When it comes to stress, it’s actually not all bad. There’s actually three categories of stress.
Some stress and anxiety are part of coping well with everyday life. Healthy stress gives us the impetus to get out of bed in the morning, stumble towards our caffeine source, and pass days in a relatively productive way, building our lives and relationships.
Prolonged stress, like a really challenging job or a difficult family relationship that just never seems to get better, is hard on our bodies and our mental health; however, with support and resources we can generally cope.
Toxic stress, like living through a pandemic while also juggling preexisting health issues, mental illness, isolation or unhealthy relationships, bearing a marginalized identity, or other chronic stress has the potential to impact mind and body long term, BUT these effects can be minimized by leaning into our social connections (or making a new supportive connection via a counselor or psychotherapist) and through finding ways to move, create, express ourselves, self-care, and play – even in the midst of intensely stressful times.
Explore the resources below to find ways to both understand and manage stress:
4 Bullet Journal Layouts to Support Mental Health
Bullet Journal blogs and hashtags are filled with mental health and self-care focused templates, but are these layouts actually effective for maximizing the mental health benefits of a bullet journal? In this article, I explore existing research on how journaling and expressive writing can benefit mental health and, from that research, outline three ways to maximize the mental health benefits of your bullet journaling practice. Along the way, I’ll show you a few of my worksheets and resources that are perfect for adding to a bullet journal.
Self Care in the Age of Working from Home
Even before the pandemic, working from home presented unique challenges to the work-life balance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these challenges have become even more pronounced, as many of us have…
Abstract Emotion Cards | Art Deck by Kate Creech
Shortly after completing my Mindful Grounding Activity Card deck, I had an idea for a deck of visual emotion cards, each card containing an evocative abstract image for use as…
Mindfulness Card Deck for Trauma-Sensitive Grounding Activities
This mindfulness card deck is designed to be a fun way to invite kids, adults, and groups to turn their attention to their body in a trauma-sensitive way. Perfect for…
Isolation Mental Health Wellbeing Daily To-Do List Worksheet
Our lives changed significantly as COVID-19 spread around the globe and into our communities. In the space of a month we shifted from life-as-usual to- if our jobs and lifestyles…
Worksheet for Cultivating Mindfulness Practices
In a culture where life is often lived digitally, mindfulness matters. While our brains are increasingly adept at sensing fake news or deciphering complex texts based on emojis, increasingly we…
All Social Media Has a Cost, Empowered Social Media Use Sets a Budget
It’s not that social media is good or bad, the real question is: What we are willing to trade for likes, views, and follows? This is a great conversation to have…
Recovery Isn’t “Getting Rid” Of Negative Coping Skills, It’s Learning New Skills
If you’ve avoided recovery because giving up the only-ways-you-know-to-survive feels overwhelming, know that the goal of good therapy is not “stopping certain behaviors” – it’s SO MUCH MORE. Good therapy…
Illustrated Embodied Grounding Exercise – Free Printable
Social media can be a dark, divisive place sometimes. On the other end of the spectrum, depending on the accounts you choose to follow, it can be really easy to…
No One Gets to Decide for Us What A Good Life Is
There are lots of voices shaping our idea of a “Good Life,” but freedom comes when we take ownership of that narrative and choose- with mindfulness, integrity, and the wisdom…
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