Oh, you're all tense and wound up! Have you had a bad day? Didn't you sleep well? Or do you have stressful day ahead? If any of those ring true, then this column is for you! Our columnists are here give you their best advice on how to relax and let go of all the stress. Take a deep breath and chill; you can thank us later.
We go through life at 100mph and our pace make things stressful. Stress is a horrible feeling, but can be solved thanks to meditation, letting go, yoga or even sophrology. In this section, you will find everything you need to learn how to channel your emotions.
'I’ve decided to be happy because it is good for my health.'
- Voltaire
Ah meditation! Who still hasn’t heard of it? For several years now, this practice has been gaining in popularity. Is it a need to slow down or a desire to find a haven of peace in an ever-changing and stressful world? Maybe. What exactly is mindfulness meditation? What are the benefits? And is it good for everyone? 1, 2, 3, breathe and dive into a more zen world!
Living at 100 miles per hour doesn’t mean living at 100%. This is something I discovered when I realized that my days were all the same and going by at breakneck speed. I didn't take the time to savor things, but one day I decided to say stop! To fully appreciate each moment, I have been trying to adopt a slow life for a few years now. In our fast-paced society, it's like swimming against the tide. How and why should we slow down our daily lives? Let's go (gently)!
Stress, anxiety, and guilt are just a few of the many negative emotions that can affect us on a daily basis. Are you someone that other people regard as sensitive? If so, do you often hear things like ‘try not to take everything to heart’ or ‘try to take a step back from the situation’? The truth is, no matter how many times we hear this sort of advice, it doesn’t make disconnecting ourselves any easier. If you need to free yourself from stress, then the good news is, we have some truly practical tips for you.
I’m lazy, there, I said it! I've probably always known this, although it probably took me a long time to admit it and say it out loud because it’s very frowned upon. But now I’m alright with it. Why? Because stress is just as dangerous as smoking and inactivity is no longer a taboo… what’s more, it feels amazing!
“What am I going to do with my life?” That’s the question we ask ourselves after a burnout. You’ve recovered, but you’re lost in your professional life. A burn-out doesn’t prevent you from having a strong professional conscience and from wanting to move forward. But you’re more fragile and fear repeating the same mistakes. That’s why you need to take the time to take stock and plan your life afterwards as best as possible. So how do you come back from a burn-out?
Ahhh meditation, that moment when you can reach your inner peace. It’s the stuff of dreams, right? The practice has become democratized and it’s no longer reserved for Buddhist monks! Good, because it’s a relaxation method that is good for the mind and body. It’s a good way to evacuate stress and work on your breathing. So how can you meditate on a daily basis to feel its benefits? Meditation depends on your intentions and the perception you have of your environment! So let’s see why it’s interesting to meditate and above all, how to do it!
I always thought I was in tune with myself and that I knew myself really well! That’s what I said to myself a few years ago before spending several weeks looking introspectively at my inner self. I realized that I wasn’t actually listening to my thoughts! From that point onwards, my journey of self-analysis hasn’t finished, and is still very much ongoing. There are benefits of introspection, so I will explain what it’s all about and above all give you tips to self-analyze successfully.
Legs too fat, lips too small, scars or even shyness, whether it’s physical or psychological, complexes often have the bad taste of spoiling our lives and making us unhappy. But we won’t let them do that to us! We’re worth more than that, right?
Breathing is something we do so naturally, so much so, that we sometimes forget to do it properly. That's often how I find myself hyperventilating, because stress has, for a while, succeeded in cutting off my breathing. Breathing is living, but it's also living better! How can we chase stress away all together with a few simple exercises?
Designated as the happiest country in the world by the World Happiness Report in 2018, Finland is said to be the home of a unique art of happiness: sisu. It enables us to reconnect with ourselves, to honour our energy, our will and ability to adapt. Ready to try sisu on a daily basis to be happy?
Perfectionism is a paradoxical trait, and it's for that precise reason that it has ruined my life for such a long time. On paper, it may seem like a positive quality to have and implies meticulousness, however, in reality, it is closely linked to anxiety and can cause huge problems in our professional and personal lives. In my personal experience, my need for everything to be faultless meant I'd spend hours and hours working on projects and worrying that nothing was ever good enough. The truth is, by putting in so much extra effort, I was wasting my time and making myself ill, whilst neglecting other important tasks. I eventually realized that something needed to give, and that's where the 80/20 rule for perfectionism came in and saved the day!
For the past 5 years, I’ve suffered from crippling anxiety, which often spun out of control and left me feeling like a prisoner in my own body. My condition was so detrimental to my mental health, that it was at the root of my losing friendships, boyfriends, and even a job. Although, one day I suddenly decided that the invasive, irritating voice in my head needed to be silenced! Now, no one ever really recovers from anxiety, but the symptoms can be alleviated with a simple morning routine, for example.
I sometimes say this sentence. There are days when I feel good and/or beautiful, so when I look in the mirror, I say, “I love myself” and it feels good. However, I’m sorely lacking in self-confidence. There are lots of things that make loving myself a rollercoaster ride, so today I decided to tell you all about it in this very intimate article. When self-love is a long path…
Narcissism is a captivating subject because it often refers to the love we have for ourselves. Now, self-love is very similar to the love we have for others, but it is often the cause of terrible suffering too. If I am a narcissist, if I love myself beyond measure, then I surely have a terrible fear of failure, and if, on the contrary, I carry a deep narcissistic injury within me, then I am unable to appreciate myself to my true value. The balance is, as always, a very thin line, but, this begs the question, how can I love myself better? Well, the obvious answer seems to be by trying to heal this narcissistic wound, whatever it is!
“I won’t manage it”, “I can’t do it”… I often say this because I doubt my abilities tremendously. Being so negative allows me to calm my fear of failure a bit. By doing nothing, I don’t run the risk of failing. I prefer to do nothing and remain in a state of waiting, for fear of not succeeding. So I procrastinate, thinking about the fact that I didn’t take the plunge out of anxiety. How can I overcome this fear to really start doing things?
The past two years of the pandemic haven’t been good for our mental health, to say the least. It’s even left some people feeling very emotionally tired: irritability, loss of energy and pleasure, feeling of incapacity… Most often, we don’t identify these small signals that are nevertheless the sign of mental exhaustion. Understanding emotional fatigue can help you escape the worst and prevent you from totally collapsing. Let’s talk about it.
For many years, I had a lot of trouble expressing my emotions despite my hypersensitivity. I was unassuming and didn’t dare say what I thought. With age, I managed to express myself more and more and say loudly and clearly what I felt. Looking back, I can now say that I was inhibited. But what exactly is inhibition? How can you overcome it? Let me explain.
Reevaluating my relationship with work has played on my mind for years now. Work less, enjoy life more is probably one of the best slogans to emerge moving on from the Coronavirus pandemic. For years, many of us endured jobs we hated in conditions that we despised, yet when Covid reared its ugly head, it brought about a working revolution. So, what does tomorrow hold for our professional lives? Will it be full of relaxation? What if we decided to change our attitudes to work as of now?
Caught up in my routine and daily life, I sometimes forget that the key to happiness is new things. And then one day, out of the blue, I change my route home and feel… lighter, less confined, freer. Habits are just as necessary as they are harmful, but there are 6 that might make you a little happier. Any bets? 😏
My desk is full of post-its, I get overwhelmed, and I’m often right on schedule! I know that prioritizing is the key to being organized at work, but how do you do that when you feel that all your tasks are important? There are different ways to do this, but the most important thing to remember is that you can learn to prioritize. Here’s how!
"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."
- Oscar Wilde
