Healthy Habits - marykatekopec.com

The Power of a Smile!

The power of a smile!

Okay Beautiful Blossoms … let’s not complicate this one. A smile is POWERFUL! It is an instant pick-me-up! Even if you fake it, a smile will do good things to your body!!!

It’s chemical, people! We have Happy Hormones!

You smile; your facial muscles move; your brain gets triggered; feel good chemicals get released; and voila … instant mood lifter!!!!

So what are you waiting for?

Are you smiling right now? Why not? … You could be … !!!

You’ll note the upturned corners of my mouth … my teeth beaming … my cheeks rounded and up … it’s as though my lips are stretching to meet my ears.

You smile, you feel better! Easy peasy!

What’s not to love?

A heartfelt moment to be seriously serious.

I’m actually totally serious above, even if a bit silly. But as a blossom challenged by perimenopausal hormone shifts, fluctuating hormone turbulence, and a state of ever depleting estrogen and progesterone levels, I get these horrible, terrible, life-crashing, grief-striking bouts of sobbing tears accompanied by incomprehensible bereft feelings that clench my stomach and make eyes leak like rivers.

These moments totally suck!!!

So … for my beautiful blossom who suffer depression, anxiety (I have that, too, and I know how bad anxiety bites the biggy, too.), etc, … if you’ve got a regular case of the “sads” or “scaredy cats,” I just want you to know … I’ve tried with every PINK molecule and energy light in my body to smile in these sobbing moments, and I’m usually NOT successful.

In these acute moments, sometimes we have to give ourselves the necessary time to process the moment.

THEN, as soon as we can, we can smile to help continue our upward journey take us upward faster and happier!

And might I also just add … if you are a blossom with clinical depression and/or anxiety, please keep seeing your therapist, doing your therapy in all its many forms, and please keep healing! Smile when you can, cuz it really does help! And know we are here for you in the biggest loving, hugging way possible!!! Holding you on your journey and helping you get to the other side of your challenge!

Know that you are always welcome here! Know that I am hugging you so big! And with so much love!

I really hope my smiles, hugs, and loves, in all their forms can bring joy into your day and life, and help to brighten your spirits!

Quick Highlights Benefits of Smiling

Studies have shown the simple act of smiling is the fastest way to perk you up and brighten your day. Even if you “make yourself” smile … it still releases your brainz happy juices!
Stress reducer
Immune system booster (makes you healthier)
Pain reducer
Lowers your BP
In short … a true kindness to you!!!!
And … it’s a kindness that can be shared for free!!!!

What can you do right now to help you smile?

As you likely know, I’ve got lots of Smile Tools in my tool kit!

I doodle!
I host Create and Share Parties (more on this to come!)!
I chat with friends and loved ones!
I give gratitude for the goodness in my life!
I spend mindful moments just breathing and taking in the nature around me!
I yoga, yoga, yoga, yoga, yoga, and more yoga!
I slurp (yep, I actually slurp as necessary!) on fruit smoothies!
I watch the creatures being all creature-y in Bog-landia behind my Starry Cottage lil home!
I hug my honeybun!
I watch funny/happy/uplifting movies/videos!
I tell jokes!
I write funny stuff!
I read funny stuff!
Uh, I’ll just up and start smiling … just to be smiling!
I silly dance around in my Starry Cottage!
… just to name a few …

I encourage you to make tool kit of smile-inducers! And you can start right now by listing off 3 things you can do to smile! (Like go back up and see me smiling at you! Or check out my awesomely fun “doodle Gogh!”)

Be the smile in your day! Be the smile in someone else’s day, too!

Well, Beautiful Blossoms! I have loved spending this happy, loving time with you and creating these very special “doodle Gogh” arts for you! I hope I have brought fun, silliness, smiles, and love and big hugs into your day today!

You are so very precious!

Thank you for sharing this time with me!

Super Muah!

A Scary Time!
On the Bog (with Kat, Bear, & Wogs)

scary time. positive relationships. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs!

A Scary Time!

It was a scary time On the Bog! Lightening struck, and thunder shook the very walls of Starry Cottage!

Dark skies roiled. Heavy rain blew and blustered, drenching everything in sight and obscuring the usually chipper sights of the Bog. All the creatures were silent and still, hiding in their homes and shelters, hoping for the storm to pass quickly.

Inside Starry Cottage with a candle lit in the window for hope and light, Kat, Bear, and Wogs huddled closely together, holding each other tight.

Kat (shuddering in response to a loud, nearby lightening strike): I’m scared.

Wogs (hugging Kat tighter and gently stroking Bear’s head for comfort): Me, too. But it’s scary outside, so that’s normal.

Kat (cuddling in closer to Wogs and petting Bear with calming love): I’m so grateful we have each other!

Wogs (loving Kat and Bear big time with gentle comforting hugs): Me, too!

Bear (loving Kat and Wogs so big and thankful for their comfort in such a scary time, snuggled deeply into Wogs lap and felt calm with Kat’s gentle touch): <3

Live an Inspired Life! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs!

It would be great if scary times didn’t happen, but they do. They can throw us off-center and disturb our calm. They can bring tremendous upset and upheaval. We can struggle to navigate these difficult times.

But navigate we must. One step at a time. One foot in front of the other. One breath at a time.

They help us be a little braver, be a bit calmer, and help us find the strength we need to get through the scary time with less soul scorching … less fear … an in a way that helps us feel not alone, … and simply better.

Nourishing positive relationships with others, growing love with friends and partners, and investing in meaningful connections all take time to flourish, but these bonds are gifts in our lives! They brighten our days! We have goodness to share! Support to lend! Hugs to hold us!

Together, we celebrate the good times, and comfort each other in the scary and difficult times!

Together, we make life happier, healthier, PINKer, kinder, more loving, more caring, … simply filled with more goodness!

I am filled with gratitude for this shared time with you! Thank you for being here with me as we navigate the good days and the bad days! Thank you for sharing your brightness with the world!

May any scary times you face pass quickly and without lasting debilitating impact. May you have the love and support you need to hold you, comfort you, and guide you safely back to brighter days! May you always feel my love holding your heart!

A New Happy Place!
On the Bog (with Kat, Bear, & Wogs)

On the Bog. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs!

A New Happy Place!

With the snows gone, sounds of spring abounded On the Bog!

The day was bright and inviting, with only a bit of a chill remaining in the air.

Out for a refreshing walk, Kat, Bear, & Wogs ventured deeper into the woods beyond the Bog and found a new happy place!

Kat (pointing with overflowing glee): Look! A river. And there are fishies! And do you see the bluebird?!!! Ohmigosh, is that a weeping willow tree?

Wogs (nodding and delighting in their find): That is a weeping willow! What a happy place!

Kat (grinning huge at Wogs and Bear): When the leaves come back, we can come here to picnic and play!

Wogs (nodding enthusiastically): It’ll be our new happy place!

Bear (flickering his tail with excitement and keeping his eyes on a splashing fish he spied): Mrow.

With spring a’comin’ and bringing delight, this could be a wondrous moment of self-exploration and finding new happinesses about yourself.

Consider taking a moment to imagine new possibilities for yourself. What do you see? What goodness, what new thing might you like to try? A new place? A new healthy food? A new way to breathe (paced, for instance) to grow peace and calm into your days? A new friendship? A new interest to explore? A new happy, nurturing, and nourishing habit to grow?

With spring comes rebirth and reinvigoration of mind, body, and spirit! What positivity, reaffirmation, and goodness will you invite into you and your life? What hug and love will you give yourself today?

And speaking of hugs … try this one on for a big smiling silliness in your day today!

How Joining a Women’s Circle Has Changed My Life!

women's circle. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs!

My reflection art from one of our recent circles!

How Joining a Women’s Circle Has Changed My Life!

Why I even joined …

I needed positivity. Reaffirmation. Self-care. Connection. Happiness. And I got it!

What we did …

She, along with a one of her inspirations and guiding lights, Deb Namara, were offering a 4 week Zoom-mediated Soul Circle. We’d meet once a week for 4 weeks, and during the 90 minutes of wellness and positivity, Leonie and Deb talked about coping and healing – finding a way to do more than just survive the pandemic, but to come out the other side, better, more improved. With self-care and positivity and light and love!

In a time, when everyone was talking about “can’t wait for things to go back to the way they were,” Leonie and Deb introduced the notion that perhaps things weren’t so great before. Maybe instead of trying so hard to get back, maybe we could use this time to create and grow a better place, a better future. … And I bit onto that bit of inspiration with all my might … I definitely wanted to create a better, brighter, more hope-filled future!

Each week, we’d come together to listen to the beautiful, uplifting, positive, reaffirming, encouraging words of Leonie and Deb. Then Deb would guide us through an amazing meditation – another thing that until this experience, I’d never done – and then we’d be given the opportunity to creatively reflect on our medication through art or journaling (On my goodness, I can’t even tell you how much I loved this, but ever since, I’ve been using art and journaling to grow my wellness!). Before closing, we would be given thought provoking questions to help guide us toward our brighter lights.

Every moment was bright. Light. Positive. Caring. Empowering. I felt refreshed and renewed! I felt hope!

So, when the month came to an end, and Deb offered the opportunity to continue our Soul Circle meetings, I was in! Hooked. Enthusiastic. Jubilant! Waiting with giddiness and wanting for more goodness in my life! Happy to be a part of something so gorgeous and healthy feeling!

Where we’re at … (the true beauty, beyond anything I could have imagined!)

So it’s been a year! For those of us who have continued our time with Deb, we’ve taken life changing to a whole new level!

There’s about 20 of us now. We’re smaller. We still use Zoom. We come from the US, Canada, UK, and Australia, … I think we might even have a New Zealander in there. And every month, we are so excited to see each other and be in each other’s light!

Every month is different. We always have Share and Support time. Sometimes we have a guided meditation. Sometimes we art/journal. We have our opening and closing prayer.

Every month we listen with open hearts and live and grow in each others’ goodness and individual gifts and uniqueness!

It’s amazing!

It’s a no judgement, share zone. We feel love and acceptance. We hear and grow. We connect. We come together to feel each other’s brightness and to share and support each other!

It’s amazing! I know I just said that … but seriously. We are the embodiment of those little memes that tell us to be the woman who supports other women.

We ARE beautiful, bright souls supporting other beautiful, bright souls! Sharing times with these incredible women is growing me, helping me, loving me, and for the first time in my life, truly accepting me for who I am with love and respect. And it feels AMAZING!

So amazing in fact, that I feel compelled to write to you about it. To encourage to join or start your own women’s circle. To invite goodness into your life! To brighten your days with love and support! To feel the positive, reaffirming wellness of organic, juicy, healthy relationships!!!

And for this reason, I am including this post as a link back to “My Body Is an Alien” (a women’s hormone health blog series) … because on the list of things you can do to grow wellness into your life and your body is to join a women’s circle!

It’s what you make of it!

Think of the possibilities! You can talk about your painful periods. The challenges you are facing in your life and relationships. Loss. Work challenges. Trying to combat toxic, negative thoughts. Being peri-menopausal/menopausal and the challenges and health difficulties you are coping with. The truly delightful nature walk you went on, and how you feel inspired. The stars. Crystals. Art. You can talk about whatever you and your beautiful group of women are called to talk about!

No judgment. Only kind support. Shared ideas. Shared lessons learned. Shared light and love. Acceptance. Connection. Gentleness. No longer feeling alone … like you are the only one in the world with this crazy shiz happening to you.

Hell, in our most recent Soul Circle, one of our gorgeous blossoms talked about how she gets so angry at the TV – all the shiz coming out of it – that she finds herself yelling at her TV. Another beautiful soul is suffering the loss of a dear family member and trying to find ways to cope and move forward. Another bright light talked about how her hormonal body is such a debilitating challenge it makes her feel abnormal, like a freak of nature, and it impacts her self-confidence. I suspect we all feel these ways, at least sometimes. It’s amazing be there for each other, and knowing we are not alone!

Each of share what we are called to share. Each of compassionately listen and support. Each of feel the love of our circle of bright lights shining!

And you, too, can have this. You can join or start your own group. Give it time. Nourish and nurture each other. Your relationships will grow in goodness! You will feel better. More light and wellness in your life!

I am compelled with a full and bright heart to share this goodness with you!

Also … I want to say … as part of my contribution to our group … I started giving a big, virtual hug (you know me and my hugging!), and now … before we end our monthly meetings, there are always big, loving hugs!

I wish this goodness for you! And I hope you can grow, nourish, and nurture this positivity, reaffirming happiness, self-caring wellness into your life in a way that is absolutely positive and life changing for you!

Loving and Big Hugging you SO BIG!!!

Grow your happiness with smiles!

Happiness: Grow yours with smiles! Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Hello Sweet Beautiful Rays of Sunshine!

Today, you get to ask yourself a powerful question: Do I want to be happy? … Don’t let this scare you off. I know I was super direct. But it’s a real and worthy question. That can sometimes be a bit scary. Please don’t be scared. I’m right here with you!!! We can do this together!!! Cuz I love you Big, and I’m holding you tight!!! We can grow your happiness with smiles!

I don’t need to tell you – I’m betting you already know: there’s a lot of unhappiness in the world. And it’s impacting so many of us. Even the brightest of souls can get hit. If you are a soul that has been feeling unhappy a lot, or even a little, lately, and you want to feel more happiness in your life again … the first step is acknowledging you are ready to feel happiness again.

So … are you ready to feel happiness again?

If so … let’s talk Smiles!

Now, I’m not gonna sit here and try to sell you on a smile, telling you it will fix everything. I, mean, come on, let’s be real. Life can deal some serious blows. Bigger things than a smile alone can heal and fix.

But, a smile is POWERFUL!

Grow your happiness with smiles. It’s been proven and shown in study after study after study to make big POSITIVES happen in your life. The simple act of smiling can lift your mood, alter your brain chemistry, lower your stress, boost your immune system. Umm … yes, please … to all of this!

Here are just a few of the articles written about it … in case you want to check it out for yourself.

Neuroscience Says Doing This 1 Thing Makes You Just as Happy as Eating 2,000 Chocolate Bars

Smiling can trick your brain into happiness – and boost your health

Smile! It Could Make You Happier

But really … do we need to skootch off to read about it? Why don’t we just try it? Like right now? You know. Smile, and see how it makes you feel.

Here, I even have a POSitude to share with you to guide you through it. LOL. Like, you’ve never smiled before. (Althooooough … maybe???? … Just kidding.)

Actually, in this POSitude, I take it up a notch … I like doing that. I try to get as much bang as possible for my happiness investment bucks. So I’ve added a little moment of self-reaffirmation to go along with the smile. Give it a try … it’s feel-good in like 5 seconds … it’s deliciously delightful!

Happiness: Grow yours with smiles! POSitude. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs. — POSitude card from Mary Kate’s deck of POSitude cards available at Etsy

So. Here we go. Ready? SMILE!

How’d it go? How are you feeling? … Little bit better? Maybe even a smidge better than a little bit better?

Well, we’ll take that, won’t we?!!!

Grow your happiness with smiles. A smile is one of the ways we can improve our happiness – and it’s a powerful one! If we practice smiling (and even taking it up a notch with a little extra self-reaffirmation) throughout the day … each day … every day … we can build a happiness and healthiness habit that can accumulate goodness, happiness, and healing in our lives.

With this, you can add SMILES to your Healing Toolkit of Goodness to be used daily and even more for extra tough times.

Remember. Happiness doesn’t come from the absence of darkness or bad things happening in life … although sure, that could help SO MUCH!!!! The thing is, life is gonna happen. It’s just how it rolls. But happiness comes through in us in how we deal with life. How we cope. How we approach life and choose to be.

If you want to be happy, you can be! Step by step. Practice by practice. Habit by habit. And smiling is a great and powerful place to start!

Grow your happiness with smiles. I love smiling. I love how it feels. I love how it sparks smiles in others. And I love how easy it is to do. I love how quickly it brightens my face and lifts my heart and my mood. I love how it grows my happiness and helps me heal! I love that it’s a quick and easy practice like Practicing Gratitude to help me grow and heal and feel happiness in my life. I hope sharing these practices and habits with you will help you grow and heal and feel happiness in your life, too!

Create and Grow Your Self-Care!

Want to dig even deeper into your Self-Care? Snag your copy of my “Mary Kate’s Be-Kind-to-You Interactive Self-Care Love Letter to You!”

Mary Kate'es Be-Kind-to-You Interactive Self-Care Love Letter to You!

When you find yourself feeling low, negative, unhappy – doubting yourself – maybe your confidence has taken a bit of a tumble & your self-worth is low …

Grab my Be-Kind-to-You Interactive Self-Care Love Letter to You!

You can start feeling better and start smiling again!

Filled with empathetic & supportive Love and Big Hugs!

Delightfully cheerful & colorful art will lift & brighten your smile!

14 loving, big hugging, and supporting pages include proven feel better strategies:

Reaffirmations & Positive Self-Talk
Gratitude Acknowledgements
Smiling POSitudes
Additional supporting ideas to help you find your calm and happiness again through self-care and self-love
Bonus Love-You Supports and Resources section

MKs Be Kind to You Interactive Self Care Love Letter to You Get Now button

Find more gratitude, POSitude, and Self-Care from me at Etsy!

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!

Until next week …

I’m smiling big and brightly and sending you the love in my heart! I’m holding and hugging you tight! May your day be filled with BIG Smiles, lots of love, and some giggles sprinkled in!
Love and Big Hugs,

Practicing Gratitude for the win! Do it! Feel better!

Practicing Gratitude. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Hello Gorgeous Blossoms!!!

Life happens. And sometimes it happens to not be nice about it. We can feel stress, frustration, anger, … a whole range of negative emotions … none of which are actually helpful. Most are usually hurtful, in fact.

It can be so easy to give into the negative emotions. So incredibly satisfying. When we’ve had a really bad day. Our boss was crap. A human we had to interact with was an aaaabbb-so-lute jerk. A relationship we’re in is in trouble. Sometimes there’s nothing better than a GINORMOUS VENT. Or even a hard cry.

Processing emotions is vital and important to our well-being: emotional, mental, physical, … all of it.

I’m no saint. Even with all my positive determination, I have things happen to me that take me down. Some harder than others. I have to process what has happened; how it makes me feel; and what it takes for me to cope, get through it, grow, and move on.

I’ve learned, being an active processor (with a toolkit of positive strategies) helps me to work my way through difficult times, crap moments, and mean people. It also helps me avoid the negative downward spiral and negative self-talk that I can be an expert at heaping on myself. It also helps me simply live a happier, healthier, more resilient life.

And one of my favorite toolkit strategies is practicing GRATITUDE!!! I practice it daily. Plus, it’s in my Healing Toolkit of Goodness for when I take a hit in life, big or small.

Practicing Gratitude

Give the gift of gratitude. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Practicing gratitude has been shown to actually alter your brain chemistry (for the better) & improve your mood and life!

“According to UCLA’s Mindfulness Awareness Research Center, regularly expressing gratitude (the quality of being thankful and readiness to show appreciation) literally changes the molecular structure of the brain, keeps the gray matter functioning, and makes us healthier and happier.”
Thrive Global

“In positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Gratitude helps people feel more positive emotions, relish good experiences, improve their health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships. People feel and express gratitude in multiple ways.”
Harvard Health

With practice, you can make gratitude a habit and experience positive, long-term effects on your happiness, healthiness, and your life!

So. What are you waiting for??? Let’s get you Gratituding like an expert!!!

Practicing Gratitude is really easy. All you have to do is think of something you are grateful for today; focus on it for a lil’ bit; maybe smile while you’re thinking about it; and if you want to take it up a notch, take a deep breath in and then let it out slowly while you are doing your positive gratitude thinking!

And that’s it. Like. Not hard. So easy.

gratitude invocation Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

Here’s me … one of my gratitudes … I’ve actually turned it into a daily gratitude intention, and I keep it in my Healing Toolkit of Goodness. And I have little reminder print-pages that I keep handy on my desk, and on the fridge. And actually, I often try to go for at least 3 gratitudes a day. I know. Whoa – being adventurous. LOL. I’m big like that.

All I’m saying is, there are a lot of ways you can work to change your life for the better, efforts you can make (things like eating better, getting more exercise, sleeping longer, etc.), but practicing gratitude is one of the easiest and least time consuming ways you can do it.

I mean, seriously, how long does it take to think a happy gratitude thought and smile and breathe while doing it? In the big scheme of a whole day … about a breath. And for 3 gratitudes and a few moments really focusing on them. Coupla minutes?

So really, likely the only thing holding you back from increasing happiness and healthiness in your life, is maybe the know-how (which I’ve just shared with you) and the willpower to do it daily.

Practicing Gratitude Print Page. Mary Kate Kopec. Love and Big Hugs.

Come on, print out my lil’ reminder print-pages. Set them on your desk. Put ‘em in your kitchen. … Wherever you’ll do them. And then … Do Them Daily! Voila!!! Gratitude is the gift you can choose to give yourself! I hope you will!!!

Create and Grow Your Self-Care!

Want to dig even deeper into your Self-Care? Snag your copy of my “Mary Kate’s Be-Kind-to-You Interactive Self-Care Love Letter to You!”

When you find yourself feeling low, negative, unhappy – doubting yourself – maybe your confidence has taken a bit of a tumble & your self-worth is low …

Grab my Be-Kind-to-You Interactive Self-Care Love Letter to You!

You can start feeling better and start smiling again!

Filled with empathetic & supportive Love and Big Hugs!

Delightfully cheerful & colorful art will lift & brighten your smile!

14 loving, big hugging, and supporting pages include proven feel better strategies:

Reaffirmations & Positive Self-Talk
Gratitude Acknowledgements
Smiling POSitudes
Additional supporting ideas to help you find your calm and happiness again through self-care and self-love
Bonus Love-You Supports and Resources section

Find more gratitude, POSitude, and Self-Care from me at Etsy!

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!

Until next week …

Today, I am grateful for you! And all the love and kindness that comes into your life!!! May your day bring you heartwarming goodness and be filled with positive energy!!!
Love and Big Hugs,

Arting it up for happiness and healthiness – color your stress away!

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.

inflammation happiness healthiness art therapy Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

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.

Arting It Up Happier and Healthier Color Page Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs get button

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?

Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

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

Arting It Up for Happiness and Healthiness Color Me Happier 7 Day Challenge Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs get button

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,

What to do when life falls down hard on you …

15 Habits for Happy Healthiness Mary Kate Kopec Love and Big Hugs

A beautiful blossom emailed me the other day. She told me she is going through some things, and that there isn’t anything she can do about it.

It truly sucks when life falls on you like this. It happens. It’s usually hard, seriously unfun, and oftentimes, it leaves us feeling terribly isolated, anxious, and depressed when it does.

So that’s what I want to talk to you about today. What in the world you can do when life falls on you, and the circumstances aren’t in your control? How can you feel better?

Spoiler alert … what can you do when life falls down hard on you? … you can take care of you … lemme explain …

How does taking care of you help?

When life gets hard, our survival mode usually kicks in, and our stress levels go up. If this life-falling event has a chronic, persistent flair to it – and it seems like it’s never going to end – our increasing stress levels can teach us how to ride a new, elevated baseline, which is great for coping. But for our long term health (mental, physical, emotional, … all of it) … it suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks!!!!!

These stress levels attack our bodies through the increase of a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is produced by your adrenals, which are little organs sitting on top of your kidneys. It can be fatiguing to your adrenals to be on the constant alert like this. And the long story short = stress leads to inflammation, and inflammation leads to unwellness, even disease.

So. Life happens. And when it happens hard and persistently, we can get hit with a double whammy. Not only do we have to deal with whatever the unpleasantness of the moment/time is, it can lead to physical illness, and that just ain’t good!

Sooooo. When you can’t fix life – when you are trying to cope and waiting for all the pieces to come together and get righted – this is most definitely the time for you to invoke your right to self-care! And then to make time for it! This is a something that you can definitely do!

And only you can do this.

Plus you get to decide how much time you give yourself. Balancing you against all of your commitments (family, work, household stuff … whatever your long list is that I know is calling you) … this balance is definitely a challenge. But you are important! You are worth your time! And the good news is that you can even start small and work your way up.

Let’s hit some highlights:

There’s basic biology.

You can eat nutritious food. Grab a banana, an apple, a can of sustainable, wild-life-safe, wild-caught tuna. Add a bag of frozen blueberries to your next bowl of oatmeal. Nutrient-dense food helps your body heal and decrease inflammation.

Drink your water. That whole 8 glasses of water a day is a real thing. It helps you keep your electrolytes balanced and to flush out toxins. This helps you to heal and to decrease inflammation. Plus, insufficient water can, among many things, give you headaches and make you feel hungry. And you don’t need that on top of everything else!

Get enough sleep. Sleep is rest. Rest heals you. You must sleep, my beautiful love muffin. It’s so important!!!

Get some exercise. Walk. Run. Ride a bike. Punch a punching bag. Do some yoga. Get your blood flowing; help your body breathe and nourish itself. Studies show yoga changes your brain chemistry – it helps to regulate nerve activity and reduces stress levels. It can induce a feeling of calm. This is helpful and so very good! Even 10 minutes a day is better than no minutes a day. Help yourself feel better!

Take an intentional, calming breath every day. Even if you only have a moment. You’re in your car sitting at a stop light. An elevator. Standing in the shower. … Take a moment. Close your eyes. Inhale deeply for a count of 4 to 7, hold it for 4 to 7, and then exhale slowly for 4 to 7. This breath is just for you. It’s your moment. Your time. Your healing. Let calm wash over you and hold you.

There’s positive energy reinforcements.

Practice POSitude. Think, focus, and act on positive thoughts.

Reaffirmations. Talk to yourself with positivity. You can do this! You will heal! You are worth your time! You are worth your love! You are wonderful and have so much to share and love!

Practice gratitude. Tell yourself every day at least one thing you are grateful for. The more heartfelt and genuine your gratitude, the more healing and calm it will bring you.

Smiling. Seriously … it helps! Smiling makes you feel better. Add in some positive self-talk, gratitude, calming breathing … it’s a formula for feel better.

Color or create something. Creative energies exercised change your thinking, reduce your stress and anxiety, and increase your calm. I recommend coloring with your favorite colors!!! This helps me tremendously!

Journal. Write it out. Get those thoughts racing around in your head out of your head. Write them down on paper. Acknowledge them. Acknowledge any limitation or frustration you feel. If any actionable thoughts come to mind, write them down and figure out a way to do them if it will help you cope or solve your problems. Write out your feelings about what’s happening. And remind yourself your feelings are 100% valid. You can’t control everything, but you can focus on what you can do. And you can love yourself for coping through this challenge.

Laugh! Laugh out loud. Watch something funny. Read a joke. But laugh heartily. Every day!

Connect with a loved one! Get a hug! Share a moment. Have a cup of herbal tea with a friend. Go for a walk together and be there for each other. Connect, love, and hug!!!!

Love yourself! Think of something you do well. Be genuine and heartfelt. Focus on this something and love yourself for it!

All of these are shown to change your brain chemistry and to help you to feel better. Happier. Even if only for the moment. You are still helping you to cope, heal, and reduce your stress. And this is helping you to keep healthy.

And one last, super helpful thing.

Surround yourself with love and support, with people who will bring you up, and help you walk forward through this difficult time! Good people – special family and friends – in your life can most definitely make all the difference in the world!

And in the times when you feel yourself not coping as well as you need, reach out for help. Get the help you need! Talk to your doctor, therapist, counselor, spiritual advisor, life coach … someone who can dig the extra deep with you to get you past this hump. Get the care and love and help and big hugs you need!

When life falls down hard on you and you feel like there’s nothing you can do, know that you CAN do something.

You can take care of you!

Self-care and self-love are vital – and these give you something helpful to focus on. It gives you actionables, and getting things done helps us to feel productive and useful. And the actionables I’ve shared above will also help you be happier and healthier, so you are getting so much bang for your taking-care-of-you bucks!

Every day, I remind myself: Focus on what you can do!

What can you do when life tackles you? You can self-care and self-love!!! Certainly, these may not make the life beat down you are getting go away any faster, but they will help you to cope better and stay healthier while you are dealing with it … and that’s just gotta be a good thing!

Want to dig even deeper into your Self-Care? Snag your copy of my “Mary Kate’s Be-Kind-to-You Interactive Self-Care Love Letter to You!”

When you find yourself feeling low, negative, unhappy – doubting yourself – maybe your confidence has taken a bit of a tumble & your self-worth is low …

Grab my Be-Kind-to-You Interactive Self-Care Love Letter to You!

You can start feeling better and start smiling again!

Filled with empathetic & supportive Love and Big Hugs!

Delightfully cheerful & colorful art will lift & brighten your smile!

14 loving, big hugging, and supporting pages include proven feel better strategies:

Reaffirmations & Positive Self-Talk
Gratitude Acknowledgements
Smiling POSitudes
Additional supporting ideas to help you find your calm and happiness again through self-care and self-love
Bonus Love-You Supports and Resources section

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!

Thank you for being here with me! May your day bring you heartwarming goodness and be filled with positive energy!!!

Love and Big Hugs,