A place to support positive, introvert, and creative people on their journey towards happiness and wellbeing
Besides the need of focusing and practising patience towards ourselves and others, I believe there are many positive lifestyle changes we can embrace. In this post, I'm sharing three behavioural strategies have helped me a lot: healthy eating, physical activity, and alone time. Yes, alone time is extremely important when you are sharing your house with your family or mates, 24h a day!
My grandfather has some really nice, organic lettuces on his little urban garden and I've always wanted to explore recipes in which I can add a good amount of greens. So here's a baking experience and suggestion that turned out pretty tasty!
I can confidently say that bodybuilding has changed my life thanks to its physical, psychological and spiritual benefits. Did I just say spiritual? Yes, I did! People may think that bodybuilding is rather superficial or vain. It can be, but so can Yoga or Pilates. The way you live through a physical activity is always a personal decision and choice, because the meaning you attach to it depends on your values and impressions. To me, bodybuilding goes way beyond the physical aspect, so I will save the physical benefits of it for last.
I think the future history of periods needs a new, more creative direction. We need to make sure that girls and women have access to menstrual health and wellbeing information, but we also need to counteract the taboo, myths, social stigma and religious beliefs associated with menstruation. Last but not least, we also need to look after the impact that period-related products have on female health and on the environment.
Although my normal routine is totally different from the routine I'm having right now due to the pandemic we are experiencing worldwide, I feel tempted to change a couple of things so that I stop feeling like every day is just the same as the day before. In fact, it's like I went back to that 'life draining mode' in which I was about a year ago: sleep, eat, drool, eat, sleep. That's no way of living. At least for me.
This is a place for kindness. Gentleness. If you don't agree with my opinions, that's perfectly fine. You are welcome to present your point of view with kindness and humanity. You are not allowed, however, to come here and pollute my space. You are not allowed to humiliate me or any of my readers in public. We are living times of madness. We are all vulnerable and we also have too much time on our hands now to read and comment blogs. Let's just make sure we keep being kind and cordial to each other, because that's what we need to base our future on.
In order to complete or master this lesson to some extent, we need to train our mind. For instances, I have trained and developed my body, but my mind remains scattered. I do understand now I must train this aspect as much as I have been training and conditioning my body. Otherwise I won't be able to achieve my goals and manifest my life's vision. That part of the puzzle has been missing and I think it is about time to take mind training more seriously now. According to buddhist scriptures, there are at least six conditions we must meet beforehand, if we want to train the mind. I will eventually talk about them in a future post.
Coronavirus is a family of virus that leads to illness or aggravation of respiratory problems. It can be transmitted between animals and people, a phenomenon called spillover. COVID-19, a particular strain of this family of virus, has been massively found in humans. Official sources have reported that the virus spread from a group of people with pneumonia who were connected to a seafood and live animal market in Wuhan, China. The virus has since then spread between people in China and to other countries all over the world.
A 2015 study by Silentnight concluded that people nowadays spend more time on their mobile phones and laptops than sleeping. This means people are not only more exposed to several electromagnetic frequencies, which can negatively impact our health and wellbeing in the long run, but they are also depriving themselves of important healthy habits such as sleeping enough, having quality time with others or keeping an active lifestyle. To counteract this mindless tendency, in this post I'm suggesting you 5 different activities that will not only contribute to your wellbeing but also help you stay offline more often.
As soon as you begin to spot your inner critic, it becomes easier to invite it out of your life. You need, however, to feed your mind and body with more positive programs. For instances, you need to feed your mind with positive affirmations about yourself and your body with nourishing foods. You need to tell yourself that you are deserving of love, no matter your circumstances in the present moment or your past actions.
The worst part is that these cycles of infatuation followed by almost instant devaluation take a toll on my wellbeing. I no longer generate high hopes and I do my best to keep myself aware of any sort of illusion. I keep myself at bay as much as I can, meaning that I don't want to jump to conclusions or give into impulses that will lead me nowhere safe. However, I can't avoid being sad or upset when it happens. I lose energy and focus from the work I need to be doing. Today, for instances, I accomplished very little because I felt I needed closure from yesterday's date. So that's why I'm deciding to stay away from online dating. It always sabotages what I cherish the most: inner peace and happiness.
I think stepping away from unnecessary drama is very important to keep good mental health and wellbeing in the moment. I can't control what people will do or not do, say or not say. The conscious decision of choosing where my attention goes, however, is mine. Right now, I can make a decision on whether I keep, or not, focusing on and feeding what has brought me confusion and restlessness.
What out of the box questions could you potentially ask? I did a quick search and I found some really interesting ones. Not all of them rang a bell, but there were definitely some that I felt I could use. I also create a few other ones, so I strongly encourage you to let your imagination flow and come up with questions that you feel you would like to ask. Find out what questions are on my list of mindful dating questions in this video.
We lost the art of growing our human connections. We have grown up used to the idea that everything is ready-made and waiting for us on some supermarket shelf - or at a finger's swipe between left and right. Why bother yourself with learning the ingredients you need to make mayonnaise from scratch if you can buy a bottle of Hellmann's, right? I think we need to dive deeper though, if we want to connect with better matches and have more mindful dating experiences. I think we need to be more mindful and make better questions when on a date. I honestly believe that it's not so much about whether your match takes you to a fancy restaurant, comes dressed in gold, or pays the bill for you. It's more about whether you can, or cannot, feel seen, heard and safe to be yourself while also pursuing your romantic feelings. And to know that, you need information from the other person. Here are some questions that I label as mindful dating questions. Here are some suggested questions, which I label as mindful dating questions, that you can perhaps use on a future date.
Pursuing or fighting for something is not a linear process. We must envision, create a plan, prepare, challenge any resistance, act, but we also need to learn with the consequences of our actions and decisions. Going for it is always better than sitting in the dark corner of our house, but better than that is to learn and be able to adjust our course of action based on the consequences of our decisions. My aim for this post is to share with you 5 lessons I take from 2019 and which I think might be useful for those who stumble upon this entry.
Besides helping with grounding and reshaping my body, bodybuilding has also given me many other benefits. These include increased health and energy, better posture, greater self-esteem as well as increased self-confidence and happiness. I honestly bless the day I decided to start and commit myself to a 12-Week bodybuilding training regime. On average, I worked out four days a week for about half an hour. I call it 'Round 1' because it's a basic package of bodybuilding exercises in which my main goals were to 1) build a first good layer of muscle and 2) create a consistent routine. In this round, I didn't worry about changing my nutritional habits or being too strict with what I can or cannot eat. I simply conditioned myself to show up as much as I could and I kept increasing the weight. I'm sharing below my workout plan of 'Round 1'.
We are currently seeking a volunteer for a media intern position at The Wellbeing Blogger (thewellbeingblogger.com). The blog was founded by Vanessa Dias, a wellbeing expert now based in Lisbon, and it shares both personal and professional information about all things-wellbeing: from tips to be the best version of yourself to how to lead an active lifestyle, and create a more meaningful life on a daily basis. We are truly passionate about inspiring people to do their best with what they already have, and we always encourage to aim for more in life. If this rings a bell, we might well be a good match. Check out the details in this blog post.
Sooner or later, a blogger reaches this phase. It's not the lack of ideas or emotions to write about, but our daily jobs that just take us over. We fail to keep the ritual of sitting down and of pouring our hearts out. Thankfully, this time my daily jobs has brought me incredible amounts of happiness and wellbeing. It hasn't been like before, where I work and work but I don't know where I'm heading or why what I'm doing is even relevant for the human kind. I have been busy with the kids at school and my writing has fallen behind. Yes, there has been a blog post here and there, but they haven't been personal. They haven't been about exploring the darkest and lightest places of my writer's soul.
In my first experience with Our Remedy I learned that CBD oil may work differently for different people. Because I record my periods on my calendar, and I can easily tap into the first warning signs of a menstrual migraine, I have since taken half a pipette of CBD oil in the morning and the other half at night on those more delicate days. And guess what... so far, I have done this four times and it has helped me with pain management. The discomfort doesn't go away completely, but I can at least function properly and finish my working day without feeling strongly nauseated and sick. That is already a massive big win, because menstrual migraines are incredibly horrible and debilitating!
Mine is Emily Merrill's debut novel, recently published by Salad Pages. Emily wrote it when she was 18 years old and now, at age 21, she saw her dream of being a published author come true - and what an incredible way to kick start a writing career! Mine is a novel that raises awareness of how 'perfect relationships' may hide the darkest truths and realities. In this two-part blog post, I will first share with you my honest review of the book and then an exclusive interview with the inspiring young author, Emily Merrill.
In the space of 3+ years, I didn't visit London that often to be honest. When I did go to London, however, it was probably to meet someone for a date. What? I might be single for 5 years now, but I had my good share of dates. Too many, if you ask me, but I have been looking for The One, you know? *laughs* Anyway, I thought it would be fun to share with you my three favourite date spots in London. Let me know what you think about them and, please, do share your own favourite spots to date in London.
My mind already knows that but my heart misses the comfort and the intimacy of being on a relatively balanced relationship. Worse, it misses that person who is not going to complete me but who is going to be there to be my partner in crime. Someone whose presence and silence are enough to soothe my spirit. I crave that kind of connection and reality. And when I think that five years have past since my last glimpse of that, I do wonder if I will ever be allowed to share those feelings again. Right, I forgot this time of the year is our break-up anniversary. Maybe that's why I dreamt about him last week and why I have been avoiding to write all-along. Maybe tomorrow I will be just back to normal.
I have to say that Positive Male Mind offers us not only a straightforward approach and language, making complex information easy to process, but it adds on by giving us a unique and more detailed perspective over mental health issues among men, and on how to better support this group. While reading it, I thought many times how great it would be if we could provide Positive Male Mind in every clinic waiting room and library, because talking about men’s mental health remains a difficult task for both men and the wider community.
The workbook I had built gave me the structure, while the desire of being truly happy with myself gave me the motivation I needed to be disciplined. It's an everyday job, I can't lie, and it was hard work to sit down and face my own demons. It still is whenever I have to overcome an old or new false belief. I'm thankful, however, for the fact that I changed my mindset on the moment I decided to start living instead of simply letting the days go by. That decision is what allowed me to feel how I feel today about my life and the future.
Sometimes I still fail to listen to my inner guidance as well; I'm far from perfect. However, holding the intention to learn, and become more and more aware of that inner voice that keeps telling me what's going on and respond to it, rather than react, have been life saving.
The Strengths Workbook, written by Sally Bibb, is a fully packed and very practical book that I truly recommend to anyone who wants to learn more about their strengths, motivations, and values, because learning about why we feel so good when we engage in specific tasks or activities, and how we can create more of that in our daily routine can do wonders for our wellbeing.
I usually turn to song writing when I sense there are emotions that need to come out. It is a gut feeling. It’s paying attention to how I’m feeling. Most of the times, I cannot name these emotions precisely, but I know they are there. Other times, there’s a particular trigger or subject that I know is affecting me and I go deeper to try to understand it better, and again, let it come out. For the specific case of Rain of May, I wrote it at a particular time, when I decided to leave Buenos Aires and find a new home in Copenhagen. I was a turmoil of emotions: it was a very happy decision but at the same time I was confronted with having to deal with some kind of loss, if you will. Having to say goodbye to people and places, and a chapter of my life.
These may seem silly examples or superficial details but in my experience they can speak loudly of how the other person will treat you in the future. They show the extent to which someone actively listens and pays attention to what you have to say. The major problem is that, more often than not, we fall for the narcissist's initial charm and we fail to see the obvious signs. We let ourselves be driven by their apparent good deeds and inspiring conversations. Although we may feel that something is off, we never second guess their real intentions. Knowing a few signs or red flags beforehand can prevent us, however, from getting involved with someone that seems great for us at first sight but who will eventually become our worst nightmare. I'm sharing three of these signs below.
I would like to say this was one of those books that I absolutely devoured as soon as I could because it has a refreshing approach and a language that is clear and yet thought-provocative. Positive Thinking makes the topic easy to grasp and understand. It's also a book that will inspire you to think and take action in a way that is down-to-earth, without losing sights of your creative and intuitive self.
It's not a guy's fault that we ignore the redflags. We play a part in this dynamic and we are equally responsible for depositing hope on someone whose heart is actually full of pain, confusion and misunderstanding. Our hearts are often filled with the same energy and that's why we attract such type. Like many of us, it's not their fault either that they were brought up in a messy and painful home environment. The worst part is, nonetheless, our tendency to project on them what we really want to see in a partner and what we try to nurture within ourselves: compassion, empathy, sensitivity, self-awareness, kindness, understanding.
My journey towards self-love has been made of trial and error and, although I always hate to face a setback, today I'm thankful to each one of them, because they brought me not the lessons that I wanted but the ones I needed to evolve and embrace a higher understanding of what self-love is. Today I know that self-love includes owning, honouring and loving the body I have, and more specifically the body parts I used to hate: arms, chest, hips and legs. It's about being proud of them as they are instead of wishing they were different.
I still do long for that beautiful and blissful place inside people's hearts which can only be awakened by pure magic and free-thought. That's what make me tick! I dream with heart-warming nights and long-lasting hugs. I crave a love deeper and bigger than me... and I'm not going to give up until I find it, because that's what gives my life a purpose.
The structure, its straightforward language and the very useful content of Positive Mental Health allow me to confidently say that this effectively is one of those books that not only informs, but also educates and guides people’s towards better mental health and wellbeing by providing both accurate health-related information and practical suggestions on how to eat well, exercise regularly, improve social interactions and other equally important wellbeing aspects throughout different areas and life events.
A piece I wrote on April 4th 2015 to my future child, inspired on a dream I had.
In this blog post I bring you three of my favourite psychological measures for personal development. My point here is to share three tools which I find particularly interesting as they have always offered me much food for thought. I hope they can offer you a similar experience and that you can gather more information about yourself.
Having a job and a place I need to go to every week day has made wonders for my wellbeing. Also, now that I have freedom to just be myself at work, I'm happy. I'm genuinely happy about it. I don't have to put a mask everyday and pretend I'm not struggling. I don't feel I have to act like a smartass in order to survive on a day to day basis. This is a must when you're an empath or a highly sensitive person, since faking is very energy depleting. There are, however, a few other wellbeing tips I would like to share with you in this post, especially if you're teaching or an educator and you know to be highly sensitive.
When I jumped into the shower this Monday, this title came to my head. Eleven reasons why I might not succeed (in life) and eleven reasons I will. I thought this was a good opportunity to talk about resilience and positivity, because everyone's daily life is made of ups and downs - the magic happens when we know what's the best way to deal with it all. Although Positivity alone doesn't solve anything, retrieving lessons from the less positive aspects of our life is a wellbeing protective measure. So let's dive in, first into the reasons why I might not succeed and then into the eleven reasons I will.
I strongly recommend that you seek help to bring the possible closure to your story. When we go through such traumatic events, it's almost humanly impossible to deal with it by ourselves. I recently also found out about the work conducted by CICA UK, a governmental organisation which claims compensation on behalf of victims of crime (e.g. child abuse, domestic violence) with a "no win no fee", meaning that if you are unsuccessful in your application, you won't be charged. I know money can't buy or restore our wellbeing, but the sense that justice has been made through a cica claim can bring you the sense that you were heard and that what happened to you shouldn't have happened.
I have to say we need to be prepared for the uncomfortable feelings that come from realising that not all father figures are healthy and that, although painful, the inner work needs to be done, if we don't to keep feeding the generational trauma we were brought in. We must realise we can break the pattern as long as we become aware of how it has been played and perpetuated. For instances, I can't expect my father to change and become a healthy source of protection and security. I never felt safe around him as a child because no matter how well I behaved there was always something to be yelled at. I always ended up crying because I could feel the anger and the injustice of being treated like an underdog.
Can you imagine if those prayers had been answered? This is the question I asked myself today and I would like to invite you to use it to think about yourself and your life in general. I am more than sure that life wouldn't have been better if all my prayers had been answered like I thought I wanted. Most of the time, we think we know what is best for us, but more often than not we end up finding out that we didn't know anything. I became a big believer of the idea that the universe always knows what is best for us, even when we lash out and rebel against what it is given to us.
Purpose is one the major driving forces of humankind: it colours our psychology and it gives us a sense that life is meaningful. However, many of us feel frustrated, lost and confused when it comes down to identifying our Life Purpose. That’s why I created the Life Purpose Course + Coaching, a digital training and coaching program open to people from all over the world.
They are researchers, scholars, entertainers, political figures, writers and activists. One of them was a princess and another is currently running for president of the United States. I think all these women have one thing in common - they are strong and yet highly sensitive. They have challenged the status quo and they have given me strength to be myself. They taught me that there is nothing wrong with being sensitive and yet powerful at the same time.
Some people say we shouldn't have high expectations, so that we don't end up disappointed and sad with people. I don't agree with that though. We need standards and we need to raise the bar if we want to lead a life in which we keep learning and developing as human beings. I think we must have high expectations and filter people based on the contrast between those expectations and what happens, because otherwise we will allow and tolerate people whose behaviours only show self-interest. Think about domestic violence - would you really say that it is a partner's job to be quiet and be hit every single day? Of course not! So why should we be quiet and be hit by someone's rubbish bag, full of projections and judgment?
The million dollar question is, however, how do we shift our energy; how do we move from the unconscious victimhood to the empowered attitude of being the creator of our own life? To achieve such state of consciousness, there are at least three essential aspects we need to train and develop in ourselves - attention, awareness, and intention.
The chakras in our feet work in combination with our root chakra (see this post for a brief overview of our seven main chakras) and other minor chakras located in our legs. When these chakras are functioning harmoniously, there is a constant flow of communication and connection with the energy grids of the earth and of all our other chakras. Hence, the health of our foot chakras is directly linked to our ability to become grounded in our physical body.
I don't mind talking to people at all, in fact, I love listening to people. I struggle a lot, however, when I meet energy vampires. Since I can rarely find a way to excuse myself, I feel morally obligated to give every ounce of my attention to the person who is in front of me talking non-stop about themselves and their life problems. I often think they probably don't have many people who will effectively listen to them, so for many years I thought I had to fill in that role for them. It's a rookie mistake, let me tell you beforehand, because the vampire will never walk out from a conversation fully satisfied and you will literally, more often than not, feel like poo.
The best way I found to look after my feet is by incorporating foot-care in my bedtime routine. Every night, I clean and dry my feet thoroughly and then I either use Dr Anders's spray to give myself a foot massage or I use the intensive rescue balm. This allows me not only to relax even more before bedtime but also to protect my feet and to make sure I keep them in good condition for the following day.
We as women may have fully control of what, when and how we do whatever we do with our body, but we also need to be aware of the emotional and psychological consequences of our actions and decisions. You may be lucky and sleep with the right guy on the very first date, but chances are you will sleep with the wrong guy, because the right guy has a higher conscious of what a healthy interaction looks like and he wouldn't be that fast-forward. We need to understand that when we get involved and invested into someone, we exchange energy. We have several layers of energy and sexual energy, if not exchanged consciously, can be extremely abrasive and damage the healthy grow of a beautiful relationship between two human beings.
Codependents often come from dysfunctional families. This doesn't mean they have been physically abused or verbally assaulted. It can simply mean they never really received or learned a healthy way to feel and seek support. In other words, they didn't have parental figures who could show them how to manage their emotions and thoughts. Hence, they stay in bad situations, because they can't perceive an alternative way of giving and receiving love and affection. They learned early on that love was meant to be painful, that love meant they had to be and do everything their mom or daddy subjectively required from them. They grew up without a backbone, the confidence and the certainty that relationships are meant to be healthy and that love doesn't equate inhuman sacrifice.
