4 Things to Help Anxiety, Stress & PTSD

Establishing a routine

I cannot emphasise enough how important it is to build and stick to a routine that works for you! This will vary from person to person of course. Where one individual may function better starting the day super early at 5am to have some quiet me time before the rest of the world wakes up, to another not going to sleep until midnight because that’s when they find their solitude and soul searching moments to be most prominent... to one person needing exercise by midday to release endorphins, whilst another simply needs to sit quietly with a book or curl up in a blanket with a comforting toy at 5pm everyday. Find a routine that focuses on: the time you wake up, the time you sleep, the time you have some physical activity, the time you rest, eat, leisure and work. Don’t listen to anyone else’s day and allow it to impact what you recognise truly benefits you 🌟 💖 🧘🏻‍♀️

Candles and dim lights 

If you have been diagnosed with an anxiety, panic or mood disorder, research suggests that you are already susceptible to greater light sensitivity. There is also growing evidence that light exposure, particularly at night, can directly affect parts of the brain that regulate mood and behavior. Workers with night shift jobs under constant lighting must often deal with disruptions to their sleep-wake cycle and as a result are shown to experience more depression-like episodes. For me, photophobia is a little more complex. Not only do bright, white or blue tinted lights trigger anxiety and migraines, but it also sets off my PTSD after having spent multiple occasions in hospitals. There’s something about significant about bright lights that just reminds me of the clinical setting of a ward, which is incredibly distressing. My solution? Keeping blinds and curtains semi drawn, having warm-tinted lightbulbs in the house, opting for candles over lights where possible, soft changing mood lights and lava lamps! I don’t like every single light in the house to be on at once. Much apart from it triggering a host of mental issues with me, it’s a total waste of energy as well 💡 🙄 🌍

Positive affirmations

Affirmations are positive statements that can help you to challenge and overcome self-sabotaging and negative thoughts. When you repeat them often, and believe in them, you can start to make positive changes! For example, evidence suggests that affirmations can help you to perform better at work, take that first brave step to do something you’re frightened of, or on your bad days, to simply get THROUGH the day. My affirmations of choice are: “if I’ve done it once before, I can do it once more”, “I am brave bold and beautiful, I’m talented and time will show this”, “my thoughts will become reality”, “positive attracts positive”, and “it’s not as bad as it seems”. Be weary and conscious of what you are thinking. As a practicer of the Law of Attraction, I KNOW for a FACT that the days I’m negative and down as the days negative and downer things happen. It’s not always easy, but try to reel in your thoughts when you feel them slipping. Because the more positive you are, the better the events and outcomes of the day tend to be. 

Tidy spaces 

Cluttered space = a cluttered mind. So make the executive decision to de clutter, get rid of the things you never use, wear or even see at the best of times. We as humans hoard unconsciously, and sometimes by hoarding physical objects, we are metaphorically and unknowingly maintaining burdens and weights of our emotions as well. The moment you empty your living spaces of the things you don’t need, re organise that cupboard, arrange your clothes in colour coordination or by clothing type (ie dresses one side, shirts in the middle and so on), a greater feeling of balance is restored. There’s no mess to feel messy within. There’s no clutter to clutter your thought process. You know where XYZ is in the house without needing to overthink or panic about it. You can focus on other and more important things. Also, call me OCD, but there’s nothing more satisfying than a tidy home 😂 🏡 🧼

Above all else, focus on you. Sometimes even simple tings can be hard to do - but you can do it! You can and you will, because darling...

Love from Bucci X