How to unwind during the Christmas holidays

Happy Saturday everyone! Now that it's officially the Christmas holidays, it's also that time of year where I try to do my upmost to just chill out, unwind & focus on the being in the present moment. Especially where the Christmas period is all about spending time with the people you love.

As the above title states, I will be sharing some useful tips on how to unwind during the Christmas holidays, as this is an important time of year to take care of your mind & wellbeing, so you will be able to reset for the new year.

These tips are what personally helps me to unwind during the festive period, so my mind & wellbeing feel refreshed for the next year ahead. For anyone reading who find it difficult to unwind during the festive period, do at least a few of these tips to help you, as you too can feel refreshed & ready to tackle the next year ahead!

Go out for a walk once a day: 

I know I have droned on about this in my past blogs a lot of times a few years back, but walking is genially good for your physical & mental health combined. There is proven evidence that states that you must try to go out on a 30min walk everyday where & when possible, as 30mins will be enough time to get your happy endorphins up to a satisfactory level. I personally like to be out walking for a WHOLE DAY, as this gives me enough time to clear my mind of negative thoughts, as well as numb my mind from all of the negativity. Here are some useful resources: https://www.verywellhealth.com/walking-30-minutes-a-day-8748945 https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/walking-for-health/ 

Make some festive treats:

What better way to contribute to the festive cheer then to make festive treats! I love baking in my down time whenever I get the chance. I especially love baking cakes! It's a good way to occupy your time if you have some free time for a few hours during the daytime. Plus, there's no better rewarding feeling than eating your own treats afterwards!

Have regular communication with friends & family:

Many people will be stuck at home during the festive period, so this would definitely be a good & convenient time to keep in touch regularly with those you care about. Especially if they're working throughout the Christmas break, or if they're finding it hard to cope due to Christmas being their least favourite time of year.

Do something that you enjoy doing:

If you suddenly end up feeling bored, and have no idea what to do with yourself, just do something that that makes you happy. If you happen to have a continuous hobby, go for it for as long as you want to, as utilising your hobbies will help distract your mind from being stuck in the hellish trap, known as "boredom".

Enjoy the present moment:

During this time of year, it is important that you take each day as it comes, and to just simply enjoy the present moment. After all, it is important that you reflect on how you have intended on spending the Christmas break, as it only comes around once a year, and there's personally no better feeling than enjoying every moment on the fantastic things you are doing during the festive period. Especially getting to reflect on how fantastic it went after New Year!

As mentioned before, these are the tips that I personally find helpful on how to cope during the Christmas holidays, and hopefully it'll inspire you to do the same too.

I know that Christmas may not be everyone's favourite time of year, but how YOU choose to spend it by doing the things that YOU love doing, will make all the difference.

With that said, I'd like to take this moment to wish everyone reading this a Happy Christmas, and a Happy New Year, as I won't be back blogging on here until early next year.

If I had to sum up 2025 in just 1 word, it'll definitely be - Monumental.

I say this, as I've done SO many things all within a short space of 12 months. It feels more monumental even just thinking that I've done & achieved so many things within a short space of 12 months too. 

Whilst there may have been some downers in between (Especially over the past 3 months), it still doesn't undermine the fact that 2025 was a year full of successes!

Now, if y'all excuse me, I'm off to enjoy the remainder of this "monumental" year by doing what I enjoy doing, and allowing my mind to reset for the next year ahead. 

Over & out!🤚🏻

*I began this post on the 20/12, but didn't finish it until the 21/12*

5 whole years of Psychology Intake!

Hello everyone! Hope you've all been well, and making the most out of the last 16 days of 2025. I know I am.

As the above title states, my blog is officially 5 years old! (Well, as of the 12th of December). I was supposed to do this blog on the Friday just gone, but I had something on that day, which prevented me from being active on here. Anyway, I got time today, so 3 days late isn't too bad!

In this special blog, I just want to take a moment to reflect on why I wanted to start a blogging site, as well as what my intentions are with being a blogger & the content I create with all things psychology.

What was my reason for creating this blog? 

Back in 2019, I started growing a passionate interest for psychology. As of such, I began reading psychology articles to feed my brain with psychology facts. Fast forward onto 2020, where I had spent a large chunk of my time being at home, I wanted to gain a more deeper knowledge of psychology by doing a few courses on The Open University. 

And my learning thirst didn't stop there... My mind was craving after more psychology articles. By the 12th of December of that year, I plucked up the courage to create my own blogging site based on my growing passion for psychology. So here we are!

Did I want to use psychology towards anything?

Yes, I did. I want to be able to use psychology to work with people & their mental health. Although I wanted to go through a psychology degree at a university. Back then, I had to go through 3 courses at college to get towards studying a psychology degree at university. In other words, I was 3 years away from getting to that stage. During these 3 years, I have learned about the importance of exercising to uplift mental health & wellbeing, conformity, conditioning & Maslow's Needs.

However, 3 months prior to leaving college, all of that changed... I ended up not going the university route to undertake a psychology, as I was told by one of my college tutors that all it will be, is a subject on a piece of paper in a glass frame when I graduate. Instead, I went down a different route...

And that route was getting to work in education, as well as expanding my skills & morals into youth work. All in all, I'd definitely say that me inheriting all of this psychology knowledge & facts was 110% worth it! This is because I get to use it as a superpower to understand young people's behaviour. With that said - Goal achieved!🎉  

A year into working in education...

It's somehow the 1st of December already?! Which can only mean a few things... Christmas is on its way! As is my birthday (the big 25 coming up in 28 days😬), New Year & more importantly, the 5th anniversary of this blog being created! (I'll be sure to do a post on that😉)

Anyway, hope this final month of 2025 has gotten off to a good start for you all, whatever you're doing. I fortunately had the day to myself today, so that means I'll be able to make a post on here.

This was another post I was meant to do a couple of weeks ago, as it marks 1 whole year of me working in education, (8th of November 2024 to be more priciest).

As of such, I'd like to take a moment to reflect on my journey. This also will include what I've learned, what I've enjoyed & the downsides of being an agency LSA, if I've not mentioned them already.

Since I began college, I've always wanted a career where I can work with young people to understand their mindsets. It was there & then that I've wanted to go down a psychology degree route. Although at that stage, I was a few years away from considering about going to university to undertake a psychology degree. 

Fast forward onto March 2023, when I was 3 months away from finishing college, and where I got the job as a Saturday Youth Worker at Challengers, I got talked out of going to university by one of my college tutors. Half of the reason was because he went to university himself, and told me face-to-face that the university experience is really not as people make it out to be. He also added that obtaining a psychology degree would not mean anything by the time I've finished uni. 

Fast forward again onto November 2024, where I've gained over a year's experience of being a Youth Worker to vulnerable young people, I decided to apply to lots of LSA jobs through CV Library. I'll tell you what, I was very impressed with the fact that one agency was very quick at getting back to me within just 24 hours! 

Here I am a year on, and I'm sat here with all of this more in-dept knowledge of some SEN needs that I've never heard of before or not have much experience of working with SEN needs that I do know of. For example, SEMH is definitely one of them. I'm sat here typing this, where I feel like I'm an expert with understanding SEMH, as I've gained so much experience & knowledge of how SEMH impacts a young person. As most of you know by now, I am best known for working at a SEMH school for 6 months, where I've found a fond passion of working with vulnerable young people who have experienced trauma in their early stages of life.

I have also worked in other education settings as well, where I got to put my expertise knowledge of SEMH, ASD & ADHD into good use. However, these have only been a couple of days here & a couple of days there kind of jobs, but it was still an enjoyable experience to get to work with different pupils with a variety of different SEN, as well as learn about how all of those SEN impacts these pupils nonetheless!

For those of you who are interested, here is a FULL list of all of the education settings that I have worked in over the past year:

• Bramley Oak Academy (for 1 day)
• Grafham Grange (now Bramley Grange Academy for 6 months)
• Gosden House (for 1 day)
• Merrist Wood College SEN department (1 week)
• Leith Hill School (3 days)
• Carwarden House (3 days)
• Pond Meadow (1 day)
• Brooklands School (1 day)
• Hollywater School (1 day)
• St Joseph's Trust (2 days)

I will be upfront & honest here by saying that I do find it frustrating that a few agencies I am now registered with, do not give me enough support when it comes to being placed into a school, where I intend to get more permanent work in. Especially if I really get on with the school & its pupils with needs that I have expertise in working with. Another thing I dislike, is where I will be specific to an agency that I do not want to be placed anywhere that I have little experience in. Biggest example would be in a school with non-verbal pupils. But they'll still do it anyway, all because they care about filling in staff gaps just so they can make their money for the day.

On a more positive note, I definitely like to think that I've been really successful in this industry so far! Especially how I've chosen not to go down the university route just for the purpose of getting a paper psychology degree at the end of it that doesn't mean much now in the career route I'm currently going down.

What does the word 'Reflect' mean to you?

Hello all, and I hope you're all having a great 2024 so far! I know I'm 2 days late here with this post, but if I'm being honest, I really couldn't be bothered to post on NYE.

Anyway, as the above rhetorical-questioned title states, I am curious to know what reflecting means to you. Does it consist of reflecting on yourself? Last year? (2023) Or even a few or more years back? Whatever your thoughts are, do feel free to type them in the comments. I personally, will be using this post to reflect on how 2023 has been for me. Although I'm not one of those people who tends to have a priciest opinion on how each year has been for me, I can definitely say, without a doubt & as a fact, that 2023 has been my best year so far. And I'll tell you for why...

What does reflection mean to me? If I was to choose how to best answer this rhetorical question, I would say looking back over the past 4 years on how far I've progressed with myself, compared to where I am now to this day. If I was to think deep about it, my mind just feels like it wants to explode with disbelief. It's also if my mind still cannot actually believe how long my self progression has been!

Let's go back to late 2019, where I had manifested my interest & passion for psychology. A.K.A, pre Psychology Intake times. (And of course, COVID-19😂) The most I was doing, in terms of anything psychology related, was looking up psychology quotes on the internet. I was pretty much doing the same for the 1st 5 months of 2020. A short while after that, I random began looking up the psychology behind some old children's TV shows I used to watch when I was in my single digits, as well as actually watching them on YouTube myself. (I think I can be excused for doing this, being that I wasn't allowed to do much back then😂)

In December 2020, I suddenly had the idea of starting my own blogging site, where I can distribute my knowledge, as well develop more knowledge on psychology. Most of which had consisted of the psychology behind something to shape it how it is. I was fully active on here back then as well. In terms of my education, I was doing a course in Outdoor Activities at college, where I got to undertake a lot of sport & fitness. As I got to learn a lot about mental health in sport & fitness, I was able to do a couple of posts about something on the lines of the the psychology behind keeping yourself active. (I know I wasn't being accurate here, as I've not looked back on my previous posts lately)

Moving onto September 2021, where I got accepted onto a 2 year Public Services course at college. This has been, without a doubt, the most stressful 2 years of my life, but I can happily wholeheartedly say that it was worth it! Not just in terms of getting closer into my dream career, but also there was a huge amount of psychology on that course I had found interesting. An example of this was to learn & understand about conformity.

In March 2022, I undertook the 310,000 steps in March Challenge for Samaritans. This challenge had taught me that I can achieve absolutely ANYTHING at all, if I can put my mind to it. This was also where my walking had turned into a regular hobby by going out as much as possible in my spare time. During that year, I was a wee bit less frequent with my blogging on here, but I was fairly active. My mind was rightly cautious to stay focused on my 1st year of my Public Services course.

In January of last year, where I applied for, and began working at a local MIND shop. I knew I needed to boost my people skills & employment. My 3 month absence period on here (forcely) occurred a month later, as my mind was sensible enough to put my coursework first due to it being the most important get done, or else I'd fail the 2 years of hard work & effort on that course.

In April & May of last year, I attended 2 major sporting events up in London, ad I had signed up to be a Samaritans Events Volunteer. This had also helped my to build up my people skills by doing thing out in the community. (I'm hoping to do some more voluntary work with them this year)

Also in April last year, I began my part-time job with Disability Challengers, where I got to put my psychology skills to good use by working with children & young people with different behaviours. I'll tell you what, after 8 months of working with them, I feel like a different person. (I'll save that for a separate post)

In terms of my blogging site for the remainder of 2023, I had spoken out about the work that MIND do, and shared it with LinkedIn, so I was able to gain more recognition of what I do on my blogging site. In fact, I did the same for some of my other posts that raise awareness about importance topics, such as ADHD. (I intend to do much more of that in the future)

Finally, in November of last year, I became a member of the Surrey Youth Commission, which is where I meet with a group of other people in my county area to discuss how crime is impact ing people in communities. Again, another "putting my psychology skills into good use" & a another step closer to my dream career industry opportunity there.

And that was how 2023 had earned its title "best year ever so far." Now here I am in this day & age, looking to make 2024 a bigger & better year for me... Although I wouldn't want to jinx it though, as my mind has the important job of opportunity hunting. And that itself, is no easy task.

I just want to say, if anyone has survived reading down to this point of the post, thank you so much!

*I began this post on the 2/1/2024, but didn't finish it until the 5/1/2024*

Happy 3rd Birthday to PsychologyIntake!

Yes, as the title states, I will be taking a brief moment to celebrate 3rs of my blogging site!🎉 I know 3yrs may seem like a short amount of time as the days & months go by, but to me, it feels like it has been an eternity! (Even though it hasn't😂)

Throughout my time as a blogger, (so far) I have:

• Talked about the psychology behind certain things, such as social media influencing
• Talked about how sport & psychology go well together
• Showed pictures of things to talk about my personal perspective behind them
• Spoken up about mental health & its effects 
• Shared my research on neurological disorders, such as ASD
• Liaised my work with LinkedIn 
• Shared my research from other sites, such as Psychology Today 
• Talked about why exercising is good for your mental health (Hence the 310,000 steps challenge in aid of Samaritans)
• Spoken up about the benefits of volunteering (Hence my part-time voluntary vacancies with MIND & Samaritans)
• Shared some personal insight about what I do in my part-time paid vacancy with Disability Challengers (As there is a lot of psychology involved in the job)
• Explored the meanings of quotes to understand the psychology behind them
• Done several research projects

Just to bare in mind, that I listed what I've done so far in no particular order. Mainly because I haven't look back on most of my past blog posts since publishing them, and have therefore had to rely on my muscle memory alone.

Anyway, here's to making loads more creative posts!

"Into each life, some rain must fall"

As the quote states in the title of this post, I want to evaluate with you all what is the meaning of this quote is and why. This is especially because there may be people out there going through a rough patch right now. And just so it happens... I am one of those people. Hence my other main reason for this post.

What I am about to share with you all is very personal as to how I've been feeling for the past 2 months. My outcome for doing so is to encourage other people to shed some light about their feelings, as well as what they've been going through to make them feel that way in a bid to not feel alone. I know people intend to feel the need to not disclose their feelings at all to make them feel better, but inevitably, they will eventually just eat you alive by making you suffering in silence. (FTR, something I'm still in the process of  learning myself)

Not only will evaluating this quotation as to how I've been feeling help my reflect on myself, but I can use it to make me feel positively optimistic about what will be awaiting my future at the end of a temporarily pitch black tunnel.

 

During my last couple of posts, I've purposely used them to raise awareness on Mental Health. In some of these posts, I think I can recall saying that I hadn't had the time to be making posts much more often than I used too, as my focus was too prioritized on other things going on in my life which had prevented me from working on my blog. I know at first was being private as to why. However, now that I'm posting this under its title, I feel like this is the right time to disclose everything.

Here's the truthful reason behind it all...

Since the beginning of September, I began my final year at college. Towards the end of that month, I temporarily had to pull out of work in order for me to focus on my coursework. Also throughout that same month, I was getting back into swimming by getting my local leisure centre membership back. However, it had only lasted throughout September alone, as I then realized that my finance was going downhill which wasn't hugely down to paying £37 a month for my membership. Although I was crazy to even think I was able to pay that amount of money in the first place. Especially with my financial instability going on.

My finance first became unstable at the start of September, where I was due payment at one of the last places I was working at. Unfortunately, due to certain circumstances, (which I'm not allowed to go into detail about) I wasn't able to receive my full work payment. I say full, as that payment consists of a couple of previous jobs I did over the summer. To make those matters worse, I've been having to use the remainder of the money I've got for my travel to & from college. I do get money for my travel to college, but I only get it once per month. And if that wasn't enough, I had even paid £85 for 2 GCSE resits. Between juggling them & my coursework, my mind simply found it too hard to work on both at the same time.

As of now, I've gotten most of my resits over and done with. However, it has caused me to fall behind with some of my coursework revision due to me putting my focus upfront on my resists.

My life at home hasn't exactly been a luxury ether. I cannot afford to do much for myself right now due to my constant finance worry. Every time, I stay at home, my mind lives in a constant state of being angry about everything. Whenever I'm doing something away from home, I suddenly feel happy as if nothing has ever happened. 

Needless to say, my Mental Health has really been through it with all of the mentioned above that has happened. My anxiety has made me feel worried by continuously thinking about what the inevitable will be if any of these problems do not get better. Recently, it has gotten to a point where I feel so negative about everything that is happening in my life right now. So much, that don't give 2 slices of bread of where I'll end up in life.

This is where this quotation comes into play...

The more I think about the meaning of this quotation: "Into each life, some rain must fall" the more I make myself aware that there will be better times ahead. If we're talking psychologically here, every mindset has to experience sadness for it to become stronger. Otherwise, if it stayed happy all of the time, it would not know how to cope with being sad, let alone change it for the better.

To conclude off this long post, it is important to remain positively optimistic during a rough patch, like mine by doing what you enjoy doing in the meantime. I suppose it would be appropriate for me to compare what I'm currently going through now to how I had managed to cope during 3 of the COVID lockdowns.

There is always a way in life, stick with it.

Sharing my perspective

Just a quickie, yet very insightful publish...

"Whenever nightfall comes... I use it as a way of reflecting on how my day has been that day. Regardless if it's been good, bad or even in-between, I still intend on saying something about it.

Then I use it to think about the following day ahead of me, in terms of what should I plan on doing or achieving something that following day.

However, if I may not end up doing what I intend to do the following day, there's always yet another nightfall to reflect on everything - Nothing has to be rushed, as you're within your own time frame."

Have a good night all.

My definition of "Everybody is running their own race within their own time"

Hello, I'm back once again from my break, reflecting on how I can improve on myself with this blog and what my upcoming posts will be...

Anyway, I hope you're all keeping healthy and well lately, as I now feel completely refreshed in terms of getting my new ideas going for blogging again.😁 

I know this is something which I keep saying a lot, but the truth about running a blogging business is, sometimes when I typically write too much within a short space of 2 weeks, my mind and thoughts will go "blank" as my brain will momentarily struggle with processing too much ideas, by holding all of my thoughts in just one place at the same time when I think about them. So this is why it is always a good thing, to just step away from my work, in order to allow my mind to calm down, by slowly clearing out my thoughts and to reflect on myself, to see where I could improve and why.

All of these mentioned statements are totally relevant for my post today, which is why I want to highlight the meaning, the reason and the benefits.

What does this quote mean and why?

The quote, "Running their own race within their own time" means that your are in the process of working towards achieving your goal, but you are doing so within your own time. This intention is also showing that you have the capacity of having the patience to wait a very long time, in order to make it all work out for you in the end.

Not only does it mean achieving your own goals within your own time, but it also means that you're able to ignore peer pressure from those around you, meaning, those who boast about being able to achieve their own goals within THEIR own time, because they have a strategy which works out for them. They're the kind of people who will say to themselves and possibly out load: "Oh, look how far ahead I am compared to everyone else. I must be the best person ever!" These are known, as narcissist people, who like to compare and degrade others, to make them feel good about themselves.

*Note to self: Always be careful with what you think about.*

This is where your mind will respond by saying: "Do you know what, I'm not interested in focusing on anyone else but myself, as I know I will become a successful person" Statements like these, will be beneficial to keep yourself focused on slowly chasing your success, as it helps your mind to continually talk to you, as you do it.

Most importantly, always be proud of how you choose to run your race within your own time, as it may very well be the best successful strategy you've found to help you become the person you will eventually turn out to be. Make sure you find a gap in between to be able to take a short moment to reflect on how far you've come, so you'll be able to thank yourself every time for when you've overcome a mental obstacle during your race. If necessary, use them as fuel to help you learn from those mistakes, to become better and better as you progress onwards towards to goal.

In conclusion, everyone has a right to be able to run their own race within their own time, as everyone finds different strategies to help THEM succeed the way that they want to. However, it doesn't give them the right to judge other people. NO ONE HAS THE SAME MINDSET. This is something I'm still working at too, by keeping myself and my mind occupied with blogging. One of the many hences I created this blog, so I can start investing in myself, but in MY own time, at MY own pace.

I think I've just about covered everything.

Thank you so much for reading through. I hope I've inspired you readers to take my useful advice to becoming successful, and please do feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments or in person.

I hope to publish again this week!😉

     

What is beneficial about "Looking forwards in life"?

I'm back!😁 

Yes, I purposely took a long and fore filling break, because A: I've been on holiday recently. B: I've been having trouble with what to talk about. This is why taking this lengthily break helped me to cook up new ideas for some upcoming posts...

In this case, this one is related to our defeat against the Italians 2 Sundays ago. I will admit, when we lost, I felt the tears running around in my head and they were screaming to be let out by me, as I was so whelmed up by everything that's happened during the whole game. In the end, I realized that it was only best to reflect on the team's journey during this tournament and looking forward in life. (Explanation coming up)

 

Fun fact: This is a popular quote which can be explained in many different ways!

What does this quote mean?

It means, that you acknowledge something great is eventually going to happen to you in life, but in order to achieve that greatness, you HAVE to keep looking forwards at your future and not think too much about what happened in your past, as you cannot change it.

What is beneficial about this quote and why?

If you keep reading this quote over and over again, your mind will eventually become so hyper focused on working on your plans and goals for your future.

Don't get me wrong, it is always a good thing to reflect on your life journey, as well as your past achievements, (if necessary) to help give your mindset some ideas on how to succeed for next time and do better than ever.

Furthermore, never forget about all of the obstacles you had to face and what you had to do to progress through them, as they will always be a useful reminder of your mindset tactics in favour of your success. 

What are the best examples to use and why?

One of them being what I was talking about previously. The England V Italy game. I can sense the players' heartbreak and frustration on how they succeeded in every game right up until the final, when the players got tired and were struggling to keep up. 

During their loss at the end of the game, they had the whole night to pause and reflect on their journey and how they can improve for next time. As this reflecting moment was showing on live TV, I can imagine the teary reaction of everyone else watching, as they can feel the players' emotions when THEY show them after their team lost. It was so powerful.

This is where they start talking on their social media platforms, that they were extremely proud of their tournament journey, their teammates and their support. In which, will help encourage them to look forwards to their next journey in life.

That's all for this post.

Thank you for taking your time to read through. Please feel free to let me know what your thoughts are in the comments or in person. Have a good evening!

   

Lockdown... A whole year of reflection

Yes, the title illustrates this post as a whole. Also, I promise you, this will be the last time that I talk about COVID-19 and the lockdowns, as I'm sure most people have had enough of hearing those words by now.

However, today of all days, was simply just too important for this topic to go unmentioned, and here's why...

Today, (23/3/21) marks the 1 year anniversary of the EXACT date that the UK got slammed into a full on 'Lockdown' due to COVID-19 killing hundreds of people per day. (23/3/20)

Meaning, we were instructed to "Stay at home" as non-essential, restaurants and education places were forced to close for the foreseeable future. 
    

However, supermarkets and pharmacies had to remain open, as buying groceries and medicine was important for maintaining our well-being and health.

The only time we could leave home, was to go out for daily exercise once a day. (Back then, it was only within walking distance)

                                                                 

How did living in lockdown make us all feel?

I can imagine for most people, it made them feel lonely, bored and frustrated during the 1st month, with not being able to normally socialise with anyone, as well as not being able to go anywhere. To summarise all of the above with one word, we was all experiencing this feeling of "Isolation" as we had to "Stay home".

To share a personal insight with you all, I too, was struggling to cope to terms with being in lockdown for a short while, as I was constantly feeling bored all of the time with being stuck at home. I also didn't like the idea of my freedom being snatched away from me, as I love to go out and explore different places, this includes my education and time with friends face to face being snatched away from me. I eventually got SOOO bored, that I honestly had no idea with what to do with myself during my time in isolation, as I was doing the same routine over and over again. Further explanation in next subheading...

How did I utilise my time in lockdown?

One of the things I did to break my habitual routine, was watching every old episode of Coronation Street from 2008 up towards where I am now. I had to say, I found it very interesting how the cobbles' scenery was so different that long ago!😂 (Still laptop related) I was scrolling up and down the roads of different places on Google Maps to get from A to B. This significantly helped me to get better with my Geography!

Asides from my laptop, I thought I'd improve my cooking, by making a 3-course meal originated from various countries. Also, with cooking puddings too. I actually found cooking very therapeutic afterwards!

During the warm weather, I would sometimes go into my back garden to do a bit of sunbathing, to help me take my mind off the current COVID-19 related news. This also helped me to get my "Relaxation" mood on. Other times, me and my brother would help out in the front garden, by getting rid of all the weed and the bamboo (Don't ask, I had no idea why we had bamboo growing in our front garden?!)🐼😂 Anyway, this was a refurbishment task which we all decided to do, as our front garden was literally looking like a jungle.

Bonus fact: This was the VERY reason why I wanted to create this blog. 1: Because I am very passionate with sharing my psychological knowledge with you all. 2: This is just something which keeps my occupied during my free time.

What have we learned during our time in lockdown?

Ever since day 1 of lockdown, we have learned to help our minds to adapt to this sudden change of how we interact with ourselves, as well as one another from just one household. By doing so, it is very important that we check up on others by texting: "Hey, how have you been doing recently?" This kind of thoughtful message could really make someone's day, by making them think that their friends and family actually still care about them whilst in isolation. This is something which I like to do time and time again, as I am a caring and considerate person.

We have also learned that staying at home, doesn't give us an excuse to sit around and do nothing all day long. In exchange of that, we encourages ourselves to find more ways of unleashing our hidden creativity inside us. You'll never know, this may well could become your new favourite hobby!

Most importantly, we have learned that this ENTIRE nation has the capacity to come together and be willing to help out one another during these dark times. A heart whelming discovery to us all.💗

As of now, a whole year on from our first lockdown, we have been very successful with making the vaccine and giving them out to the public, that I believe half of the UK adults have been vaccinated already!

Thank you ever so much for taking your time to read through. Remember, stay safe and follow the guidelines. Hopefully we'll be out of this tunnel by the 21st of June!🤞 Bye for now.

  

"Old habits die hard"

The phrase "Old habits die hard" means you're trying so hard to quit doing something that you keep doing, but at the same time however, you can't stop doing it... This can be seen as a good or a bad thing.

Let's talk about the psychological effects of how a habit can be triggered and how it can keep occurring. In addition, how we can overcome it! 

 
*Note to self* 

Everyone has to experience this at least once in their lifetime, as it is all part of how you function as a human being; by knowing that you've made a mistake, as well as being able to learn from it to help remind you.

I've been round that block time and time again.

Example 1

You always seem to like the idea of having maple syrup with every meal you have, but everyone says you can't keep having it all the time, as it's unhealthy for you and can increase your risk of getting diabetes.

Baring in mind, YOU also know this fact and desperately want to end this habit, but you can't, as you now have this feeling that no meal would ever taste the same, let alone great without maple syrup added to it... *The same feeling as learning how to cope with loss - Grief*

One way of overcoming it, is you could perhaps try using different sauces with every other meal you have. I.e. Ketchup, BBQ, Mint sauce or Mustard. These options can be considered as much healthier compared to a sugary filled sauce which could turn you into an unhealthy person. 

Contrastingly, you maybe consider that you want to eat healthier altogether, therefore meaning you want to eat less fats and more carbs, fruit/veg and protein. (Think about the 6-pack and ripped body you'll end up getting!)

Example 2

You are an alcoholic, you like the taste of alcohol, you crave on alcohol and you rely on alcohol ALONE to help make you feel better about yourself. 

Some might say this type of behaviour is called: "Drinking yourself away" because you feel so worthless by everything that has gone wrong in your life, therefore, you felt like ending it there and then, but it's actually known as "Self pity" as you are currently experiencing the moment of failure, as well as comfort in a not so nice way. There is a difference between the two feelings.

A very good and highlighting example of this would be to use your friends/family to help you feel better by talking to them via text or phone call. If you were to inform them about your recent depressed feeling, they will then take immediate action by giving you comfort, as well as reminding you of all of your past accomplishments to help bring your confidence back.

Again by thinking contrastingly, you could research about all the devastating consequences of how consuming too much alcohol can seriously damage your physical and mental health. This is just one of the many things that absolutely NO-ONE wishes to try and attempt doing with themselves.

Example 3

(An OCD related example)

You slowly start to begin to have this feeling of getting germs on you, therefore you feel like having to constantly wash your hands every 10 minutes would be the solution. However, doing so could cause damage to your hands by making them red sore and flaky. This will even have an impact on your mental health, as with thinking too much about catching germs can lead to showing signs of anxiety, as well as slowly developing a new fear of touching any surface. Thinking about germs and illnesses is a prone factor for the constant hand washing.

Find an activity or hobby to occupy yourself with to help distract these thoughts about catching germs or when to next wash your hands. More to the point, it helps to clear the anxiety and make you into a happier person again, which I'm sure your friends/family will be relieved to witness!

But when you come to the conclusion of this habit getting out of hand to cope with, talk to a friend, family member, teacher or counsellor about how this habit has gotten out of control and how you can overcome it. This way, they'll provide you comfort and support to encourage you to move forwards, but at the same time, to be your backbone when you feel like you're going in the opposite direction again.

That brings me to an end with this topic. Please do feel free to talk to me ANYTIME you wish to have a catch up or need cheering up. See ya soon!

Example 1 inspiration credit: An episode from a documentary called: Freaky eaters

Example 2 inspiration credit: Peter Barlow from Coronation Street       

Example 3 inspiration credit: Something similar which a friend of mine dealt with in the past  

2020 in review and looking forward to 2021

I'd like to take a moment of my time to wish everyone a very Happy New Year despite the pandemic conditions we're currently facing. With that just said, I want to do a review on how the year 2020 went and what to look forward to in 2021.

Ditto to what everyone has been saying: "2020 was a challenging year for everyone on planet earth." (Well, at least 3 quarters of it has been) 

So instead of criticising why this year was so bad, let's highlight all the positive contributes that we did as a WHOLE country: When we went into full-on lockdown on the 23rd of March, we had to 'STAY AT HOME' Meaning: We cannot meet up with anyone, go to work or a place of education and only go out for essential shopping & exercise once a day. It was a depressing 2 months for everyone I'm sure, but one of the two attributes which really stood out in this dark time, was when staying at home gave us all a chance to spend more time reflecting on ourselves - For example: How can I improve myself in life? Answer: Do something creative. (Like what I'm doing) This helps to take your mind off all the tragic things which COVID-19 is doing right now and makes you focus on moving forward with your creativity.

The other, and most big attribute, is how every single person in this country is capable of forming together as a whole and helping one-another get through this difficult time. One example of this would be texting/calling your friends or family members to check how they're coping with life - One of the many social issues that gets talked about so often, due to the amount of suicide risks increasing since locking the whole country down. In addition to all this, we showed our appreciation for the NHS by clapping for them every Thursday evening until the 28th of May. This helps spreads the word to them that they're doing an absolute boss of a job with trying to keep people alive, as well as making them better again.

During the summer, the outlook was getting better and we were allowed to live an 'almost normal' life again. Meaning: We can see friends, go somewhere to eat & do shopping or even go on a short holiday elsewhere in the country.

However, come October, the infection & death rate rose up again, which led us going into a mini month lockdown in November. So we began using our learned social skills again. Shortly after that, we only came out of the mini lockdown before the infection & death rate REALLY surged up 3 weeks later, which meant, those living in tier 4 restrictions couldn't have a normal Christmas & New Year. (Which is what happened to me...) But in light to all this, it gave us a chance to spend it in our little 'social bubble' with our families whilst saying: "Everything will be ok, we will all get through this together" This will help us to keep positive.

Final paragraph on the subject, let's all go into 2021 with a positive outlook. Don't make any big plans while getting your hopes up about them, because they may not happen for a long while, which can only lead to disappointment, frustration and anger - You don't want this to reflect on your family don't you?

That brings me to an end with this informative and helpful blog. Hope you all enjoyed reading and please feel free to talk to me about how you are feeling in relation to these current circumstances.

Take care, and remember - Everyone is in this together.✊💞     

My psychology on The Backyardigans

A week ago, I thought about feeding my nostalgia by watching a kids TV show I used to adore - The Backyardigans.

After watching it, I realized that it was purposely created to encourage children and their friends to develop and use their imagination, as well as to go out and 'play with your imagination.' As a former fan of this programme, I can 100% empathise with the logic used in the making of this programme and can totally relate to my said statement above - "Play with your imagination" Let me go into more detail about that quote...

When I was a child, I really thrived on using my imagination and I've always spent a large portion of each day trying to find more ways to expand it. (I can think of loads of other cartoons to use as an example related to this, but I'll save that for another post)  *This is where this programme comes into play* The characters in this programme first showcase their adventures by playing in their backyard in their neighbourhood; For example - Going on a mission to Mars. They then imagine themselves going to that very place with about 1 or 2 other characters to begin with. During the adventure, the other characters will pop up as either the bad guy(s), a land owner or even an animal - To be against or help out with the main characters involved.

But the one aspect which really stood out in this programme, is that they performed their own musicals in every episode, which seems to inform the watchers what is happening in the moment, as well as what are they going to do next. Of course, it can't be a musical without a bit of comedy involved! This helps to liven up the storyline in relations with how the aimed characters are going to react... It could either turn out good, bad or ugly - Get it?!

Obviously, there HAS to be a happy ending at the end of every episode of a kids TV programme, so the characters cheer, (whilst reflecting on their adventure) then one of the characters' stomach rumbles, one of the characters asks: "Is that your stomach rumbling? Are you hungry?" The hungry character reply's with: "Yeah, lets go back to my house for some cheese toasties!" I like how the creators use this realistic ending, as going on a long haul adventure makes you hungry, right? Therefore, this could influence children to do the EXACT same thing after they come back from their own little adventure with their friends to make the day more fun. I know I used to do this with my friends after we've played our little adventure as well. Anyway, the characters end the episode by performing another musical by reflecting on their whole adventure, with the song also telling them to stay tuned for the next episode.

So, that brings an end to my thoughts on one of my childhood shows, hope you enjoyed reading and feel free to let me know what you think!