How to Stick to New Year Resolutions

80% of the resolutions fail by February. How are you planning to follow through?

It's that time of the year again; the time when we all get a bit nostalgic, and make new plans and get excited about the future.

Yes, it's the end of this year.

Gosh, this year went by so quickly!

Talking about myself, I'm excited about what the future holds, and about the things I'm planning to execute this new year. Who else is excited about 2019? I guess you are, that's why you are here reading this post. In fact, you probably already have a few ideas about what resolutions you are going to make for 2019.

It's good to make new plans, hoping to improve overall and experience new things.

But did you know that only 8% people actually achieve their new year resolutions?

In fact, 80% of resolutions fail by February.

Why is that?

30-Days Water Challenge: My Experience and Findings

Water Is The Real Elixir!

I don't think I need to mention how important water is for us. We are 60% water, and this is enough to support that statement. Each and every single cell in our body needs water to function.

Even 1% dehydration causes significant disturbance in our body's functioning.

Yet, the sad truth is that most of us are dehydrated most of the time. This included me. And that's why I took the 30-days Water Challenge, as a part of my wellness journey.

I started the challenge on 5th Oct 2018. The main motivation for me to take this challenge was the fact that I suddenly developed a lot of acne, and my skin looked dead overall- really dry and rough.

I noticed that my water intake was nil, other than the coffee/tea that I was consuming and a glass of water or two that followed my meals. This was really shocking, to be honest, when I realized how dehydrated I had been for the past 2 months, which was exactly when I started developing the problems.

I knew at that moment that my problems are rooting from the fact that I was not drinking enough water, and so I started monitoring my water intake.

Deep Breathing Exercise for Stress and Anxiety

As per research, deep breathing exercises are great to relieve stress and anxiety. Image by : Shashi Chaturvedula

Stress is an inevitable part of life. In fact, stress plays an essential role in being the motivator to get things done, making us more productive.

However, being stressed constantly and chronically does not get anyone anything other than diabetes. It’s one of the major causes of poor health outcomes. Therefore, it’s crucial to control your stress.

But I know it’s easier said than done.

So, how can you take control of the situation?

Stressed or not, practice deep breathing every day. Breathing is such a great natural stress reliever. Use it!

How?

This post is going to answer that question.

What Happens When You Are Stressed Or Anxious?

When stressed, our body releases the stress hormones– cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones get back to normal levels once the stressor is eliminated or dealt with.

However, sometimes we constantly worry about things, our bodies stay in a state of stress for a long time. This leads to elevated levels of cortisol chronically.

Persistently elevated hormone levels are responsible for the long-term harmful effects of stress on our bodies.

The release of adrenaline in our circulation leads to a rise in blood pressure, heart rate and breathing. Our muscles get tensed, and other physiological processes activate, making us extra-attentive and more prepared to face a dangerous situation. These signs let our brain know that we are stressed and anxious.

Since our breathing gets faster, proper depth of breathing can’t be reached and our breaths get shallow.

So, breathing during stress is fast, short and shallower. Therefore, our brain perceives “fast and shallow” breathing as an indicator of stress.

The Role Of Breathing In The Perception Of Stress

Researchers have found a set of “spying” neurons located in our brainstem that keeps an eye on our breathing pattern. This set of neurons is called the Pre-Botzinger complex.

 The pre-bot zinger complex is a group of neurons that connects our respiratory centre with the emotion centre– forming a connection between our emotions and our breathing pattern.

As mentioned earlier, it acts as a spy. It means that it does not directly cause a change in breathing or initiation/suppression of the stress response. Instead, it reports to the brain about the change in the breathing pattern.

So, whenever there is a change in our breathing pattern, say fast and shallow, this complex reports to the rest of our brain that the breathing pattern has changed to fast and shallow, and the rest of the brain perceives it as a stressful situation since that is what our brain has evolved to think.

How Does Deep Breathing Exercises Relieve Stress And Anxiety

When we practice deep breathing, we intentionally make our breath deep and slow, i.e. stop the fast and shallow breathing pattern. This way, deep breathing helps normalise our breathing pattern.

The Pre-Botzinger complex picks up this change in our breathing pattern and reports to the brain that breathing is deep and slow, which is perceived by our brain as ‘I am not in danger anymore’. Our brain then proceeds to calm the fight or flight response down.

This way deep breathing changes our consciousness from a stressed state to a calm state by basically tricking our brain.

Studies have also shown that deep breathing decreases the level of stress hormone in the circulation–further promoting calm.

Anyone can practice deep breathing as a part of their self-care routine. If you struggle with stress, anxiety, depression, and other trauma-related issues, deep breathing exercises can be immensely beneficial for you. Be mindful of the fact that these practices do require some patience– which is normal.

Inhale. Hold. Exhale

Abdominal Breathing Technique

Also known as belly breathing or diaphragmatic breathing.

Set Up The Mood

Before starting the process, create a suitable environment to practice deep breathing. You can consider it as a form of meditation. So:

1. Sit alone in a room. Lock the door if necessary, and tell others in the home to not disturb you for 10 minutes. Put your phone on silent, and switch off your TV. Remove any distractions to better focus on your breathing pattern.
2. Wear comfortable clothing. Avoid clothes that feel constricting or create tension in your muscles.
3. You can either sit down or lie down. I prefer to lie down because that helps me check my abdominal motions better (you will see why in a bit). Use a mat or your bed; it will work either way.
4. You can go fancier depending on your preferences, like dimming the lights or lighting up some scented candles or aroma diffusers. These are not a must, but you can add them if they help you relax.
5. It’s a great idea to practice breathing exercises at the same time every day and let your body set up the natural clock. Add it to your schedule so that you don’t end up skipping.

Here’s How You Should Breathe

Nature has provided us with a specific muscle for breathing– the diaphragm. Natural breathing is diaphragmatic breathing.

When you use the diaphragm properly for breathing, your abdomen will expand more than the chest. 

1. Lie down comfortably, and let the mood set it.
2. Put one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen.
3. Start with an exhale.
4. Then take a slow, deep breath in. Inhale for a few seconds.
5. Then hold your breath for a few seconds.
6. Then slowly exhale for a few seconds. Make sure that the exhale is twice as long as the inhale.
7. When you are breathing, note the movement of your hands. Your hand over your abdomen should go higher than your hand over your chest. This is something that may require some extra effort and concentration to do especially in the initial days of practice.
8. You can also repeat the word “peace” with each exhale if you are doing this for meditation purposes.

Remember: expiration should be longer than inspiration, and there should be a brief period of holding your breath.

To help you with this, you can use the 4-7-8 method: Inhale for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 7 and then exhale for 8 seconds.

You can do shorter breaths if you can not inhale, hold or exhale for too long. The only thing to keep in mind is that your exhales should be twice the length of your inhales.

Another thing is that you should inhale through the nose, but you can choose to exhale through the nose or pursed lips. I suggest you try both and see which feels more relaxing to you.

Also, you can stretch your muscles a bit if you feel an area of muscle is tense. Doing this helps me relax a little bit more.

Anxious people might find it difficult to control their breath but remember it’s normal. Just keep practising. Practising deep breathing regularly helps it become a second nature, and you can then apply it well when you need it the most. 

The Ideal Time Of The Day To Practice Deep Breathing

So, is there an ideal time for practising breathing?

Yes and no. 

No, because the time you practice deep breathing will not affect the efficacy of the process. The results will be the same no matter when you do it.

And yes, because you should practice deep breathing when you can or need to do it.

For example:

1. If you have time in the morning, you should do it in the morning.
2. If you get anxious early in the morning from the thoughts of all the work you have to get done, you should do it in the morning.
3. If you have difficulty falling asleep, you should do it at night, before bed.
4. Apart from your routine scheduled practice, you can perform deep breathing when you are having an episode of anxiety or stress, if you are finding it difficult to fall asleep on a particular day when you are having difficulty concentrating, and even when you are having food cravings.
5. If you are someone who is quite often very anxious, you may do it twice a day or as needed.

So really it is just all about your requirements. Setting a particular time each day will ensure you perform it once daily. Doing it at a set time will help you make it a habit.

Conclusion: Deep Breathing Is A Simple Yet Effective Practice

It is essential to take care of yourself, and self-care in the modern world starts from managing your stress levels. 

We are all blessed with a natural mechanism to deal with our stress and anxiety. So why not take advantage of it?

Following a simple self-care routine that includes 10 minutes of breathing exercises will benefit you greatly and enhance your wellness. 

Set a time, set up the mood, and follow the easy steps of deep breathing. You may find it difficult to follow in the beginning, but with practice, you will get better at calming yourself down with breathing exercises.

Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

Deep breaths are like little love notes to your body. — Unknown

Pin it!

© Quirky Writes 2018

Updated: November 2024

11 Simple Ways to Build an Ideal Lifestyle

Your Lifestyle Decides The Quality of Your Life. | Image: Pexel.com

How you live your life impacts you in more ways than you realize. An ideal lifestyle structure will always act as a force that pushes you forward in life through all the ups and downs. On the other hand, a poor lifestyle can cause you to spiral down in life.

If your lifestyle is not helping you to be better and experience the best possible life, then you are likely falling behind in some aspect of your life, i.e. one of the 11 aspects I believe form the core of a good lifestyle.

Of course, there can be other aspects to an ideal lifestyle depending on your personality and what is important to you. You can personalize your lifestyle as per your needs.

But these are the 11 aspects that affect us all.

How I Make Sure I Drink Enough Water

A well-hydrated body is a well-functioning body. But drinking enough water is something most people struggle with. So, here are 5 easy ways I use to ensure hydration.

It's Your Responsibililty to Provide Right Hydration to Your Body

I want you to think about this for a moment: How much water did you consume today?

Can you recall?

No?

Did you drink water at all?

Well, if not, then you belong to the majority. Not good.

But don't feel bad either. We are on the same page.

Water is extremely essential for us; everyone knows this. Yet, most of us are not even aware of how much water we are drinking, which is not much, I must add.

Not drinking enough water means that you are jeopardizing your metabolism and your overall health, and also letting toxins stay in your system for a longer amount of time. Again, not good!

How Much Water Should You Drink Every Day

How much water should you drink every day?

This indeed is one of the most commonly asked questions when we discuss water in terms of health benefits.

Let me just start by saying that we are 60% water. So, I think from this statement we can conclude that water is extremely essential for us. Every single cell of our body contains a huge amount of H2O, that enable them to function normally. Proper hydration is essential for their proper functioning.

We are aware that water is essential, and so if you are someone who cares about your health and want to add more water to your system, then this is a question that you must have asked yourself at some point that how much water should you drink in order to maintain hydration level that will maintain and improve your bodily functions, because it's good to know what your goal is, in order to perform well. Right?

Let me just quickly add in here that I am taking a 30 days water challenge, in which I decided that I would drink at least 8 glasses of water for the next 30 days, and I am taking the opportunity here to bring about awareness about water.

Although I started with 8 glasses, I have now modified my daily intake based on a different calculation method, using which you can calculate your water intake which is more appropriate for you.

Today I'm going to share that method of water requirement calculation that I have used to modify my intake. But before that, I would like to discuss a few concepts regarding water and water consumption, because while researching I found some information that I think was not 100% right, and I would like to address those things here first.

7 Easiest Science-Backed Ways to De-Stress

Stress has become an integral part of our lives. No matter how hard we try avoiding it, it somehow manages to stick around.

Stress can be both positive and negative. Positive stress is what makes you get out of the bed in the morning, and get things done.

But when stress becomes a chronic event, it becomes a matter of fatal danger to your health.

In my last post, I spoke about 8 signs of stress on your body that indicates when stress starts becoming a problem. You have to first identify that there's a problem before you can do something to handle it. So I recommend you check it out, and see how you are doing.

Now, in this post, I am going to help you manage your stress because identifying the signs of stress is not enough. You should be able to identify and then use that knowledge to relieve that stress. That's how awareness is brought to best use.

I understand the importance of less technical methods because most of us don’t have the complex knowledge of stress relief techniques, and even if you manage to learn them it will take you quite some time to master them.
Besides, nobody wants to perform complex procedures when we are already stressed.

So, my aim was to present 7 of the easiest, and free methods of stress-relief, that doesn’t require you to follow too many steps.

Of course, you don’t have to do all of them to de-stress, however, they are so easy to apply that you can actually do all of them every day. But you can start with just one and add one or two more methods as you get comfortable doing it.

Here are 7 of my most favorite ways to de-stress, and also a small guide on how to perform these techniques.

8 Common Signs of Stress on Your Body

Stress Can Really Mess Up Your Life. Learn to Identify the Signs your Body is Telling Your About Stress.

Stress affects us, and not in a good way. We all know this, but there's hardly anything most of us do about it.

Unfortunately, stress has become a part of our lives. It has integrated into our lives so well that it seems like a normal thing that we have to deal every day like any other task, when, in fact, it's not.

For most of us, juggling exams, job, kids, or personal relationships together is proving to be extremely stressful in the modern world.

Stress is a natural response of our body that helps us figure out the danger. It's stress that basically gets the work done.

But it becomes a problem when stress goes out of control, and starts to consume our lives.

Our brain and body are great at adjusting as per the environment. That's why we get accustomed to the stress we experience every day, and are able to handle even very high levels of stress.

But just because you handle high levels of stress on a daily basis effortlessly, that doesn't mean that the stress is not affecting your body.

When it gets out of control, stress comes out in other forms. These "forms" can take the shape of a mental illness like depression, or physical illnesses, like joint pain, and even heart diseases.

Major illnesses occur when you are chronically affected by stress. But there are simpler signs that occur when stress is just beginning to crawl into our lives. The thing is, we often ignore these signs, or don't realize that it's because of stress.

The key is to identify these early signs and take action right from the beginning.

Here are some of the most common signs of stress that you need to look out for.

When To Seek Inpatient Help For Depression

Depression sucks, and getting hospitalized for it may sound like the worst idea ever, but it might be something that you absolutely need. Find out, in this article, the reasons when your therapist is going to ask you to get admitted, or when you can voluntarily get yourself admitted for depression.

Hospitalization May be Just What You Need To Get Better.

“When to seek inpatient help for depression? When to get hospitalized for depression? When to go to the hospital for depression? Can I check myself into hospital for depression?”

These are some of the very frequently asked questions when it comes to depression and hospitalization.

People don’t understand depression well. They don’t know how to spot depression in themselves or others, and even if they do spot it, they don’t know what to do next. It’s a fact, not just a statement.

So, we can safely assume people don’t know about this disease for the most part, and they certainly don’t know what the various treatments available to them are.

Yes, there are treatments other than anti-depressants.

And yes, you can check yourself in a hospital for depression.

Most cases of depression can be successfully managed with the help of anti-depressants and psychotherapy on an outpatient basis, but sometimes it becomes a necessity for you to stay in the hospital for a short period.

Now the question is, when?

But before we answer to “when”, you need to understand “why” sometimes hospitalization could be advised to you.

10 Habits To Improve Your Memory and Boost Your Brain Health

Small Things You Do Daily Can Positively Affect Your Brain's Health. Be Mindful Of What You Choose To Do!

Want to improve your brain's health? I don't think there would be anyone saying no to this question.

We all want a better, healthy brain. Our brain controls our body and makes things done.

Your brain helping you read this article right now, and when you are finished, it will help you retain the important information.

The better the brain health, the better you would be your problem-solving skills, memory and learning skills.

And not only in your working age, a healthy brain would reward you with a healthier old age.

So, maybe you want to reconsider your answer if you said no or were not sure what to say, to my question.

All you need is these simple daily habits that will boost your brain's performance to a great extent. From helping to learn better to preventing brain degenerating diseases like dementia; these simple habits will greatly benefit your brain.

Let's see what science suggest you do.

7 Ways To Boost Your Personal Wellness Today

We go through so much stress every single day that it might be a little difficult to focus on your personal wellness. However, personal wellness is something you need above all. Here are some basic things you need to start doing today to improve your personal wellness, and start living a fulfilling life

.

Personal Wellness Is Something You Need To Live A Fulfilling Life

There are a lot of factors that affect our wellness, including physical, mental and social factors. Personal wellness is something we all need. It helps us be the best of ourselves so that we can live a life that we dream to live. Our wellness affects our actions as well as our emotions.

Improving your personal wellness will not only help you reduce your daily stress levels, but also prevent a lot of major diseases as well as promote a good mental health.

Here are some of the basic ways which you should incorporate in your daily life to start improving your personal wellness today. 

5 Reasons Why You Should Read The Alchemist By Paulo Coelho (Bonus! Book Quotes)

Here are 5 reasons why The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho is my all-time favourite book. | Image by: Anthony Tran

The Alchemist is my all-time favourite book. Whenever I feel negative or down, I turn to this book. I remember falling in love with it the first time I read it. Since then, I’ve read this book many times, and each time I’m enlightened with a new positive thought. 

I admire the simplicity of Paulo Coelho’s writing and the story of The Alchemist.

I don’t want to give away the story because it’s best if you read it yourself and experience the whole story from your point of view. But just in case you are wondering, the story is about a young shepherd who sets out, exploring the world in search of treasure, and finally finds it where he never expected.

And isn’t that relatable?

However, this book covers a lot more than just that.

Here are my top 5 reasons to read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

Depression Help: How To Identify Depression And What To Do When You Spot It

How to identify depression and what to do when you spot it.

Hundreds of researches have been done studying about the prevalence of mental illnesses, and how much people in general know about mental illnesses.

The results are not good, by the way.

Researches suggest that today 1 in 4 people suffer from some kind of mental illness. That makes a total percentage of 25% people living with a mental illness.

Studies have also found that people don't know what to do even when they spot depression.

That's just plain sad. Especially because depression, mixed with anxiety is the most common mental illness in the world. You probably know someone who is right now suffering from depression.

The diseases is so stigmatized that people don't really openly talk about it.

It is important that we discuss about it, and acknowledge that mental health is important as well.

It is going to be just a brief post about the symptoms of depression. This is just to enlighten you so that you can spot depression in others, or yourself, and realize when to get help.

Depression is a mental disorder which is characterized by low mood, low energy and lack of interests in activities that were once enjoyed by the person.

It affects how you feel, think and behave. The feeling of well-being is lost.

It is a common but a serious mental disorder, and is contributing to greater portion of suicide rates.

Although a low mood is normal in certain events of life, like loss of loved ones etc, it becomes a problem when it persists and causes disability.

Mental Health Disorders: The Truth About Mental Health and Illnesses

The month of may is celebrated as the Mental Health Month in the United States since the year 1949. It was started by the National Association For Mental Health, now known as Mental Health America.

In the month of may people reach out to each other and talk about mental health, and conduct various activities related to mental health and awareness. Every year the theme of discussion is different. For example, the theme of 2016 was "Life With A Mental Illness" and that of 2017 was "Risky business". 

This year's theme is "Fitness #4Mind4Body". 

They are making an effort this year by sharing information about food, exercises, stress etc, and also there is a Fitness #4Mind4Body challenge, which is pretty cool. More details are available on their website.

Interestingly, Mental Health America was actually established by a psychiatric patient, Clifford W. Beers, whose experience with ill-treatment, personally and on others, made him start a reform movement.

After all, someone can only be empathetic if they've been in the same shoes as the other.

While it's great that we have a month dedicated to mental health awareness, and to reach out and help people with mental illness, the work actually required in support of mental health and awareness is not a month job. It requires long term efforts and commitment.

So, in honour of Mental Health Awareness Month and the efforts of Mental Health America, I'm going to make efforts from my side in enlightening whoever read this, about mental health, why it is important to take care of your mental health, and how you can help someone with mental illness.