Hope +Wellness Blog

little snippets of advice for everyday challenges many people share

How Grounding Techniques Can Help With Anxiety
Coping Skills, Anxiety Hope+Wellness Coping Skills, Anxiety Hope+Wellness

How Grounding Techniques Can Help With Anxiety

If you’ve dealt with anxiety before, you know that it can be hard to get out of the cycle of panic on your own. When you’re in the midst of an anxious spiral, it can be almost impossible to snap yourself out of it, especially if you haven’t practiced. Anxiety is a complicated condition, but luckily there are ways to prepare yourself for your next bout of anxiety. One of the most popular ways to help manage panic or distressing thoughts is by grounding yourself.

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6 Journaling Prompts to Help You Examine Your Relationships
Relationships, Self-Reflection Hope+Wellness Relationships, Self-Reflection Hope+Wellness

6 Journaling Prompts to Help You Examine Your Relationships

It is a strange and scary time right now.

With the spread of COVID-19 many of us are worried for our own health, worried for the health of loved ones, and we’re all facing a huge shift in our daily lives. Whether it’s due to increased professional stress (both increased work for essential workers, and loss of work for non-essential folks), health stress, or personal stress from self-quarantining–we’re all facing big life changes now.

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5 Ways to Show Some Self-Compassion
Hope+Wellness Hope+Wellness

5 Ways to Show Some Self-Compassion

Are you nice to yourself?

You may not know how to answer this question, and that’s okay. The idea of being nice to ourselves, also known as showing self-compassion, can be a tricky one to wrap your head around. After all - you are intimately familiar with all of your flaws and shortcomings, so how can you be nice + compassionate to yourself?

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Why Conflict In Your Relationship Can Be A Good Thing
Dating, Intimacy, Love, Relationships Hope+Wellness Dating, Intimacy, Love, Relationships Hope+Wellness

Why Conflict In Your Relationship Can Be A Good Thing

How do you handle conflict with your partner?

Every relationship deals with conflict at some point or another. Both parties might not always be aware of the conflict, but conflict is there all the same. It seems wild that conflict can actually have a positive effect on a relationship, but in truth, conflict is an opportunity.

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4 Tips to Help You Cultivate Optimism

4 Tips to Help You Cultivate Optimism

Being optimistic is being able to find a positive outlook–even in negative situations.

Did you just roll your eyes a bit? It can be hard to commit to optimism. The world today is filled with natural disasters, poverty, war, and various political and social crises. It can be hard to balance all of that news–news that we now get at the speed of light thanks to social media–and still remain optimistic. And that’s not even considering the events of your daily life.

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How to Craft a Joyful Daily Routine
Joy, Coping Skills Dr. Victoria Ranade Joy, Coping Skills Dr. Victoria Ranade

How to Craft a Joyful Daily Routine

Are you intentional with your daily routine? Or do you find yourself just going through the motions?

When a routine feels like drudgery, instead of something you’re excited about, it can feel as though joyful moments are few and far between in your daily life. The key is working in new joyful moments into your day, either by altering your current routine, or creating a new one altogether.

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How to Figure Out What You Want in a Partner
Relationships, Dating Hope+Wellness Relationships, Dating Hope+Wellness

How to Figure Out What You Want in a Partner

From the outside, it seems as if dating today should be easier than ever.

With various apps and online dating services, you don’t even have to leave your couch to meet someone new! But while that can be a great thing (for busy people, people who’ve just moved to town, those just starting to get comfortable putting themselves out there, etc) it also creates its own very specific set of dating difficulties.

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How to Cope With Losing Relationships as a Result of Your Chronic Illness

How to Cope With Losing Relationships as a Result of Your Chronic Illness

Many people don’t understand what it’s like to be seriously ill. People often also don’t know what to do when someone is sick. If you’ve ever dealt with a loss in your life you might be familiar with this. Some people don’t know what to say or do, so instead of saying the ‘wrong’ thing, they disappear until the crisis is over. It’s not a nice thing to do, certainly, but it is a human reaction to discomfort. Unfortunately, for folks living with chronic illness, this experience is all too familiar. With chronic illness however, there is no end in sight, and because of that some relationships just don’t survive.

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Well Rounded Wellness: Exploring the Health Benefits of Spirituality
Spirituality, Personal Growth, Mindfulness Dr. Victoria Ranade Spirituality, Personal Growth, Mindfulness Dr. Victoria Ranade

Well Rounded Wellness: Exploring the Health Benefits of Spirituality

We’ve talked a bit before about the link between physical and mental wellness. And research is now showing that there is a significant mind-body connection; meaning our mental health can influence our physical health, and vice versa. 

So we know that health isn’t just one or the other. It’s not physical or mental, it’s a combination of caring for all of the different aspects of ourselves. But within this mind body connection, there’s another aspect often left out of the conversation: spiritual wellness. 

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