Baz Writing

The more love you feel, the less stress you experience
 

Our emotions define us, it is how we feel, and how we respond to different situations. Everyone goes through good and bad times, and it is our emotional health that dictates how quickly we recover. Having good emotional health will enable you to have a more positive outlook, even in difficult times, and be less afraid of new things and less worried about the future.

The World Health Organization estimates over 5% of the adult population suffer from depression, this is over 400 million people, and I am guessing many more people suffer in silence and wish their lives would improve. Millions more are stressed, worried, and have anxiety.

How we feel is a result of what we are thinking, and this also effects the brain, because the brain can change and adapt based on our thoughts and emotions. Positive thoughts allow new synapses and pathways to form in the brain based on new knowledge, skills, and positive thinking. This means the brain is growing and forming memory. Negative thoughts over time slowly shrink a part of the brain called the hippocampus, an area of the brain involved in memory and emotions, while positive thoughts will reverse this. So how we think directly effects our brain chemistry, and therefore our reality. 

Negative thinking, constantly worried and stressed, effects all areas of your life, not just the brain. Your energy will be less, maybe even feeling exhausted, you can feel disconnected with the world around you, unable to make any changes to your life and to move forward. Excessive thinking traps you into the reality your brain is creating, and it might not even be real, the more we think the more we imagine, till eventually the small thing that started the worry and stress turns into something blown out of all proportion, the constant thinking and worry has created a fantasy, but to the worried mind this is real.
 

There are many things we can do to increase our emotional health allowing us to recover quicker, to bounce back after something has gone wrong. 

The first thing to do if trapped in excessive thinking is to understand this, to know that too much thinking will always turn negative, and to stop the thinking. This best way to do this is to breathe. Instead of thinking, concentrate on the breath, breathing in and breathing out. Even counting say 1 to 7 for the in breath, 8 to 12 for the out breath, or any number that you feel comfortable with. Eventually you will be able to just concentrate on the breath to stop thinking without having to count, the more you do this the easier it will become. Even depression will ease if the thinking stops, because depression is generally a result of excessive thinking, producing negative feelings about yourself or your situation. Stopping the thinking will also stop you from sitting and doing nothing, and just getting out in the fresh air will produce positive feelings..
 

Just become aware that you are thinking, worried, stressed, and when this happens catch yourself and start breathing. The more you do this the quicker you will become aware of your thoughts and the easier it will become. Eventually you will not even need to concentrate on breathing, you will be aware of your reactions to different situations, aware you are consumed in negative thinking, and you will stop yourself and let it go.
 

When you stop thinking your world will change and you will gain awareness. You will become aware of everything around you, your ears will hear more, your eyes will see more, everything will appear more beautiful. Maybe a flower you have walked past a hundred times suddenly appears, and is amazing. Looking up at the sky you will notice the cloud formation, and this will never be repeated, every day the clouds will look different, breathtaking, beautiful. You never noticed this before because trapped in thinking blocks everything. The world will appear different, it will become alive, and by expressing feelings of gratitude, grateful to be seeing this, to experience this, will create positive and happy feelings, blocking whatever negativity you were once worried about.
 

This might take some time to develop, but over time you will think less and do more, and when negative situations happen the awareness you are developing will allow you to let go, and even if you are annoyed and trapped in negative thinking, you will soon be aware this is happening and you will stop yourself and return to a more positive and happy state of mind.
 

As you learn to control your thoughts your happiness will begin to increase, you will become more positive, and start to make better decisions, leading to a better and more rewarding life. Wanting and needing that always creates stress and worry will be replaced by gratitude and feeling good about life. Living in the present moment, combined with awareness, aware of everything around you, including your thoughts, you will understand that your thoughts are not real, and you will easily stop negative thinking when it comes.
 

We all have good and bad days, we all suffer stress, loss, disappointment, and having good emotional health means you quickly return to a happier state of mind. Different situations will affect different people, but nothing is permanent, if things are bad they will also become good. Life is short and should be enjoyed, and it is always up to you, how the brain thinks, how you react to different situations, determines who you are. Happy or unhappy, the choice really comes down to you.
 

How to improve emotional health:
 

Learning to let go of negative thinking is a large part of having good emotional health, but there are also many other ways to improve our overall emotional health. The mind and body are connected, and what we eat does influence how we feel, and being active also creates endorphins that produce feelings of happiness. An unhealthy diet of processed food and high sugar effects your mood and can even lead to depression, as well as taking away your energy and weaken your immune system.

We need to avoid or cut back on sugary snacks, processed foods, refined carbohydrates like white flour and white rice, and fried food. Also cut back on soft drinks and energy drinks, and mostly drink water. A can of coke has 7 spoons of sugar, an energy drink has 10 spoons of sugar. It is the sugar from processed foods and drinks that is responsible for most of the anxiety and depression in the world.
 

Omega3 is very beneficial for the brain. Add to your diet Omega3 foods like fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, tuna, sardines), avocados, walnuts, flaxseed, chia seeds, eggs, beans, and lots of green veg like kale, spinach and watercress.
 

A healthy diet should consist of about 70% plant food such as fruit, veg, seeds and nuts. 

Try to have lots of different colored fruit and veg, doing this will give you more complete nutrition. Also, eating ginger and turmeric is beneficial because both remove inflammation and have many health benefits. Inflammation is a result of eating too much processed food and sugar. Carbohydrate is converted to sugar by the body, so a high diet of processed food, snack food, sweetened food, and sugar, creates inflammation inside the body, and inflammation is like a fuel for disease. A high processed food and sugar diet is responsible for most cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, liver disease, dementia, and many more health problems, including contributing towards depression. Eating 70% plant food, with a little meat and some rice or bread, or replacing the meat with eggs, tofu, cheese, beans, lentils, and seeds for protein, will give more energy, make you feel more alive, more positive, and happier with your life.

Being active is a good way to feel good and gain extra energy, because exercise releases endorphins or happy hormones. Even just going for a walk each day is beneficial, because exercise also relieves stress, improves memory, and leads to a better sleep. The mind and body are very much linked with what we eat and what we do.
 

Another important step in emotional health is to connect with people face to face. Humans are social creatures and we all need positive connections to other people. Being alone can lead to excess thinking resulting in feeling down.
 

Make sure you devote time to family and friends, surrounded by family is a huge happiness booster.
 

Value yourself, be kind to yourself and avoid self criticism. Make time to do the things you enjoy.
 

Try to live in the present moment rather than allow yesterday to effect you or worry about the future. We should plan for the future, but not worry about the future because worry will only create negativity and unhappiness.

Studies have shown that kind people are happier, have less sickness, and live longer. This is because kindness creates happiness, the people we are kind to are happier, and we also become happier. Even just a friendly smile will make most people feel good, and when they smile back we feel good. Showing loving kindness increases our happiness and reduces our stress. 

Conclusion:
 

So... if you are feeling down, alone with your thoughts, and your life seems a mess, just start breathing. If something annoys you, upsets you, makes you angry, just start breathing. If you are confused, not sure what to do, just start breathing. Concentrating on the breath means you are doing nothing else, your mind is free. It is like a reset trigger for the brain, it takes away the emotion you are feeling by releasing chemicals that remove the stress hormones.

To make change you need to take a good look at your life. Look at your diet, is it healthy? Are you doing enough activity each day? Are you getting enough sleep each night, a good nights sleep is important for emotional health. Learn, gain knowledge, and make some changes to your life. 

Making change also changes the brain and creates positive feelings. 

Remember everyone will experience good and bad, and nothing is permanent, if things are bad they will also become good. Everyone suffers stress at times, has experiences loss, bad health, this is life and nothing lasts forever, good times are just around the corner. 

Believe in yourself and smile, a smiling face is a beautiful face.

Showing loving kindness and being grateful for life, grateful for what we have, no matter how small, will make us feel happier, and will allow more to enter our life. Never look down, look up feeling positive and happy, and shine your beauty to the world, because life is beautiful  :)
 

Baz Gale