Melificent

I’ve really struggled putting this year into words. It’s not something I’ve shared publicly, and I don’t necessarily feel like it’s something that needs to be done now. All I know is that you have helped keep me afloat, and I’m pretty sure you have no idea that you have. In this year, you have grown so much – much more than you probably should have, if I’m being honest. But in that growth, and in the muck and ugliness, you have become something so beautiful.

You know who you are. Your personality is just getting bigger. You are still that girl that doesn’t succomb to peer pressure. You are your own person and happy to be it. You are still a natural performer, and made the decision to stop dancing to pursue theater. You have loved every second ever since. You are so brave. You love fashion and beauty, surprising me with your amazing hairstyles. You love your friends, and are so thoughtful.

Little do you know how I watch you as you fall asleep and think how beautiful you are: inside and out. How your light kisses and hand holds mean the world to me. You always know when I’m upset and you try to make my day that much better. You are always singing something and lately, making me laugh with your impressions (HONAAAAYYY) and jokes. I see you watching. Watching me. I try to be cognizant of this every single day and try to model what it is to take situations you didn’t expect and do your best.

One of my favorite developments has been your obsession with Harry Potter. It’s become a ritual for us – something magical we share. We watch the movies together, we talk about the characters, we fangirl. Funny because ever since you were a baby, I would tell you that you were magic. Not that you need it to know how magical you actually are, but I can’t wait for you to get your Hogwarts letter this year. I know you have been waiting for it. 😉

Although my heart hurts a little when I think of you turning eleven (seriously what on Earth?!?!), I love to see the young lady you are becoming: fearless, true to yourself and so full of whimsy. And I get a front row seat. Lucky me. 🙂

Happy birthday, moon.

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Relaxation may sound simple, but in reality, it’s quite a tricky state to achieve. You just need to close your eyes and breathe in a few times, if you are to believe what they show in movies. In the real world, this doesn’t work for everyone. 

When you can’t stop your brain from running through things and worries, breathing in and out a few times isn’t exactly going to make any difference. In fact, the more you try to calm down, the more knotted up you might feel. 

It’s no wonder that a lot of people find it hard to slow down. Sometimes, life is just too hectic to handle right now. Whether you are juggling work and family responsibilities or you’re someone’s carer, you don’t always have the opportunity to stop and relax. And when you can’t stop, this is when burnout tends to happen. You’re running on empty, and it’s starting to show in your mood, your physical and mental health, and your ability to focus. 

The thing is, telling you to chill out isn’t helpful. When your nervous system is stuck in overdrive, you need more than a few deep breaths. 

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Give Your Nervous System a Break

Your body starts to forget what it’s like to chill out when you’ve spent too long being stressed out. Your nervous system doesn’t switch off easily. So, you’re constantly on high alert, ready to jump into high gear. And that is why you want to look for supplements that can help your body deal with stress, rather than schedule time you don’t have into meditation or physical activities. 

If you are open to CBD products, it is worth investigating the complete Delta 8 THC collection from a trusted seller to find the right product that taps into your endocannabinoid system. This is the part of your body that helps keep your mood, sleep, and stress levels in check. It’s derived from hemp, but obviously milder. More to the point, it can help calm your mind down and ease the built-up tension safely. There’s no numbing effect, but instead it interacts with your body’s own calming system. 

Distract Your Mind

You can’t force your mind to relax when you’re too stressed. But you can learn how to distract it from the thoughts and worries that plague you. Some people turn to reading or spending time with loved ones for distraction. This may not always be effective, especially as it can take an effort to consciously push your thoughts to the back of your mind. 

So, instead, it may be easier to look for something lightweight that helps calm the noise in your mind as you focus on it. You want low-stress activities that grab your attention. What works differs from one person to another. 

One useful tip is to play games on your phone. It’s a low-key activity that calms your nervous system because there’s a sense of repetitive routine in games, with a small reward now and then. 

If you are after something soothing that will put a smile on your face, it’s worth investigating BTS Island: In the Seom, which is a free and fun game. You don’t need to be a fan of the septet to enjoy this gentle and stress-free game. But it’s packed with activities, cute interactions with fun characters (like a penguin or a cat), and soothing sounds. 

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When meditation doesn’t work for you, hopefully these tips can help you soothe your mind.

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If you’re struggling with your mental health, the first thing to realize is that it’s not your fault. Even though people are so much more open about their mental health than they once were, it can still be hard to be understanding of yourself. You might be able to accept that your friends or loved ones are struggling and give them some leeway, but for some reason, you see your own mental health issues as some kind of moral failing or weakness.

While it isn’t uncommon to feel this way, it’s also not healthy.

But, just like your physical health, there are things you can do to improve your mental health, and there might well be things that you’re doing that put even more pressure on. So, if you’re struggling with your physical health, you might decide to change your diet or start exercising. What can you do if you think your mental health might be at risk?

Mental Health Checks

One way that you can put your mental health at risk without even realizing it is by ignoring it. Let’s compare it with a physical health problem. Someone who has a cough might ignore it or put it down to just a cold for a while, but if the cough doesn’t go away or gets worth as weeks go on, it’s important to go to the doctor and get it checked out.

The same principle applies to your mental health. You should do regular check-ins to make sure that you’re healthy. Everyone has times when they feel low or have issues, but this can be a natural and healthy way to react to difficult situations. But when those feelings don’t go away or get worse over time and start to interfere with your life and general happiness, you should take them more seriously.

Keeping a journal can help you keep track of how you’re doing emotionally, as well as give you a healthy outlet and a good way to process your emotions and the things that happen to you. If you do find that you’re struggling, you may need to go to a doctor, just like you would if you have physical symptoms that concern you.

Burnout and Balance

One of the most common issues that people have is burnout. Burnout is an emotional, mental, and physical problem where your body and mind simply have had enough. It’s a type of exhaustion that basically forces you to actually take a break. The problem with burnout is that you can’t control it, and if you ignore the signs, you can end up out of commission for a long time.

There are a few reasons that people get burned out.

A poor work/life balance is a very common reason for burnout, especially if you have a stressful job. People in the emergency services, the medical field, or in high-pressure careers are far more susceptible to burnout, simply because they push themselves more and more. Even if you love your job, you can’t keep up the same pace forever without something giving. 

Another common reason for burnout is caregiver burnout. If you’re the primary caregiver for someone with high needs, you can often end up neglecting your own physical and emotional needs for someone else. There’s often a measure of guilt involved in not always putting other people first, but if you burn out, you won’t be able to help yourself, let alone the person you’re caring for.

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So, what can you do to prevent burnout?

Balance is vital to helping you to make sure that you don’t end up exhausting yourself. If you have a stressful job, take advantage of vacations, personal days, and other opportunities for some precious time off. If you’re a caregiver, make sure to look into respite care and asking other people to help so you get some time to yourself.

Addiction and Mental Health

Substance abuse is much more common than a lot of people realize, especially for people with trauma or some mental health problems. You might drink or take drugs to try to self-medicate and cope with your symptoms, but it can cause more problems in the long run.

If you have an addiction, then the best thing you can do for your mental health and your general well-being is to seek appropriate treatment.

The consequences of addiction can be severe, as some people end up losing money, their jobs, their homes, and even their families. Unfortunately, there’s a huge amount of shame surrounding addiction disorders, which can make it harder to get help. Still, it’s worth it to get clean and rebuild your life.

How Socialization Can Help

We have busy lives, which means that some things take a back foot. It can be very easy for adults to end up with very limited social lives and circles, because they focus on their careers and the general stresses of life. If you have a family, they also become your priority.

But this can lead to its own problems. Humans need human contact. Even introverts benefit from social interaction with friends and family.

Loneliness has been linked to mental health issues, especially depression. If someone feels isolated, they find life a lot more difficult. Even people who are married with kids can feel lonely without a peer group.

If you seek out social connections, it can improve your mental and physical health. Even if you don’t have friends, look for opportunities to make them. Take classes, go out to public places, and catch up with old friends.  

Therapy and Treatment

As mentioned before, if you have a physical health problem that concerns you, the best option is to go to a doctor. The same thing applies to your mental health.

While there are steps you can take in your life to improve your mental health, sometimes the best option is to seek professional help. Therapy and counselling can give you coping mechanisms, and in some cases, medication can make it easier to manage mental health issues.

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We all have plenty to admire, to adore, and to love, but it’s not always easy to feel that. Whether it’s being bombarded with the unrealistic beauty standards flaunted on TV, or just coping with the stresses of daily life, it’s not difficult to start feeling distinctly unsexy. However, you don’t have to make massive changes to get back that sense of confidence and desirability. Sometimes, you just need to remind yourself of what you got.

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Self-Care Can Help You Reconnect With Your Body

How we see our body and feel about it massively influences how we feel about it. If we don’t give it the care and treatment it needs, then we can stop seeing it as a canvas for appreciation and attraction. Even simple self-care rituals, like indulging in long baths, practicing gentle stretches, or moisturizing with scented lotions, can help you appreciate your physical form. When we put effort into caring for ourselves, then we tend to feel better about ourselves, too.

Express Desirability Even When No One Is Around

Sexiness and sexuality are not purely about catering to the gaze of another. There is an empowerment and a feeling of rediscovering our own allure in playing up our sexiness even when we’re alone. This could be as simple as buying and wearing some lingerie even without an audience in mind. It becomes your little secret, a personal reminder of your strength, femininity, and allure. This same energy can begin to radiate out of you when you’re out and about, fostering new levels of confidence and self-love.

Appreciate Sexiness In Its Many Forms

Our idea of sexiness and how well we fit that definition is often defined in part by the images we surround ourselves with. While the actresses and models we see on TV and the internet may, indeed, be attractive in their own right, you need to remind yourself that they are not the standard-setters of what attractiveness is. For instance, changing your social media feeds can change your perceptions, and following some diverse beauty-focused accounts can help you see that sexy exists in many forms and, indeed, exists in you, too.

Rediscover Your Sensuality

Sexiness can often be tied to our feelings of sexuality. If we let our sensual side and our desires to explore and enjoy pleasure diminish over time, then we can feel less sexual as people. Rediscovering that intimacy isn’t just about self-pleasure, but it can certainly help. If you’ve fallen out of the habit of spending a little time with yourself, then you might want to look into tips on how to rediscover your pleasure, whether you need new methods of stimulation or just to set a little more time for yourself.

Our sense of sexiness, just like every other aspect of our sense of self, needs a little reinforcement now and then. The ups and downs of everyday life can leave that side of us feeling neglected, so hopefully the tips above show you how to show it some love.