6 Things to Do When You Get Bad News

The first several minutes after you hear bad news can whirl you around like a tornado. Your mind spins and you can barely even catch a breath. If someone is speaking the news to you, your pounding heart may begin to drown them out. It’s just too much. 

There are good ways to handle bad news, and I will share these tips with you in this article. Try them and see if you don’t recover more quickly from bad news. 

Steady Your Breathing and Don’t Allow Yourself to Panic

 

When you get bad news, it sucks the life right out of you. Don’t panic. Instead, pause and take a few deep breaths. Center yourself. Take a walk as this can help ground you and calm you down. This will give you clarity and the energy to keep moving forward. 

Don’t Avoid the Negative Emotions You Feel, but Don’t Let Them Overwhelm You

 

Attempting to avoid negative feelings may cause more harm than good. Allow yourself to feel the negative emotions as a natural reaction. Emotions are not your enemy. Let yourself react in whatever way it will, as far as emotions go. 

 

Healthy versus unhealthy emotional reactions include:

 

• Healthy: My heart is heavy, and I feel sad.

• Unhealthy: My life as I know it is over. We’re doomed.

• Healthy: I’m angry about this news.

• Unhealthy: Screw life, let’s just give up.

 

Concentrate on Your Physical Well-Being

 

Keeping your calm and maintaining your perspective depends largely on your physical well-being. Try to be as kind as possible to yourself when experiencing bad news. Get sufficient exercise and sleep and avoid taking drugs or drinking alcohol in excess. 

Reach Out to Others for Reassurance and Advice

 

When you feel overwhelmed, vulnerable and threatened, it’s natural to reach out to someone in your social network for reassurance, advice or a fresh perspective. Be sure to choose a person who will listen to your feelings and know positive ways to respond. You don’t want to choose someone who will make you feel worse.

 

Being with other people will allow you to more easily work through your feelings and thoughts, to regain a calm perspective. You can also enjoy engaging in painting, writing or spending quality time out in the natural world. 

Put Everything in Perspective

 

If you tend to hold onto negative feelings for too long, reach inside and attempt to put the situation into proper perspective. Accept good aspects as well as bad ones, in the situation. 

 

Write down things you feel grateful for and remind yourself about the things that are most important to you. This helps you to realize that it’s not really the end of the world just because you’ve received bad news. 

Develop an Action Plan

 

Draw up a plan of how to get your life back on track if the bad news has affected parts of your personal life. Set a deadline when you want to be fully back on track, and no longer dwelling on bad news. 

 

Only use practical plans in moving forward. This creates new opportunities to discover fresh ideas based on those plans. You’ll appreciate the planning when you’re back on track mentally and physically. 

Conclusion

 

The framework created by these positive reactions to bad news will help you to triage whatever the rest of this year and beyond will bring. No one is perfect in their responses to bad news but striving to confront the negative feelings and ideas that directly bother you is much better than allowing them to fester.

 

Ask for help whenever you need it from a trusted person, to help yourself in healing sooner and not later.

Reference

 

How to Cope With Bad News | Psychology Today

 

A Fresh Look at Self-Care with 10 Practices to Get You Started

Self-care should be an integral part of anyone’s life as it is one of the key ways to better health, emotional wellbeing and stress reduction. We can take intentional steps as we practice self-care for our mind, body and spirit. 

 

Self-care isn’t just about spa days, bubble baths, or treating yourself to an occasional dessert, even though these actions are certainly a part of it. It’s about deeply understanding what you need to thrive emotionally, physically, and mentally. 

 

It’s the ongoing practice of prioritizing your wellbeing so that you can live more vibrantly and authentically. It is often said that you must give yourself permission for self-care and that is because it is an intentional and deliberate action that is ultimately the responsibility of the individual. 

 

Self-care encompasses a wide range of activities and practices, including:

 

• Physical self-care: Exercising, eating nutritious food, and ensuring you get enough rest.

• Emotional self-care: Engaging in activities that help you process your emotions, such as journaling or speaking to a therapist.

• Mental self-care: Stimulating your mind with new knowledge, reading, creative projects, or simply taking a break from work to prevent burnout.

• Spiritual self-care: Connecting with practices that give you a sense of purpose and peace, such as meditation, prayer, or spending time in nature.

Self-Care Benefits

 

• Enhances Productivity and Focus

• Reinforces Self-Worth and Self-Love

• Helps you manage stress

• Benefits emotional, mental and physical health

• In its most simple terms, it is an act of prioritizing yourself

 Breaking Down Barriers to Self-Care

 

Despite understanding its importance, many people struggle to integrate self-care into their daily lives. Common barriers include:

 

• Guilt: Many people feel guilty taking time for themselves, especially when they have responsibilities to family, work, or friends.

• Time constraints: The perception that there’s “no time” for self-care.

• Cultural norms: Societal pressures often glorify overworking and undervalue rest.

 

The first step to overcoming these barriers is reframing the way we view self-care. It’s not an optional activity for when you’ve finished everything else, it’s an integral part of being able to do everything else. Self-care should be seen as non-negotiable.

10 Self-Care Practices

1. Take the First Step Towards Self-Care

 

If self-care feels like a foreign concept or an added burden, start small. It could be as simple as dedicating 10 minutes of your day to something you enjoy. Over time, as you begin to experience the positive effects, you’ll start to see self-care not as a task but as an act of self-respect and love.

2. Nature Walks

 

Take a walk in a local park, forest, or even your backyard. Walking in nature helps to clear your mind and reconnect with the world outside. Studies show that a walk of only 20 minutes can lower stress levels and improve your mental health.

3. Mindful Morning Ritual

 

Start your day with a morning ritual that centers you. This could include five minutes of deep breathing, gentle stretching, or journaling about your intentions for the day. This practice helps you enter the day with a calm mind and sets a positive tone for whatever comes your way.

4. Take Your Pet to The Park

 

Our pets are some of our nearest and dearest friends, and spending time with them is a way to care for ourselves as well. You and your pet will benefit from the change of scenery and have a chance to forget your worries as you connect. The park can help you both get more exercise, get some air in your lungs, and meet new people and animals. 

5. Organize Your Catch-All Drawer

 

This is one of those beneficial projects you can do in tiny increments to promote peace of mind and a slow release of tension and clutter. 

 

To pick away at your most cluttered drawer in increments, you can:

 

• Get a drawer organizer.

• Look for items that should be attached to a ring, clip, lanyard, or similar item.

• Remove a few items at a time to clean, lubricate, polish, repair, or degrease them.

• Collect thumbtacks, coins, paper clips, tape, magnets, string, clips, and other small items that need a mini organizer. 

6. Stretch And Relax On Your Mat

 

Make the most of your stretching routine by researching stretching techniques that make you feel good without straining your muscles. You can do very small shoulder stretches, moderate whole-body stretches, or deeper ones you already have experience with. Take a 10-minute rest on your back after your routine for deeper relaxation. 

7. Schedule A Spa Day Or Massage

 

Whether you love facials, mud or clay treatments, deep tissue massage, or body wraps, scheduling something will help you unwind and take better care of yourself. Spur-of-the-moment experiences are always good too. 

8. Sleep An Extra Hour At Night

 

An hour more sleep has been shown to improve the health of young participants who got at least 43 more minutes per night in one study by Penn State researchers. Try eating dinner an hour earlier with food that promotes sleep, a relaxing evening routine and go to bed earlier to get that extra hour. 

9. Take A 15-Minute Nap

 

Many people would be amazed at the power of a fifteen-minute nap. According to Mayo Clinic, “Keep naps short. A 20- to 30-minute nap is ideal. Try not to snooze more than 30 minutes on a regular basis. The longer you nap, the more likely you are to feel groggy afterward. Take naps in the early afternoon. Napping after 3 p.m. can make it harder for you to sleep soundly at night. Factors such as your need for sleep, sleeping schedule, age and medicine use also can play roles in figuring out the best time of day to nap. Create a restful space. Nap in a quiet, dark place with a comfortable room temperature. Limit distractions such as TVs, computers, phones and other devices.”

10. Read A Book Or Magazine You Love

 

Few things refresh your mind, relax you and help you care for yourself like reading a book you love or a magazine that truly interests you. 

Final Thoughts

 

Self-care isn’t selfish; it’s essential. It’s the foundation that allows you to show up fully in all aspects of your life. It fuels your energy, enhances your resilience, and reinforces the belief that you deserve care.

 

By investing time and effort into your well-being, you pave the way for a richer, more fulfilling life. Embrace self-care as a gift to yourself, and watch how it transforms your mindset, relationships, and overall quality of life.

References

 

Stock, A.A., et al. (2019) Effects of sleep extension on sleep duration, sleepiness, and blood pressure in college students. Sleep Health. doi.org/10.1016/j.sleh.2019.10.003.

 

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20191120/Study-Just-one-extra-hour-of-sleep-can-provide-health-benefits-for-college-students.aspx

 

https://www.betterup.com/blog/self-care-practices

 

Breaking The Chains: The Power Of Releasing Your Past

As important as the past is for learning lessons and remembering successes, it's equally important that you don't let the past keep you chained there. 

 

Like the stereotypical high school jock who perpetually lives in the past because those were the best days of his life. Or the woman who can't build healthy relationships because never recovered from her college boyfriend's infidelity. 

 

The negative parts of our past have a way of clinging on, wrapping its tendrils around you and despite your attempts at remaining in the present, the chains of the past remain wrapped tight. You carry the weight of those chains into every experience, and whether it's negative or positive, it has a powerful impact on your present life. There can be great power in releasing your past and breaking those chains. 

 

Moving On

 

One of the greatest challenges people face is breaking free from the chains of their past. It could be a past mistake, a stinging heartbreak, or trauma from a difficult experience; all of your life experiences impact your emotional and mental well-being. 

 

Dwelling on the past, however, will only keep you anchored to a period of time that you should have left behind. That time no longer exists, yet it's rooting you there and preventing you from living in the here and now. 

 

The first step to breaking those chains is acknowledging your past and accepting it. It's an essential part of the process, you have to confront the unresolved emotions and pain that you've buried deep, which will require self-reflection and a whole lot of courage. By facing your past head-on, you remove the power it holds over your present moment and the future. 

 

Forgiveness is another step necessary to break those chains. Whether it's forgiving yourself or someone else, a lot of people hold onto grudges over things that happened. It's important to remember that forgiveness doesn't mean that you forget what happened. 

 

If someone hurt you or wronged you, forgiving them isn't forgetting the harm they caused you. It doesn't mean making up and being friends either. It's a conscious decision to let go of the painful emotions that have lingered since the experience. Forgiveness isn't for them, it's for you. 

 

The Power 

 

Perhaps one of the most vital aspects of breaking free from the past's chains is self-compassion. 

 

Self-compassion simply means that you treat yourself with the same understanding and kindness you extend to your closest friends. You treat them with care, and you offer them a gentle response, but you are your own worst enemy – your harshest critic. You hold yourself to an impossible standard and when you slip up, you give yourself merry hell. Self-compassion provides a nurturing environment to foster healing and growth. 

 

Mindfulness is another powerful tool for breaking the chains of your past. 

 

Mindfulness is all about focusing on the present moment, observing your thoughts without judgment, and acknowledging your feelings without opinion. Mindfulness practices like deep breathing, meditation, and body scanning help you develop the ability to let go of the past, dismiss intrusive thoughts, and focus on the beauty of the moment. 

 

An essential part of personal development as a whole, and particularly breaking chains, is setting boundaries. Boundaries protect you from negative behaviors, and repeating patterns, and help you use your time and energy more wisely. Boundaries help you create space for change and growth. 

 

Final Thoughts 

 

While the process of breaking the chains of your past can be difficult, it is possible. Above, you have a step-by-step process to do just that. It will take some time, but if you're committed to the process, you will need a combination of self-awareness and forgiveness, self-compassion, and mindfulness, as well as boundary-setting. 

 

Work on establishing a forward-focused mindset because this journey will require resilience and dedication. In return, you will benefit on a profound level. Your life will be free from the burdens of the past and filled with an endless number of possibilities. As you let go of the past, you open yourself to growth, healing, and the recognition of your potential. 

 

Breaking Chains: Letting Go Of Toxic Relationships

Toxic relationships can drive you to your breaking point. These may be difficult to get out of, and you may not even realize things are bad until you’re in deep. Today we’ll look at healthy versus toxic relationships and how to break those chains.

 

Identifying a Toxic Relationship

 

The first step in breaking free from your chains is identifying when the chains are there. All relationships go through bad times. The difference is that toxic relationships seem to be perpetually stuck in a dark place. This is true for any type of relationship, not just romantic.

 

Signs of a healthy relationship include:

• Respect
• Trust
• Good communication
• Mutual commitment
• Kindness
• Fun
• Comfort
• Support of each other’s goals
• Partnership in decisions

On the other hand, signs of a toxic relationship include:

• Disrespect
• Lack of trust
• Dishonesty
• Poor communication
• Major difference in goals
• Lack of support
• Stress
• Jealousy
• Excessive control
• Disregard of each other’s needs and wants

Maintaining Safety

 

Depending on the level of toxicity, breaking the relationship off could have safety concerns. This mainly refers to partners in romantic relationships but not always. In these cases, it could be a good idea to consult with local law enforcement or the National Domestic Violence Hotline before taking any action. To reach the hotline, you can either call 800-799-7233 or text “START” to 88788. More information is available on their website.

 

Keys to Success

 

There are a few main components that ensure success when breaking off a toxic relationship. They include:

• Support System: Keep your loved ones in the loop about what’s going on with you. Let them know why you’re leaving the relationship and seek assistance from them if needed. Community support groups are also available if you need to talk with people who are going through the same thing.

• Independence: Learn how to take care of yourself and complete daily tasks. This includes managing your basic needs, finances, recreation, and other errands.

• Professional Assistance: Again, law enforcement and other measures may be necessary to maintain physical safety. From a mental health standpoint, you may also want to seek professional counseling before and after ending the relationship.

• Cutting Ties: One of the worst things you can do when leaving a toxic relationship is leaving the door open for the other person to come back into your life. It will be difficult to step away but it’s necessary for long-term healing. Once you no longer share material possessions and communication is not essential, delete their contact information and take them off your social media. Do not indulge in conversations about them with friends, family, or mutual connections.

• Self-Care: Engage in activities that bring you physical, mental, and emotional comfort and peace. Take care of your basic needs, live a healthy lifestyle, and participate in relaxing and recreational activities.

 

What To Say

 

What you say and how you say it during a breakup is critical to your success in walking away. Here are a few tips for breaking the chain of a toxic relationship:

• Maintain a strong and assertive but non-aggressive tone of voice.
• Use strong body language, including a tall stance, relaxed shoulders, and good eye contact.
• Use “I” statements and accept that the other person may not take responsibility for their actions.
• Use definitive language. For example, don’t say “I need a break”. Instead, say “I’m leaving you and I don’t want you in my life anymore”.

 

Healing From Toxic Relationships

 

It’s best to take a holistic approach to healing from a toxic relationship. This means focusing on every aspect of your wellbeing, not just your emotional health. Some of these aspects include:

• Physical: This involves factors such as diet, sleep, exercise, and personal hygiene.
• Mental: This involves using coping skills and/or professional help to deal with unwanted thoughts and emotions.
• Social: This involves your social connections such as family, friends, work, hobbies, and other social obligations.

 

Source Links

 

https://www.healthline.com/health/toxic-relationship

 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/here-there-and-everywhere/202206/how-recover-toxic-relationship

 

https://www.thehotline.org/

 

https://www.verywellmind.com/how-to-leave-a-toxic-marriage-4091900

 

https://www.waldenu.edu/programs/psychology/resource/ten-signs-of-a-healthy-relationship

 

10 Ways to Biohack Your Diet

Dave Asprey, the founder of “Bulletproof Coffee” and the “Bulletproof Diet”, is a proponent of biohacking and a self-proclaimed biohacker. He defines biohacking as, “using science, biology, and self-experimentation to take control of and upgrade your body, your mind, and your life. To become a “superhuman” version of yourself without becoming overwhelmed, stressed or feel like you need to give up”. He created his entire bulletproof program around this mantra.

 

Here are 10 effective ways to biohack your diet according to the research provided by Dave Asprey and his Bulletproof Diet program. 

 

Eliminate Sugar

 

Eliminate added sugar from your diet. Soft drinks, processed foods, and flavored yogurt are a few examples you can get rid of that are loaded with added sugar. Sugar increases your risk of developing type two diabetes, increases inflammation in the body, decreases energy levels, and promotes weight gain. Ditch those added sugars and switch them to something healthy like naturally occurring sugars found in low glycemic fruit like berries.

 

Increase Your Vegetable Intake

 

Eat 6 to 11 servings of organic vegetables every day. Asparagus, bok choy, broccoli, Brussel sprouts, kale, and spinach are great options. The more vegetables you can get into your body the better.

 

Eliminate Grains and Gluten 

 

Avoid gluten and grain such as corn, oats, and barley. Most of these foods have a negative effect on the body. They cause inflammation and an overgrowth of bad bacteria in the gut and can be a leading cause of candida or yeast overgrowth.

 

Keep Fruit Intake Low 

 

Reduce your fruit to about two servings a day and always eat whole organic fruit. Stick to low sugar fruits as much as possible such as blackberries, coconut, and avocado. 

 

Eliminate Processed Food

 

It is no surprise that processed food is bad for your health. They are loaded with chemicals, sugar, unhealthy fats, and sodium. Processed foods also are high in synthetic additives, colorings, and flavorings that cause many health problems. 

 

Eat Grass-Fed Meat and Wild-Caught Seafood 

 

Choose grass-fed and wild-caught seafood. The quality of your meat is important for optimal health. These foods are high in nutrients, healthy fats, and are usually free of added hormones and antibiotics. Plus, they fill you up so that you eat less.

 

Eliminate Legumes 

 

Legumes are beans, peas, lentils, and peanuts. These should be avoided because they are usually low in nutritional value and prevent your body from properly absorbing protein. They stall weight loss and contain harmful chemicals like BPA; a carcinogen commonly found in plastics.  

 

Eat Healthy Fat 

 

Your body depends on healthy fat such as omega 3s and omega 6s for survival. 50 to 70% of your calories should be from healthy fat; mostly saturated fat. Grass-fed butter, avocados, and grass-fed meat are all examples of healthy fat. 

 

Supplement Where Needed 

 

Dave Asprey suggests to always supplement with food first and only supplement with vitamins when needed. Determine what supplements you need by getting a blood test first or paying attention to any symptoms you may be having. Always avoid multi-vitamins as they are usually low in quality and are not balanced. 

 

Cook Your Food Differently 

 

Eat your food raw if possible or slightly steamed to get the most nutrients from your food. For meat eat it boiled, baked, or lightly grilled. Avoid burned or blackened food because it can produce carcinogens. 

 

As you implement these 10 diet hacks track your progress in a journal or on an app on your phone. Take note of the changes that are occurring in your body, so that you know what benefits you are receiving and whether these hacks are right for you or not. Remember to eat until you are satisfied and listen to your body. Don’t under or overeat, let your hunger be your guide.