Hello Sparkling Sprites of Joy!
I’m so excited to talk to you today about THE something that has helped me calm my anxious nerves and tackle overwhelming stress more than anything else (except for Pauli’s hugs and soothing voice) … but he can’t be by me 24/7, and let’s be real … even heroes need a break now and again! :0)
So what do I do to calm myself, to relax, de-stress, and squelch the anxious voices and energy that can take me from peaceful to freaked out in zero to instantaneously? I art it up!
I’m more of an anxious person (had my first full on panic attack when I was 11) than someone who gets stressed out. But anxiety and the anxious, negative energy it produces creates physical and emotional stress … so even though it’s a different input for the stress, it’s still stress. And blossoms, stress is B. A. D., baaaaaaddd!
Whatever form it comes in, stress is inflammatory, and chronic inflammation has been identified as a key player/root cause in many, many diseases and states of unwellness: heart disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, asthma, multiple sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis, just to name a few.
So let me hit some highlights about chronic inflammation. Don’t worry, I’m gonna zoom through here without scary scientific words just so we can be on the same page.
If there is a chronic inflammation, you might think there is likely an acute inflammation, and if so, you’d be right. So what’s the difference?
In the big picture: acute inflammation is the body’s healthy response to injury and illness to help your body heal, and it only lasts for a little while. Whereas, chronic inflammation is your body continuing its efforts to heal you for a long period of time (months to years), but the cause of the inflammation isn’t going away. Too much of a good thing is not so good. Too much inflammation actually hurts you.
What kinds of things feed chronic inflammation? Lots of things actually. Poor diet, physical stress, mental stress, emotional stress, stress, stress, stress (stress is definitely a potent problem, cuz we all seem to have lots of it … lots of the time), … additionally, things like food allergies, environmental toxins (i.e., even the chemicals in your shampoo can be inflammatory), lack of exercise, bad/unhealthy habits, … you get the idea.
Are you with me when I say, healthiness impacts happiness, and happiness impacts healthiness? I say this, because, if you’re not healthy, you don’t feel well, and when you don’t feel well, it’s harder to feel happy. Likewise, when you are unhappy, it’s a form of stress, and stress leads to inflammation, and inflammation leads to unhealthiness.
Ideally … (insert as many LOLs as you need to here for this next statement, cuz I know it’s hard to achieve) … ideally, we achieve a balance in our lives, so we can glow radiantly.
In reality, it’s normal to have some low level of chronic inflammation … it kind of goes along with living. Normal-ish/ideal looks a bit like this:
But it’s when we get a multitude of factors that build up and feed our chronic inflammation, that things get mucky. Our level of chronic inflammation goes up and up and up and our beautiful balance of health and happiness gets squashed, and that can look like this:
Given that I’ve been dealing with chronic illness for about 5 years now (to include chronic fatigue), I have been growing and growing and growing my awareness and knowledge about my body and my health, trying hard to heal, and living an anti-inflammatory life to the best of my ability. Mind you, I’m not perfect … but I have learned a lot, and I’ve made a ton of changes that have been helping me tremendously!
But for fun, just between you and me … I still eat dessert, almost daily. Sugar is super inflammatory … like super duper … but a girl should get at least a little bit of chocolate fun most days, right?!!!!
So what do I do to help reduce the inflammation in my life? Well, I actively live a life where I try to reduce all the factors that promote inflammation, or as many as possible. And my anxiety is a bit of challenge. LOL, a bit of challenge? It’s often a BIG challenge.
I did a lot of reading, and I learned that being creative and arting it up … even coloring … any kind of art, whether you are good or bad at it, doesn’t matter. It all helps. So I started drawing and coloring. And lo and behold, I found what I read to be true! When you art it up, it redirects your thinking and your attention away from the anxious thoughts and the stress crawling up your spine. Well, … yes, please. I hate feeling anxious, and when I sit down to color or draw or doodle or whatever, it takes my mind off of the scary thoughts and my anxiety and stress levels come way down, even all the way down.
So … for you. Today, I’m giving you one of my squee-doodles to print off right now and color. Give it a try. Take 5 minutes and see if you relax a little. Or even a lot.
I’ve talked to my girlfriends who have tried the adult coloring books, and what I hear a lot is that they actually get stressed, because they try to do all the coloring, but the pictures are so large, and the details are so fine, they get stressed trying to make time to finish the picture (which defeats the purpose).
If this is you, then you’ll love my cutie patutie little color blocks. They’re small, adorkable, filled with fun and happiness, POSitude, and they only take a little bit to color. BUT, they give you a few minutes just to yourself (self-care), to color happiness and wellness into your body.
You can take your self-care up a notch by doing calm breathing while you color. And also, if you think about things that make you grateful while you color … or something you’ve done today that you feel good about … you reinforce yourself with positive, stress relieving reaffirmation. And all of this, you dear lovely heart, is SO VERY GOOD for you and your happiness and healthiness!
I hope you enjoy your color page today! It’s totally FREE and on me.
Ready to take my Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness: Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge?
Each day support your healthiness with feeling less stress, less anxiety, more happiness and more positivity!
Easy, fun, happy, silly, adorable, and totally supporting you!
7 days of Love and Big Hugs!
Delightfully cheerful & colorful art will lift & brighten your smile!
11 loving, big hugging, and supporting pages include proven happier and healthier promoting strategies:
- Smile-making, positivity-promoting, happy coloring blocks
- Gratitude Acknowledgements
- Self-acknowledgement Reaffirmations
- Includes “how to get the most out of this challenge” intro page & a summary reflection page
You can also check out my new ETSY shop!!!
Get Your POSitude On!
Feel happier! Supported! Loved! Hugged!
Bring brightness and goodness into your day, and into your life!
Get inspired every day with a deck of my new POSitude cards! Available in my Etsy shop. Check them out and learn more, now!
I’m so happy you are here! You make my day brighter, and I thank you for your love and totally PINK hearts and smiles!!! Wishing you a delightful day filled with kindness and hope!!!
Love and Big Hugs,
