by Hope Zvara | Sep 20, 2023 | Mental Health
The root of the fear.
The root of the fear is not being enough.
The fear of not being enough is rooted in a lack of self-love. Self-love is important because it allows us to accept ourselves and others. It is the foundation of all other forms of love (including romantic and platonic), personal growth, appreciation for art and culture–everything good in life!
Do it anyway.
So, what can you do?
- Focus on the present. The past is gone, and the future hasn’t happened yet–you can’t control either of them. You can only control how you react to what happens in the here and now, so focus on that instead of worrying about things that haven’t happened yet (or are out of your control).
- Take action! If there’s something you want to do but feel like it’s too much for you right now, don’t let that stop you from doing something small, just so long as it gets one foot in the door so that eventually those big dreams become attainable goals instead of pipe dreams forever lingering in your mind like an annoying mosquito buzzing around at dusk while everyone else is enjoying summertime activities outside together because they had no fear or doubt holding them back from achieving their goals earlier on down life’s path…
Celebrate past successes.
When you’re feeling down and out, it’s easy to forget about all the great things in your life. You might feel like nothing matters anymore–but that’s not true! You have achievements and successes that are worth celebrating, even if they seem small compared with other people’s accomplishments. Here are some ways you can celebrate:
- Celebrate your past accomplishments. If you’ve accomplished something significant in the past (such as graduating from college), list everything that went into achieving that goal and reflect on how proud you feel now that it’s done!
- Celebrate other people’s successes by congratulating them or sharing their stories online so others can be inspired by them too!
- Or maybe there was a moment when everything seemed okay again after feeling bad for such a long time…celebrate those moments, too!
Use positive language.
You can overcome your fear of being insufficient by using positive language and affirmations. Positive language is when you use words that describe what you want rather than what you don’t want or are afraid of. For example, instead of saying, “I’m not good enough,” say, “I am capable.” Instead of saying, “I’m afraid I won’t get this job,” say, “I’m excited about the opportunity.”
A positive affirmation is a statement that affirms something about yourself or your life that is true for you at this moment in time–and can be repeated over and over again throughout the day until it becomes part of who we are as individuals! Here are some examples:
- I am strong when faced with challenges.
- I am kindhearted towards others even when they aren’t kind back to me first (or ever).
- My dreams do come true one day, every single one!
Surround yourself with people who love, support, and challenge you.
- Be open to criticism.
- Ask for help when you need it.
- Find people willing to challenge you but also support and love you.
You are enough just as you are right now!
You are enough just as you are right now!
You have much to offer the world and it’s time to start believing in yourself. You may feel like your life is not going how it should but remember: it’s not about what has happened or what could happen in the future; it’s about how we choose to live our lives today.
Our perspective on events determines how we feel about ourselves and others around us. If we focus on our shortcomings instead of on all of our strengths, then that’s where our energy goes–and this can lead us down a path where self-doubt becomes rampant and self-confidence dwindles ultimately. But when we can see ourselves through clearer eyes (and maybe even ask someone else), everything suddenly changes!
In the end, it’s time to start the process of overcoming the fear of not being enough.
You are enough just as you are right now! You don’t need to be perfect or have it all figured out. You don’t need to be a certain way or have certain things for your life to be meaningful. All that matters is what you do with what you have–and that is up to each of us individually. So take a deep breath and remember that this moment, right here, right now: that’s where we find our power.
by Hope Zvara | May 31, 2023 | Mental Health
Mindfulness is something of a popular phenomenon at the moment, and with good reason. It is actually something that a lot of people already know the benefits of, and once you start practicing it yourself you will soon start to appreciate those benefits too. With a regular meditation practice in place, you can expect to have a calmer and more open mind, a better understanding of yourself, and more compassion for others, so there is plenty to enjoy here. Let’s look at some of the things that will help you to be more mindful in your everyday life.
Image Credit – CCO License
Understanding Your Motivation
Very often, all you really need to do in order to be more mindful is to have a good appreciation of what your own motivation is. It can be all too easy to end up in a place where you don’t really understand your own motivation, and because of that you will often need to get back in touch with it in order to improve things. The more fully you understand your motivation, the better off you will be in this regard. Whether you just want a more peaceful mind or you are looking for something even more profound, understanding what it is can really help you out.
Regular Exercise
As a rule, the better you care for your body, the easier you will find it to look after your mind as well, so it’s a good idea to make sure that you are getting regular exercise too. This doesn’t have to be anything over the top – just a couple of days at the gym should be sufficient for most people who want to be generally fit. Get yourself prepared for the gym if you want to return there again and again: take your big water bottle with straw, dress appropriately, and plan out what you are going to do while you’re there. If you can do all that, you’ll be more likely to actually go.
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Meditation
Although they are often put together, in fact mindfulness and meditation are two separate things, and you should make sure that you are aware of that fact if you want to make the most of each of them. As it happens, you will find that a regular meditation practice significantly improves your mindfulness, so this is something that you may want to bear in mind if you are hoping to be more mindful as best as you can be. Just twenty minutes a day should be sufficient for this.
Patience
Finally, remember that it really is a process of learning how to be mindful, so the more patient you can be, the better. Patience is a trait that can really help you a lot in the process of mindfulness itself too, so it’s doubly important that you are aiming for this as best as you can. If you can do that, you should find that you are able to enjoy a lot more mindfulness in your daily life soon enough.
by Hope Zvara | Oct 27, 2022 | Lifestyle, Mental Health
When you are struggling with an eating disorder, it feels like there is no way out. You may feel like you are in control when you are restricting your food intake or bingeing and purging, but the truth is that eating disorders have a tight grip on you. The good news is that there is hope. You can restore your health and reclaim your life with the proper support. This blog post will discuss five tips for restoring eating disorders.
7 Tips on Restoring After an Eating Disorder
1) Seek professional help:
This is the most crucial step in restoring your health. Eating disorders are complex mental illnesses that require specialized treatment. Work with a team of professionals who can provide you with the comprehensive care you need. This may include a registered dietitian, therapist, and physician.
Many specialized programs treat eating disorders. These programs can provide you with the structure and support that you need to recover, for instance:
- Partially inpatient programs,
- Intensive outpatient programs,
- Residential treatment programs.
2) Address the underlying causes:
Eating disorders often develop to cope with difficult emotions or situations. Therefore, it is important to address the underlying causes of your eating disorder to recover fully. This may involve working through trauma, resolving conflict, or addressing other issues in your life.
It is important to develop healthy coping skills. This will help you to deal with difficult emotions and situations healthily.
3) Make nutrition a priority:
Eating disorders often involve disordered eating patterns. This can lead to nutritional deficiencies. Therefore, it is essential to make nutrition a priority in your recovery. Work with a registered dietitian to develop a nutritious meal plan that meets your needs. Be sure to include foods from all groups and pay attention to portion sizes.
Nutrition is an important part of restoring your health. However, do not try to lose weight while recovering from an eating disorder. Instead, focus on rebuilding your health and let weight loss happen naturally. If your appetite is gone and you need to restore your appetite to gain weight due to an eating disorder, you could consider Delta 9 Gummies.
4) Exercise in a healthy way:
For many people with eating disorders, exercise becomes a compulsion. It is important to find a balance with exercise. Too much exercise can be just as harmful as too little. Work with a professional to develop an exercise plan for you.
Exercise should be something that you enjoy. It should not be used as a way to punish yourself. Instead, find activities you enjoy and make them part of your routine. You can consider exercises: walking, biking, swimming, yoga, and weightlifting.
5) Find a support system:
Recovery from an eating disorder is a journey. You will need support along the way. Find people who will understand and support you. This may include family and friends, or you may find support from others walking the same path. Many online communities offer support. Do not be afraid to ask for help when you need it. Recovery is possible with the proper support in place.
6) Challenge negative thoughts:
One of the hallmarks of eating disorders is negative thinking. Negative thoughts can fuel disordered eating behaviors. Therefore, it is important to challenge these negative thoughts to restore your health. Work with a therapist to help you identify and challenge distorted thinking patterns.
Practice self-compassion. Be gentle with yourself as you recover. Eating disorders are hard to overcome, but it is possible to find healing and hope.
7) Be patient:
Restoring your health takes time. There will be ups and downs along the way. Be patient with yourself and accept that recovery is a gradual process. Trust in the fact that you have the strength to overcome this illness. Take things one day at a time and celebrate each small victory. Remember that you are on a journey to a better, healthier you.
In conclusion, eating disorders are serious mental illnesses that require specialized treatment. Work with a team of professionals to address the underlying causes of your eating disorder and make nutrition a priority. Also, exercise healthily and find a support system to help you along the way. Finally, be patient with yourself and trust that recovery is possible.
by hope | Aug 27, 2022 | Lifestyle, Mental Health
You’re under a lot of pressure at work, and your home life is a mess. You can’t seem to catch a break. When you finally get some time to yourself, all you want to do is relax, but instead, you find yourself feeling more stressed than ever. What’s going on? Stress is taking its toll on your body and mind, and it’s not good for you. This blog post will discuss the 5 negative effects of stress on your body.
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1. Stress can cause physical symptoms such as headaches, stomach aches, and muscle aches.
When you’re under stress, your body is in a state of fight-or-flight. This means that your body is preparing itself for a physical threat by releasing hormones like adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones can cause physical symptoms such as headaches, stomachaches, and muscle aches.
2. Stress can make it difficult to concentrate.
If you’re constantly worrying about what’s going on in your life, it can be hard to focus on anything else. This is because stress causes your brain to release a hormone called norepinephrine, which makes it harder for you to think clearly.
The next time you find yourself having trouble concentrating, take a few deep breaths and try to relax. It might take some practice, but eventually, you’ll be able to focus better when you’re under stress.
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3. Stress can make you more susceptible to illness.
When you’re stressed, your body’s immune system is not as effective at fighting off infection. This means that you’re more likely to get sick when you’re under stress. If you already have an illness, stress can make it worse.
If you find yourself getting sick often, it might be time to look at your stress levels and see if there’s anything you can do to reduce them.
4. Hair loss can be caused by stress.
When you’re under a lot of stress, your body goes into survival mode and starts to conserve its energy. One of the ways it does this is by cutting back on non-essential functions like hair growth. This can lead to temporary hair loss.
If you’re noticing more hair in your brush than usual, it might be due to stress. Try to take some time for yourself and relax. You might want to invest in some hair loss products.
5. Bad mood
Stress can have a negative impact on your mood, making you feel more irritable, anxious, and depressed. It might be due to stress if you’re having difficulty enjoying the things you used to love.
Try to take some time each day to do something that makes you happy. It doesn’t have to be anything big, just something that brings a smile to your face. Also, make sure to talk to someone if you’re feeling down or overwhelmed by stress.
Stress can have a negative impact on your physical and mental health. If you’re noticing any of the above symptoms, it might be time to look at your stress levels and see if there’s anything you can do to reduce them.
by hope | Jun 30, 2022 | Inspirational, Mental Health
What is your relationship with yourself?
It may seem like an odd question as most people focus on their relationships with their loved ones or friends. Yet, believe it or not, according to expert therapists, our relationship with ourselves is disintegrating at an alarming rate. Self-esteem issues are more and more frequent, with approximately 85% of people worldwide struggling with low self-confidence. In other words, the relationship you have with yourself is likely to be wrong, according to statistics.
Why don’t we love ourselves more? According to Baumeister, our concept of self is our understanding of our personal attributes. The better we understand ourselves, the more likely our self-confidence and sense of self-worth will remain intact.
Unfortunately, self-confidence develops in young age, during childhood and adolescence. Therefore, your interactions with your parents and social circle at that age will impact your perception of yourself and, in turn, your self-confidence. Children who receive recognition for their mistakes and achievements are likely to develop into confident adults with healthy self-esteem. On the other hand, if parents expect their child to achieve an impossible level of perfection and are fast to criticize any mistakes, the child is prone to feel inadequate, not good enough, and not worthy of self-love.
If you’ve grown up in a situation where you have received unfair criticism, you probably find it tough to make peace with some of your personal attributes. But it is never too late for a wake-up call. Learning to love yourself starts today.
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Recover from criticism about your physical appearance
Have you grown up being the chubby kid or the one with the uneven smile? Being at the receiving end of hurtful jokes, even from friends and family, can make it hard to make peace with your appearance. So, finding an objective interlocutor to discuss your worries is essential. I was that kid that others joked about, and it hurt. In middle school, I tried to laugh it off like it was no big deal, but in truth, it was, and it impacted me for years afterward.
Indeed, if you have experienced people making fun of you for some of your physical features, it can be tough to see the real you behind the painful comments. For example, someone who might have been on the heavy side during their school years may still see the image of their old overweight self in the mirror, even though they have long lost all the excess weight. So, the first step in healing your self-esteem is to find someone who will be honest with you and help you. Reaching out to a specialist, such as asking a dentist about your smile, is the surest way to hear an objective answer. More importantly, a specialist can also help you understand your options if you wish to improve features you are uncomfortable with. For example, a dentist could recommend using composite bonding to cover chipped teeth. Or perhaps finding help with getting fit and losing weight from Thetribestm.com is the best option for you. Think about what will help most and make a move in that direction. Making peace with your appearance doesn’t necessarily mean accepting traits you are unhappy about. Things can be changed, and transformations have proven instrumental in re-learning self-love.
by hope | Jan 27, 2022 | Lifestyle, Mental Health
We all need time and space to relax in life. If we spend too much time working hard and pushing our limits, our mental health can start to suffer, and that’s not something you ever want to experience. We’re going to talk today about some of the best relaxation methods you can start to use if you’re going to aid your mental health going forward. So read on to find out all about the best options.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
If you haven’t heard of progressive muscle relaxation before, it’s an approach to relaxation that involves the tensing of the muscles in coordination with breathing. You tense certain muscle groups as you breathe in and then relax them as you breathe out. And you do this over and over as you focus on your muscles and your breathing and nothing else. It can help you relax.
Learn Meditation Techniques
Meditation is a great way to clear your mind of any worries and concerns and focus on breathing or nothing at all. It’s a great benefit to your mental health and something you should take the time to explore and learn more about if you never have before. There are also lots of different types of meditation, so there’s sure to be one out there that appeals to you in some way.
Visualization
Some people find it very relaxing to use a technique known as visualization. As the name suggests, this is when you take the time to visualize something positive, something happy, or something that you’re working towards. Seeing it and believing it can be uplifting and helpful when you’re in a stressful situation and want some momentary escape.
Find the Right Relaxing Herbs
There are lots of herbs and plants out there that are known to relax us in a variety of different ways. Lavender is one perfect example, and you can find all kinds of lavender products, from bath to sleep products, that are known to help us relax. On the other end of the spectrum, and depending on their legality in your location, there are cannabis products such as cannabis seeds, CBD, and plenty others that people use to help them relax. Like anything, make sure you do your research before you buy any CBD product as the quality can vary vastly.
Try Yoga
When you’re practicing yoga, you’re getting a physical workout, but many people do it for the mental health benefits it brings. Yoga is 1% asana and 99% everything else- LIFE! If you haven’t yet given yoga a go, that’s something that you should probably seek to change. It can be one of the best ways to help you relax and focus on nothing at all. And don’t stress, there are dozens of styles, methods, teachers, and approaches, if you try one and it’s not your cup of tea, then go out and try another.
Now you know all about some of the best and most effective ways of relaxing and taking care of your mental health. All you need to do is start making the most of them. Try them out and see which of them work best for you. After all, each of us is different and different options work for us. Trial and error help a lot here.
Learn more about Hope
Want to learn more about Hope Zvara and how she helps others move their mind and their body…
Check out Hope’s feature on the 2x Emmy Nominated Show STARTUP on PBS, Amazon Prime, World Network, and Create Network
https://www.pbs.org/video/mother-trucker-yoga-hartford-wi-ivcibi/
