it comes down to the different foods you eat. If you eat a lot of fatty foods that are high in sugar, you’ll gain weight, put more stress on your joints, and make your skin look worse. If your diet is balanced and packed full of the right nutrients, you’ll have clearer skin, more energy, and an all-round healthier body. 

Two specific things to add to your diet are omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin C. Omega-3 is great at improving your brain health, which can be essential when fighting against things like memory loss as you get older. Vitamin C has so many health benefits, but it also assists with preventing gray hair. Again, this is a common sign of aging that most people experience and would like to delay for as long as possible. 

Try any of all of these things, and you will see dramatic improvements in the telltale signs of aging. Your skin will be clearer, your body will feel healthier, and your mind will be more astute. The biggest mistake anyone can make is to not think about aging until you’re old! Take steps to look and feel more youthful when you’re still quite young. This will help you have a more youthful future even when you’re old!

Workouts to Get the Hang of at Home

For the fitness and/or athletics enthusiast, having to stay at home for months on end, avoiding the gym and your favorite sports and athletic activities, is like torture. Exercise and physical fitness is such an important part of life and for many, a daily routine. Without it, you can fall into the serious blues, to say nothing of the physical downsides to not training for a while. 

Not to worry, though: the good news is that you can train and do a number of beneficial, hard core exercises that will keep you in peak shape right from home! Everything from a great cardio-rich aerobics routine to the perfect front delt workout, there are so many great workouts to choose from and develop for your own daily at-home workout routine. 

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It might not be the same as the gym, but if you use a little creativity and motivation, you might find that these at-home workouts are every bit as beneficial and rewarding. You can create your best body and enjoy peak fitness, right from your own home. 

Let’s explore a few at home workouts. 

Aerobics, Yoga, and More

Yoga, Aerobics, Pilates, some Martial Arts and even dance workouts are all really high-intensity, cardio workouts that can be done solo or at home, which is something their enthusiasts have been doing for years, long before social distancing was a necessity. These at-home workouts are perfect for the person who doesn’t have a ton of time to flit back and forth to the gym, who doesn’t want to pay for costly gym memberships or classes, or who just enjoys working out at home, in comfort and privacy. 

You, too, can jump on the bandwagon and do some great workouts at home. Whether you’re into something more low impact and relaxing like yoga, prefer something high-intensity and fun like dancing, or want to do something more strict like Martial Arts – these can all be easily done via online classes, videos and books, and require minimal equipment or athletic gear. They’re every bit as easy as they are affordable. Because you’re at home already, it’s easy to implement these workouts into a morning or evening routine, or just fit one in whenever you’ve got a spare moment. 

If you’re craving social interaction, many yoga and dance studios, etc, are offering online classes via Zoom and other platforms! Check and see what your local classes have on offer. 

Weight Lifting and More

If you’re an avid weight lifter, you likely already have a setup at home, even if it’s just a basic one. Nothing beats working out at the gym, but you can piece together a pretty good home workout with just a few basic essentials and a weight bench. 

You can find all sorts of online tutorials for exercises that target specific areas such as the delts, quads and other muscle groups that you can do with just a few different weights. If you have a set of dumbbells and/or barbells you can do a whole host of arm exercises fairly easily. 

If you’re able to safely work out with someone, it’s a good idea because working with weights without a spotter is extremely dangerous. Weight lifting alone is not advisable. You can get creative with different, safer ways to use your weights – such as going for a walk/jog with weights attached, using household items as weights, and so on. 

Old Fashioned Exercises

The old tried and true are often the best workouts. Push ups, leg lifts, crunches, and so on. People may scoff, thinking those old exercises they learned back during gym at school can’t possibly help you get the real results you want, much less have you looking ripped. 

But those folks would be wrong. The truth is, if you have the patience to do a lot of reps and stick with it every single day, those “boring” old exercises like push ups and planks can have you looking and feeling incredibly fit. They work core muscles, arms and strengthen your endurance, and they’re easy to do at home with no equipment whatsoever. 

Outdoor Exercise

A quick walk, hike, jog or run around your neighborhood can’t be beat. Take the dog for a long stroll or download an app like Couch to 5K or other training apps to help build your endurance over a period of time. Even if you’ve never been into running, if you pace yourself (pun intended) and take the time to develop your insurance, these workouts are incredibly rewarding. 

Cycling is another outdoor activity that’s hugely beneficial. It’s heavy on cardio, but low impact on joints and knees. Whether you’re into road cycling or mountain biking, going out for a stroll on the bike is a great way to work entire muscle groups in the body, strengthen your endurance and get your heart pumping. Plus, it’s incredibly good for your mental health, which is important during a time that everyone is stuck at home, feeling lonely and bored. 

Other outdoor exercises that are fun and comprise a great workout include jumping on a trampoline, swimming, chin ups (installing a chin up bar outside is super easy), boxing (with an outdoor punching bag), games such as touch football, baseball, volleyball and tennis, and yes, even gardening/yard work can really work up a sweat and burn tons of calories. Get creative with it! 

These are just a few of the many, many ways you can get the most out of a workout and maintain peak physical fitness, even while stuck at home. Exercise and movement are super important, not only for physical health and fitness, but to help promote relaxation, alleviate anxiety and stress, and keep us all at optimum mental health while we’re going through trying times. It’s also a good idea to follow basic health guidelines like eating healthy when you can, getting enough sleep, and drinking lots of water. 

We all miss the gym, but with an innovative and motivated attitude, you can create an entire exercise routine right at home that will be every bit as intense and beneficial as anything you could do at a fitness center. Try it and see for yourself.