9 tips for tough times

For many years I have dealt with anxiety, so I know how difficult and hard it is! In my darkest times I felt like I didn't recognize myself anymore ,I was scared all the time and at my worst I had panic attacks around the clock. I felt like a faceless nobody, and I felt like there was nothing for me in this life. So please believe me when I say, I see your pain! It's important for me state that using this tips didn`t make me feel accomplished and blissed the next morning, it is a long process.The good news however is that when you're not feeling good, small steps goes a long way to start feeling better! I believe these tips will be useful to you when you're not at a dark place as well, as I still use them regularly! So here we go, 9 tips to find yourself when you're feeling lost :

1. Talk to someone! Please don't think that you have to be alone in what you're going through. It could be a professional, a friend or others you trust!

2. Have patience with yourself! I know it's hard, and I know that it seems life is not going fast enough. But I promise you, finding some patience and gentleness with yourself will speed up the process!

3. Turn your mind inwards! We live in a time where there often is all about mind-energy. We have to exide, master and show the world on Facebook how happy we are. Start playing with mindfulness, yoga and/or meditation. Note that everything is not for everyone, so find your way to YOUR heart. When I started out with meditation I couldn't close my eyes because I felt out of control and dizzy, which led me to feel panic. If you for some reason feel like something is stopping you from this, think about life hack number 2, patience! To begin with I listened to guided meditations on Youtube with my eyes open, and slowly but surely I got there!

4. Put yourself first, always! You can't take care of everyone around you if you are not well! Put the oxygen mask on yourself before helping others, you can't help anyone if you're the first to go!

5. Do your shadow work and inner child work! If this is new to you, it's all about finding the root cause to your problems and blocks. Let the healing begin!

6, Do what feels good. Even if you're in a place where all you see is darkness, try to find out what things you can do to feel relief in your day. What can you do in the next 5 minutes to feel relief? Maybe taking a hot shower, a cup of tea or coffee or going outside to breath?

7. Allow yourself to feel safe and comforted! Do you feel like all you can accomplish today is to hide under the covers? You are totally allowed to do so! It does not matter if your dishes are colliding with the roof!

8. Ignore ignorant comments! Many people don't understand your situation because they are blessed and never have been where you are! How many haven't heard that you`re lazy, faking or similar statements. It does not matter, because you and I knows that it's not the case!

9. Take your emotions seriously! What you feel is never wrong, It's not possible to be dramatic, over-sensitive, excessive or over-anything. The emotions that comes forward in the moment does so because you have good reasons for it, and it can never be exaggerated or wrong in any way!