just a little reminder. 🖤
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How To Take Care of The Right Brain
Many times we talk about self-care, and how important it is to take time out to yourself (it is actually a requirement of mine). What we don’t think about, is to how to also take care of our creative mind. It actually is quite simple, as a lot of the thing you would do to take care of yourself, also will allow you to take care of the part of your brain that thrives in the creativity department. So, to get an idea of how to give your brain the dedicated self-care it deserves, think about these few things when you’re taking the time out for yourself:
- Adequate rest – in my humble opinion, a restful mind is a creative mind. Getting an adequate amount of rest and recharging will aide in better productivity and more creativity when working on different projects. I know society’s perspective is 7-9 hours; however, I can function on 6-7. You also have to know your body, because too much sleep can then make you a lot more tired than you were before.
- Filling your head with knowledge – I believe that the world is nothing but a big classroom, filled with tools and resources for knowledge. I try to do better at reading the news, different articles about certain topics, writing (or typing if I’m in my phone) random thoughts or ideas that come to me, anything that would help push along the creative rush. I feel the more I learn, the more creative I will be, and I’ll be able to lean on different topics to gain more ideas.
- Meditation – sometimes, I find bringing my mind to a certain level of stillness makes me more positive and more productive in the long run.
- Positive thought process – if my mind is clouded with negativity, my creative mind is stifled. Writer’s block creeps in, ideas do not flow, a whole mess.
All of these are amazing tips to incorporate into your daily life, because protecting our creativity is important. Those of us who thrive on the idea of creativity and shining in our given talents need to take into account the idea of taking care of ourselves, and our ability to create.
Dealing with Downs
Most times, I enjoy writing things that people could relate to. I’m not like other bloggers; I don’t have a “niche” per se, I don’t have a specific thing that I want to talk about all the time on my blog. But, if you could ball my creative side up and put it into a category, I would call it “Life.” That’s what I enjoy writing about; sometimes my innermost thoughts, sometimes the things that you are thinking but just won’t say, but most importantly I like to write about the things that I feel the person to my left or right of me is going through also, but are too afraid to bring it to light. I believe that everyone sometimes has similar problems or trials in life, and we all just need someone to sit down and talk to them about it.
So, with that being said, here is mine. As I’m sure the greater 475+ of you have noticed, I haven’t written much in a period of about 2-3 months. I haven’t been on my blog, I haven’t promoted anything, and honestly I haven’t even finished the projects that I intent to publish very soon. Mentally, I haven’t been in the headspace to create anything that I feel people would care about, but I felt like if nothing more, someone could relate to this very post. Emotionally, I’ve been on a roller coaster. It’s something that I don’t want to put so much effort into disclosing, but just know that there are times when you can be at your lowest, and in a split second be on a high; eventually, you ride that high all the way back down to a low point, and that could last for a long while. I feel just like that, like I’ve been riding an emotional wave between high and low for a while now. Some days I’ll sit down and crank out 10,000 words for my book or have really good content to write for my blog, and another day I may not have the motivation to do anything and that could last for days.
Sometimes, I am at a complete loss on how to move past those down moments. It’s really not a fun place to be in. I know there may be several people in the world, creatives especially, that may go through these moments of lows when it comes to doing what you’re passionate about. First and foremost, I have to say keep pushing. No low moment lasts forever, and with proper self-care and self-love, you can pull yourself out. Some of the things I enjoy doing are listening to music, meditating, working out or just basically having alone time and thinking about positive things. I re-read affirmations I have written and journal constantly to try and vent my feelings, but also bring myself out of said funk. I urge anyone going through something similar to find what hobbies and activities put you in your happy place, and build off of those.
For me, I am currently in “pull yourself out of it” mode, and with that will come more writing, more content and overall more happiness.
Stay with me, I’ll be just fine. 🖤
Self-Care Sunday: Give Your Goal a “Why”
As we near the end of the first month of 2018, a lot of us are checking in with ourselves and making sure that our goals and intentions for 2018 are still in tact; while most of us have already fallen by the wayside at Week 2. While we all had lofty goals and everything sounded good on 1/1/18, by now I’m sure some of us may be slipping into old habits and forgetting why we set goals in the first place. One way we can overcome this hurdle, is by remembering one important question in all of this; “Why?”
“Why did you choose this goal over any others for the year to achieve? Why did you want this to be the one thing you focused on? Why did you want to succeed in this particular area in your life?” These are just a few of the questions that begin to build a foundation to finding out some fascinating information about yourself, and about the intentions you set in motion for your year ahead.
I am no stranger to this bad habit, and there have been many years that I have fallen into this self-inflicted trap; and by February, I was back to my bad habits. For 2018, I am trying to do things a little differently, and this year, I think one way to combat that first month of the year burnout, is to sit down with your list of goals and really dig glen to the root of why you made those goals in the first place.
If you have more than one, maybe they all tie into one common “why” for the 2018 year, or maybe you have different “why’s” for each goal; either way, each goal has an overall reason why you want to achieve it, and you have a right to yourself to find out what that is, and you owe it to yourself to commit to staying consistent with those goals.
Once you are able to really determine the why behind your overall goals, the mission for your life may appear a lot clearer to you, and also, your goal may seem a lot more important if you remember that there is actually a deeper reasoning behind all of this. You deserve to give yourself 100% effort towards working with achieving whatever you set out for yourself in order to make this a more positive and prosperous year ahead and sometimes it takes a little self-reflection to see that.
Asking yourself the question why also gives you the room to understand and know whether or not you need to alter or change your goals for the year. It’s never too late to make life changes, and sometimes you find that something you thought is for you, turns out to not be in your best interest after all. If that happens, you just have to learn to adjust your goals and put new ones in place. Life changes in an instant and nothing in this world I believe is meant to remain consistent. If things are meant to be changed then they can be changed and will be changed.
As we begin to dive into 2018, I encourage all of us to do some check-ins and definitely ask yourself the hard question of “why”. Find out why the goals we put forth are important, what will they do for our lives and how they will impact us positively. If they will not have any benefit to us, make some changes, but if they need to be modified, put forth the best effort into them that you can, because ultimately, you are the one striving to achieve them, and you want to be proud of the plan you put in place for yourself and what your were able to accomplish at the end of the year.
Self-Care Sunday: Give Your Skin that Glow
This week for self-care I want to highlight something very simple yet very relaxing that I do once a week; sheet masks! I’ve been doing sheet masks for a couple months now and I must say I LOVE them! I do one at least once a week (sometimes twice depending on what I’m doing it for) and it’s been very beneficial to my skin care routine!
I have done different sheet masks for different purposes; whether it’s to hydrate my skin, detox, clarify or brighten. Nothing feels more refreshing than seeing your face glowing and fresh from doing a relaxing sheet mask.
Usually when I do my sheet mask, I take the time to meditate, read, or just rest for about 15-20 while the mask does it magic. This is also a perfect time to squeeze in some quality quiet time if you’ve had a busy or hectic work day/weekend. Usually if I can’t find the time to unplug or get a few minuts to myself, this is the perfect time to do that. So, I’m essentially multitasking with my self-care with this idea 😉.
The benefits of a sheet mask typically depend on what type of sheet mask you are using and what you’re wanting to achieve with that mask. If you want to detox your skin, then you can get a detoxifying mask (which typically has charcoal in it), if you want to put moisture back into your skin, then a hydration mask is best, and you can even by a mask with putting properties that will unclog your pores and have your skin feeling fresh and new.
In addition to what I do to cleanse my skin daily, this is a great weekly addition to your routine, if you’re looking for spa-like treatment from the comfort of your own home. Just put it on, set a timer and prepare to unwind for a matter of 20 unbothered minutes!
Self-Care Sunday: Creating Space for Yourself
One thing that I feel is necessary for self-care is creating space for yourself.
When you think about “creating space”, sometimes the first thing that comes to mind is physical space; cleaning, de-cluttering, doing basic “detoxing” of your life. Those are all good things; however, when I think of creating space for myself, I think of mental and emotional space.
I think of all the things we endure in life give us a pass that sometimes we deserve to create the necessary emotional and mental space to breathe and ensure we are secure and sound in mind, body and spirit. We tend to be very selfless and strong people, we do things for others, we go the extra mile, we work our fingers to the bone until we are left standing with nothing else to give to our creative endeavors. This has been me on several occasions, until I began to tell myself that I will start giving myself the opportunity to create space for myself.
I create space for myself to do the things that I love to do; whether it be reading, writing, meditating, spending time with my daughter, my family, my friends or even myself. I knew that in order for me to maintain my level of self-care, this was a priority and I had to make it a priority. Even as little as 15-30 minutes, I committed to giving myself small moments if even just to breathe. I found that even after those moments, I felt so much better after having a hectic day.
My self-care tip this week is to give yourself the opportunity to create space for yourself. Tell yourself that you will make it a priority to make sure you have time for yourself, just like you make it a priority for others to have your time, space and energy. The benefits will outweigh the costs every time, I guarantee it.
Self-Care Sunday: The Chakra Alignment
Recently, I’ve been into researching and learning about chakras, and how benficial it is for mine to be aligned in order for me to be completely balanced. Chakras were something I had gotten into last year, and it is carrying over into this year and I’m definitely taking it more seriously. I’ve noticed how a deep practice and discipline into it and meditation makes me feel more spiritually and mentally aligned, which is primarily one of my focuses for 2018.
First, i want to provide a few highlights about chakras, for those of you wondering, “what the heck are your chakras?!”:
* A “chakra” is a spinning wheel of energy located in specific places in your body.
* There are 7 main chakras, that move from the base of your spine to the crown of your head.
* Chakras are also associated with different colors and energy sources.
Sometimes, you can immediately tell when your chakras are out of alignment. If you are having trouble dealing with things emotionally, having a hard time communicating effectively, or when your life generally feels off balance, your chakras possibly need to be worked on.
Working towards balancing your chakras can come in a number of ways. The number 1 way is through meditation. Some people may focus on one specific chakra, if they are aware of what part of their life needs balancing, while others will meditate daily to keep all chakras aligned. I am someone who meditates and aligns all chakras every day. If I feel like I was particularly drawn to one specific chakra, I will spend more time on that chakra; however, I am usually meditating and focusing on all 7.
There are several resources and a wealth of information on the Internet about chakras and their origin, how to best practice and how to benefit your health and well-being. It is a natural fact that when your body feels good, your overall mood is better. Aligning and opening your chakras allow you the opportunity to become more centered with your body, gain clarity with difficult situations, and improve your rest, emotional and even sexual energy.
So, if you meditate regularly or want to find a way to start a healthy balance on your body, try incorporating a focus on your chakras for better balance and emotional stability.
