How to Stay Mentally Fit During The Pandemic

There’s no doubt about it, 2020 has been a tough year, and the pandemic that has in many ways defined the year has touched just about everyone on the planet in one way or another. With gyms closed and many people’s fitness routines upended, there’s been much talk of how to stay physically fit in such challenging times, but what about mental fitness? The team here at Hearfind thought we’d bring you a few tips to keep your mental fitness up, along with your physical fitness.

Make time to exercise. Wait, didn’t we say these tips were for mental fitness? Well, they are, and the fact of the matter is that exercise provides a big boost to mental health, not just physical health. Exercise also helps regulate and improve sleep, it can improve mood through the release of chemicals in the brain, and it can increase overall energy levels too.

Make time for friends and family. We may have to physically distance, but that doesn’t mean we can’t communicate. Despite the Zoom fatigue that we’re all feeling, human connection is more important now than ever, and extra effort should be made to stay in touch with those we love any way we can.

Find your personal rituals. It’s the smallest things that can make the biggest differences. Personal rituals, be they anything from an evening walk around the neighborhood to an afternoon cup of tea, can help us feel grounded and provide structure in an otherwise overwhelming time.

Looking for your daily dose of happiness? Visit our online library at Hearfind for a wide variety of ebooks, audiobooks, music, and more. Accessible anytime, anywhere, from your favorite devices.

How to Beat the Mental Blocks to Happiness

We’re all on the road to finding happiness, one way or another, but sometimes we find roadblocks along the way. And sometimes, those roadblocks are of our own making. If you’re working towards something, odds are you may have come across one or more of these mental roadblocks, but don’t worry, we have tips on how to beat them.

Mental block #1 “I can’t do this.” Sometimes we face a mental block before we even get started, and that block comes in the form of self-doubt. We often think we’re not good enough, or simply can’t do something, but more often than not that’s not the case. To beat the “I can’t do this” mental block, start out slow, and if there are failures along the way think of each one as a stepping stone towards success.

Mental block # 2 “I don’t want to do this.” Once we get started, we may start wondering why we wanted to do something in the first place. Sometimes we even think we may have to do something, but don’t really want to do it. To beat this road block, it helps not to think of the task at hand, but the motivation behind it. Why are we doing it in the first place? The reminder is often enough to keep us going.

Mental block #3 “I’m not good at this.” Finally, while failures are only normal every once in a while, that doesn’t mean they don’t get to us, and leave us thinking we’re just not good at something. In times like these it helps to take a step back and look at overall progress. Sure, they may be slips and stumbles along the way, but there’s often an upward trend that gets overlooked.

Looking for some uplifting? Visit our online library at Hearfind for a wide variety of ebooks, audiobooks, music, and more. Accessible anytime, anywhere, from your favorite devices.

Is Happiness a Choice?

We all want to be happy, that goes without saying, but many of us feel like happiness is just out of our control. In fact, when talking about happiness, it's not uncommon to hear people say: “If I only had this I could be happy,” or, “If only that happened I could be happy.” But some, like The New York Times reporter John Leland, argue that happiness is a choice. Leland even wrote a book on the matter, entitled Happiness Is a Choice You Make: Lessons From a Year Among the Oldest Old. From an interview with Kiplinger.com, here’s what he had to say about happiness as a choice.

“You come to understand that the quality of our lives isn’t based in the events of our lives. It’s really in the reaction to the events in our lives. That’s a really useful thing, to realize “I don’t have control over some of the events in my life, like the weather, but I actively have a say in how I respond to the weather.” The title of the book is Happiness Is a Choice You Make, but the key word isn’t happiness. It’s choice. It’s declaring that you won’t be defined or determined by the circumstances of your life. You have a say in this. That declaration is liberating. That liberation is happiness. Happiness isn’t just the thing you choose; it’s the act of choosing it that makes you happy.”

Looking for some feel-good content? Visit our online library at www.hearfind.com for a wide variety of ebooks, audiobooks, music, and more. Accessible anytime, anywhere, from your favorite devices.

Smart Weight Loss Tips for 2019

Many people jump into 2019 with the goal to lose some weight and get into better shape, but with countless diet plans out there the proper approach may be somewhat elusive. Of course, when it comes to losing weight the smart and healthy way, the proper approach may not be a diet at all. Here are three smart weight loss tips to get your 2019 started the right way.

Think lifestyle changes, not diet. A diet may get some results in the short term, but the body has its way of remembering and trying to get back to its original weight once that diet is over. Additionally, restrictive diets can often lead to nutrient deficiencies down the road if taken to an extreme or followed for too long. Lifestyle changes, on the other hand, like changing eating habits and generally eating better produce more sustainable results, even if they do happen just a bit more gradually.

Set reasonable expectations. You may not have that beach body a week into your new routine, and a significant difference in numbers on the scale may not happen in a matter of days. Setting reasonable expectations is the smartest way to ensure you stick to your new routine, and it’s far healthier than aiming for drastic change in a short amount of time.

Water is your friend. Water is not only essential to digestion, but it’s also a powerful weight loss tool, as quite often perceived hunger is really nothing more than dehydration. Sugary soft drinks and juices don’t count for proper hydration, replacing these drinks with water and ensuring you drink enough water throughout the day will make a significant difference not just in how you look, but in how you feel.

Looking for more uplifting content? Visit our online library at www.hearfind.com for a wide variety of ebooks, audiobooks, music, and more.

Easy Steps to Happier Living

It doesn’t take much to be just a bit happier every day, and some simple changes may be the first steps in that journey to happier living. Here are four easy steps you can take today for the sake of a happier tomorrow.

Seek social connections. We’re social creatures, and while many of us need our alone time to recharge, just about all of us need social connection to survive. Making an effort to make new connections and maintain old ones will certainly have a positive effect on happiness.

Be kind to others. Helping other people isn’t just beneficial to them, it’s beneficial to us as well, and kindness to others has a positive impact on our own happiness. Acts of kindness also help us build stronger connections with the people most important to us.

Exercise regularly. A happy body usually means a happy mind, and countless studies have proven that regular exercise helps combat depression and contributes to better moods and better cognitive function. Healthier really does equate to happier.

Get some sleep. Sleep is how our minds and bodies recharge and regenerate, and a well rested mind is a happy one. It’s not always easy to get a full eight hours of sleep every night, but prioritising sleep for the sake of happier living may be a better investment than an extra hour on the couch watching Netflix.

Looking for your daily dose of happiness? Visit our online library at www.hearfind.com for a wide variety of ebooks, audiobooks, music and more. Accessible anytime from your favorite devices and sure to have you feeling great!