Whether you meditate for stress, sleep, or anxiety, these excellent free meditation apps offer a wide variety of soothing recordings to keep you calm, centered, and focused. A good meditation sets the tone for everything from a productive, inspired workday to a restorative night’s sleep. It also increases feelings of social connectedness and increases grey […]
Anxiety Hacks
Try This Genius Hack for Calming Spiraling Thoughts
Spiraling thoughts are easily identifiable as any obsessive, repeating, or circuitous thoughts that grip your attention in a negative way. You become obsessed, and can’t stop thinking about that thing. This is a thought spiral, and they usually weigh you down. Spiraling thoughts make it so that it’s hard to focus on anything else, and […]
Read This If You’re Having a Panic Attack
Ok, here we are. Panic attacks are things that happen to people sometimes, and they are terrible. But you are going to be okay. Stay with me here and just breathe. First, stand up. Walk around slowly if you have to (assuming you are in a safe place to do so). You’re having a panic […]
The 12 Best Herbal Remedies For Anxiety (& The Most Effective Ways to Use Them)
Herbal remedies for anxiety and stress have gone from being woo-woo to commonplace. As we wrote in our Comprehensive Anxiety Toolkit, anxiety is a multifaceted experience and as such, you should take a multifaceted approach to treatment. Exercise, meditation, getting good sleep, eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, and maintaining healthy relationships can all […]
This is “The Most Calming Song in the World” According to Neuroscientists
Hunting for relaxation music and want to get really clinical about it? Marconi Union’s “Weightless” is literally the most calming song in the world– at least according to neuroscientists. Allow me to explain further. In 2011, British ambient band Marconi Union worked with sound therapists and researchers from Mindlab International to specifically design an 8-minute […]
Why Citrus Fruits Induce a Feeling of Calm
Citrus fruits are nature’s little bundles of zen, providing ideal aromatherapy for anxiety, for a number of reasons. Research from the U.S. National Library of Medicine shows that lemon and sweet orange oil, among other citrus scents, have a positive effect on physical, mental, and spiritual wellbeing. This is partially because the smell of citrus […]
How To Encourage an “Upward Spiral” When You’re Feeling Down
When you’re stuck in a rut of negative thinking and feel like you’re headed in a downward spiral, making a conscious effort to redirect your depressive tendencies into an upward spiral can make all the difference. When you’re feeling down, self-care and conscious, effortful, mindful action become all the more essential. But you probably already […]
6 Foods That Help Seasonal Affective Disorder (+ Other Helpful Lifestyle Hacks)
Also known as the “Winter Blues,” Seasonal Affective Disorder is a feeling of mild depression or anxiety that manifests during the cold, grey winter months. (It’s also sometimes referred to as the very appropriate acronym, SAD.) SAD symptoms include everything from fatigue, lethargy, and difficulty waking up to extreme anxiety, lack of motivation, and decreased […]
Gut Health Strongly Linked To Anxiety, Research Finds
Gut health and mental health may be more strongly associated than scientists previously suspected, new research suggests. According to recent meta-analyses published in the medical journal General Psychiatry, anxiety might be alleviated by regulating gut bacteria. This is a massive finding considering that as much as a third of the global population experiences anxiety, and […]
5 Depression Hacks That Can Ease Doldrums (We Promise)
These simple depression hacks are the product of extensive research into pop psychology, wellness, neuroscience, and various life coaching resources for therapeutic treatments of depression. Whether you’re struggling with depression or merely a case of the doldrums, we’ve explained each hack in simple language with practical examples that are easy to apply to your lifestyle. […]