How To Get Motivated

Since I started this blog I have always been open about my struggle with depression & anxiety. I'm sure anyone who struggles with mental illness too is aware that one of the common signs of depression is losing all motivation to do anything at all.

I am fully aware of how hard it is to get your motivation back once it's gone and although I try my best to live a positive, motivated & happy life I can't pretend that I don't struggle when it comes to motivating myself. 

However, for a few months I have been trying out different things to help motivate myself and I really want to share with you what I found helped me most in case it helps you in any way at all.

Lets get started,

1. Music

Music has been a huge part of my journey when it comes to motivating myself. The first thing I do in the morning is pop in my earphones and play music that I know will make me want to get out of bed and put me in a great mood! When you start the day right it really has a knock on effect for the rest of the day. 

I've also found this REALLY useful when it comes to motivating myself to exercise!

(Image not mine - credit linked)

2. Wake Up Early

Now for this to really work you will need to go to bed early too because if you wake up tired your most likely to fall back asleep during the day rather than getting things done!

I've found that watching the sunrise in the morning really gives me so much inspiration and puts me in a great mood for the rest of the day. Having some time alone allows you to gather your thoughts and plan out your day without distractions. Not to mention that waking up early means you have more time to get whatever you need done without stressing for time!

3.Write A To Do List

I cannot even explain how much this has helped me. I tend to do this on days when i'm not in work so that I keep myself on the go. 

I will even put simple things on there like 'get a shower', 'have breakfast', etc. Because although they are pretty normal everyday things it's so important to praise yourself for even the smallest achievements. Don't ever feel like you're not doing enough, baby steps are EVERYTHING.

4. Motivation Talks

Most days I try to listen to a motivational talk on YouTube. I've really found that after watching them I feel like nothing can stop me. So many times they have helped me get out of a rut when I've found myself feeling unhappy and unmotivated. It's true that anything is possible and you just have to believe in yourself!!

I hope this helps some of you and I will definantly be revisiting this topic when I discover more things along my journey.

Love, peace & happiness to you all,

Katie. xx

Remove Toxic People From Your Life (NOW)

It was only when I began focusing on my spiritual journey that I became aware of how much I allowed other people to affect my emotions. I was always fully aware that I am quite a sensitive person but once I decided to improve my life I realised that for me to truly be happy I had to stop living for other people and start focusing on what was right for me and my mental health.

If you read this and anyone in particular springs to mind I hope these tips can help you to find some clarity.

• You Can Absorb Their Energy

It's important to remember that as humans we are vulnerable to other peoples energies. If you are constantly surrounded by negativity you will most likely feel it and as much as I would love to tell you to walk away from anyone who causes you to feel anything but good I realise fully that, that isn't always possible.

All I want to tell you is that we may only get one chance to experience life and it's so important that you recognise that. You are not obliged to stay around anyone who makes you feel worthless, unhappy or unloved. It may not seem like it right now but you ARE in control of your emotions and you choose whether people effect you or not. 

When I realised that my whole life changed. I look back on how much people used to effect me compared to how they do now and I can't even believe it myself! In fact, I don't think there is much anyone could say that would effect me the way it used to. 

• Love Yourself Enough To Walk Away

Before I started this journey I can truly say I didn't love myself at all. I didn't realise that I stuck around people who made me unhappy because I was so unhappy myself. 

I want to make sure that everyone reading this is aware that you are worthy of love in every form. You never ever need to settle for people who don't value or accept who you are and as long as you love yourself you'll have everything you will ever need. You do NOT need someones love or acceptance to love yourself.

• Ask Yourself Why You Keep Them Around

If you are in a situation where you can walk away from someone who you feel is toxic to you I want you to ask yourself why you are choosing to keep them there. 

If you can't find any good reason to keep someone around then it is time to let them go. I truly believe that some people are in your life so that you can learn what you do and don't want. Stop allowing yourself to be hurt. You never have to feel guilty for putting yourself first and I honestly believe that removing toxic people will open new doors to people who where truly meant to be in your life.

I really hope this helps some of you!

Love & happiness,

Katie. xx

Why You're Not A Failure

When I was a child / teenager I never really remember feeling the pressures of society. Sure, there where the normal 'school pressures' like getting good results and just generally the usual pressures you feel as a teenager to look and act a certain way. Although, I never remember these things bothering me too much. However, I feel like as soon as I hit my 20's I all of a sudden felt this huge weight on my shoulders. School and college where over so what happens now? I felt like I suddenly had to find out who I was, where I was going and how I wasn't going to be a 'failure'.

As the years have gone on and i'm now approaching 23 I have realised that you can never really be a failure and I will tell you why.

There are no time limits in life and you don't have to do anything by a certain age. You can take all the time you want to get the career you want, to have children, to move out, to get married and most of all you're probably never going to fully know who you are because as humans we are always evolving (which I truly believe is such a beautiful thing). Also, you definantly don't have to do any of these things if it doesn't make you happy.

Don't get me wrong, I am in no way saying that you don't need to work towards your dream career because I do believe that if you want something bad enough that it should always be at the front of your mind and you should always be working towards the life you deserve. However, just don't put yourself down and dislike yourself because you aren't there yet. Just keep working hard and I guarantee you will get where you want to be.

The beauty of life is that you are never stuck (even though it can sometimes feel like you are!) you are always making choices that can lead you away from the life you want or towards the life you want. And if you find that you're away from the life you want.. love yourself enough to change that and believe in yourself.

Life is too short to live it wondering what would of happened had you done what your soul wanted.

Love and peace,

Katie Ellen. xx

How To Handle Stress

I realise that stress can be such a huge part of our lives at some point and if i'm completely honest this idea was sparked because recently I've been feeling super stressed for a number of reasons that aren't really that important!

Now, don't get me wrong if this is an on going thing or it is really effecting your everyday life you may want to speak to your GP. These things definantly can't change whatever it is that's bothering you but they are just some helpful tips to release stress instead of keeping it all inside & I'm hoping that it can truly help some of you.

So, lets get started.

1. Exercise

I know that when you're feeling down, stressed & over whelmed the last thing you probably feel like doing is exercising but if you give it a try you may find it really helpful. Exercise has been known to have a huge positive effect on mental illness' along with improving sleep and releasing endorphins which are chemicals within the brain that give you a 'feel good' feeling that can really lift your spirits. Not to mention that exercising keeps your brain occupied and will stop you from thinking about whatever is causing you stress. WIN!

2. Meditation

I tend to talk about meditation a lot when it comes to improving mental health & stress. This is because it truly does help. Meditating allows you to be in the moment and have a couple of minutes (or hours!) to yourself where you can gather your thoughts and get in touch with your true emotions. It also brings clarity to a lot of situations and can bring you peace & calmness when everything around you seems hectic and over whelming.

3. Talk

I'm really lucky to be surrounded by people who are always willing to listen when I need advice or just a good old rant! Not only does talking to someone allow you to release your thoughts but it also allows the person you're talking to to provide advice and support. Sometimes we can be so deep in our own thoughts that getting another persons advice can be great so we can look at situations from other perspectives. 

However, if you're reading this and worrying that you don't have anyone to turn to the best advice I can give is to write all your thoughts down. I done this a few weeks ago when I was feeling over whelmed and I can't explain how much of a relief it was just to get the thoughts out of my head! 

4. Breathe

I know this sounds ridiculous but sometimes when a person or situation is causing us stress it is so easy to build up so many emotions that you can actually feel the ball of anxiety in your chest / stomach, etc. Breathing deeply can really allow us to release all the tension we feel inside from stress and help us to relax our muscles and reduce that ball of anxiety you may be feeling.

5. Make Yourself Happy

I know that 9/10 people reading this will be feeling stress caused by other people. Remember that ultimately you are in control of what you allow to bother you. You are in no way obliged to stay around anyone or anything that is bringing you down. 

Make sure you take time to do all the things that bring you happiness and take control of your own emotions and don't allow others to be the reason you aren't living life to the fullest. It'll be the best thing you've ever done - trust me!

Wishing you all the love, happiness and peace.

Katie Ellen. xx

How To Improve Your Sleep

Ever since I can remember I have always struggled with falling / staying asleep. As a child I was always the one almost falling asleep in classes because I would of been awake most of the night before. I can never remember having a 'proper' sleeping pattern and I have spent most of my life saying "I'm tired" which i'm sure you have too if you're reading this post!

However, recently I have been taking my health a lot more seriously. As I explained in my last post (which you can read here) I have been delving into spirituality and along with that it seemed only natural that I started to look after my body aswell as my mind. I felt like to be in the correct place mentally and physically I needed to start changing the way I prepare my body for sleep.

In the past I would stay on my phone until the last second before I tried to fall asleep, I would get angry at myself for not falling asleep which in turn made falling asleep a lot harder, I often suffer from nightmares which cause me to wake up numerous times during the night & if I didn't have school or work the next day I would always stay up late and then sleep in the day after which would then totally mess up my sleeping pattern.

So, what have I been doing to try to change this?

1. Leave the phone alone!

I try to make sure that I'm off my phone atleast half an hour before I want to be asleep; now this is hard i'm not going to lie because sometimes i'll be watching YouTube or something will catch my eye and then time just seems to go so fast and before I know it it's 3am! To help with this I've started to have a little routine before I go to sleep. I make sure that I watch whatever I want to a little earlier and that way I find it easier to finish what I'm watching / doing and still manage to get to bed on time! Also, putting on your phone on air plane mode is never a bad idea to stop from getting distracted by texts or notifications, etc!

2. Meditate before bed!

One of the main reasons I've never been good at sleeping early is because my mind is always racing. As soon as I would turn off my phone my mind would try to occupy itself by thinking of everything and anything. Now every single night I try to meditate before I lie down for bed; I find this clears my mind and helps me to relax! It's also really helpful because it allows you to train your mind to be comfortable being unoccupied and I've found that really stops me over thinking before I sleep. I will either use the calm app for meditation or I will use a guided sleep meditation which are easily accessible on YouTube.

3. Think of a happy place!

Whenever I find that my mind is over thinking I will often take my mind to my 'happy place'. My happy place would be somewhere I find peaceful like the sea or near a waterfall. I imagine myself on the most comfortable bed right where my happy place is. I imagine all of my muscles relaxing and I think about how amazing my sleep is going to be. I find this so helpful when I'm finding it difficult to relax and shut my mind off. I promise if you try this you will probably be asleep within minutes - or I always am anyway! Lol!

I hope these little tips helped and I'll be sure to post some more tips in the future as I carry on trying to improve my sleep!

Hope you have a beautiful day,

Katie Ellen, x

Why I Started A Spiritual Journey

I first began delving into spirituality about a year ago. It started when I was going through a pretty rough time with my mental health and also going through some things in my personal life. I had discovered a YouTube channel called 'infinite waters' (AKA Ralph Smart who you can also view by clicking right here) and my whole perspective on life changed; I truly believe that I was meant to discover his channel.

After binge watching his videos I started to wonder how amazing life could be if I really pushed myself to become the best version of myself that I could possibly be. I decided then that I was more than ready for a change. I immediately discovered more channels like Ralph's, ordered books on spirituality and positive thinking and also started meditating every day (which I talk about in my other recent post which you can view here) and since then I've never looked back. 

I won't lie it's been quite difficult because I have / still am learning to break my old way of thinking which can be quite hard when you've been stuck in a rut for 20 odd years! But I can honestly say it's been worth every second and the difficulties are just parts of this amazing journey.

If i'm being honest before I discovered spirituality I felt like I had no purpose in life, I felt useless, worthless, depressed, anxious and at times I just didn't want to be here at all. Now I can truthfully say that I feel the complete opposite now; I know I have a purpose, I'm not useless or worthless and although at times I still do struggle with my anxiety / depression I know that I will always be stronger than they are. Now I wake up every single day so grateful to be living on this beautiful planet with amazing people and I can't believe how lucky I am to experience this life every single day. 

I can't wait to carry on sharing this journey with you all!

Have a beautiful day,

Katie Ellen. x 

3 Ways To Lead A Happier Life

I'm going to give you some tips on what changes I have made to lead a happier life. Bare in mind only a few months ago I was struggling to get out of bed because I was so depressed and now I wake up every day with a huge smile on my face and I actually look forward to every single day. I'm not saying these things will 100% work for you but i'm just going to share what helped me in hopes that it could help you too!

So, lets get started!

1.  Meditate

I will never be able to explain to anyone just how much meditation has changed my life. I use an app called Calm (which will really help you if you're a beginner!) and I couldn't recommend it enough. Due to my anxiety since I was a child I have never been able to get a full and good night sleep; my mind would constantly be thinking and then before I knew it my alarm would be going off! Whereas, now I use this app every night to calm my mind before I go to bed and it works wonders!

If you try anything from this little list please give meditation a go - It's allowed me to completely change my life around and become more positive and stress free!

      2. Distance Yourself From Negativity

If you know there are certain people in your life that cause you negative thoughts and feelings do not be afraid to distance yourself. It's time for you to be selfish and love yourself enough to create nothing but happiness for yourself. If you hate your job - look for a new one. If you don't feel loved in your relationship - leave. You are not obliged to stay anywhere that drains your energy and please believe that you are good enough for something better.

      3. Smile

I've spent so much of my life looking down at the floor I can't even begin to tell you! Before the new year I promised myself that in 2018 I would make it my mission to look around me and smile at strangers more. It's been quite difficult as doing this makes me so anxious but once I done it I couldn't believe how it made me feel. It made me feel good knowing I was a reason that someone smiled today. You really don't know what other people are going through and something as little as a smile could really brighten someone's day! Not to mention you can't see all the beautiful nature that is around you if you're stuck staring at the floor! LOOK UP! :-)

I'm going to leave this there for now but there will definantly be another one of these in the future! I really hope you enjoyed reading this and I hope it inspired you in some way!

Have a beautiful day,

Katie Ellen. x