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

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 

Letting Go Of Control (Stop Overthinking)

Hello loves,

I was watching a video on YouTube from infinite waters (also known as Ralph Smart) the other day about over thinking and this video sparked so much inspiration in me. I feel like I could do a whole blog post on how much Ralph's channel has changed my life but I guess I'll save that for another day! If you would like to view his video please just click riiiiight here.

I'll be honest and say I am definantly guilty of being an extreme over thinker. I think that due to my anxiety I have a constant need to analyse every situation so that I can protect myself from all angles. 

During this video Ralph talked about how we over think because we feel like we can control everything but in reality we cannot control anything at all. This hit me super hard because I felt like it completely made sense to me. There have been so many times when my anxiety and over thinking have gone through the roof because I just didn't understand how I could control situations to stop bad things from happening to me when in reality I was just causing extra stress for myself. 

After watching this video I decided to try to take steps on letting go of that control. Realising that nothing and no one truly belongs to me and that over thinking will destroy my happiness which it already has done so many times. Don't get me wrong I am in no way close to saying I've stopped over thinking. I still struggle with it daily. However, I now have the motivation and inspiration to understand that I deserve to treat myself, my mind and the people around me better.

I hope that this blog post and Ralph's video can inspire you to take steps to a better life too.

Here's to a more peaceful life.

Thank you for reading,

Katie Ellen. xxx

Time To Change

Hey guys,

I am writing this just as World Mental Health Day is coming to an end and I'm feeling super emotional so obviously I had to write a blog post! Haha.

Firstly, I wanted to talk to you about a post that I wrote for the Time To Change campaign website. I always express that whenever I talk about mental health there will always be a reason behind me doing so - and that reason is always to help the people who are struggling.

Time To Change campaign against mental health stigma - which believe it or not still exists! And I had the opportunity to share my story and how I have also been stigmatised for having a mental illness. This was / still is a HUGE deal for me. To be able to potentially help so many people makes me almost want to cry and i'm not afraid to say that I feel really proud of myself for being able to open up beyond the comfortable space of my own YouTube channel or blog.

If you want to read the post I will have a link at the very end of this post. If you feel like my story or anyone else's on there could help someone then please do share them! It would mean the world to myself and everyone else involved.

I also wanted to say how days like WMHD make me super emotional. To see everyone coming together to support each other makes me so happy and fills my heart with so much love. As a person who struggles with MH I think I speak for a lot of us when I say that it's extremely nice to feel like someone cares.

I would just like to end this post by saying that if you have a mental illness I want you to know that you're not alone. There are so many people out there feeling the exact way that you do so please don't be afraid to reach out and ask for help. There is nothing to be afraid of - I promise you there are people who love you and want to help you.

Let me know in comments how you felt about world mental health day!

Thanks for reading,

Katie Ellen. xxx

TimeToChange.com/KatieEllen

Dog Therapy

Hey guys!

Today's post is going to be all about those little 4 legged human / animals that live in your house totally rent free and eat more food than you do. Yes, I'm talking about dogs! *fangirls*

So, first of all I would like to begin by saying that I wasn't always a huge dog lover. I have always loved dogs and animals in general to an extent but never really understood how people become so passionate about them. I remember having a conversation with my boyfriend Karl about his dog Jake (this is before I had my own dog) and I remember him saying he would take a bullet for him. Honestly, at the time I thought this was such an insane thing to say but I can completely say that my view now has changed 100%.

This is me and Jake, he's such a little sweetheart!

I guess before I carry on I should introduce you to my dog, right!?

This is Phoebe my little 10 month old Cavachon and we have had her since she was around 16 weeks old. She is a little a bit crazy (in the best way possible) and I honestly couldn't imagine my life without her.

It's absolutely no secret to the internet that I suffer from anxiety and depression but I truly do believe that Phoebe has helped me through bad times more than humans have, surprisingly! There have been multiple times when I have lied on my bed curled up in a little ball crying my eyes out due to depression just wishing I had the courage to ask someone to help me when this little fluff ball jumps up onto my bed and starts trying to lick away my tears and curling up onto my lap; suddenly I find myself crying with happiness. For once I didn't have to reach out to anyone and ask for help as she was already there. I'm honestly welling up just typing this!

I feel that she has also helped my anxiety more than I can even put into words. I struggle a lot to walk places by myself so before having Phoebe I severely avoided leaving the house unless I was jumping into a car. However, knowing that I have the responsibility of a dog I force myself almost everyday (other days my family members take her out) to take her for a nice long walk and having her by my side makes me feel so much less anxious and on edge; even if she does like to bark at everything! Haha. 

I honestly believe that if you do suffer with mental health issues that a dog can be a real help in your recovery but always remember that you have to show them just as much love, too! I would give cats a shout out too but I have never owned one so I'm not sure if they act the same. Do let me know in the comments below if you feel the same about your dog or any other animal you may have as I am always happy to talk about animals, haha!

Thank you so much for reading,

Katie Ellen. xx