Journaling For Mental Health, TRY IT

I used to be one of those who thought journaling or writing things down was useless or ineffective. I’ve learned journaling for my mental health is essential to my wellness journey. A few months ago I decided to go and purchase a journal. Even after I purchased the notebook, it sat on my table a while before I put the pen to paper. Boy, I’ll tell you when I did it was like drinking a cold glass of cucumber lemon water on a hot summer day. It was so liberating and I can feel every brick that was on my shoulder being lifted. Every worry, negative thought, and bad feeling just left my mind, but most importantly my body and spirit.

I wasn’t going to make a specific commitment or had any idea of what my process was going to be.

The first thing I noticed in keeping a journal is I’m more aware. I can specifically point out why I got upset or why something hurt my feelings. In turn I am able to let it go and not steal my joy. The more I journaled, I noticed how I was able to communicate better not just with my husband but with my children and family.

Coupled with being more aware I noticed I’m more sympathetic to others and express empathy more. Being in tuned and having my emotional health stable allows me to be of great service to others. I can connect with others more and encourage them through their journeys . Using my journaling therapy to help others has given me a new sense passion to motivate others to be the most fulfilled.

Journaling for mental health doesn’t have to make sense. For so long I thought when you journal you had to have correct spelling and grammar as if an English professor is grading it. Many times just jotting down my thoughts or feelings at the moment is more therapeutic than writing two pages. Sometimes its not a whole book that we need to read to get the message, in the same token a couple of random words may be the only thing that needs to be released.

Never say there isn’t anything to write about. I used to always think “what is there to write about”. Well guess what, there is plenty. Just picking up the pen and writing down the first thing that comes to mind is the best. Before you know it you may have several pages of purging.

I’m happier and doesn’t let things weigh on me. I’m not going to say things doesn’t bother me anymore but boy do I let it go quickly now. I don’t let people throw their trash to me and I keep it. Honey I’ll either let that trash fall and keep walking or simply laugh and keep walking.

You don’t have to do it everyday. I let my journal writing come natural to me. In doing this I noticed how much more relaxed I am and its ok if there is a shuffle in the schedule.

These are just a few things I’ve noticed in a couple of months. Journaling for mental health is something that is personal to you. If you are not in a good space, feeling depressed, having anxiety, or worried about what’s going to happen next I encourage you to begin journaling. Writing your thoughts down, being as angry as you want, as honest as you want, and completely vulnerable is the best free therapy you can have. It doesn’t have to be perfect or make sense. Just release the negative energy to make room for the positive.

RosalynLynn

Be you so you can be free.

Self Care Beauty Routine

The most common complaint I’ve heard in the last three months is how people weren’t able to groom themselves or get their beauty treatments like they used to. They told us to quarantine not let ourselves go. Yes I know its very easy to get in a funk because you have no where to go and no one to see. But taking care of yourself will lift your mood.

Even during these tough times you can create you a ritual or routine. Pick a day, time, and space where you can take time out for yourself.

When we have a great hair day everything else is ok. Start by giving your hair some TLC. Wash and deep condition your hair and bring life back to those tresses thats probably been in a bun for days. There are great quality products available at the drugstore that will give you salon results. Use this time to experiment on styles and practice.

Next bring some life back into you face and do an at home facial. Deep clean and exfoliate to lift those dead skin cells. Next a good face mask to deep clean those pores and smooth the skin. Having a natural glow from within brightens your face. Tone and moisturize to bring some plumpness back.

Explore your creativity and express yourself by doing an at home mani and pedi. There are endless option you can do to make sure your hands and feet are smoothed and polished. As a side note, purchasing a kit off Amazon for the price of one nail appointment saves you money.

Take a long shower or hot bath. Meditate, pray, or give yourself a pep talk to keep moving forward. While in the shower speak into existence what it is you want and are feeling and let the negative go down the drain. While taking a bath meditate and pray on what your next steps are and how you’re going to get there. This is your most private and intimate time with yourself and you can be completely honest and open.

Find something or someway to lift your mood or spirits. Feed your mental and emotional with positive thoughts and energy. Read a book, magazine, or listen to a podcast. Figure out what inspires you and seek it to help you keep going. Start by reading a chapter at night before bed. Watch a motivational video. Listen to a podcast while you clean and do laundry. Read a magazine article while you drink your coffee instead of watching the news. Let it soak in and reflect.

Of course you’re not a professional, but taking this time out for yourself gives you the motivation to create and make the best of this time that we aren’t going to get back. Use this time to become a better you, learn who you are, and what you need to work on. You never know, you may become so good that you won’t need to pay a professional anymore.

RosalynLynn

Be you so you can be free.

How To Boost Your Confidence With Daily Self Care

Oh this confidence thing again. Confidence can make or break a person. Having a lack of confidence kills relationships, stop you from living life due to fear, and all around a person performance in every aspect of their life suffers. I’ve said before and I’ll say it again confidence comes with practice. There are daily confidence boosters you can begin doing now.

Daily Confidence Boosters

1.Be who you want to be. Whatever your vision for yourself is, just be it. Once you sit in who you authentically are everything else will follow. What career path do you want to take? Is there a business you’d like to start. Are you living in the city, state, or country you want? So often we have these dreams or visions but fear, lack of money, and persuasion of others tells us we can’t. But guess what, you can. If you open a business and it dissolve, you’re still alive to try another. Nothing is definite you will always bounce back.

2.Compliment yourself daily. There are a million things we can find wrong with us. But I know there is something you like about yourself. Start off by finding one thing to compliment yourself on. Then build up to giving yourself multiple complements throughout the day. In the morning start with your skin, hair, outfit, or just simply waking up in a good mood. When you find yourself criticizing something you see “wrong” quickly divert that to something you like.

3.Give Back. It’s great to buy someone a gift or lend some money. But the greatest way to give back is serving or giving your time. Spending time with someone when they are down means more than a dollar. Volunteering gives someone in need an example of hope and sense of inspiration. Invite someone on a walk with you, give them a new perspective or different way of thinking and being. Guess what this will boost your confidence in so many ways. You see yourself as a someone who has something to offer, which gives you motivation to continue to find yourself.

4.Exercise. Do some form of physical activity. I’m not saying you have to go out and kill your self to the point you won’t be able to move the next day. However, walking is the easiest, thought provoking, free, and effective exercise you can do. Each time you walk pick a different trail or route. The different scenery opens your mind to think and see the world in a different way. Sweating release toxins. You begin to feel good about your body and outer appearance. Which increases your confidence when you put your clothes on. Because you feel good on the inside you look good on the outside and present that confidence for others to see. Your shoulders are back, heads up, and walking with a purpose.

5.Take a risk. Instead of thinking about the shoulda, coulda, woulda take that leap. What’s the worst that can happen? If it doesn’t work out try something else. The pain of not trying at all is worst than the pain of failing. At least if it failed, you learned something. You have knowledge and experience on what to do and what not to do. Get out the box and see what else the world has waiting for you. With each risk you take your ability to learn, grow, and overcome will boost your confidence.

6.Listen. I’ve learned when I receive a criticism or comment from two or more independent people I need to listen. Obviously if two people that doesn’t know each other are saying the same thing, then I need to evaluate what I’m doing to put that out there. You’re not changing who you are. You’re self reflecting. What mannerisms am I doing to for others to receive me that way?

7.Don’t pretend. “Don’t be a follower, be a leader.” that’s the famous line we’re told as kids. Being like someone else is impossible. You can only win at being you. You will fail at trying to be like someone else every time. Trying to be like someone else exhaust more time, energy, and money. It’s simply free and effortless to be you.

8.Journal. Building confidence and keeping it takes daily practice and efforts. That means you are going to have some bad days. We are human with feelings and emotions. But when those bad days come we can rely on our daily confidence boosters to get us back on track. Keeping a journal and writing things down gives you a visual and reference to go back to. When you’re on a high, journal that and when that low comes journal that in detail. That way you are able to look back and see what triggers caused you to have a bad day and how not to let it effect you again. Journaling allows us to be honest and release any toxins so we don’t hold on to them to spill into the next day.

9.Learn how to accept a compliment. How many times has someone given you a compliment and you minimize it to something that’s not a big deal. When someone says “I like those shoes,” simply reply with a thank you. Don’t say oh I’ve had these for years or these old things. Be appreciative that someone was willing to tell you they liked something about you instead of holding it in. Then pass it on and give someone a compliment.

10.Work. You get back what you put in. On the job that pays you, you have to work hard in order to keep that job and not allow someone else to come in and replace you. The same applies to your life. Put work into your self daily. Read, write, and talk to yourself on a daily. We can’t expect others to give us what we won’t give ourselves. Love on yourself and others will follow in your footsteps.

These are just a couple things you can do to begin boosting your confidence. The key to making it work is to be consistent. Don’t give up because you’ve had a bad day. Those are needed for our growth.

RosalynLynn

Be you so you can be free.

How To Answer The Question “Who Are You?”

Who are you? Tell me a little about yourself. Woman. Woman of God. Wife. Mother. Sister. Daughter. Friend. Professional. Sounds familiar?! Welp, that’s how most of us answer that question. We begin by stating what titles and positions we hold as if that’s truly who we are. This is one question that many of us struggle to answer. To answer this question is to know how to show your values and morals, know your boundaries and set expectations for your self and others, have a code of conduct, command respect without being disrespectful, and being consistent.

Answering said question takes time. Depending on where you are in your life, what experiences make up your story, how those experiences shaped your beliefs, and where you are in the healing process. There isn’t a right or wrong answer to this question. Your answer is going to be different than anyone else’s. There isn’t anywhere we can look to find the answer, except internally.

Discover Yourself

Thought Provoking Questions to Get You Started

  1. What is your pet peeve?
  2. What is your idea of a good time?
  3. What are your flaws?
  4. What is your best feature or attribute?
  5. What makes you cry?
  6. Does your friends inspire you?
  7. Are you happy in your relationship?
  8. Do you smile going to work everyday?
  9. What do you like to read?
  10. What is your favorite television show?
  11. What are you good at?
  12. What are your insecurities?
  13. Three words that best describes you.
  14. How do you handle it when someone pushes your buttons?
  15. What have you been putting off that you really want to do?

These are just a few questions to get you started. Once you begin to answer them honestly a more clear picture of who you are will come to you. For me it all started with me realizing my pet peeve. When someone would ask me what is my pet peeve I would have the deer in headlights look. My pet peeve is someone asking me questions to either pry into my business, get information to use for a later date, or to attempt to diminish what I’m doing. Once I figured this out I was better able prepared to notice when it was happening, divert the conversation, or simply avoid speaking with anyone who would do that to me. It took time and practice for me to get the courage to say “that isn’t something that I’m willing to discuss”.

Finding yourself or learning who you are is a journey. Because the only thing constant is change, maintaining a sense of your core allows you to make decisions without compromising yourself. Get a journal and keep it with you because its going to take time answering the above questions. The answer will come to you at the spare of the moment. Write that answer down and elaborate on it later.

Discovering who you are will set you free.

RosalynLynn

Be you so you can be free.

Take A Break…Your Mental Health Depends On It

We’ve become addicted to being busy. Telling ourselves its the only way to be successful, productive, and to provide for our families. Before we know it, time spent with family has become nonexistent. We’ve become robots and creatures of habit, we must stop and enjoy life.

If you’ve found yourself in a place where you need to stop and enjoy life, feeling lost and need to comeback the first thing to do is create a time dedicated just for you. Use this time to nurture your mind, body, and soul. It doesn’t have to be anything extravagant. If you want to binge watch a show and eat ice cream, guess what you taking a break and enjoying life.

Next thing you can do is STOP! Yes literally stop. There’s at least once or sometimes twice depending on what’s going, let’s remember I am a mom of 3, I sit on my couch, bed, or at the table and do absolutely nothing. Phone is either so far away from me that I won’t hear it or I’ve turned it off. Television and computer is off. Most of the time the lights are off. I’m literally still, letting my mind clear, wonder, drift, or do nothing. Just be in the moment. Don’t think about the bills, dinner, schedule, work, or anything else you feel has to be done. There isn’t a time frame of how long this stillness last I let it happen naturally.

So much happens on a daily basis that we don’t even realize it because we’re busy keeping the schedule going. Stop and enjoy life, take in the moments, enjoy the funny moment, and create memories.

Finally it’s ok to let the dishes sit until the morning or put that load in the washer. As women we so often put pressure on ourselves to get it all done. Guess what, we always get it done and make it happen. Take a little pressure off yourself, give yourself some credit, and permission to say “I’ll do it tomorrow.” You are still going to be that superwoman that you are.

Remember we aren’t robots. We are here to live and not exist. We’re suppose to enjoy life and live, not live like its a chore.

RosalynLynn

Be you so you can be free.

MOVE IN SILENCE

I learned in my early teen years of telling someone what I was going to do, where I was going, or what I had, what I was planning, or what I was thinking. To move in silence is the best thing to protect your mental and emotional health. Keeping your next move or goal to yourself allows you to maintain power and control over it.

When we share our next move instead of keeping it to ourselves, we allow others to give their opinion, distract us from our goal, steal our joy and motivation. Before you know it we won’t have a next move because someone has talked us out of it.

Keeping our next move to ourselves relieves us of the pressure to get it done faster. If we need to push the deadline back we can. And it eliminates us from having to answer questions about it all the time. How we go about making our dreams and goals come to pass is our business and no one else’s.

No one is going to be as excited as we are about our dream. And its selfish to expect them to. Remember when we show others what they aren’t doing, they aren’t going to respond with grace and be happy for us. Moving in silence isn’t wrong. You aren’t hiding anything or lying to anyone.

To eliminate confusion, negative talk, or unwanted comments never announce your next move before its done. Sometimes its best to keep our process of how we arrived to ourselves. How we overcome obstacles, rejections, and setbacks is for our growth. SELF CONFIDENCE BEGINS WITH THE MIND

Moving in silence is freedom for us to roam around our process. We can bounce back and forth, change plans, and switch things up. Telling others our every move, we would be distracted and get off course.

The next time you begin to tell someone about your next move, ask yourself if they are going to support you genuinely.

RosalynLynn

Be you so you can be free.

SELF CONFIDENCE BEGINS WITH THE MIND

Self confidence begins with the mind. What you say and think about yourself will determine how well your self confidence is going to show up. To obtain self confidence, it requires patience, persistence, and consistency. Confidence isn’t something that is one and done. It takes daily habits and practices to continually sustain self confidence.

No two persons path is going to look the same to gain self confidence. Our backgrounds and experience shapes our mindset. Why Mindset Is Everything Therefore what we value will be different on the list of priorities.

Self confidence comes from a person taking care of themselves. That is the most obvious. There is a trigger in the mind that goes off when we are able to put our best foot forward. I know every woman understand the thought of, if we are having a bad hair day then the entire day feels like crap.

It pulls our self esteem up when we take time to shower, put on a nice outfit, and feel good about our appearance. When we look good, we feel good. From there we go out and is able to engage confidently, take risks, and use our creativity.

Self confidence begins in the mind and how we process our setbacks. If we call ourselves negative names, and use negative self talk we plummet to depression fast. The most confident person looks at the situation and pull the positive and take it with them. Having confidence you understand that not everything is going to work out perfectly.

Self confidence is willing to take risk and tackle our fears. Not being afraid to challenge yourself. When you have self confidence you know challenges and fears are an opportunity for growth. Those with confidence are always willing to learn and grow. They aren’t afraid to be uncomfortable.

One of my biggest confidence boosters, is having the courage to ask for help. If I don’t know something or have spent enough time trying to figure it out, I will ask for assistance. Self confidence is knowing you will need help. It is impossible to have all the answers.

With that, confidence gives you permission to admit your fears, anxiety, and emotions. We aren’t robots, so we will experience an arrange of emotions at any given time.

Different Is Good

Another one of my biggest confidence boosters is not being afraid to look different, be different, go against the grain, or stand alone. I learned early on that choosing different is the easiest way to challenge yourself and know your own strength.

Even when the most confident people don’t have the support they desire, they still take that leap of faith. They know what they want and how it would make them feel. Along with not having support, self confidence will give you motivation when you don’t have all the answers and there is uncertainty.

Lastly, we need to remember whatever is placed upon heart and mind is ours and ours only. You don’t need permission from anyone to pursue what God has placed in you. The lens that you see through are a prescription for you and anyone who try to see through your lens their vision will be blurred.

You are you and that’s what make you unique.

RosalynLynn

Be you so you can be free.

Hit The Reset Button To Find Your Happiness

In life we can hit the reset button as often as we need to. Why? One of the reasons we become unhappy and everything seems to be in chaos is because we aren’t living for ourselves. Hitting the reset button and shifting our life to where its most fulfilling to ourselves allows us to be of great service to others.

Another reason we need to hit the reset button is because we’re tired of being the same version of ourselves over and over again. As humans we always are or should be, seeking for ways to constantly be better versions of ourselves.

First identifying what needs to be reset. We can reset our career, relationships, and even location of where we’re living to fulfill ourselves. Do an honest assessment and figure out what you want and need to get you to a better place mentally and emotionally.

Start with the most important. How do you figure out what’s the most important? It’s that thing that has been nagging at you or weighing the heaviest on your mind and heart. You know, that one thing that keeps creeping up no matter how far you try to run from it or bury it.

Set a goal, write down a plan, and begin strategizing on how you’re going to get there. Once you start everything else will snowball into place.

Just because you’re hitting the reset button doesn’t mean you have to forget about everything previously. Remember what worked for you in the past, what made you happy, and most important what didn’t work. Learn from your mistakes and achievements and build off that.

The smallest change will make a huge difference.

RosalynLynn

Be you so you can be free.

How To Use Creativity To Boost Your Mental Health

Right now the entire world has been turned upside down, twisted inside out, and shaken to its core. Some of us are more dizzy than others and trying to figure how to get back to where we were. Now is the time to get creative at home. Use your imagination and get creative on whatever your mind and heart desires.

Instead of trying to hold on to what was and what used to be take this moment and use your creativity to set you up for your next chapter in life. We all have something that we would like to create and develop. Shift your focus, energy, thoughts, and time to start that new business, that project you’ve been putting off or started and never finished, write that book, grow your family, create new memories with your family, or finish that project you’ve been wanting to do in your home. Instead of looking at this time period in a negative manner, actually this is a blessing in disguise because we have all the time in the world to get creative and dive right in to whatever we had been wanting to do.

When we tap into our creative side, anxiety creeps away, stress is relieved, and we’re able to handle things that comes along .

Of course the unknown of what’s going to happen when this over is scary, unsettling, and stressful. However, shifting our focus and investing this time wisely will ease many of those tensions. The mind and body will be occupied and filled with energy that allows us to create the photo of the future instead of holding on to an old outdated photo.

Whatever it is you desire, take one step each day to attain it.

RosalynLynn

Be you so you can be free.

Walking for Health…Mental and Physical

Yes, walking is my favorite exercise. Walking for mental and emotional health is best free therapy. I can literally walk everyday and not get tired or bored. Not only do I walk to keep my heart healthy, maintain my weight, and for energy, but its the most important part of me keeping my mental health in check.

If I have a bad day at the office, stressing trying to keep three kids, a husband, and household running, or trying to figure something out I literally say I need to go for a walk. Walking is a great exercise you can do for creating and stabilizing your mental health.

Walking reduces stress, anxiety, and depression. When walking you’re able to dissect negative emotions, feelings, and thoughts. Figure out and understand why certain feelings and emotions occurred. Walking to clear your head is therapy for your mind, body, and soul. You can literally speak aloud your thoughts, release them, and come to solution.

Walking for mental health increases self esteem, mood, and good sleep. When we go for a walk we release tensions and toxins that is making us have sleepless and restless nights. Another great benefit of walking is it improves our sense of self, mind, and awareness. Walking is free and the most effective exercise you can do.

Walking is my therapy. What do you do to center yourself?

RosalynLynn

Be you so you can be free.