Grieving for my dog
We said goodbye to our beloved Gizmo, and I really just want to talk about grieving for my dog, so nobody feels alone. We got Gizmo when he was 8 weeks old, and me and my now husband had been living together for six weeks. He was small and had been the smallest of a family of pedigree Shih Tzus that had been shown for generations at places like Crufts. However, my baby would never know that life, his legs turned out, he was too small and so he was last to be chosen. Most people in that world are looking for perfection, but I just wanted a pet to…
Dealing With Postpartum Emotions and Finding Strength
After having a baby, emotions can run high especially when you have been through a difficult journey. The pathway towards birth doesn’t always run smoothly and it can cause a lot of upset and anxiety as you recover from such a huge life event. When it comes to dealing with grief and trauma there are so many different ways to process your feelings and find the strength you need to care for your new baby. With this in mind, here are a handful of methods that may help you to find solace as a postpartum mother. Handling Complicated Births Sometimes mothers can experience unexpected complications during birth, which can leave…
3 Mistakes People Make After Losing A Loved One
Nothing prepares you for the crippling emptiness and pain of losing a loved one. You experience a range of emotions that leave you overwhelmed and stressed. You wonder if you will ever smile again and feel uninspired as the days go by. Though you might have friends and family to lean on, it is easy to feel like no one understands your anguish. During these moments, you might develop tendencies that affect your healing journey and the people who are around you. From shutting your loved ones out to self-sabotaging, these factors can negatively impact and delay your healing process. Here are some common mistakes you should avoid after losing…
Practical Ways To Support A Grieving Friend
When a friend loses a loved one, being there for them can be a delicate task. You need patience, compassion, and understanding to help them process the loss and cope with the heartbreak. Sometimes, you don’t know what to say in the midst of comfort. Grief has many stages and it is an individual experience everyone deals with uniquely. Some withdraw while others spiral. It is essential to show up for your friend in a sensitive manner and recognise how their grief manifests itself. While being a shoulder to cry on can be a great way to support them, here are other ways to help them navigate through a difficult…
My brain injury story – Brain Injury Awareness Month
It is Brain Injury Awareness Month and as this has happened in my family, this is my brain injury story. A brain injury can happen to anyone at any time, accidents happen and that is what happened to my parents on holiday. They had gone to Spain to look for property as they were thinking about moving there, they had been many times before. But when pulling out of a junction in a minivan with friends, a car that was speeding hit the side of the car and everything changed! My mom was sitting where the car hit, and though it caused extensive injuries to their friend, I feel more…
Frustrated with fatigue
I have not done a post like this for a while I don’t think, most of the time I try to use my life as a teaching moment here…but I’m just frustrated with fatigue! Looking back, I think I always had some level of fatigue, as I always struggled with keeping up and getting everything done, I wanted, or needed to. But it was manageable, and I honestly thought I just had a level of lazy about me as this was what I was told all the time. But as other Chronic Illnesses have joined the party, and I have grown older I have found myself with fewer and fewer…
Stop the mind games
Being a content creator seems easy right? Just write a blog post, throw out a video; job done! But after years it’s time I stop the mind games! I have struggled with my mental health my whole life; I had anxiety a lot as a child and struggled being accepted and understood by both kids and adults around me. Back in the 1980’s though, there was not much emphasis on mental health and in my whole school there were like three students who had anything that was known. However, looking at children today and the fact that 10% of children between 5 and 16years old have a diagnosable mental health…
How to Use Mindfulness To Navigate Grief
Being told that somebody close to you is never coming back can be an impossible emotion to navigate. Experiencing grief at any stage in your life is never easy, and you’re well within reason to feel every emotion as it comes to you. Practicing mindfulness when you’re trying to navigate grief is a useful tool that has helped numerous people through the most difficult times in their life. If you’re not really sure what mindfulness is, but you want to make the most of this wholesome technique, this is the right place to begin. Some of the ideas below will help you to use mindfulness on a day to day…
Protecting Your Mental Health During Unexpected Life Moments
Throughout your lifetime you are going to be tested in a number of ways that you would never expect. You can plan for so many different things to happen, but you cannot always be as prepared as you’d like to be. Protecting your mental health during these unexpected moments in life will help you to remain clear-headed, strong and sure of yourself. Whether you’re working through the death of a loved one, or you’re dealing with disappointment, some of the following ideas and techniques will help you to be mindful of your own mental health no matter what. Never Feel Alone With What You’re Experiencing When life hits you with…
5 Preparations To Make When a Family Member Is Gravely Ill
You never want to think the worst or make plans for a scenario that may not happen, but when a loved one is gravely ill, there are certain practicalities you need to consider. Before you work through your emotions and start to experience feelings of grief, you can start making preparations ahead of time. Whether they’ve been chronically sick for a while, or they’re quickly deteriorating from a sudden illness, now is the right time to put a couple of advanced plans in place. Not only will this help you to deal with the inevitable later down the line, but you will also be sure that your family member has…
