You Don’t Need A New Life – Just New Habits

More than 20 years ago, I was diagnosed with mild anxiety and depression. Instead of staying on medications, I found ways to create new habits to improve my life. I read, researched, and visited doctors who could suggest anything and everything EXCEPT medication in order to heal my anxiety and depression. This experiment resulted in me learning about 5 key areas where creating new habits will improve your life. And in my case, improving my life meant my anxiety and depression were all but eliminated.

Vitamins & Supplements

One of the first lessons I learned was that there are vitamins and supplements that you can take that will help you feel less anxious and depressed. Some solutions can be as simple as adding a multivitamin to your routine, other solutions might be taking St. John’s Wort or Turmeric. I quickly learned that though vitamins and supplements aren’t regulated by the Federal Trade Commission, there are plenty of health food stores who are familiar with quality brands, and they can recommend great solutions for your health. Not only that, the reviews provided on online sites can be a treasure trove of information when you decide to try vitamins and supplements. One of my first new habits was committing to taking vitamins and supplements that improved my health.

Food

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I had trouble eating pork and beef. For that reason, and still, I do not eat pork or beef. Around twelve years after I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression, I was having trouble clearing my throat. I went to a naturopath doctor and she suggested that I stop eating gluten. I looked at her completely in shock. She said, “Hey, try it for 3 days and let me know if you feel better.” Three days after I stopped eating gluten, the entire problem disappeared. Also, I had some acne that cleared up and some bloating that went away. Like many other people, I ate gluten and thought nothing of it. But, I decided creating new habits which included replacing food that didn’t work with my system, would be better than being on medication. In the US, we don’t really learn that our food could be making us sick. But, I absolutely believe our food can make us sick. We have to be selective about what we consume.

Stress

Though stress is a normal part of life, some of us are simply stressed out. And, we engage in practices and behaviors that increase our stress. The therapists in my life have been crucial in showing me that I have power over how much I allow myself to be stressed. I, now, fully engage in “protect my peace” behaviors on a daily basis. As a “Boundaries Boss,” I do not allow people to cross my fences. I am very protective of my time. I have a variety of tools that I use that help me to reduce my stress–journaling, exercising and meditating to name a few. The new habits I created around boundaries has probably contributed to 80% of the peace in my life.

Sleep

I’m not sure enough of us take sleep seriously. Sure, when we go up to bed, we want to go to sleep. But, how many of us make the sleep ritual itself a priority? How many people stay up too late and/or don’t have a regular routine to maximize their rest? This is a problem that I found can contribute to all sorts of problems in your life. From foggy thinking, to not healing at a normal pace, sleep can be at the center of a lot of issues. This is a habit that I still am working on, but I by no means, blow it off.

Check Ins

Whenever I talk to my community about check-ins, I wonder if they check out. Check ins are this “Yasmin Shiraz” concept where I encourage people to check in with themselves daily. How are you doing? How’s your body doing? What has frustrated you? No, I didn’t ask you about your kids and your husband. I’m asking about you. Check-ins are the most important thing but I think people think it’s “quack talk.” But here’s the theory behind my check ins. How do you know if you’re making progress, if you don’t check in with yourself? How do you know if you’re happy if you don’t check in with yourself? There is this settling attitude where women know how everyone else is doing, except ourselves. This is a problem that leads to other problems.

My Healthy Bundle Will Help You Change Your Life

I created The Healthy Bundle which is a 5 book collection of key research, findings, supplements, foods you shouldn’t eat, tools for managing stress, check-ins, how to sleep better–all the things dealing with those 5 areas.

The books included are:

Don’t Eat This 30: 30 Everyday Foods That Secretly Harm Your Health (and What To Eat Instead)

The Sleep Reset: A 21-Day Guide to Better Rest and Recovery

The Vitamin Playbook: 50 Popular Supplements to Boost Your Mind, Body & Glow

Check-In Self Inventory: A Self Inventory Journal

Find Your Calm: A 21-Day Stress Relief Guide

To purchase the bundle, click here.