Tips for dealing with anxiety!

So many people suffer from some form of Anxiety and dealing with that is an every day struggle. I deal with my anxiety very well sometimes, while other days I let it get the better of me. I used to fight back and forth in my mind with myself, over and over again, until I started researching tips on how to bring myself back to reality when my anxiety is taking over. These tips really helped me, and they help me still, so I figured I'd make a blog post and share them with you!

According to Dr T.A. Richards, we can stop thoughts that lead to anxiety by consciously replacing them by more rational thoughts like the following:

When Anxiety is Near: 

1. I’m going to be all right. My feelings are not always rational. I’m just going to relax, calm down, and everything will be all right. 

2. Anxiety is not dangerous — it’s just uncomfortable. I am fine; I’ll just continue with what I’m doing or find something more active to do. 

3. Right now I have some feelings I don’t like. They are really just phantoms, however, because they are disappearing. I will be fine. 

4. Right now I have feelings I don’t like. They will be over with soon and I’ll be fine. For now, I am going to focus on doing something else around me. 

5. That picture (image) in my head is not a healthy or rational picture. Instead, I’m going to focus on something healthy like _________________________. 

6. I’ve stopped my negative thoughts before and I’m going to do it again now. I am becoming better and better at deflecting these automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) and that makes me happy. 

7. So I feel a little anxiety now, SO WHAT? It’s not like it’s the first time. I am going to take some nice deep breaths and keep on going. This will help me continue to get better.

When Preparing for a Stressful Situation: 
1. I’ve done this before so I know I can do it again.
 2. When this is over, I’ll be glad that I did it.
 3. The feeling I have about this trip doesn't make much sense. This anxiety is like a mirage in the desert. I’ll just continue to “walk” forward until I pass right through it.
 4. This may seem hard now, but it will become easier and easier over time.
 5. I think I have more control over these thoughts and feelings than I once imagined. I am very gently going to turn away from my old feelings and move in a new, better direction. 

 When feeling overwhelmed:
  1. I can be anxious and still focus on the task at hand. As I focus on the task, my anxiety will go down.
 2. Anxiety is a old habit pattern that my body responds to. I am going to calmly and nicely change this old habit. I feel a little bit of peace, despite my anxiety, and this peace is going to grow and grow. As my peace and security grow, then anxiety and panic will have to shrink.
 3. At first, my anxiety was powerful and scary, but as time goes by it doesn't have the hold on me that I once thought it had. I am moving forward gently and nicely all the time.
 4. I don’t need to fight my feelings. I realize that these feelings won’t be allowed to stay around very much longer. I just accept my new feelings of peace, contentment, security, and confidence.
 5. All these things that are happening to me seem overwhelming. But I've caught myself this time and I refuse to focus on these things. Instead, I’m going to talk slowly to myself, focus away from my problem, and continue with what I have to do. In this way, my anxiety will have to shrink away and disappear.

Source

I hope some of these little tidbits helped some of you, I know they definitely helped me! My anxiety has improved SO MUCH just from staying calm and going over these points. Always remember to smile! Anxiety doesn't have to run your life! (◕‿◕✿) 

get ready with me: brows ♥

I really really reallllly tried my best to make this as put together as I could. I didn't realize how hard it was to put together a pictorial. I typically get a lot of compliments on my eyebrows and some people ask how I do them so even though nobody really asked for this tutorial, at least I'll have it up. I do it just a little differently from most brow tutorials I've seen.

You will need:

Angled brush (eyeliner or eyebrow, mine is an eyebrow brush) • A damp tissue • Eye shadow or brow shadow (I use a Milani eyebrow kit) • Concealer & concealer brush (optional)

1. Brush through your eyebrow hair to ensure that everything is even and no hairs are out of place. This will allow for a smoother shadow application as well. If you need to, trim your brows: use an eyebrow brush and comb them upwards, and slowly snip the longer hairs that stick up above your brow line, then just comb everything back into place again.

2. If you have dark hair, your brows should be 3 shades lighter. If you have light hair, your brows should be 3 shades darker. I don't typically follow this rule of thumb because I use an eyebrow kit and the shadow I use matches my hair nearly perfectly, I just don't care to make them lighter when I'm happy with the color I use.

Anyway, dampen your angled brush on your damp tissue and then pick up your shadow. Line the bottom of your eyebrow all the way to your arch (and if you don't have a prominent arch, just line to the point where your brow starts to curve), MAKE SURE TO DRAW A STRAIGHT LINE unless you're going for a more "natural" look (in which case, you definitely do not want to be following this tutorial). Damped your brush again, pick up more shadow, and then continue your line down the tail of your brow. Once you are happy with the shape you have, continue on to step 3. 

3. Dampen your brush again, pick up your shadow, and start to line about half way down your brow (you can start to line anywhere on top of your brow if you'd like, this is just the method I do). Continue with your shadow, following your natural eyebrow line. Once you have your brows outlined to your liking, continue to step 4.

4. Now you can start filling in the tail of your brow (I like for the tail to be the darkest compared to the beginning of the brow). You wanna fill in the outer half of your brow before you start filling in the inner half. 

5. Instead of picking up more shadow to fill in the beginning of your brow, you're just gonna use what's left on your brush. As you're filling in the beginning, start to pull the shadow up from the bottom line of your brow, allowing for a softer line. This will also help even out your brow.

6. Take a little more shadow on your brush and fill in any sparse spaces.

7 (optional). Finish off with a little concealer on a concealer brush and outline your brows to shape them and fix any mistakes or uneven lines. I mostly like to use concealer on the tail of my brow, it gives my brow a nice clean point. You can use any type of concealer you want, I used to use liquid but then switched to my MAC's Studio Finish.

Please remember that this is just the way that I like to do my brows, I am not saying that this is the only way or the best way. You can alter this method however you like to make it work best for you.

Lush Cosmetics haul ♥

I don't have to be at work until 2 and I had tons of time this morning to take some high quality pictures of the Lush products I got while the sun was still shining and write a haul on my blog! ^.^ (note these photos were taken on my iPhone 5, sorry if the quality isn't on point!)

Mint Julips ♥ this is a LIFESAVER for me!
FEATURES: For a flawless pout, Mint chocolate, Fair trade sugar (effective exfoliant)

Fizzy O'Therapy ♥ soothes tense, sore muscles. I knew this would be perfect to pick up for Dylan!

FEATURES: Fore sore bodies, Ease muscle tensions, Bounce back from the gym (cinnamon leaf oil fights fatigue & improves your mood)

Twilight ♥ the lavender in this one helps you sleep!

FEATURES: Herbal tonic, Bedtime story (take the bitter edge off of sleeplessness), Comforting and relaxing

Ice Hotel Bar ♥ "clear foggy minds with reviving peppermint"! (the purple shimmer is so pretty!)
FEATURES: Refresh a sluggish body, Minty bubbles, and Peppermint oil

A French Kiss ♥ bubble bar for deep relaxation
FEATURES: One way ticket (fluffy bubbles), Sleep tight (relaxing soak), Herbal tonic (lavender is used to relax and calm the mind)