Dancing Through Anxiety

Happy 1st anniversary to Dancing Through Anxiety! I  can't believe it but today marks one year since I published my first blog post!!  It's crazy to think that I have been publishing my thoughts for you all to read for an entire year now. When I first thought of starting a blog I thought that I would maybe make a few posts and a few people would read it. I've made 38 posts (not quite one a week but I'll take it) and have had readers from all over the world. I  have found so much help and healing from writing these posts and connecting with other people in similar situations or people wanting to support those in similar situations.  Am I where I thought I would be at this point in time? Absolutely not. Am I learning to be okay with that? Absolutely.  I've finally entered a part in my mental health recovery that I feel like I am finally healing from my grief, I have somewhat of a  grip on my anxiety/depression, and am hopeful and encouraged  tha...

So as you all most likely know by now things haven't been going so well for me. I just recently in about the last week have been starting to feel myself make my way back to where I was before my January and part of February low point. I want to do a post about the healing I've been feeling this January compared with times in the past but I'm not quite ready to write that, so instead I thought I would write a little bit about how I survived my down point. The most important thing I could do was stay busy but since I was feeling depressed I had to find ways to stay busy within the comfort of my home. These activities needed to be simple  enough to do in a depressed state of mind but also entertaining enough to distract me and make me want to do them. I thought I would share some of the hobbies that worked for me with you all.  Reading : I am an avid reader so this is usually my go to activity. It gets me out of the craziness that can be my mind for a while but it doesn...

So January has not gotten any easier for me, thank goodness it's over tomorrow! I know, I know, just the start of a different month. Name isn't going to automatically solve all my problems, but it's a nice addition. I have to apologize really quick to those of you that follow the Instagram for my blog because I haven't been very active on there. I try to keep an uplifting theme on there and here, because even though mental illness is tough I still try to be a positive version of it as much as possible and that hasn't been easy for me this month at all. So I find myself pulling away from everyone instead of talking about it.  Going off of that trying to be positive note I always try to find something beneficial from my anxiety and what's going on in my life (as much as possible when my brain is constantly lying to me). I can even tell you positive things that have come from my panic attacks and what I've learned going forward. This month, however, everyth...

So if you've been following along with my blog or social media you've probably seen that I've been having a hard time lately.  January and also sometimes into February tend to be a hard time for me in general, so although this wasn't completely unexpected, it still sucks. Between becoming a year older, starting a new year, birthday anniversaries of loved ones I've lost along with their death anniversaries, it's been tough for me to not feel sad all the time. I've just felt reminded of how much my life has changed and in some cases how it is not at all where I expected I would be or even where I want to be. Then you add on to that all the grief that comes with remembering loved ones who are no longer with me and the struggle becomes even worse. Grief is such a difficult concept for me because there is not a right and wrong way to grieve. As a business major, perfectionist, and gold personality, I strive in environments that have guidelines and right wa...

So unfortunately for about the past week or so I have found myself in a not so great place. Depression, anxiety, panic -they've all come to visit in full force. It's the worst it's been in a while and even though I have an idea of why they are coming out to play, it still doesn't make it any easier. In fact, it actually makes it harder for me. I tend to be a perfectionist in life, so I always want answers. I've been learning through this journey that having answers to why something is happening doesn't always help. I thought that once I knew what my triggers were I would be able to control my mental health from getting too out of control, I mean, when you know you have a broken arm you get a cast and rehab it and everything works out. This isn't the same though and that frustrates me so much. I know why I'm in a low point and I know my tricks that usually help me get through it, but it's still winning. I can see the problem but I can't fully fig...

Happy New Year friends! I don't know about you but I can't believe it's already a new year, how did this happen?! I hope you all enjoyed this holiday season and got to create some new wonderful memories. The new year and also just the month of January in general tends to cause me to fall into a post-holiday depression. I feel overwhelmed with the pressure to create goals and start new, but at the same time I enjoy the ability to hit refresh and try to find new motivation. Every new year I tend to set a bunch of unrealistic and very specific goals for myself and then forget about them after a few weeks because they weren't possible to reach. Then I end up getting upset and feeling like a failure for not meeting them, but in reality I almost set myself up for failure without realizing I was doing it. Lately I've been trying to be more patient with myself, especially while currently feeling a bit down right now, so I decided to approach this new year a littl...

With 12 days left until Christmas it's officially crunch time. If you have someone in your life who didn't make a present wish list you may be struggling to think of something they would like. I decided to make a holiday gift guide comprising of gifts I think someone who is fighting a mental illness may enjoy (or anyone else honestly). I know that finding the perfect gift for someone is my favorite part of the holiday season so, hopefully these ideas can inspire you and help check names off of your list! Books - Sometimes the best thing to do on a tough day is curl up with a good book and escape reality for a little bit. For anyone in your life who is struggling I highly recommend a book by Jenny Lawson. If you're just looking for a good book in general I would check out Kate Morton's books or A Southern Haunting Book Series. You can find book one  here  on Amazon.  Adult Coloring Books - These are honestly so stress relieving. It may seem silly at first sitti...