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#also the emotion is D3! 8:)
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If I wrote a post about today it would have the following headings
1. Therapy
2. Drive to adopters house in [unfamiliar urban location] in torrential rain/ low visibility, while simultaneously having to role play Mummy Peppa Pig
3. Adopters having crisis of confidence over Siblings behaviour
4. d3 skipping her English lesson because she feels sad and overwhelmed by the adoption process, but instead of saying that to her teacher (valid reason for which they would be sympathetic), she made up a story about a doctors appointment.
5. Me taking a phone call from her teacher, while at the adopters house, and ending up crying on the phone because I also feel overwhelmed by the adoption process at this point. It probably helped prove d3’s case that we’re all an emotional disaster.
6. Me taking a phone call (still at the adopters house) from the social worker who’s been off sick for the last month but is back from today, about point 3 above. Bit awkward.
7. Horrendous drive home from adopters house in which I got lost again, had to role play Mummy Dave & Ava (wtf?), more torrential rain and kept the children from having danger naps.
8. Lovely, generous and uplifting gift from our church group who have been so so supportive through this placement. Good to end the day on a high.
9. Get up tomorrow and do it all again.
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probssomethingorother · 5 months
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WIP Game
Rules: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigued them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.
Tagged by @two-birds-alone-together, @march-flowerr , and @ameerawrites! (SHEESH GUYS)
WARNING: I am a horrible human who cannot finish what they start....bear with me and this list (and there is absolutely no order)
Putting the link if I already answered! I don’t bite, come ask about the others and keep me accountable!!
In the After - Chp 14 WIP
David
B&F - Chapter 10 [get 2 it]
We all Break - 8 wip
Cried - WIP Future
Cried - 2 or Alternate [USE or LOOSE]
It's the scars that had me wrong
I can't do this without you - Chapter 1 Bitch
Best it will ever be - d2
Best it will ever be - d3
Best it will ever be - d4
Best it will ever be - d5
Derail the mind - Chapter dos
Hidin’ all our sins from the daylight- Girly Pop & Nightmares
Hidin’ all our sins from the daylight- Chris Shenanigans
Hidin’ all our sins from the daylight- Motorcycle
Hidin’ all our sins from the daylight- Front Yard
Hidin’ all our sins from the daylight-Overdose
Hidin’ all our sins from the daylight-Booted From the House
Hidin’ all our sins from the daylight-Pickup
Hidin’ all our sins from the daylight-Bar Fight
Hidin’ all our sins from the daylight-Cry2me
There’s a drumming noise inside my head (it starts when you’re around)
Its been a bad run, you’ve had some bad tries
Ulcer Snippy from ITA
RV
Bad Things Happen Bingo Collared & Chained
Bad Things Happen Bingo Emotional Damage
Fight Club
Tess SA Discus Flashback
Missing Clothes
Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Scorned
Dina bby truama
I don't even know 33 people.
Here's who I'm tagging tho... NO PRESSURE...but also if I did it anyone can
@bumblepony, @eedsknees, @bearrycool, @lkay-09, @cardigains @chronicallyonlinewriter, @wordspinning, @boopernatural, @becomethesun, @toointojoelmiller, @maddiesbooknook, @mirananananan, @ciaconnaa , AM I MISSING PEOPLE IDK PLEASE DON'T TAKE IT PERSONALLY I WILL GO BACK AND ADD MORE
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jonathankatwhatever · 2 years
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I continue to make enormous progress putting together mechanics. Example: add to the Collatz description that the modified SBE3 form extends the 1-0Segment by counting n = 0 and 1. At 0, the value is 1 and at 1 the value is 4, so that maps the concept of a grid squares is 4 grid squares and 4 grid squares is 1. This concept recurs. So if you pick any n, underlying that choice of n is case 0, meaning it attaches to the 1 to make 1. If that End of function 1 then Halves, then it Halves. At case 1, the End of function being 4 down to 1 is always there. The rest is then that thus there has to be a connection because the lower case representation is connected at every n, so the function process of counting always tests Halving and 4 to 1 as it re-enacts the 1-0Segment. Pretty damned cool.
If I said what I was thinking when that came to me, I’d blush way too much.
But I have to go in that direction because something changed dramatically night before last in Storyline. I have to go back decades to a trip to Quebec, and then another trip to Quebec when the girls were young. The first trip coincided with a film festival, and a Storyline - which I then used to think of as a day dream - rapidly emerged in which I’d been involved with a girl in our summers growing up. Typically somewhere with a lake. It became her being from Chicago and me being from somewhere in Michigan. We were close summer friends, the way kids can be. We got a bit older. We grew more similar, not less. I had long conversations with her. She would practice acting and we’d talk about how to draw out emotions, and how to make movements become practiced but lifelike, and how the voice carries different kinds of tension. I remember her working on how to sound angry in dozens of different ways. We had a great time. And stuff happened and we had sex and she got pregnant and her family was opposed to abortion and so she would put the baby up for adoption, and what happened is that to make sure it was a clean start for her I took the baby when the parental rights were signed away. She didn’t know. In some versions, her family knew and that caused a lot of problems, but in some they did not. The really difficult ones were when I believed she knew. Easily fixed mistake but then there were lots of threads spawned by holding that belief for about 10 years.
So, what happens is run into each other as she is leaving an event. Long time. Yeah. It’s really great to see you. Pleasantries. A bit of awkwardness with that sense of maybe we should talk if you want to talk in the air, and I hear ‘Dad’ and my little girl walks up. And she sees my girl, who is of course a fan of her work in family movies. And then on.
I don’t think about this Storyline often, though it is vivid. I could picture where my daughter and I lived, what we did, sometimes back to when she was a baby in my arms and we were in the same hospital but her mother didn’t know that.
This Storyline became you. And the little girl wears a shirt with your picture on it in part because people say she looks like you. The first iteration was highly emotional and had to cover all the reveal threads. Example: she doesn’t put it together right away because I’ve told her I knew you when we were kids. And I’ve mentioned age 7 and 8. So I tell her we knew each other when we were a bit older, and last time you were 14 (or so, because I don’t stabilize the dates but rather allow the symmetry), and I tell her to look in the mirror and at the shirt she has on because there’s a reason why people say she looks like you. It also became that she knew her mother’s name began with an A, and that her name was Alison Grace because she was her mother’s blessing.
I have never had you walk into a Storyline like that before. It’s not like you were in character. This was you. And the messaging in the songs fit with that motivation, so I mean as close to literal you as a Storyline can get to D3. Which, btw, works in the method we’ve developed over the past days.
This led to discussions, including with your parents, about what to do. I only catch snippets of those in real time, but there was always your voice at the end saying something completely sensible because you would recognize the contours of the choices very fast and you always selected the path that would bring you closer to your child.
Where it went this morning then included this, and it was emotional for me. That is, what kind of relationship do we have? You reject anything less than being completely in Aggie’s life (sometimes it’s Algae), but my problem is that I’ve lived with you for the past 10 years. In the Storyline, she’s been a Ghost to you, one that you live up to, one that inspires you, that is a muse, while she’s been you in front of me as I hear and watch you in her life, in her, becoming like you more and more as time goes on, so I’ve never gotten over you because you’ve never left me.
You tell me we need to try and we start and it was going great until the cat started crying to be let out.
I’m going to take a break because I have also been doing some more obviously work work, but I can’t for the life of me remember where I left it in my mind. Oh yes: draw a V and cap it. That allows the mechanics of constructing the little diagrams of boxes, hats, etc. I never saw it before, even though we’ve gone over it many times: let’s say we count a W, which has 5 Ends and four 1Segments. The 5th 1Segment is the divider, and that dividing 1Segment counts 2 and it does so in pairs. This enables expansion and reduction of the Triangular as we simply flip out or in the 2 to 1.
This then clarifies the I//I process to mean the composition of those Irreducible Triangulars making a grid square. This mechanically demonstrates we were correct about the 1 fD to 4fD image in which there is a central gs with 4 ‘leaves’. This is starting to get deeper than I can handle at this moment, but this then directly states a mechanical definition of the bip as the center of a grid square which is composed of 4 grid squares, which of course is ½. That is, the central fD disappears when you see the 4fD, and the central fD spans to the edges of the 4fD through inversion.
Very deep mathematics.
I have a strong aversion to fantasizing about you. It seems to be eroding in flashes as the physical and emotional sensations that I’ve felt for so long become more literally visible, as in the mechanics.
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evilneo · 3 years
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aether, coconut mall or owo, any emotion :-D
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SORRY I FINISHED THSI AWHILE AGO THEN FORGOT TO POST IT
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auradons-trash-heap · 2 years
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Omg thanks @umas-plan for tagging me to list my top 5-10 Descendants songs!! It’s a tough call—as a movie D3 was a disappointment but the soundtrack lowkey said “oops all bangers.” These aren’t necessarily in order, because with Descendants songs I tend to be either like “hard no” (‘Be Our Guest’ rap. Every time I remember it exists a small piece of me dies), “eh alright” (‘Set It Off’), or “ABSOLUTE BANGER 10/10” (more to follow). Ranked song titles are bolded for tl;dr skimming. Alright here we go:
1. Definitely ‘Ways to be Wicked.’ I bought this song before I ever watched a Descendants movie after stumbling upon the clip on youtube & it is still a banger. It was a combination of that and the clip of Mal turning into a dragon that made me say “yoooo what is this” and buy a D1/D2 dvd pack on my next trip to Target (no cable or Disney+ 😬). Incredible song, Iconic, 10/10
2. You KNEW ‘Chillin’ Like a Villain’ had to be on here. Come on. This song had no right to go as hard as it does with that cheesy title, and yet. Also Ben’s little segment is the cutest thing I’ve ever heard he’s so excited and pure I love him so much (I know his character has problems that the canon overlooks but I do just really love how sweet he’s supposed to be and he is he’s so cute what a good boy)
3. ‘You And Me’ this song is so dorky and naiive but damn if it doesn’t make my heart swell with hope and good feelings. Also the dancing in the water is just really cute and I love it. My favorite ending song by a slight slight margin over ‘Break This Down’ which is also definitely a certified banger and it’s the one I WILL dance along with when if plays, but ‘You And Me’ is the more likely of the two to give me Sappy Emotions. ‘Set it Off’ is not even comparable to these two imo it’s cute but nowhere NEAR the same level of Good Song
4. ‘Queen of Mean’ —Talented, Showstopping, Incredible. Absolute Banger. You have no choice but to sing along. I’m a Mal simp (I know that’s an unpopular opinion to have on here, I’m sorry, I am Not Immune to purple Dove Cameron), so I am not particularly predisposed to actively root for Audrey, but even I cannot deny how hard this song goes
5. ‘Evil (From Descendants: Wicked World)’. Dove Cameron is hot, and her voice is hot. That’s it, that’s the reason. I relate to Ben in that I too would break the law in order to please edgy fae Dove Cameron. I have no defense for this
6. ‘Did I Mention (Reprise)’ from D3. This is the only fictional proposal that’s ever actually made me feel something. Yes, I am trash, I ship Bal despite recognizing the problems (you ever try writing Bal fic that does NOT start with Mal spelling Ben? It’s hard. On multiple meta levels, their relationship does not make sense. And YET, I do ship it. Again, no defense, it’s cute, the simple dichotomy of surfacy good and evil & Mal trying to be good just because Ben is nice to her and it makes her happy...I am Not Immune to them being cute in canon. Honestly the books give me more faith in this ship than the films, tho). This one is interesting bc I don’t even particularly like ‘Did I Mention’ from D1 lmao
7. ‘Space Between’ whether it’s the wlw Love Song of the century or simply the purest best friends song of all time, this is a banger. How could they not have noticed that they accidentally gave their big romantic duet to one of the romantic leads and her bff instead of the dude she’s dating tho, come on. The song that fills the sails of the Malvie ship (along with, y’know...everything else [recalls every Malvie interaction in D3])
8. ‘Good to Be Bad’ and ‘Rotten to the Core’ are pretty much equal to me. Both bangers, both very fun to sing & dance along with. On a meta level, objectively funny how blatantly these two opening numbers are ripping off whatever music was popular at the time to Appeal To The Youth™️. Diagetically ‘Rotten to the Core’ wins bc I just cannot agree with the concept of “VK Day” but that’s back to the matter of D3 having great songs and very little else going for it
9. ‘Night Falls.’ Clearly, we love a group number. I’m a Mal simp (D3 Mal is Worst Mal but also Mal is Mal) & I recognize that Uma is the strongest and most underutilized character in the franchise, so it’s always fun to have them both in the same place, even when it’s just them being petty at each other. D3 Evie is too good for this world, too pure. A few of the lyrics in this one give me mild secondhand embarassment for Bad Writing but this is the Descendants fandom and I would not be here if I lacked the ability to Embrace The Cringe
10. ‘If Only’—little baby Mal having feelings, allowing herself to seriously consider having feelings for maybe the first time. Don’t touch me, I’m emotional
Honorable Mentions (beyond all the ones I’ve already slipped in here, bc I love talking about Descendants and I lack self-control): ‘What’s My Name’ is obviously a banger; I like ‘My Once Upon A Time’ a lot on its own, but it just. Makes absolutely zero sense in context. Tonally inconsistent with what’s happening in the movie around it; ‘One Kiss’ is straight up just a good song, we all know Sofia Carson is a great singer, if I ever make the mistake of listening to my Descendants playlist in a public gym I Will make a fool of myself bc I have no choice but to pantomime singing along with this one.
That was probably a lot more information than you wanted 😅. Thanks again for tagging me!
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ultrawavesstars · 2 years
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descendants rewrite I had issues with descendants it was a lot of wasted potential so here.
D1- More on Hades as her dad, he does not live on the isle but the entrance to the underworld is there and all Zeus could do is limit where he can be in the mortal world hades did not get Mal out because it would cause a stir and Zeus would be mad Hades tried to break the barrier (even if he didn’t) and Mal’s life would be in danger.
decent parent maleficent, tho pretty negligent 
Best friend Jay
Friends with Evie because mal saved her life
Friendly rival Uma
The Isle is way darker then Disney
Mal has issues 
Lot of old royals are very prejudiced 
Ben does not get love spelled
Bal relationship is slow
Lots of flirting and banter thoThey only start dating near the end of the book
They are 15
Ben is not to king til 22
Morally corrupt Beast
Hesitant but supportive Belle
More Royals are mentioned 
The first book will focus on Mal’s development and her life on the isle, how Auradon isn’t perfect, it will show the pressure Ben is under how Audrey was always Ben’s friend and didn’t really support his discussion but tried because she was terrified.
Descendants x Hero’s of Olympus/Percy Jackson  D2- More of Bal’s relationship
More of Ben’s parent’s view of Bal and interactions with Mal
Mal practices her magic more and makes spells
Mal under pressure
Bal angst
Diplomatic Mal
Monster attacks Mal
Mal goes to camp half blood Mal meeting Nico
For Nico and Mal’s relationship, they’re both really closed off and Nico wants to be close and protect Mal but also stay away so he doesn’t get too attached because she reminds him a lot of Bianca. Mal wants to help him because she can see he’s been through a lot through his eyes, throughout the book they will have issues but develop they’re relationship durning an important quest.
On the other side we will see what’s going on in Auradon
In the end Mal and Nico accept each other as siblings and become way closer.
Show how the rest of the core four are doing too.
All the children of the big three are considered cousins.
Bal’s relationship goes public so she will be dealing with that too.
First time Dragon Mal appears Mal can summon/produce blue fire from the fields of punishment
 D3- Auradon knows about the gods.
-Mal spends time at CHB during summer
 - we see Mal adapting to being put under the public eye and the constant pressure 
-Nico and Mal have a great sibling relationship By now Mal has really strong Magic
Bal is going great Mal meets her other sister Hazel
Mal is a big part of the war (HOO)Pushes herself a lot in the war and her siblings see Mal getting pushed near the edge
Way darker then HOO
Nico and Hazel spend some time with Mal in Auradon
They also spend some time in the underworld
 Persephone is no longer trying to kill any of them
More of Mal,Percy and ThaliaMal deals with PTSD from the war
Rotten core feels
Solangelo
Lonnie x Jay
Carlos x Jane
In the end we get a small shot of 8 years into the future.
Note: Mal’s real name is  Mal Bertha Aïdida ( I wanna come up with a full form of mal but for now it’s just mal)
Mal characterization:Had to always be strong growing up and act tough and ruthless, always making deals ,showing people she’s the strongest and tries her best to just not show emotion and just indifference but feels mercy towards the kids who suffer for no reason and occasionally helps them but makes sure they don’t know or keeps it down low, grew up with everyone fearing her. It takes time for her to trust and it needs to be proved. Extremely protective with the ones she cares and loves, rarely smiles. When she came to Auradon at first she didn’t trust Ben and acted really cold , guarded and indifferent to him eventually warming up. Doesn’t really listen to authorities.She didn’t trust the proclamation at first, she wanted to find out what Ben or the Royals wanted from them or they’re hidden motivation. She just couldn’t accept they did this out of the kindness of their heart, not after everything and so long.So the starting point of Bal was when she overheard him fighting with Chad, who was insulting her and Be defended her so that’s when she knew he was being genuine. After that she warmed up to him little by little. A key scene for their relationship is this: Mal was sitting on the roof looking at the stars Ben finds her there cause that’s something he does at times too he offers to leave but she lets him stay. They chat he gets to know more about the isle and he tells her why he made the proclamation and says he wants to make things better it’s just hard because of everyone’s view, she stays quiet for a while and says ‘Then do it, if you really want to make a change don’t care about who says what’.
Ok I wanna re-write descendants and gonna create a fanfic is anyone interested in this or wants to collaborate?
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cassiabaggins · 4 years
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Where There’s A Will (There’s A Way) Part 4
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A/N:  I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to finish this in time, but I did some hardcore grinding and got this out! I hope you enjoy it. It’s more Kili focused near the end, because baby deserves love, too. Thorin shows up for the first time, too! And guys! Every like, comment and reblog means to much to me! I love to hear what you have to say about this AU! Feel free to send a dm or comment on this if you’d like to be tagged! Also, No one guessed, but Fili and Kili’s last name, O’Turner, is a mashup between Dean and Aiden’s...... I like to think I’m clever.....
Taglist: @legolaslovely @polliwogboi @d3-iseefire​ @strictlynofrills​ @i-am-still-bb @fridayfirefly @swagbearfishturkey @floralfi
Previous Chapters: one . two . three . 
Warnings: none! just fluff and cuteness!!!
Characters: Fili, Kili, Thorin, Tauriel, Dis (mentioned), Frerin (mentioned)
Pairings: Kiliel
"I've got a list of songs we can cover," Kili says, dropping down on one of the kitchen chairs. "I think you know them, but I'm not sure." He slides his phone across to his brother.
“We’ve played them before, right?” Fili says, scrolling through the songs, “You know we can’t just start on songs we don’t know.”
Kili rolls his eyes. “Yes, Fili, I’m absolutely stupid and have no idea how music works.”
Will, who’s sitting at the table beside him, giggles. His uncle reaches over and ruffles his hair. “Doing homework?” 
Will nods. “Yeah. Next week is my last week of school. But we still have homework. It’s stupid.”
“That is stupid.”
Kili stretches his arm behind his chair and leans over, peering at Will’s homework. “So, what torture are you learning today?”
“Money values,” Will says. 
“Ah,” Kili says, “Capitalism. The bane of our existence.”
“What?” Will asks, laughing. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t make my son a communist, Kili,” Fili says, passing his brother back his phone. 
“What’s a comminist?” “Communist, son.”
“Oh. What’s that?”
“Its…” Fili starts, then pauses, grappling with how to explain communism to a six year old. “Uh…”
“Do you not know, Dad? You can look it up.”
“I know what it means, I just don’t know how to explain it to you. Its… well, it’s a form of government made up by a guy called Karl Marx.”
“Oh, okay,” Will says, going back to his homework. 
“Isn’t it technically a form of economics?” Kili asks. Fili shrugs. 
“I dunno, man, either way, it killed something like a hundred million people.”
“Wait, really?”
“Yeah, something like that. It was a lot. I think that’s why Grandma left Russia.”
“Which Grandma?”
“Dad’s mom.”
“Your Grandma or mine, Dad?” Will asks. “Mine and Kili’s, buddy. You almost done with your homework?”
“Yeah. Can I watch you and Kili practice?”
“Of course you can.”
Kili gets up. “I’m gonna go get my guitar. I left it in the living room.”
“Okay,” Fili says, leaning over the table to look over Will’s homework. Will slides it over to him so it can be read more easily. “You’re good, Will. Go put this in your backpack.”
.
Friday comes and sees Kili, Fili, and Will heading off to Bombur's cafe. The restaurant is a cafe until three PM, and after that it becomes a bar and grill with live music every week. Bombur runs it during the day, and his brother, Bofur, runs it during the night and evening, to give the former time with his wife and three kids.
After they pull in and park, Will clambers out of the car and dashes around to Fili's door. He drags it open and hops up and down. "Can you carry me, Dad?" He asks, flapping his hands excitedly. 
"Yeah," Fili says, stepping out and picking him up and putting him up on his shoulders. "Kili, can you bring my cajon? It's in the trunk."
"Why do I have to?" Kili splutters.
Fili grabs hold of Will's ankles. "My hands are full."
Kili grumbles, but grabs both instruments. 
The bar/cafe is teeming with people already, typical of a Friday evening. Bofur meets them at the door.
"You know," he says, looking up at Will. "Technically kids aren't allowed in here past 8:00 PM."
Will sticks his tongue out at Bofur.
"C'mon," Fili wheedles, "he's my emotional support son."
"Emotional support son?"
"Yes. I need him. He's here to cheer me on."
"Is someone gonna watch him? I like Will fine, but I'm gonna be bartending, I can't keep an eye on him."
"I know, my mom is coming. And Frerin. They'll watch him."
"Well, alright then, I guess. You guys can set up over there." He points toward a slightly raised platform with a microphone in the far corner. "Thanks for doing this."
Kili shoots him a thumbs up. "No problem, man. C'mon, Fee."
They weave through the crowd, setting down their instruments. 
"Dad!" Will cries, pointing. "Is that Uncle Thorin?"
Fili turns, scanning the crowd. He spots a familiar shock of gray-streaked black hair. "I think so, buddy. You wanna go say hi to him?"
"Yeah!"
"All right, let's go. You coming, Kili?"
"I'll be around in a bit," Kili says, focused on tuning his guitar.
"Okay."
Fili moves back through the crowd, stopping beside his uncle. "Hey," he says, "I didn't know you were in town."
Thorin turns and offers them a rare smile. "Just for a few days. I have a meeting in Paris on Monday that I have to fly out for. Your mother told me about your little gig and I had to come."
"Ah, so the whole family is gonna see Kili and I embarrass ourselves. Fantastic."
Thorin snorts. 
"Did you bring me a souvenir?" Will blurts, reaching down for his great uncle. Thorin lifts him down and sits him on his lap. 
"Will," Fili chides gently.
"What?"
Thorin chuckles lowly. "What sort of souvenir were you looking for?"
"I dunno. A cool one? I like it when you bring me museum guidebooks. I like to plan out trips for when I'm big."
"Hm. So that's what you do with them."
"Yup! Right, Dad?"
"Right."
"Well, I didn't bring you any museum guidebooks this time, but I'll make sure to pick you up one from the Louvre when I'm in Paris, how's that?"
Will makes the 'okay' symbol with his hand. "Fantabulous!"
"Where'd you learn that?"
"TV!"
"You're a bit of a strange one, Will," Thorin says fondly.
"You like me though, right?"
"Yep. Strange is good."
Will beams. 
"Now," Thorin says, "about that souvenir. There's something in the left pocket of my jacket with your name on it."
Will gasps delightedly and jumps down, circling around the back of Thorin's chair to dig in the pockets of the light jacket slung over the back of his chair.
"You're gonna spoil him," Fili says, leaning on his hands on the table before him. Thorin sips his drink, smile lines crinkling around his blue eyes.
"What are grandpa's for?"
"You aren't his grandpa, though."
"I'm close enough."
"Whoa!" Will shouts, having discovered his prize. "Dad, look!"
"What did you find, buddy?" Fili asks. His son hurries over to him, something clutched in his hands. 
"This is it, right Uncle?" Will holds up a small leather bound notebook, about the size of an adult man's hand. Thorin nods. 
"That's it."
The boy laughs excitedly, jumping up and down. 
"What do you say, kiddo?" Fili prompts gently. 
"Thank you!" Will blurts, hugging his great uncle, "thank you!"
"You're welcome, Will," Thorin says, ruffling his hair. 
Will scrambles back up into his lap, flipping through the notebook. "You know," he says, "this doesn't have my name on it, though."
"That was a figure of speech," Fili explains. 
"What's a figure of speech?" Kili asks, walking up. "Hi, Thorin."
"Hey, Kili."
"Thorin said the notebook had my name on it," Will says, "but it didn't really."
"I see. Fili, we should start soon."
"Okay,” Fili looks down at Will. “Buddy, do you remember what we talked about?”
Will looks up from admiring his new notebook. “Yeah.”
“Can you tell me? Just so I know?”
He nods. “I have to stay by Gran, and when she says we have to go I can’t whine about it.”
“Good. And what else?”
“If I feel overwhelmed and want to leave, I can tell Gran, but I have to be patient because I can’t expect her to drop everything, but she’ll do her best.”
“Good job. Thorin, can you keep an eye on him until Mom shows up?”
Thorin nods. “Gladly.”
"Okay. See you soon, Will."
"Good luck, Dad!"
"Thanks, buddy."
Fili ruffles Will's hair one last time. "Come on, Kili."
"Hi," Kili says, "we're Fili and Kili O'Turner, and we'll be playing for you tonight."
"What's your band name?!" Bofur calls from the back of the room. Kili leans in close to the mic.
"We don't have one. We didn't think we'd get this far."
"Fili and the Boys!" Fili shouts.
"Who's the other boy?" Someone calls.
Fili points to the boxlike instrument he's sitting on. "The cajon!"
That brings a ripple of laughter through the crowd. "Yeah, we're not naming ourselves Fili and the Boys," Kili says. 
"We're just two brothers and a cajon," Fili says.
"Okay, that's our name, Two Brothers and a Cajon," Kili says. "And we're covering a variety of songs! Thanks for listening and please don't laugh us out of town my brother has a kid to feed. Alright!"
.
It goes well. Really well. Fili keeps his head down so he doesn't have to look at the crowd (it's not like that many people are watching them, most are talking with friends or playing pool or drinking, and Fili is find with that). Once and a while he looks up and sees a few people consistently watching them: their family and a tall, pretty redhead in a gaggle of other friends. (The redhead is watching Kili, mainly). They play for an hour and a half before deciding to call it quits. Bofur comes over and thanks them as they pack up.
“You two really pulled us out of a bind,” He says. 
Kili grins. “If you want to book us again, we’re available.”
“Yeah, but give us more warning next time,” Fili adds.
“Why?” Bofur teases, “It’s not like you’re doing anything on a Friday night, Fili.”
Kili barks out a laugh. 
“Okay, damn,” Fili mumbles, “just scalp me next time. Holy shit.”
“‘Ey! Bofur!” Someone yells, “get back here and top me off!”
“Would you wait a moment, Nori? Geez!” Bofur turns back to Fili and Kili. “I’ve got to go. I’ll let you guys know if I need you again. You can have free drinks the rest of the night.” He waves and returns to the bar.
“Ooh, free drinks,” Kili says excitedly.
"I'm heading out," Fili says. 
"No, no you aren't," his brother replies, slinging his arm around his neck. "Come on, get a drink with me."
"I can't. I'm driving."
"One drink. Just one. C’mon.”
Fili caves. He does need to spend more time with his brother, anyway. "Okay, I need to be home by 10, though."
"Fine by me. We have half an hour." Kili drags him over to the bar and orders two beers on tap. 
It’s good to spend time with Kili over a drink, talking about life, about things they can’t talk about around others.
"When was the last time you got laid?" Kili asks. Fili frowns, scratching his chin. 
"Uhm… awhile. Half a year maybe?"
Kili chokes on his drink. "Seriously?"
"What? Having a kid really compromises my chances!"
"When was the last time you went on a date?"
"About the same time. I went out a few times with this chick who came in for an oil change."
"You asked out a customer?"
"No, she asked me out."
"And you went?"
"She was cute. We hooked up a few times. Then I found out she had a boyfriend."
Kili chokes again on his drink, and Fili thumps his back. "Don't die, man," he says.
"She used you… to cheat on her boyfriend?" He asks.
Fili tosses up a half-hearted peace sign. "Yup."
"Oh man, you have the worst trouble with girls," Kili sighs.
"Eh, if they don't like kids, they aren't worth my time. The only women I'm interested in are ones who are willing to be moms. Or at least are willing to consider the possibility. There aren't a lot of women… or people in general, who are willing to have a serious relationship with a single parent. We bring baggage."
"Yeah, that makes sense. Do you think Will needs a mom?"
"I'd like him to have one. And I'd like to have a wife. But like I said, it's hard to date with a kid."
"Yeah, I can imagine…" Kili trails off, his eyes fixed on something beyond Fili.
"What?" Fili asks.
"What?"
"What are you looking at?" Fili turns around to scan the crowd, following his line of sight. 
"Her." Kili says, gesturing towards the tall, leggy redhead Fili had noticed earlier. She’s standing beside the pool table, her head thrown back in laugh.
Fili raises an eyebrow. "Are you gonna go talk to her?"
Kili shrugs. "Should I?"
"I think you should. She was watching you, you know.
“Really?”
“Really. I have to head out, anyway. Go.”
"Okay," Kili says, slamming back the rest of his beer. "Alright."
"You need a ride?"
"Nah," he hops off his stool. "I'll catch an uber. See you."
Fili laughs at his brother's starstruck expression and turns back to his own drink. 
Kili weaves his way through the crowd and catches the red head's eye. She's tall. Taller than him by at least four inches, and he doesn't mind in the slightest, because up close she is even more beautiful. He grins at her.
"Hi."
"Hi!" She replies, "you guys played really well tonight! I really enjoyed it."
"You did?" He asks, his voice cracking just a little. He clears his throat. "You did? Cool! Cool. I'm glad. Yeah. That's awesome. Uh. I'm Kili."
She smiles. "I know."
"Oh. Heh. We introduced ourselves earlier, didn't we?"
"You did. I'm Tauriel."
"It's nice to meet you. Can I buy you a drink? Unless you're here with someone else, then I can fuck right off."
She laughs. Even her laugh is pretty. "I'm not here with anyone. I'd like that."
Kili can't help a little bounce of joy on the balls of his feet. "Cool!" 
He leads her over to the bar. She orders a cosmopolitan and he orders and old fashioned, and they sit on bar stools regarding each other for awhile, making small talk. Kili feels utterly tongue tied in her presence at first, but fights past it. She turns out to be surprisingly easy to talk to, quick-witted and sharp tongued, and he feels even more silly. But she's smiling at him and laughing at his jokes. So that's a bonus. She's wearing a very interesting necklace, a teardrop shaped pendant resting on her collarbone and Kili is trying to figure out how to ask her about it.
"I swear I'm not staring at your boobs," Kili blurts, realizing what he's doing, "I'm just trying to get a better look at your necklace. It's pretty."
Tauriel laughs softly, and takes it off, holding it out for him to inspect. Kili takes it gingerly, holding the white stone up to the light. It shimmers silver and blue. 
"Whoa," he breathes. "That's so cool. What kind of rock is this?"
"Crystal," she corrects gently. "It's moonstone."
"Crystal, huh?" He says, "do you believe in that stuff?"
She blushes. "Yeah."
"Don't be ashamed!" He says hurriedly. "There's nothing wrong with it! I'm just not a very spiritual person myself. So." He returns the necklace to her by draping it back over her head. "What's moonstone supposed to do for you? Open your third eye?"
Tauriel laughs softly again, playing idly with the pendant. "You aren't far off, exactly."
"Oh, so if I wear that I can like, see time or something? That'd be cool."
"No, nothing like that. It's just the chakra it's associated with. The third eye chakra and the solar plexus chakra."
"Oh! Chakras!" Kili says, "I know about chakras. From Avatar: The Last Airbender. Does this mean you're the avatar?"
"Yes," she giggles, "I'm on my quest to master the elements. I came here today searching for my water bending master."
"Ah, too bad, that. I can't help you with that I can barely swim."
"Really? That's not very safe!"
"I never got the hang of it. I hit the water and sink like a rock. Just glub glub glub. Hey? Where'd Kili go? Oh, he drowned."
"No!" She gasps, "don't say that! Don't drown!"
"I won't, luckily, I even avoid bathtubs, I am a shower only kind of guy."
"Oh, I love baths. They're the best. You can't go wrong with a good bubble bath. Some bathbombs maybe. A few scented candles. Classical music playing. Man. That's the dream. Perfect after a long day of work."
"I'd say the picture you painted sounded great if I wasn't so prone to death by drowning. What do you do for a job?"
"I'm a nurse. I work in the ER over at Central."
"Really. I haven't seen you there!"
"I just transferred out of school, so you wouldn't. Wait, the way you phrased that sounds like you spend a good amount of time in the emergency room. You don't, do you?"
Kili rubs the back of his head self-consciously. "I am not joking, unfortunately. I'm what people call accident prone."
"How accident prone?"
"Well, last month I dropped a toolbox on my foot and broke two toes. So, if you saw me limping, that's why."
"How often does stuff like that happen?"
Kili leans on his elbow. "You'd be surprised."
He doesn't notice the time passing as he tells her of the multiple stupid injuries hes gotten, both in childhood and more recently. She shares her own scrapes and childhood stories, and it turns out that they both have some similar interests. Archery being one of them. They're conversation is interrupted by Bofur leaning over the bar.
"You guys," he says, "it's late. I'm trying to close."
Kili jumps, looking around and realized the bar is pretty much empty. He rubs the back of his head sheepishly. "Oops."
Tauriel laughs. "I guess we lost track of time, huh?"
"Yeah," he grins up at her. "Want to get out of here?"
"I'd like that," she says, "I'd really like that."
Kili's grin grows impossibly wide and he tosses a few crumpled bills on the counter as a tip and hops down, holding his hand out to Tauriel. She takes it. Her hand is slim and lightly calloused in his, warm and he decides he never wants to let go. He's a little tipsy (maybe a little more than a little, he's never been good at holding his alcohol) and so is she, leaning against him, all long limbs and soft melodious laughs.
"I'll call two ubers," he says as they step into the warm early summer night. The stars above them are shining valiantly through the city lights.
"You don't have to do that, Kili," she says, "I can call my own."
"Trust me," he says, "I don't mind." He keeps one arm around her slim waist as he pulls up the app. She rests her head on his, stroking her hand through his too long hair. 
"You're a real gentleman, you know that?" She says.
Kili blushes. "You think so?"
"Mhmm. Not a lot of decent guys around, let alone gentlemen."
"Yeah? Well, my mama raised me right."
She giggles, curling a lock of his hair around her finger. "Hey, are you busy tomorrow night?"
"I'm not. Why?"
"Because I'd like to take you out to dinner and drinks."
"Really?" He says.
"Really."
"I'd be happy to join you," he grins, "but I have to admit, you beat me to the punch on that."
"Were you gonna ask me out?"
"I was."
She laughs again, pulling back to take his face in her hands. "I like you a lot, Kili," she tells him, and his heart leaps.
"I really like you, too," he breathes. God, he hopes she kisses him. Before hes fully realized that thought, she bends and presses a kiss to his lips and his heart leaps. He kisses back enthusiastically,  his hands on her hips, and they stand there wrapped up in each other until the ubers show up.
"I'll see you tomorrow night," she murmurs, pulling back from him.
"Yeah," he says, feeling all dazed and tingly from her kiss (maybe part of it's the alcohol, but he's not thinking about semantics). 
"Oh!" She gasps, "you need my number!"
"That would be important," he laughs, pulling up the contacts on his phone. He takes hers when she hands it to him and puts his number in.
"I'll see you tomorrow then,"  she says.
"Yeah," he replies, "tomorrow."
She smiles at him and slides into the Uber. "Bye."
"Bye."
Kili watches the uber drive off for a moment, and then hops up and down, fistpumping enthusiastically. He lets out a loud whoop, feeling at the absolute top of the world. 
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things2mustdo · 3 years
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Win the morning. Win the day.
Step 1 – Hydrate
The first thing you need to do upon waking is chug some H2O. The average male body is made up of 60% water and you have just spent a number of hours without it. Even slight dehydration can suppress your testosterone and growth hormone production. But getting hydrated is only half the battle. You also have to make sure that you’re not drinking estrogenic water.
Water is one of nature’s best solvents, i.e. the solids it comes into contact with eventually dissolve into it. This can be dangerous given the fact that a large portion of us drink water from plastic bottles. A lot has been said about plastics here at ROK, and for good reason – plastics are a silent killer of masculinity. They contain chemicals like BPA and phthalates, both of which exert potent estrogenic effects on the male body. Avoid drinking water from plastic bottles.
Ideally, you have access to spring water that is pure of chlorine, heavy metals, and contaminants. Findapsring can help you discover a spring near you. The next best option is to opt for a Pur filter to attach to your faucet or a Brita pitcher you can fill up and stick in the fridge. Either way, start your mornings with at least 12 ounces of pure, filtered water.
Step 2 – Make Your Bed
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After getting hydrated and using the toilet, go ahead and make your bed.
Admiral McRaven, retired Navy Seal and author of Make Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life, said it best:
Making your bed will reinforce the fact that the little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you’ll never be able to do the big things right. And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made – that you made. And a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better.
Unfortunately, I was unable to find any evidence to support the fact that making your bed boosts testosterone, but do it anyway. It will continue to build on the positive momentum you have moving forward.
Step 3 – Get Lit
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Next up, get outside and soak some sun. Your skin synthesizes vitamin D upon exposure to sunlight and vitamin D is crucial for testosterone production. If you’re currently deficient in vitamin D – and chances are, you are – then topping up your levels is perhaps the simplest way to boost your testosterone.
“But Mo, I live in Alaska and the sun barely comes out. Does this mean I’m doomed to a life of low testosterone?”
Worry not my friend. If you live in a part of the world that doesn’t get much sun (or you’re just too lazy to go outside), opt for a daily dose of 2000-5000IU of vitamin D3 to help optimize your levels.
Step 4 – Breathe Deeply
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Whether it’s work, family, or financial pressures all of us have something that we’re stressed about. The problem, though, lies not in the stress itself but in our inability to deal with it effectively. This leads to the stress becoming chronic. Chronic stress is a testosterone killer, but deep diaphragmatic breathing is a proven way to conquer it.
Diaphragmatic breathing is a central tenet of the Wim Hof Method. Wim Hof is a modern day alpha superhuman known for setting a number of extreme sports world records and climbing Mount Everest during a blizzard in nothing but his shorts. What’s more is that he has taught groups of men to achieve similar feats. I bought and completed Wim Hof’s 10-week program a while back, but diaphragmatic breathing is a practice that I’ve carried on with till today.
Here’s how to get started:
Inhale through your mouth and/or nose deep into your diaphragm and exhale without any effort. Maintain a consistent rhythm for about 30 breaths. You should begin to feel a slight lightheadedness and tingling sensations in your extremities. This is a sign that your blood is becoming hyper-oxygenated. At this point, take one last deep breath, exhale, and hold for as long as you can. When you feel the urge to breathe again, take a deep breath in, hold for 20-30 seconds, and let go. That is one full cycle of what’s come to be known as the Wim Hof Method.
I do three cycles of this every single morning. I also make it a point to track my breath retention progress. When I started, I could only hold my breath for 45 seconds. Today, I can hold it for over 3 minutes.
Step 5 – Hop Into a Cold Shower
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The direct link between cold showers and higher testosterone levels is not conclusive, but there is some evidence to suggest that the testes perform better in cold temperatures. Also, cold showers are a proven way to combat inflammation.
But the biggest reason to start taking cold showers everyday is to exercise your willpower. I’ve been taking cold showers for about 3 years now and I still find myself resisting them. But after the shower is over, I always feel a sense of pride and accomplishment in overcoming that little voice in my head that didn’t want to do it.
As Aubrey Marcus writes in Own the Day, Own Your Life:
In the smithy of life, cold exposure is the anvil against which your character is shaped and your resolve is hardened, so that you might confront your chronic stress and conquer it more completely.
Step 6 – Skip Breakfast
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If you believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you’re still plugged into the bluepill world of mainstream consciousness.
Skipping breakfast is a proven way to boost testosterone, skyrocket growth hormone, ward of oxidative stress, regulate insulin, and increase cellular repair. You can read about the science behind all these benefits here.
Simply push your first meal back 4-6 hours after waking. If you get hungry in between, drink some black coffee to suppress your appetite. The second option is to go for the 16/8 method of intermittent fasting whereby you choose an 8-hour window within which to fit all your meals, e.g between 12pm – 8pm, 10am-6pm, etc.
Conclusion
Starting your day with these six steps will not only boost your testosterone levels, but will also help transform you into a more grounded and powerful version of yourself.
https://www.returnofkings.com/195107/develop-your-discipline-with-this-simple-habit
If you’re like most men, there’s a gap between your intentions and your actions. You know what you need to do to get what you want, but have difficulty in following through. Want to get better with women? Interact with more women. Want to get in shape? Eat less, move more. Want to make more money? Leverage your time and focus on income producing activities. Sounds pretty simple when I put it like that, but simple does not mean easy.
Not too long ago, I found it difficult to crawl out of bed in the morning. I was always tired and barely had the energy to stay awake, let alone go to the gym, cold approach women, and build a business. I was caught in a downward spiral, breaking out of which required a tremendous amount of will. Thankfully, I realized that the root cause of my problems could be narrowed down to the simple fact that I lacked discipline. Now, I’ve come to believe that self-discipline is the missing link between everything you are and everything you’re capable of being. I believe that self-discipline is the only difference between success and failure in every aspect of life.
In this article, I’ll discuss the #1 way I’ve found to develop my self-discipline and skyrocket my energy, mood, and focus in the process.
Cold Showers: The Secret to Sending Your Discipline Through The Roof
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Picture this: You finally realize the power of rising early and set an alarm for 5:00am the next day. The next morning, you groggily wake up to the sound of your alarm buzzing and a part of you tries to convince you to hit the snooze. The decision you make in that moment – whether to get out of bed or to hit the snooze – is the decision that makes all the difference.
Self-discipline is the ability to do what needs to be done regardless of whether you feel like it or not. Getting out of bed at 5am, even though you don’t feel like it, sets the momentum towards taking right action despite what your emotions tell you. It’s the same with taking a cold shower. When you enter your shower and think about turning the knob to “C,” you will hear the same voice trying to talk you out of it. But when you turn the knob anyway, you have effectively overcome that lower part of yourself and are letting your mind know who’s in charge. Then, later on in the day, when that voice tries to talk you into skipping a workout or reaching for those cookies, you are less likely to listen.
Having taken cold showers relatively consistently over the past couple of years, I know for sure that the days I start with a cold shower are always more productive than the days that I don’t. True freedom is impossible without a mind made free through discipline, and starting my day with a cold shower is the best way I’ve found to practice my willpower, develop my discipline, and learn to associate pleasure with doing the hard things in life.
Can Taking a Cold Shower Boost Your Testosterone?
As a reader of RoK and the manosphere, you’ve probably heard about cold showers in the context of boosting testosterone. Having researched this topic in-depth (check out my ultimate guide here), I’ll be the first to tell you that there is no definitive evidence to back this claim up.
Does this mean that cold showers don’t boost testosterone?
No. What it means is that there are currently no studies that have observed the phenomenon. Understand that the majority of scientific research is driven by economics. Since cold water is cheap and nobody owns the rights to it, there is no financial incentive to drive the research. This is where anecdotal evidence (personal accounts) becomes important – and there is no shortage of that. A simple Google search for “cold shower benefits” will reveal countless testimonials from men who’ve experienced profound transformation by implementing cold showers as a regular part of their life.
Although the direct link between cold showers and testosterone has not been studied, there are a bunch of mechanisms through which cold exposure can indirectly affect your T.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sNpMed1RmE
The Scientifically Proven Benefits of Cold Showers
Anyone who’s taken a cold shower before can attest to the increased levels of energy and focus they feel afterwards. The reason? It all comes down to a hormone called norepinephrine.
Cold water exposure stimulates the fight-or-flight response in your sympathetic nervous system and causes a massive release of norepinephrine. In this study, 1-hour of cold water exposure at a temperature of 57°F (14°C) caused a 530% increase of norepinephrine and a 250% increase of dopamine – both of which go hand-in-hand to cause a massive lift in energy, focus, and mood. On the flip side, low levels of norepinephrine and dopamine correlate with diminished focus, drive, and depression. In fact, part of how antidepressants work is by increasing the uptake of norepinephrine and dopamine in your brain. The positive effect of cold exposure on mood is so profound that researchers have begun studying it as a possible measure against depression.
Furthermore, cold water exposure has also been shown to boost immune function, increase fat-loss, and even speed up muscle recovery.
Conclusion
All in all, starting your day with a cold shower is a quick and easy way to boost your immune system, speed up your fat-loss, increase your energy levels, and massively develop your self-discipline in the process.
Download my FREE 5-Step Testosterone Optimization Blueprint and move towards a life of more energy, health, and vitality.
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learning2fly05 · 4 years
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8/5/20:
Cabin fever of fake thoughts
So I just started my new job and boy it is confusing currently since we're shadowing. I'm sure once I actually have training on what we all do then it'll start to click. I know for a fact that it's going to be trouble shooting for different programs/products/departments. I'm trying to gather everything so far to understand lol. At least I'll be learning new programs and products, so expanding my skills is always a plus and on my resume.
I think with covid-19, us staying in a small room, my desk being in the same room we sleep in in a small corner and me having pmdd I have been in such a roller coaster of emotions. My husband thinks that I have extreme cabin fever. I would be out and about with either him or his mom and then coming home and I feel a bit down that increases. I start to also think about the idea or thought that I talked about in my last post, which I know I was being secretive of it and I just might keep it that way. My husband had the same funk more than 3 months back ago for like 5 months and I believe I got the same funk now. I keep asking myself as to why now, what triggered it and how can I just get rid of it. I know I told myself to not go backwards and to think of it again, any if that, but my brain just likes fixing things and it always brings that thought up and drains me. I asked my husband if this is how he felt and it's exactly how it went for him. He just knows that I will get better cause he got over it, it's cabin fever and he and his mom will try to help me out as best as they can in getting me out. I feel such a burden with involving his mom especially, but people need to vent and that is me instead of bottling it up. I told my husband the same, as in to talk to me and vent. I just feel bad that I'm holding him back, but if he felt the same and got over it then it just will happen to me too. I'm just trying to stay positive through all this.
As far as what I've been taking, pills wise, while being in this hot mess is my usual Go with the Flow still in the morning, 1 to 4 pills of vitamin D3 of 5000IU with it and at night Fish Oil. I read that taking fish oil is best for people who have pmdd since they may lack tons of it and well I rarely eat fish to begin with and it's better absorbed at night and with the fats that your [dinner] food may have. Yes I'm still looking for over the counter vitamins that may help me get through this. Although I may have a job with benefits I don't want to rely on strong medicines that I may potentially can be addicting and we'll just expensive meds too. I think my dogs know when I'm not feeling good and in certain moods since they tend to stick with me the most they can than my husband. Either way I know I have tons of support in this side which sadly not from my family side. I rather them not know cause I don't want them worrying and can't do much about it and when I was younger I did tell them how I felt and had no support, so it's just better this way. I know I'll get better and I know I need to be out more, but this covid thing just keeps pushing that back with limitations, for all of us, so we just need to find different ways to bypass this.
I think his mom got 2 family vacations she wants to set up. One has been set up and around my husbands birthday and other is currently in progress, but both sound fun and we all need it! So hopefully by the time both happen I won't feel the way I'm feeling currently. I really don't want to burden and ruin anyone's vacation time. That's so far what's been going on with me. Other than that the house is coming along. We tried to paint some walls, but got a setback on that and now just going to leave it up to our realtor to figure that out. We just want our house to be leased by the beginning of September and start saving more money. So that's the gist of it and the rollercoaster I've been riding, not a fun one at all. Well until next time I guess and hopefully I'm back to normal again.
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nutritionbymalika · 3 years
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Health & Wellness from a Nutritional Therapist’s perspective.
My name is Malika and I am starting this blog to help you navigate the world of Health and Wellbeing.I am trained in Naturopathic Nutrition and my passion is to give you simple tips and recommendations to make it easy for you to make small changes that will have a big impact in your life.I am often asked if Health is only about what you eat or don't eat...If by taking such or such supplements someone’s life and health will improve...
In a world where there is so much ambiguity and so much conflicting information about what constitutes a healthy lifestyle and a healthy diet,I am here to bring you facts based on the latest research, so you don't have to do the work !
Firstly ,let’s define what we understand by Health and Wellbeing:
According to the Oxford dictionary,Wellness is defined as the state of being comfortable ,healthy and happy .
The Naturopathic definition of Wellness is something else...Wellbeing is defined as the ‘complete integration of body ,mind and spirit.It is the realisation what everything we do, think, feel and believe has an effect on our wellbeing’.(G.Anderson).
As alternative practitioners, we believe that the body is designed to heal itself and regain balance.My job is to help you identify and remove the obstacles to healing, by supporting the body to achieve optimal health and vitality!
So what are the obstacles to a healthy lifestyle?
The food we eat :Studies show a strong link between highly processed food( and refined carbs) and low energy and dis-ease.What does that mean?It means that Brain health is linked to Gut health and vice versa. Your diet will impact your mental and emotional state and your energy levels but it will also impact how you respond to infection and dis-ease.
The way we deal with stress:Have you heard about the ‘Fight and Flight response’ or Rest and Digest?All it means is that your body can't be working properly if it is under stress or unable to deal with stress in a helpful way.Indeed,the stress response is appropriate in case of imminent  danger (like if you are attacked by a lion; it helps your body run away fast!!! However, if there is no ‘apparent’ danger ,the body needs to be in a relaxed state to be able to do function effectively : digesting and absorbing nutrients , fighting infection, growth and repair...
The quality of your sleep:A lack of quality sleep is linked to an increase in inflammation, stress, poor memory, weight gain, depression and many more health issues.Your body needs restful quality sleep for growth and repair , to be able to lower the inflammation in your body, and to consolidate memories.
Exercising:Little or no exercising is linked to cardio-vascular issues, like Type 2 Diabetes, Hypertension, Obesity etc.The lack of exercising is also linked to anxiety and depression .
Now that we have established the main obstacles to Health.What can we do about it?
Stress Management.
Mediating just 10 to 15 min a day every day can dramatically reduce stress and anxiety .Try mediation apps like HeadSpace or Petit Bambou. Allow yourself to relax for 10 min each day in the morning before you start your day or the evening before bedtime.
Breathing:Try the 4-7-8 breathing method .It will only take you a few minutes to do. Every time you feel anxious or stressed, take a few minutes to calm yourself down using this method
mindfulness:Try and be more present in your daily life.Take your time to chew your food when you eat.Wake up early to give yourself enough time to get ready for your day.Take a walk in a park and observe the world around you without judgement...
A balanced Nutrient dense diet:
Eat a rainbow!! A diet rich in colourful vegetables and fruits will help you get the essential nutrients you need to stay strong and healthy.It will also help you feel great mentally and your gut will thank you for that!Aim to eat at least 5 portions of veggies and 5 fruits a day.
Mediterranean type diet:This is composed of oily fish, healthy fats seeds and nuts, whole grains, fruits and veggies.This diet has been linked to  a reduction in the incidence of heart disease related illnesses (like diabetes, strokes ,hypertension ) but also with condition linked with inflammation (like rheumatoid arthritis) .Introducing these nutrients will also help you  maintain a healthy weight and ease depression.
Hydration:Our body is composed of 70% water.Good hydration is essential for health! Make sure you drink at least 1.5L to 2L of water a day to improves your mood, cognition and energy levels.Good hydration also promotes cardio vascular health and helps the body ged rid of toxins 
Consider some basic supplements:
Vitamin D:Especially if you live in places like U.K where we don't see the sun much!It is helpful to get your Vitamin D levels checked with your  GP before your supplement.Start with a basic maintenance dose of 1000 IU a day.Vitamin D3 is essential for immune function .it helps you keep your muscles, nerves and immune system healthy and strong.
A good quality Multi vitamin and mineral.Although I always advise to get as much nutrients from the diet as possible,It is not always easy to meet you daily requirements of vitamin and minerals.Today’s soil is so depleted that the fruits and veggies do not contain what they used to contain in the past.
Omega 3:especially if your are not eating enough oily fish!The typical western diet (processed food, simple carbs etc ) is rich in Omega 6 (which are pro inflammatory ) and poor in Omega 3 fatty acids.The Omega 3 high in EPH and DHA  are important to reduce inflammation in the body.They are important for your heart and brain health and also good for for your skin.
Probiotics:70 % of our immune system resides in our gut.We, human are 90% microbial.We have 10 times more microbes than cells in our body. So it makes sense to make sure that we have the right kind of bacteria to support this ecosystem.An unbalanced microbiome can hinder absorption, digestion, metabolic and immune function.
Remember... Introducing all these recommendations overnight is unrealistic if this is new to you.Small ,consistent, postive Changes is what matters in the long term. 
To have the knowledge is the first step towards a healthy,happier you!
I wish you well .
Malika
www.nutritionbymalika.co.uk
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romanticsuspense · 5 years
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The OA Part II: Theories, Thoughts, and Questions
I’ve finished watching Part II of The OA, and as can be expected, my brain has been whirring ever since.  Who is dead? Who is alive? And in what dimension? What new abilities were unearthed in Part II? What questions are still left unanswered?  Here are my thoughts, theories, and questions.
Dimension 1 (D1)
French. I theorized in a previous post that I believe French is possibly a medium (because of the scene in 108 where he’s alone in the cafeteria, staring at the wind in the trees and a similar shot of him staring at the wind of the trees in 208).  As far as we know, at the end of Part II, French is still alive and well in Dimension 1.
Jesse overdoses on painkillers and dies.  Or does he?  I wonder if Jesse was able to transport himself to another dimension before he died.  He seemed desperate to escape, perhaps his will to leave was enough to fuel a jump to another dimension.  I also wonder, if Jesse wasn’t able to jump himself, maybe Steve going through the movements on the beach alone had an affect on Jesse.  Maybe Steve brought Jesse back to life?  Or maybe Steve helped fuel Jesse’s jump to another dimension?  Regardless of whether or not Jesse is truly dead in Dimension 1, we know his body is in some kind of deep sleep in Dimension 2, and we have no reason, yet, to think he won’t be alive in Dimension 3.  So, I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Jesse.
Buck. I’m not sure if we learn anything new about him in Part II. As far as we know, at the end of Part II, Buck is alive and well in Dimension 1.
BBA.  We learn that BBA can sense other dimensions, which is pretty cool.  I don’t think this makes her a “medium” which is what I’ve read some fans say.  I think she’s just unlocked rooms in her mind, which has allowed her to see and sense things that others can’t.  She’s also started having premonition dreams (as indicated by the bloody nose).  I definitely could be wrong about BBA not being a medium.  Nina has nose bleed premonition dreams, too, and she’s a medium.  But, does she have those dreams because she’s a medium?  I’m not sure.  It is interesting that both Nina and BBA have these special dreams.    
BBA: Before I met OA, I had resigned myself to missing certain things in life.  Certain emotional things, like Theo’s funeral, and like, well lots of things.  I thought life was too much for me.  But I was wrong.    
One thing that was really confusing to me for a while was Rachel’s message that it was only safe for BBA to go.  Then it occurred to me that Rachel had seen the boys in Hap’s pool with gardens growing out of their ears, so she was warning them not to travel to Dimension 2, because...who knows what would happen if the boys from D1 were to jump into the bodies of the sleeping tree boys in D2.
Remember also in Chapter 3, when they go to the medium’s house, and Rachel sends them the message over the TV...the image that BBA reaches for on the TV is actually the rose stained glass window in The House from D2.  SO...My theory is that in Part III, BBA will jump to D2, and help save the boys in the pool.  At some point while she’s in D2, she will also go to the rose stained glass window in The House.  Perhaps she will open the window and jump to D3?
Steve is desperate to leave Dimension 1 and gets the group all together to do the movements to follow OA to another dimension. I believe it is this will and determination that fuel Steve‘s jump to Dimension 3 in the final scene.  Steve is the only one to collapse and the way the scene was edited, it seems like he jumps to D3 at the same time that OA does. I think in Part III, Steve’s D1 body will be in some kind of coma because his soul has jumped to another dimension.
One theory I’ve seen floating around is that it was Homer who jumped into Steve’s body (Patrick Gibson in D3), but I don’t think this is possible.  There hasn’t been any evidence (that I’m aware of) in canon to suggest it’s possible to travel into the body of a different person.  OA is able to travel into Nina’s body and integrate with her because they are essentially the same person, just with forked paths.  And remember when OA threatens to bring her and Hap back to the dimension where they’re both dead?  That’s a real threat, because if their D1 bodies are dead, there’s really no body in D1 for them to jump into, so they would essentially be killing themselves.
Angie, I believe, is used mostly as a plot device in Part II. Her and Steve make a cute couple, but I think she’s mostly there so that when Jesse dies, they still have 5 people left in the group to do the movements. As far as we know, Angie is alive and well in D1 at the end of Part II. I’m sure she will be heartbroken when they learn Steve has jumped. Maybe she will help BBA in Part III to save the boys in D2?
Dimension 2 (D2)
Karim Washington.  Oh, Karim.  I hope we haven’t seen the last of him, because I love him and his beautiful face and his orange plaid jacket.  In Chapter 4, we learned from Old Night that Karim was sent by an unidentified “she” to protect OA.  (I’m assuming that Elias was sent to protect OA in Dimension 1.)  Karim was also referred to as OA’s “brother” so I think it’s also safe to assume that Karim is a fellow angel.  One question I still have about Karim, though, is why he isn’t aware of his mission to protect OA.  Elias seems to be knowledgeable of his role in OA’s life, so why isn’t Karim?  Also...Is Karim now the gatekeeper of the portal in The House?  Will Karim and BBA meet in Part III?  Who is the unidentified “she” that sent Elias and Karim to protect and help OA?  Is it Khatun?  Who is Khatun?
Nina/OA. We learn that Nina is a medium—she can communicate with the natural world. I’m assuming this is true of all Nina’s in all dimensions.  By integrating with Nina, OA becomes even more powerful.  In Chapter 8, she is able to turn the electricity to the clinic off and back on again.  OA also comes to the conclusion, after gaining Nina’s memories, that they’re different because OA has suffered in ways that Nina never did.
OA: Nina saw the whole world.  But I saw underneath it.  I was pressed down like coal.  I suffered.  That’s what an angel is.  Dust pressed into a diamond by the weight of this world.  
Out in the courtyard with Hap, OA shuts down the cube robots, tells Homer that they’re going to jump together, possibly to a dimension where she doesn’t know herself, and then she ascends.  There’s a lot of religious symbolism here that I will mention, but won’t try to unpack—She’s wearing all white and glowing, she appears to be ascending into heaven, Karim sees OA through the window and drops to his knees, and a dove flies out of the window and  right into some kind of interdimensional fabric, disrupting it enough to cause OA to fall.
I really hope “angels” are explained more in future parts.  Because it can’t just be suffering that makes someone an angel.  If that were the case, most people would be angels.  We all suffer.  What is an angel?  What makes OA the “original” angel?  Is an angel really just “dust crushed into a diamond by the weight of this world?”  If so, then are all of the boys and BBA angels, too?  Also, in Chapter 4, Old Night tells OA to tell the audience that she’s an angel, and OA tells the audience, “I am an interdimensional traveler.”  Does that mean all interdimensional travelers are angels?  
One of the reasons I actually like OA, and find her intriguing, is that even though she calls herself The Original Angel (pretentious, right?), she still feels very grounded and real to me.  I’m kind of hoping that OA does not become some kind of all powerful being.  I don’t think that’s where they’re heading with this—the tree made it clear to OA that she cannot do it alone—but I am very curious to see where they take OA’s character in Part III.
Dr. Roberts/Homer. Okay, so, Homer from D1 jumps into his D2 self, Dr. Roberts. But, Dr. Roberts has caged in and suppressed Homer, much like OA did to Nina, so he doesn’t have any memories from D1. But in the final chapter, he remembers who he is  integrates his two selves (this scene in the elevator when all the memories come rushing back was one of my favorites and the only time I teared up). So, he goes to find OA, punches Hap, who then in turn shoots him. Now it can be assumed that Dr. Roberts is dead, and Homer followed OA to D3. Also, Homer’s D1 and D2 bodies are dead, so if he didn’t make it to D3, then Homer is dead dead. But I don’t think they’d kill off Homer. So I expect to see Homer in D3 in Part III (where he will probably be known as Emory Cohen).
Dr. Percy/Hap.  Hap jumps to D2 along with Scott, Rachel, Renata, and Homer.  Hap creates an interdimensional map with the bodies of the teenagers that have gone through the house puzzle.  After Scott shares his NDE with Homer, who then shares it with Hap, Hap realizes that there’s a dimension he could travel to where “Prairie” doesn’t hate him.  
SCOTT: I was blinded by the bright lights.  The lights were everywhere.  We were in a warehouse.  I saw OA.  It was her...and not her.  And Hap didn’t call her OA, he called her Brin or somethin’.  He said somethin’ to her and she laughed and kissed him, like they were a couple.  There were cameras in the air, above them.  Hap called out to someone, but his voice was different.  He spoke with a...a British accent.  And then, a older woman, heavyset, comes up behind me and says, “I’m here to give you the third movement.”
So, Hap convinces Scott to go through the house puzzle, then eats the petals that blossom out of Scott’s ears to help guide him to D3.  I think Hap’s motivations are still influenced by scientific curiosity, but his infatuation (not love, if Hap really loved her he wouldn’t lock her up) with Prairie definitely influences his choices the most.  He could stay in D2 and continue doing outlandish experiments funded by Ruskin, but he chooses to leave, because he wants “Prairie” as his partner, and he believes that’s what they’ll be in Scott’s NDE dimension.  I also think it’s very interesting that Hap never integrates with Dr. Percy in D2.  He always seems one step behind OA.  I think that’s mostly due to the fact that he’s “working” alone, while OA relies on the help and support of others.
Rachel.  I wish she hadn’t died so early on in Part II.  I read a theory that Rachel is mute in D2 because D1 Rachel needed her voice, so she had to steal it from a Rachel in another dimension.  I really like this theory because it suggests that there has to be some kind of balance between the dimensions.  And it fits in with what Elodie told OA about “echoes” across the dimensions.  It makes me wonder if a Nina in a different dimension lost her sight after OA was given her sight back in D1?
Renata.  Did Renata remember about D1 the whole time and just pretend to Dr. Roberts that his therapy was working?  Because when she sees Homer trapped in the elevator she asks him if he’s Homer or Dr. Roberts.  It’s almost like she was waiting for Homer to emerge to acknowledge what he did to her, tricked her into a cage.  Renata was given the fourth movement in an NDE, so I imagine we’ll get more Renata in Part IV, if they travel to that dimension next.
I hope we see more of both Rachel and Renata in later Parts.  I want to see more of the original 5 captive “angels” together.
Michelle makes it through the game, to the attic where she opens the rose stained glass window and jumps into her Dimension 3 self (the actor Ian Alexander). While her soul is stuck in D3, Michelle’s D2 body is in a coma. Karim then makes it to the attic where he opens up the rose stained glass window and reaches out and pulls Michelle’s soul back to her D2 body, and Michelle is reunited with her grandmother.
Scott, Steve, Jesse, and French are all “locked in a sleep” in Hap’s interdimensional map garden pool. At first I thought they must be dead, but then BBA said, “In exactly this place, in another dimension, your bodies are here, but they’re locked in a sleep.”  I wonder if it’s a coma similar to what the Engineer and Michelle experienced, while their souls were in a different dimension? Perhaps the blooms are links to the dimensions that each individual person jumped to when they opened the window—a way for their loved ones to find them and follow them, like breadcrumbs.  We only see Hap eat Scott’s blooms, which correspond to his NDE (Dimension 3).  If Hap were to eat a petal from Steve’s brain, would it also be from D3, or another dimension?  Also...Scott’s petals are white, while Steve’s, Jesse’s and French’s are all red.  What does that mean??
Dimension 3 (D3)
So, in the last few minutes of Part II, we get a glimpse of Dimension 3, where I’m assuming the majority of Part III’s action will take place. We know Hap, OA, and Steve all jumped into their Dimension 3 selves, but no one else is confirmed, yet.  We know that Homer intended to follow OA, but we haven’t seen him in Dimension 3.  I think Scott must be in D3, as well, and I’m pretty sure that he jumped there when he went through the house puzzle and opened the rose window in the attic.
If OA, Hap, Homer and Steve are all in Dimension 3, and Part III will take place in D3, I think one of the main conflicts in Part III will be “Brit” refusing to acknowledge or accept that she’s OA.  And Homer and Steve will be trying their best to convince her.            
The Story of The House
RUSKIN (ON THERAPY TAPE W/DR. PERCY): The house was built in 1910, after the earthquake, by this childless couple in their 40′s.  He was an engineer and his wife was a medium.  [...] And the medium sensed that there was something strange about this site.  And she was right.  As they were preparing to lay the foundation for the new house, they discovered this natural spring.  It turns out, this spring used to be the holy site of the Ohlone tribe, and the waters were said to give the Shamans a God’s-eye view.  The medium felt that they should not build on this site, but the engineer, he disagreed.  He thought that, since they had discovered the spring, it was their duty to protect it.  How do you protect a spring?  You design a house that is a puzzle.  The worthy will reach the revelations on the other side of the rose window in the attic.  And the unworthy will be trapped and destroyed.  Lore has it that the engineer based the design of the house on his wife’s nightly dreams.  When the house was finally built, and they moved in together, the engineer began to want to solve the puzzle himself, from beginning to end.  But his wife advised against it, saying they were only meant to be gatekeepers.  But the engineer, he couldn’t resist his desire.  Gatekeepers to what?  [...] But, the medium returned one day from her monthly meeting to find her husband had collapsed in the attic.  The rose window, hanging wide open.  She, of course, she saw only the view of Nob Hill on the other side of the window, for she had walked through the house as a house.  She had not ascended through the puzzle to reach the attic.  She suspected, however, that her husband had, and he was now lost to whatever he had seen on the other side of the rose window.  No doctor in the world could revive the engineer from his coma.  But his wife was convinced that someone would show up someday, be able to solve the puzzle and withstand the view from the rose window.  Maybe even rescue her husband.  But no one ever did.  He died many years later, never having woken up.  
Interdimensional Travel
We learned quite a bit about interdimensional travel in Part II:
You don’t have to die to jump. The Engineer, Michelle, and possibly the boys in the garden pool, all jumped to other dimensions without dying. Their bodies just slipped into a coma.
There are multiple modes of travel, you don’t have to do the 5 movements.  You can have tiny cube robots do the movements.  Or you can have giant cube robots do the movements.  OR you can travel through a portal—through spaces...
ELIAS: Space, good.  What is a space?  A house?  A school?  A church?  Motel?  A clinic?  Part of you knows.  Part of you has always known, hasn’t it? BBA: I...saw something in the TV.  Something I was afraid to admit.  We were in that room, but others were, too.  Even right now, I can feel the truth of it.  We’re not alone in this room.  That’s how they’re connected, isn’t it?  The dimensions.  Through spaces?  ELIAS: [Nods] Now you’ve got what you need.  
When you jump into an alternate self, you can integrate with them. One question I still have about this integration...when OA jumps out of Nina’s D2 body, does Nina remember her experiences as OA/Nina? Does Nina retain any of OA’s memories? Does OA retain any of Nina’s memories?
You can’t, as far as we know, jump into the body of another being or person.
Will is the fuel needed to jump. (Can anyone travel to other dimensions, if they have the will?)    
The Skin Store
I know the giant talking octopus was a big deal to a lot of folks, but I personally can’t stop thinking about Homer’s dream at the beginning of Chapter 5.  This show strikes a perfect balance between creepy and erotic.
I have skin.  All textures.  All shades.  For a price.
Once Homer buys the skin, what is he supposed to do with it?  Wear the skin?  Or is it just for touching, smelling...and licking?  At first I thought, when Homer licked the skin, that his dream was somehow connected to Nina’s dream that was on one of the tapes that Nina/OA and Karim listened to. So I went back to that episode and listened again, and the only similarities between the two dreams are the licking.  
I’m lying down, and the sun is so bright.  Sweat beads on my skin.  I’m not wearing anything.  There is no wind, so the sweat sits there like bubbles.  I feel a tongue run down the back of my leg.  Another in my ear.  The tongues are collecting the sweat.  They know my body is printing secrets in salt.  A tongue enters my ass.  
Is the licking significant? Were the dreams connected somehow?
Also, the actress Cynthia Mace, is credited on IMDb as the Skin Store Proprieter (LMFAO) and Evelyn Markham, the sheriff's wife who gave Homer and OA the fifth movement in 108.  Is there symbolism there?  Or is it just that Evelyn is a significant person from Homer’s past, and so she is creeping into Dr. Robert’s dreams?
Final Thoughts
I really loved Part II, just as much, if not more than, Part I. I read a couple of critic reviews that said this show is just too weird to be successful for long and I gotta say that’s complete bologna. This show is weird, yes, but it’s also visually stunning, adventurous, and deep. If you look at the show on just the surface, all you will see are a giant octopus, a haunted house, talking trees, etc. But it’s so much more than that. The OA is an exploration of the invisible (invisible self, invisible river...).  I think one of the prominent messages of the show is that we all have this weirdness inside of us but we suppress it. But if we were to open our minds, the possibilities are endless. Like OA told Dr. Roberts, she asked Homer to believe impossible things. Homer believed because he kept his mind open and he listened. Our dreams are talking to us. The universe is talking to us.  But we have to listen.  Leave your door open, and let the weirdness in.
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diamondherpanacine · 5 years
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Happy International Self Care Day!
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In our busy lives, we are always taking care of others - our children, our parents or elderly friends and family, spouses, our jobs and our homes. This doesn't leave us much time for ourselves.
While remaining attentive to all of life’s responsibilities is important for building and maintaining both personal and professional relationships, allowing an equal amount of time for our own needs is also extremely important. Sadly, many of us do not find time for self care in our busy 2019 lives though.
So, what is self care? It’s definitely not about caring for ourselves more than others. However, in order to care for others, we must FIRST care for ourselves. Keeping ourselves healthy allows us to properly give our love and support to others. It is all connected. Everyday, we should slow down long enough to take care of our needs to support our own physical, mental, emotional or spiritual health. This can be as basic as staying hydrated and drinking enough water or eating a balanced diet and/or meditating for a healthy soul!
So to celebrate International Self Care Day, take some time to develop a self care plan personalized to your individual schedule. Each persons plan will be wonderfully unique to their individuality, but here are some general ideas to help you work on you.
FEED YOUR BODY - your body and mind need nutrient dense foods. While environmental issues have caused our soil and food sources to be depleted from some important nutrients, it is still important to try and eat the best diet possible for our self care. Prepare and eat healthy fruits and veggies, whole grains, beans and legumes, proteins and healthy fats. Even on the busiest days, our body requires these foods which fuels us. It is so important! Try prepping your food on the weekend to make the process easier on work and school days. And don't forget to supplement your diet with an excellent, well rounded multi (something like Dr. Diamond's Healthy Horizons Stress Fighting Mega Multi)
GET UP AND MOVE - Many of us have become sedentary during work hours and relaxation time. 30 minutes of exercise just 5 days per week is enough to help keep your body healthy and lower the risk of some diseases like cardiovascular disease, some cancers, depression and stroke which all associated with being sedentary. Prolonged sitting during the day can generally have a negative affect on your body. If you sit for long periods, try standing up for a few minutes every 20-30 minutes. Even just walking around the room a few times to get something and then returning to your desk is good for your health!
HYDRATE - The average adult should be consuming eight, 8 oz. glasses of water every day. Water is crucial for the normal, healthy function of our bodies. Poor hydration can lead to lack of energy, headaches, digestive problems and many other issues.
GET SOME REST - Sleep is so important! While sleeping, our body and mind finally have the time to rest and regenerate for the next day. The average adult requires 8 hours of quality sleep every night in order to provide enough energy to the brain and body for the next day. Make sleep a priority... But away the screens hours before bed and allow your body and mind to relax and get ready for a wonderfully, rejuvenating slumber.
GET OUT IN THE SUN - But don't forget protection! In summer, we finally can get Vitamin D from the suns rays! A safe (AGAIN - - Don't forget to use sunscreen at all times!) amount of sun exposure can support a healthy mood, immune function, skin health and much more. Vitamin D3 supplements are helpful in winter months to keep your system in balance.
MINDFULNESS - Stress and anxiety can impact our health in many negative ways. Find time during the day to utilize mindfulness and meditation strategies to help manage stress that impact your day to day life. There are many techniques and exercises to help cope with stress. A quick online search will show countless articles, apps, books and videos sharing great ways to practice mindfulness for your best health. A friend who attended a Quaker school as a child used to complain about having to sit in silence at Meeting for Worship every Wednesday. As an adult, she now says she wishes she had that 45 minutes once a week to just sit in quiet and think. 
ALWAYS FIND “YOU” TIME - While we might not be able to run off on vacation at the drop of a dime, it is still important to find time for you in every single day. It might just be a few minutes, but it’s still extremely important. Try sneaking away to read a book at a park for an hour, taking a short drive to a place you find calming, or just head to a quiet place in the house with a book, some music, a drawing pad or a puzzle. Allowing a little bit of "You Time" help us to escape from stress, relax and be peaceful. And if you can eek out enough time for a vacation... That’s even better!
SUPPORT - Our bodies as a whole may need quality supplementation designed to support nutrients we are lacking. Beyond a multi vitamin which we discussed earlier, if you’re having issues concentrating, try a quality brain supplement like Dr. Diamond’s DiamondMIND Advanced Cognition Formula which is rich in brain nutrients. Or if your skin doesn’t glow like it used to or if you suffer from a skin condition, you might need a formula like the award winning Herpanacine Skin Support. If your eyes feel tired from strain, blue light from screens or degenerative problems, there are quality eye support formulas like Diamond Eye Health that are scientifically formulated to support the eyes and feed them important nutrients they might be lacking. Visit diamondformulas.com for more information. 
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class-wom · 5 years
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Legion Chapter 21 “Morning After”-Thoughts – SPOILERS!!!
   *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
  SPOILER TERRITORY
   *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
The more I think about this one, the more I’m wondering if we’re looking at two mutant masters of manipulation, both of whom have all the power in the world but neither the capacity nor desire to see the consequences of their actions, and the folks who lie somewhere in the middle of their carnage and are struggling to take sides and figure things out.  (Since Farouk has not only a few years on David but a few centuries, it’s only fair that I’m harder on him, as he should know better! 😏) Okay, fine, we have Syd declaring about David, “He thinks he’s the victim,” to which Farouk says something along the lines of, “Yeah, isn’t that always the way it goes?” and I couldn’t help but flash back to Chapter 11, where he’s presenting himself to David as a benevolent king of a relatively happy kingdom (or so he thinks, idk),  the misunderstood victim of David’s mean old daddy who just butted into a situation he didn’t understand. (Admittedly, after D3′s invasion of David’s commune in Chapter 20, this is taking on an entirely new meaning!)  On the subject of Chapter 11, David’s “Wait...after what you did to me when I was a baby, now I’m supposed to feel sorry for you?” is a note-worthy parallel to Syd’s “I’m supposed to see you as the victim after what you did to me?” in Chapter 21, and Syd is having as much trouble helping David understand and seeing himself as anything but a victim as David had trouble understanding and seeing Farouk as a victim.  So I thought Farouk’s response was, frankly, kind of rich under the circumstances; how can everyone expect David to see his own flaws when they fail to or refuse to see their own?  Sorry, but until further notice and/or revelations, I still stand by this.
That being said, once we finally get the lowdown of the Farouk/Xavier showdown, perhaps some perspective will finally be seen.  Gotta say that I’m looking forward to that.
Syd’s “We need to talk” to Farouk (usually that phrase has incredibly serious implications, both as used from David to Clark in Chapter 8 and Syd to David in Chapter 19) made me wonder if we may be looking at the potential Clark/Syd turn on Farouk down the line, or at least if she’s (rightly) suspicious over how easily David slipped through their fingers and/or Farouk’s potential involvement, since David tipped her off about her killing him twice.  Again, nice how Farouk pinned it all on Switch; he didn’t even hint at their astral plane interaction with Syd!  And the creepiness of that “I will teach you to lie...”-line -- 🤮  But depending on whether or not I’m right about the circumstances behind Syd’s potential “for real”-confrontation with David, I think there was some significant foreshadowing there in terms of how a successful trap will finally be sprung -- not the means by which it will be executed, but how she may ultimately get him within...oh, let’s just call it (MASSIVE SPOILER THEORY ALERT) “touching distance.”  We shall see... (END MASSIVE SPOILER THEORY ALERT)
Also, I’m wondering if a certain Chapter 15 exchange between Lenny and Syd, in which the former insisted to the latter than Farouk raped her (the now-infamous “You’re the song they sing in a hostage crisis”-classic delivered by Syd), is taking on a whole new meaning for Syd when she complains to Farouk about David’s “victim mentality,” especially when Farouk turns around and suggests to Syd that she should essentially play the Mata Hari with David and more or less seduce him into complacency rather than coming directly at him with guns blazing?  (Okay, fine -- I get her “Hell hath no fury”-mentality, and I get Farouk’s “Catch more flies with honey than vinegar”-approach, and while both points are taken, they are still hard pills to swallow as I struggle to keep up with all sides.)  I hate asking questions like this in the name of fairness, but I can’t really look at all of this and just blindly yell “Go, Syd! get him good!” the way NH seems to be implying that I should!  Yeah, David’s screwed up royally, and yeah, he’s going to potentially screw up even more royally, but the constant and convenient playing of Farouk and Syd’s responses to it aren’t much better imo, and I’m not so sure they can’t or won’t single-handedly destroy the world themselves at the rate they’re going!  Besides, with regards to Lenny’s accusations, it doesn’t make Farouk right by comparison, especially in the name of “age before beauty” and “with age comes wisdom” and all that jazz.
Good grief, all this Charlie Brown-music -- am I looking at the potential for more deletions from my iTunes account by the end of the season?!? hope not!!!
As far as I’m concerned, Clark is now officially a jerk...and I’m not using the word “jerk”!
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I also think they missed a massive op to make a “flying Squirrel”-joke!  Or even a group (such as Lenny’s van gathering, for example) witnessing Squirrel’s landing and having a reaction something like this:
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David vs. Cary:  I’m getting the impression that DS and BI really hit it off on the set!  Love the chemistry and quasi-comedic timing between Dan and Bill; this made Chapter 11 one of my favorite eps, and while the relationship of their characters by Chapter 21 is more than a little strained. that reparte is as present as ever when David abducts Cary.  (The Cary-lover in me thought this kind of sucked and tbh is still struggling a little, but then again, just wtf was D3 thinking leaving him unguarded in the car, along with his fancy and expensive equipment in a potentially dangerous area?!? what, they couldn’t have at least one lousy Vermillion keeping watch to alert him of any potential danger?!? just sayin’...)  David takes a moment to vent a little (imo understandable) venom about that S2 finale bait-and-switch that has made things -- and by “things,” I mean David! -- a lot worse.  Cary’s take on it --- “I saw it as more of an intervention!” -- was a nice touch, but somehow an “intervention” complete with armed soldiers and a “Surrender to treatment or die!”-ultimatum as “old brain-eating enemy” hovers about in full view to really rub salt in the wound seems a teensy bit heavy-handed imo.  It did then, it does now, and the only thing David has truly learned from that experience is to not only (cough) adopt that X-Files adage of “Trust No One” but to up the ante where invasive uses of telepathy and mind control are concerned, if you’ll allow me a second to conceal my “shock and horror” at such a response.  (Especially since part of the problem is that David’s sanity at the time was and is now highly questionable, and oh gee, what  else could possibly stabilize an unstable mutant, and how could this plan possibly go wrong?!?)   Wow, congrats, D3 -- your idea of “intervention” only made things a lot worse, and you’re about as good at squelching the potential end of the world as you are at safeguarding your most valuable assets!  And ironically, just as D3′s attempts at “preventing the end of the world” are only messing things up further and causing more friction, David’s attempts at “fixing things” may also prove more complications than improvements.  One would hope there’s an Occam’s Razor-esque solution to all of this, but right now, emotions and adrenaline seem to be running  way too high on all sides to really solve the numerous problems!
Also, loved Cary’s interaction with Switch at the end and that all-too-brief shot of David in glasses!  And I may be a little low on Syd at present, admittedly, but I did enjoy her “David...what did you do?” as kind of a sly wink at both Logan and Dark Phoenix, since “What did you do?” is uttered by Xavier in the former and aimed at Xavier in the latter.  So nice little “Like father, like son” Easter egg (”A delusion begins,” yadda yadda yadda) they managed to sneak in there.
Anyway, just a few thoughts...
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thesffcorner · 5 years
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The Foxhole Court
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You know that feeling, when you’re watching your favorite team play their rival, and they are neck in neck, and you’re on the edge of your seat, biting your nails? That’s what it feels like reading this book. The Foxhole Court is the first book in the All for the Gametrilogy written by Nora Sakavic. It follows Neil Josten, who has spent the last 8 years of his life running. When he gets scouted and forcibly recruited for the Foxes, Palmetto State’s Division I exy team, exy being the only thing he truly wants in life, he has to make a decision: stay and put up with his hostile, and dangerous teammates, or keep running and lose the only thing he’s even cared about. I don’t remember the last time I’ve had such strong, conflicting emotions about a book. This book made me angry, it made me emotional, it kept me on edge, and I loved it and hated it in equal measure. I have so much to say, so buckle up: this is going to be a long one. 
Let’s start with the basics, namely: The Plot: Most of the major issues this book has, revolve around the plot. In theory, it’s rather simple: Neil is a new player on a team of underdogs and losers, with the additional adage that the Foxes are literary a type of halfway house for troubled teens. Everyone on the team seems to come from some kind of difficult background: runaways, abusive households, drug abuse, or criminal records. There is a rival school, King’s Row, which is the reigning champion, and their disgraced former champion comes to the Foxes, to help them improve enough to where they could potentially win the championship. The positive to this type of tournament arc, is that it naturally lends itself to some great character building and tension, and Sakavic takes advantage of both. The tension in this book is top notch; every major thing has excellent build up an payoff, from Neil joining the team, to him meeting the rest of the team, to their season starting, and the highlight, which is their season opener. I was invested in what happened, I wanted to know what opponents the Foxes would have, and just the tension during their season opener alone was worth the asking price for this novel. I also have to commend the pacing; this is possibly one of the best paced books I’ve ever read. Sakavic knows exactly how much time to spend on and off the court, and in between set pieces, to make the tension and intrigue last. There is tension and unease in every part of this novel, even slower lulls in between practice and matches. It’s possibly one of the best executed tournament arcs I’ve read, and we are only at the start of the season. The craft that Sakavic has over the structure and characters of this novel is truly to be commended, especially for debut author. However, there are problems, and the most obvious is: Exy: The absolute most infuriating and stupid thing about this book, is the sport it revolves around. I have so many problems with this, I don’t even know where to start. First off, exy is just intrinsically, a dumb sport. It’s basically lacrosse mixed with rugby, as if lacrosse needed to be even more violent. I remember reading somewhere online that the author invented exy because she didn’t want to learn the rules of existing sports, and she wanted the sport’s creation to be tied to crime, which… crime is present in every sport everywhere on earth. You don’t need to invent a sport for it. Second, she didn’t really invent a new sport, she just took lacrosse and tweaked some of the rules and way of play, so it has more checking. So why not just… use lacrosse? It’s already one of the most popular college sports in the US, and the pro leagues in lacrosse are already so insular. Why go through the trouble of inventing a whole new set of rules, and then having to seamlessly explain those rules, when you can just… use the rules of lacrosse? It’s not to say you can’t invent a new sport, or exy is badly made sport, just that the way it’s written on the page is so similar to the way lacrosse, that I just don’t understand the need to make it a new thing. To make matters more confusing, since we are firmly set in present day, and Sakavis has set this plot in the world of collegiate sports, we are constrained by the actual modern day rules and regulations of the NCAA, and as someone who has first hand experience with the NCAA, this drove me mad. Yes, the game is well written, and the match is exciting, but it’s very existence was such a hard pill for me to swallow, that all the positives failed short, when I couldn’t buy into the premise. In-universe, exy was invented in Japan, by two people, the main one being Coach Moriyama, a legend in the sport. How am I supposed to buy, that in the span of about 30 years, exy goes from an experiment, to a street sport, to local leagues, to a professional league, to a world league, to a college NCAA, Division I sport, and an Olympic sport? This would NEVER happen in the real world! Karate still isn’t an Olympic sport! Yes, new sports get invented, (just take a look at quidditch), and some of these sports become popular enough to have professional or semi-professional leagues. But they don’t become Olympic or NCAA sports, and certainly not in the span of a generation! Moreover, this is a co-ed sport. Let me repeat that. Exy is a FULL-CONTACT, CO-ED sport. Again, quidditch is also a full-contact, co-ed sport, but it’s also a not a D1 competitive sport. There are no professional or collegiate league in the real world that would allow for a full-contact co-ed sport, it’s just too dangerous. Can you imagine being a girl and having a 250 pound, six foot athlete do a bodycheck to you at the speed at which lacrosse or rugby players move? This wouldn’t be such a problem, if Sakavic hadn’t written in the real life NCAA, an organization so mired in controversy over its rules and regulations, and so worried about being sued, that the chance of this happening is ludicrous. I played for the NCAA; I was Division 3, but I still had to go through all the same tests, rules and guidelines. Sure, non-contact co-ed sports like mixed doubles tennis, mixed relays in swimming and athletics exist, but that’s about it; I was reading the match line up and I could not for a second suspend my disbelief. The other issue, is that there’s a really easy way around this, that would even make more in-universe sense if Sakavic wanted it to. Just make exy semi-professional/professional private league! Kind of like quidditch already is. You could still set it in college, and it being a cover for shady crime-related activities would make a lot more sense, when there’s not already a real world organization like the NCAA to govern it. Why would the Moriyamas want the NCAA involved anyway? It would be much easier and more profitable for them to run their private league where they’d have a tighter grip on all the players, coaches and teams, and then all this is significantly less insane. The Conference Switch: This is a specific plot point that drove me mad. For anyone who doesn’t know, the NCAA controls the collegiate sports in the US. The way it’s set up, is with various Conferences, most of which are region based; I played for the Skyline D3 conference, fox example. It is possible for a school to switch Conferences, but again, it’s based on region, and it’s not a swift process. West Virginia and North Carolina being in the same district? Fine. Kings Row doing a massive switch, where it switches from being undefeated in a higher tier Conference, to dropping to a weaker Conference in a matter of weeks, without any protest from any of the other schools? Bullshit. I don’t buy it for a second. Again, this could have easily been solved by just NOT USING THE NCAA AS THE SETTING FOR YOUR FAKE SPORT. Characters: Before you all yell at me, I think the characters are excellent. They are what sold this book to me, seeing as the sport itself just made me angry. I already said that Sakavic’s grip on her characters is excellent; she excels at crafting these really complex people, with lots of internal and external conflict that feels motivated and understandable, even though none of them are likable characters. However, even taking this into account, a lot of the decisions the characters make, seem completely unreasonable given their goals and the stakes involved, and it made me at various points yell in disbelief. The Foxes have 10 players, but I mostly want to focus on Andrew’s squad, or the team’s main group. It consists of Andrew, the goalie, his twin brother Aaron, their cousin Nicky, and Kevin Day, the former King’s Row player, and now this team’s star striker. Neil, our protagonist comes into conflict with this group the most, and the person I want to start with is Andrew himself. Andrew: Andrew is the most interesting character in the book, and my favorite. He’s also the worst. Let’s start with his backstory. Nicky, being Andrew’s cousin and also the only openly gay character in this book, gets attacked at a bar. Andrew beats up the attackers so severely, that he is facing jail time for a violent crime. In order to avoid that and continue playing exy, the court mandates that he is under constant sedation for 3 years. There’s… so much to unpack here. First off, even if I could believe that the court would be willing to switch out prison for medication, the likelihood of it being outpatient care is ludicrous. The way Andrew’s condition is described, seems to imply that he’s given antidepressants therapy to suppress his psychopathic tendencies, which a) is largely ineffective and b) would require more than just weekly meetings with the college psychiatrist. He would have to see a parole officer, a social worker, get a tag, or at least have some type of constant supervision, which he at no point has. Most importantly, there is no way he would be allowed to continue to play a violent, full-contact sport for the college’s D1 team! Andrew isn’t a superstar quarterback with Kardashian as his lawyer; he’s been in foster care for years, and he’s a college student who could grievously injure someone even under constant sedation! I refuse to believe, that the NCAA, the same NCAA which makes you sit through needless mandatory lectures on concussions, would ever allow a person like Andrew anywhere near the court! To make matters worse, the fact that Coach Wymack knows what Andrew’s condition is, and lets him play UNMEDICATED, is beyond irresponsible and crosses the line into outright negligent! Even sedated Andrew is violent; at various points in the book he: slams a racket into Neil, punches people when they touch him, pulls a knife on Nicky, shows no sympathy or remorse for his actions, and he does most of this, while medicated. No coach would EVER allow Andrew to play unmedicated (let alone be on the team, even if he was a master player) if he cared even a little about his players, and let me remind you, Coach Wymack is presented as a tough but caring, positive adult! Outside of this, there are other issues with Andrew. His violence is understandable, but it doesn’t excuse the horrible shit he does to the other characters, and he never faces any consequences. It’s heavily implied he bullied the former striker sub into attempting suicide; his little ‘weekend party’ leaves a teammate under psychiatric care for weeks; he forcibly drugs and assaults Neil into revealing things to him, and kidnaps him and isolates him from the rest of the team. And Coach Wymack knows all this, and looks the other way! There’s also a lot of weird subtext with lots of the characters, but again, Andrew is the most overt example. There’s a lot of talk of Nicky and Kevin belonging to him, he owns Kevin, he wants to own Neil. Kevin to asks Neil to give himself to Kevin, Coach Wymack owns Neil and Kevin… it’s just a really strange thing to focus on, because… it’s just sports. With Andrew, his ownership is never contradicted, never stopped; he is left completely unchecked, and unhinged, and the destruction he does on his path, in any other book would make him an outright villain. While I don’t like that Neil constantly refers to him as “a psychotic midget”, at least half of that statement is entirely correct; Andrew is psychotic, and he gets away with things villains in other books don’t. Neil: I don’t want you to think that I was only annoyed by Andrew; Neil makes more than his fair share of bad decisions and enables a lot of Andrew’s behavior. First though, I have to say that Neil is an excellent character. He is one of the most spirited, distinct and proactive protagonists I’ve read from. Very often authors will say that a character is ‘observant’ or ‘smart’, but often these end up being informed traits. Neil is a survivor, and truly observant and clever; he immediately sees through Andrew’s deception at the airport, he immediately realizes when someone breaks into his room and guesses who, he knows how to read people, who to win over and who to avoid. He acts like someone who has had his life would; there’s so much attention to detail with him, from the clothes he wears, to his haircut, to the way he acts around adult men. I really liked the half-lie he tells Andrew to placate him, and how proactive he was. He doesn’t wait for things; he makes a plan and executes it. He is the only one to stand up to Andrew, he even stands up to Riko on national television. That whole talk show scene was utterly ridiculous, but I enjoyed that Neil didn’t back down, even though he had both the chance and every reason to do so. He’s a contradiction that makes sense; who he is as a person actively clashes with who he has to pretend to be in order to survive, and that was very well presented. He still does some dumb shit, though. I know that Neil has to stay on the team; otherwise we wouldn’t have a book. But his decision to stay makes no sense given his backstory. He may want exy, but he literary can’t have it, if he wants to survive. Picking a fight with Riko Moriyama on national television makes no sense; it’s actively making surviving harder for him, to put himself in the limelight. Trusting Andrew with his life is a dubious decision at best; why does everyone think Andrew can protect them? He’s still a LITERAL child. Even if he had a black belt in 4 fighting styles, he’s still just one person. Also if Andrew put me through anything remotely like what he does to Neil, trusting him would be the last thing I do, sexual tension and exy be damned. Some Scattered Thoughts: I really loved the chapter where Neil and Kevin go through the inner court at the start of their season opener. The way the atmosphere and the court is described was so well done, it reminded me of being at live matches. It was such a well done part. I also loved the scene we get between Matt, Seth and Neil; I thought this simple humanizing moment for Seth was exactly what we needed, considering what happens later, and it was just a really good scene. I related to a lot to Seth’s conflicting jealousy and hatred for Kevin and his love for the game and knowledge that Kevin is just that good as a player. Unpopular opinion, but in that brief moment I found him a more interesting character than Kevin in all of this book. Kevin was kind of a dull presence. His genuine panic at seeing Riko and his reticence to tell Andrew about the Conference change were fine, but there’s just not enough personality for me to grasp on and care. He’s almost like a mcguffin that everyone wants/wants to possess, but he has no real character. He’s dedicated to the game, cruel to his teammates, twice as hard on himself, a prodigy, but these are things that have to do with exy. Outside of that, I don’t know who Kevin Day is, and if this book is going where I think it’s going, then he’s not the romance I’m rooting for. Also I have never heard of D1 athletes staying in college for 5 years. I don’t think that was an accurate thing, but given everything else that’s wrong with the exy plot, it’s a minor minor pet peeve in comparison. Conclusion: I think it’s pretty clear I’m conflicted on this book. There is lots of good here, but there is so, so much bad. If you can swallow the premise, and you are not as well versed in the American collegiate sports scene as I am, I feel like you will like this book a lot more. I heard it described as a CW drama in book form, and that’s exactly what it is; needless to say, I will be reading the rest of the series.
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paleorecipecookbook · 5 years
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How to Ease Symptoms of Postpartum Depression with Natural Treatments
Depression and postpartum depression—often abbreviated as PPD—still carry a stigma that hinders optimal prevention and treatment. Unfortunately, most moms who go back to their doctors for postpartum check-ups are given little more than some general mental-health advice and perhaps a prescription for an antidepressant. Read on to learn about the potential causes of PPD, the downside of antidepressants, and nine natural treatments that could help.
Use these links to skip ahead to another section of this article:
The conventional model of depression
The baby blues vs. postpartum depression
Recognizing the signs of postpartum depression
Five causes of postpartum depression
Why conventional antidepressants don’t work for everyone
Nine natural treatments for postpartum depression
The Conventional Model of Depression Isn’t as Simple as You May Think
I have discussed depression and anxiety quite a bit, but I haven’t covered postpartum depression before in much detail. This article will review what conventional medicine gets wrong about depression, what unique factors might contribute to postpartum depression, and what natural alternatives to antidepressants may be effective.
One in seven new moms experiences postpartum depression. If you’re currently dealing with it, you don’t have to go it alone. Find out more about what causes postpartum depression and get nine natural treatments to help you counteract it. #healthylifestyle #wellness #chriskresser
Conventional medicine describes depression as a simple chemical imbalance, where, for reasons mostly out of your control, your brain isn’t producing enough of these “feel good” neurotransmitters:
Serotonin
Dopamine
Norepinephrine
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the most widely prescribed class of antidepressants. SSRIs are designed to increase serotonin levels in the brain by preventing its reabsorption. The solution sounds straightforward—take an SSRI to fix a brain chemical imbalance, and you’ll feel happier. Unfortunately, the data just do not support this overly simplistic model.
In his book Blaming the Brain: The Truth about Drugs and Mental Health, Dr. Elliot Valenstein, a professor emeritus of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Michigan, explains how the chemical imbalance model of depression just doesn’t hold up to scrutiny:
Reducing serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine doesn’t produce depression in humans, even though it appears to in animals
Drugs that raise serotonin and norepinephrine levels, like amphetamines and cocaine, do not alleviate depression
The majority of depressed patients don’t have low serotonin levels; only about 25 percent actually do
In some cases, antidepressants have no clinically meaningful advantage over placebos. (2, 3) First-line pharmaceutical treatment for depression only works about half the time. (4, 5) When antidepressants do work, it takes weeks for patients to feel the effects. Furthermore, because of how they impact the brain, antidepressants can make depression relapse more likely once medication is stopped. (6, 7) (This long-term customer model is music to the pharmaceutical companies’ ears.)
Rather than viewing depression as a chemical imbalance, the evidence better supports an inflammatory-cytokine model of depression.
Before I get into the underlying causes of depression, let’s look more closely at a specific type of depression unique to new mothers—postpartum depression, or PPD.
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The Baby Blues vs. Postpartum Depression
Postpartum depression is often misrepresented as the “baby blues” on one end of the depression spectrum, with postpartum psychosis on the other end. But PPD and the so-called baby blues aren’t the same thing. These are three distinct conditions, and there are some big differences among them.
The baby blues affect up to 75 percent of mothers in the first 10 days following birth, but the symptoms—usually mood swings and bouts of crying—are mild and don’t last long.
Postpartum depression lasts much longer and is more deeply felt than the baby blues and can set in at any time during the first year following birth. Women with PPD may have trouble connecting with their baby, have doubts about their parenting abilities, develop sleep issues beyond the lack of sleep often associated newborn care, and may lose interest in activities they used to enjoy.
Postpartum psychosis is a psychiatric emergency. These mothers may have thoughts of hurting themselves or their baby and can develop hallucinations.
PPD is generally diagnosed through a screening questionnaire, most often the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) or the Postpartum Depression Screening Scale (PDSS). Most studies estimate that postpartum depression affects 10 to 15 percent of postpartum women, but some estimates approach 30 percent. (8, 9)
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How to Recognize Postpartum Depression in Yourself or a Loved One
The list of postpartum symptoms includes the following: (10)
Feeling sad, hopeless, or overwhelmed
Crying more than usual
Worrying or feeling anxious
Feeling irritable or restless
Sleeping too much or too little
Having trouble concentrating
Feeling anger or rage
Losing interest in once-enjoyable activities
Frequent headaches or other body aches
Eating too little or too much
Having trouble bonding with your baby
Doubting your parenting ability
Withdrawing from or avoiding friends and family
Despite these seemingly hard-to-miss signs, postpartum depression isn’t always obvious. To the outside world, a mother may appear perfectly content while suffering on the inside. Many of these symptoms, like worrying or not eating well, are experienced by most mothers of newborns. But PPD is far more intense and drawn out. The last symptom on the list—withdrawing from or avoiding friends and family—is perhaps the most important. Too many stories of postpartum depression have ended tragically, and too many times loved ones said afterward, “I didn’t even know she was suffering.” If a new mother goes out of her way to physically avoid others—discouraging visitors, not wanting to chat or email, or not leaving home—it’s a bit more apparent that she may have an issue with PPD. But often, this “withdrawal” is emotional, not merely physical (and attributable to having a newborn), so it may be easy for a friend or relative to miss—and easy for a PPD sufferer to hide.
If someone you’re close to is a new mother, listen between the lines. If she says she is completely in love and enjoying every minute, give her the opportunity to open up and share the not-so-good parts of her experience. She might be feeling too guilty to disclose the unpleasant feelings of motherhood upfront.
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What Causes Postpartum Depression?
If low serotonin isn’t the primary cause or symptom of postpartum depression, then what is? Some possible answers may be found among the five the biggest contributors to PPD: hormonal imbalances, poor nutrition, stress, thyroid conditions, and inflammation.
1. Hormonal Imbalances
Women experience a remarkable breadth of hormonal changes during pregnancy, labor and delivery, and postpartum. During pregnancy, progesterone levels rise to 20 times their pre-pregnancy levels, and estrogen levels climb even higher, reaching 200 to 300 times higher than baseline by 20 weeks of pregnancy. (11) Estrogen can increase the production of GABA, an antianxiety and anti-pain neurotransmitter that promotes relaxation and “feeling good,” and progesterone stimulates the GABA receptor in the brain.
After delivery, a dramatic drop in progesterone and estrogen may contribute to the moodiness of baby blues. A woman’s brain and ovaries must readapt to produce the body’s needed estrogen and progesterone again, all while dealing with a drop in the pregnancy hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (or hCG) and an increase in oxytocin (especially if breastfeeding). If a woman’s own endocrine system doesn’t properly reestablish control of hormone production, postpartum depression can follow. (12, 13)
2. Nutritional Deficiencies
As a pregnancy progresses, the increasing energy demands of the fetus can take a toll on a mother-to-be, particularly if her diet is inadequate; pregnant women are extra susceptible to nutrient deficiencies. Furthermore, morning sickness (which typically ends in the second trimester), as well as food aversions and cravings that can come and go throughout a pregnancy, can put a damper on healthy eating. Specifically, there’s evidence that not getting enough vitamin D, iron, and DHA and EPA can affect the mood and cognitive health of the mother.
Vitamin D
Observational studies have found correlations between a low level of vitamin D during pregnancy and a greater risk of developing postpartum depression. (14, 15, 16, 17) Spending some time in the sun each day can help keep vitamin D levels adequate, but if that isn’t possible due to climate or career, consider a vitamin D3 supplement if levels drop below 35 ng/mL. (And vitamin D is also very important for a baby’s development in utero. If you are pregnant or are thinking of becoming pregnant, talk to your practitioner about the importance of safe supplementation with a quality prenatal vitamin.)
Iron
If pregnant women don’t have adequate iron stores, the blood loss from birth could deplete iron levels, increase exhaustion, and contribute to postpartum depression. One study found that increasing ferritin levels (a measure of iron storage) in non-anemic pregnant women decreased the chance of postpartum depression later on, indicating that adequate iron levels and iron storage are important. (18)
EPA and DHA
Some varieties of prenatal vitamins now include an extra EPA/DHA pill to boost omega-3 intake. Studies have shown that low levels of omega-3 fatty acids are associated with depression, at least in non-pregnant populations. (19) But, clinical trials using omega-3 supplements have shown mixed results and, in some cases, show no benefit over placebo in treating depression, including the largest trial, conducted on nearly 2,400 pregnant women. (20)
Rather than rely on omega-3 supplements, I encourage pregnant women to consume cold-water, fatty fish a couple times of week if possible, as fish intake during pregnancy is associated with lower risk of postpartum depression. (21) Unfortunately, because of the somewhat misguided concerns about mercury levels in fish, women often shy away from fish during pregnancy. But as long as you are avoiding fish varieties like shark, swordfish, tilefish, and king mackerel, as well as raw fish, the high selenium content in most fish mitigates the risk of mercury toxicity. (Selenium binds with mercury and deactivates it.)
3. Stress
Bringing home a newborn baby is challenging—a beautiful experience, yes, but challenging. Without a reliable support system, the responsibilities of motherhood—combined with sleep deprivation and breastfeeding issues that can arise in the early days and weeks—can all be overwhelmingly stressful and lead to depression.
In the short term, stress can actually benefit cognitive performance and teach the brain to adapt more effectively to stressors in the future. (22, 23) Chronic stress, on the other hand, reduces synaptic plasticity, which means the brain has more trouble learning to adapt and respond appropriately to stressful situations. Pregnancy is accompanied by sustained high levels of glucocorticoid stress hormones, and higher cortisol levels are associated with higher risk of depression. (24, 25)
Chronic stress can also lead to disrupted hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis function, another symptom common in depressed patients. The HPA system undergoes many changes during pregnancy, and the more drastic shifts have been linked to the development of PPD. (26, 27, 28) In fact, in one study, up to 80 percent of women post-birth exhibited impaired HPA negative feedback (though not all developed postpartum depression). (29)
4. Thyroid Issues
An estimated 20 million Americans have some form of thyroid disease, and women are disproportionately affected. (30) Up to 23 percent of postpartum women experience thyroid dysfunction, and one in 12 develops an autoimmune thyroid condition like Hashimoto’s disease. (31) Despite the levels of thyroid dysfunction in women, thyroid panels before and after pregnancy are rarely done. The typical thyroid lab panel only tests for T4 and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), but a full panel should include:
Thyroid hormones T3 and T4
TSH
Reverse T4 and reverse T3
Thyroid antibodies against TPO and TG
The link between thyroid issues and depression has long been recognized. (32) Symptoms for hypothyroidism—extreme fatigue, weight gain or inability to lose weight, mood swings, and brain fog—overlap with PPD symptoms, easily leading to misdiagnosis. A woman might have postpartum depression and hypothyroidism, triggered by stress plus the drop in hormones experienced after birth. But instead of running thyroid panels and testing hormones, most conventional doctors will prescribe an antidepressant and hope for the best. Functional Medicine practitioners, however, embrace the “Test, don’t guess” approach—and we will work with you to get to the root of health issues.
5. Inflammation
Systemic inflammation underlies nearly all modern diseases, including Alzheimer’s, autoimmune disease, allergies, and more. Although not limited to just postpartum women, inflammation may be at the root of depression, too. Some of the evidence to support this claim includes the following:
Depression often accompanies acute, inflammatory illnesses (33)
Higher levels of systemic inflammation increase the risk of developing depression (34)
Markers of inflammation often normalize following remission of depression (35)
SSRIs, in addition to increasing serotonin levels, can reduce the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines like TNF-alpha, IL-1, and interferon gamma, while increasing anti-inflammatory cytokines like IL-10. (36, 37) This anti-inflammatory mechanism could explain why SSRIs relieve depressive symptoms in some individuals.
Postpartum women may engage in pro-inflammatory behaviors, such as broken sleep, consuming processed foods that are loaded in inflammatory industrial seed oils and sugar, and general stress, all of which make them vulnerable to inflammation-induced depression.
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Antidepressants: They Don’t Work for Everyone
Antidepressants are cash cows for the pharmaceutical companies. Nearly 13 percent of Americans over the age of 12 take an antidepressant. (38) The global market for antidepressants exceeds $11 billion. (39) That’s a lot of money for a type of drug with questionable effectiveness and high incidence of side effects.
Some clinical trials have demonstrated benefits over placebo, but on average, antidepressants show no benefit over placebo. (40) A 2017 meta-analysis states that: (41)
SSRIs versus placebo seem to have statistically significant effects on depressive symptoms, but the clinical significance of these effects seems questionable and all trials were at high risk of bias.
Although two earlier meta-analyses agreed that SSRIs performed no better than placebo for mild and moderate depression, antidepressants can often mitigate severe depression (42, 43). Antidepressants can be life-saving for some, and these pooled analyses can’t tease out individual responses, which can vary tremendously from person to person. For treatment of PPD, antidepressants have yielded similarly mixed results. (44)
More than half of all antidepressant users experience one or more of the common side effects, including:
Diarrhea
Nausea
Anorexia
Sweating
Forgetfulness
Bleeding
Seizure
Anxiety
Mania
Sleep disruption
Sexual dysfunction
Many users also report “anti-motivational syndrome,” where emotional responses, both good and bad, are blunted. If the benefits of antidepressants clearly outweigh the risks, they might be an option for some women, but they are not the miracle, cure-all drug for everyone.
Breastmilk and Antidepressants—Is There a Concern?
Some moms are worried about antidepressants making their way into breastmilk, which is understandable. Although many SSRIs, Zoloft in particular, are considered to be compatible with breastfeeding, I take that phrase with a huge grain of salt. (45) As mentioned earlier, antidepressants can change the brain of an adult significantly. In adolescence, extra caution is given to antidepressants due to their association with increased suicidal thoughts and behavior in some cases. (46) We just don’t know the short-term or long-term effects on breastfeeding infants. (47)
In sum, antidepressants are sometimes ineffective, they can cause side effects, and they may lead to unwanted brain changes. If you’re uncomfortable with the idea of taking medication, read on to learn about how you can prevent or alleviate the symptoms of postpartum depression with natural treatments.
An Important Note: If you’re currently taking antidepressants, consult with your doctor before making any decisions, and don’t stop taking your medication without medical support.
Abruptly changing your dosage can cause disruptive and even dangerous side effects. Tapering off an SSRI can take weeks (between six and eight), but in my experience, the process is even longer. If you’ve been taking SSRIs for years, you may need months to slowly and safely get the medication out of your system. Perhaps surprisingly, I’ve noticed it takes much longer to completely taper off from the lowest dose than it does to go from the highest dose down to the lowest.
For more information on this topic, I highly recommend Dr. Peter R. Breggin’s book, Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal: A Guide for Prescribers, Therapists, Patients and Their Families.
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Nine Ways to Care for Postpartum Depression with Natural Treatments
If you or a loved one is suffering from PPD or is at risk, natural remedies may be beneficial and can offer powerful alternatives to prescription antidepressants. Many of the remedies I’ll discuss below can also be incorporated before birth, especially for those with a history of depression or postpartum depression.
1. Start Seeing a Psychotherapist
Compared to antidepressant medication, psychotherapy is cost effective, well tolerated, and generally more effective for treating depression, especially in the long term. (48) A meta-analysis and review examined 28 trials and reported that psychotherapy intervention during pregnancy significantly reduced the number of women who developed PPD. (49)
Specifically, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) and cognitive behavioral therapy have great track records of mitigating postpartum depression.
Cognitive therapy helps prevent postpartum depression. In pregnant women with a history of depression, MBCT decreased depression relapse compared to other treatments, including antidepressants. (50) MBCT is also a viable treatment option for postpartum depression.
Cognitive therapy helps treat postpartum depression. In 2018, a meta-analysis reviewed 20 randomized controlled trials that compared the effectiveness of BCT against typical treatment methods (like medication). Women who underwent psychotherapy saw greater improvements in their depression symptoms in both the short and long term than women who received other treatments. (51)
Cognitive therapy is superior to antidepressant treatment. In one study, MBCT therapy worked better than both SSRI treatment and a combination of SSRI and MBCT treatment. (52) In another study, adding an SSRI to psychotherapy treatment offered no benefit beyond psychotherapy alone. (53)
Unfortunately, a major barrier to getting psychotherapy treatment is the perceived “difficulty” of the process, from researching and finding a therapist to making (and keeping) an appointment. (54) Even under less stressful circumstances, it isn’t always easy to ask for help—but for a new mom experiencing the feelings of hopelessness that accompany PPD, it’s especially challenging. Navigating health insurance, locating a provider, and simply trying to find time to make the necessary phone calls can seem overwhelming.
Before giving up, consider the following:
Start with baby steps. Break down the process of making an appointment into several steps you can complete over the course of a couple days. For example, first identify providers that fit your criteria, and then set aside a few different blocks of time to call them.
Bring your baby. If you don’t have someone to watch your baby, many therapists and psychologists are more than willing to see you with baby in tow.
Give it a few sessions. Don’t ditch your provider after one session. Try a few meetings before deciding if it’s a good fit.
Stop if it doesn’t feel right. On the other side of the spectrum, don’t be afraid to try a different therapist. You might not click with the first, or even the second, provider. But that’s okay. You’ll find the right person.
Consider telephone-based or internet-delivered psychotherapy. If leaving the house just isn’t an option, this type of psychotherapy can also be effective. (55, 56)
2. Get Regular Exercise
During the first six to eight weeks after delivery, you should be resting and taking care of yourself and your new baby, especially if you’re recovering from a Caesarian section or other pregnancy complications. But when you get the green light from your healthcare provider, taking up an exercise routine could help reduce the risk of, and even treat, postpartum depression.
In two randomized controlled trials, 12 weeks of an exercise intervention for postpartum women reduced the EPDS score (measure for depression) compared to controls. (57, 58) In another study, moderate exercise five times per week resulted in greater remission rates compared to antidepressant medication. (59) As long as you start off slow and exercise safely, the only side effect of exercise is good health.
You might be asking, “When can a new mom find time to exercise?” It’s a valid question. A sustainable and enjoyable exercise routine is the one you’re most likely to stick with, as adherence to exercise interventions in studies (and in real life) can be quite low. (60) But do what other moms do, and get creative:
Easiest of all: take a stroller walk with your baby, and pick up the pace as you get your energy back
Try a Mommy and Me yoga or other exercise class, where babies are part of the routine
Buy a subscription to postpartum exercise videos you can stream from home
Dance (safely) with your baby
Workout during baby’s first nap of the day, to make it a top priority
And remember that before you know it, your baby will be an active toddler—a workout in itself!
3. Use Light Therapy
Our ancestors spent most of their waking hours outdoors, a lifestyle in stark contrast to modern society. Seasonal affective disorder tends to peak during winter, when sunlight exposure bottoms out. (61) Harnessing the mood-improving effects of sunlight, light therapy has been proven effective for treating both seasonal affective disorder and non-seasonal-related depression. (62) In some cases, combining light therapy with antidepressants was no more effective than light therapy alone. (63)
Typically, light therapy involves exposure to a bright light for 10 to 20 minutes per day (to reach about 10,000 lux units of light) in the morning. Light therapy is believed to positively affect mood, sleep, circadian rhythms, and HPA axis activity. (64) Two studies have used bright light as a treatment for perinatal and/or postpartum depression. Both studies demonstrated clinical improvement with light therapy, with up to 75 percent reduction in depression. (65, 66)
Some minor side effects can accompany light therapy, including headache, eye strain, nausea, and agitation, but these effects are mild and usually transient. Critics of light therapy question its efficacy because a proper placebo doesn’t exist—participants will know whether or not they are being exposed to bright light. But even so, does that matter if light therapy yields positive results?
4. Try Acupuncture
Acupuncture also faces criticism for lack of double-blind, placebo-controlled trials. Acupuncture may improve mood by decreasing stress-induced cortisol release. (67) The results of acupuncture for the treatment of depression and postpartum depression are mixed. (68, 69, 70)
In a review of acupuncture for depression, there was no evidence that medication yielded better outcomes than acupuncture. (71)
Generally well tolerated with few side effects, acupuncture from a competent, licensed acupuncturist may be worth pursuing for postpartum depression. However, more robust studies are needed.
5. Start Taking Probiotics
The gut microbiome interacts with and influences the body’s organ and systems, including: (72)
Heart
Thyroid
Skin
Bone
Immune system
The brain
The brain and gut communicate with each other. The vagus nerve, responsible for parasympathetic processes like heart rate, runs from the brain to your visceral organs. (73) In return, gut bacteria produce neurotransmitters that communicate with the brain. (74) Disrupted gut microbiomes have been associated with psychological disorders, including depression and anxiety. (75) Specifically, recent evidence suggests that the microbiota may regulate serotonin synthesis and secretion. (76) In two small studies, the gut bacteria of individuals with depression were shown to have more pro-inflammatory gut bacteria and less anti-inflammatory gut bacteria than control groups. (77, 78)
When administered to mice, the anti-inflammatory probiotic L. rhamnosus reduced corticosterone and anxious and depressive symptoms. (79) In one small human trial, pregnant women who supplemented with L. rhamnosus through six months postpartum reported lower depression and anxiety scores compared to placebo groups, indicating the therapeutic potential of probiotics for postpartum depression. (80)
We know the gut microbiome drastically shifts during pregnancy, and if that shift ventures towards gut dysbiosis, it could predispose certain women to developing PPD. (81) Take care of your gut by consuming bone broth, fermented foods, and kefir or yogurt, if tolerated.
6. Look into Bioidentical Hormone Therapy
After delivery, women experience dramatic drops in progesterone and estrogens, both of which influence activity at the GABA “feel-good” receptor in the brain. Some data suggest that low progesterone following birth is correlated with the baby blues, but other data haven’t supported any clear link between hormone concentrations and postpartum mood. (82, 83)
Bioidentical progesterone treatment may be a viable alternative to traditional antidepressants. Bioidentical progesterone is not chemically identical to the synthetic progestins found in birth control pills, and most obstetricians and gynecologists are unfortunately unfamiliar with the former as a treatment option. In the 1980s, two studies led by Dr. Katharine Dalton demonstrated the effectiveness of bioidentical progesterone for treating PPD, with remission rates of less than 10 percent. Since the 1980s, progesterone therapy for PPD has been widely used by health professionals trained in Natural Procreative (NaPro) Technology, a women’s health initiative that strives to understand and cooperate with a woman’s reproductive and gynecological health. Progesterone can help alleviate some symptoms of depression in as little as one injection almost immediately. Unfortunately, outside of the NaPro literature, further randomized controlled studies using bioidentical treatment for postpartum depression have yet to be published.
Related to bioidentical progesterone, allopregnanolone, a naturally occurring metabolite of progesterone, has been studied in two clinical trials for PPD treatment. (84, 85) Much like bioidentical progesterone, allopregnanolone showed rapid mood-boosting effects after just one drug infusion. As these trials were very recent, in 2017 and 2018, I am intrigued at the prospect of a fast-acting, more natural option for postpartum depression.
7. Get More Sleep and Rest
More than one-third of American adults admit to not getting enough sleep, and I would bet that number is even higher among new moms. (86) Large meta-analyses have found associations between sleep disturbances and depression in both the general adult population and in postpartum moms. (87, 88) Sleep depression and depression can create a vicious cycle, as each contributes to the other.
Getting enough sleep can seem impossible for new moms, especially in modern Western societies where women have less support than in previous generations. Sleeping when the baby sleeps is not always an option, but aim for it whenever possible.
If you are breastfeeding, not on any medications with drowsy side effects, and a nonsmoker, co-sleeping and side-lying nursing might be good options that offer more sleep. Despite what mainstream organizations want to claim, co-sleeping can be safely done. Check out the La Leche League’s Safe Sleep Seven to find out how to create a safe sleeping environment for you and your baby.
8. Try Supplementing with St. John’s Wort
Many natural health communities tout St. John’s wort as a beneficial treatment for depression, as the herb has been shown to have mood-boosting activity at the serotonin and “feel-good” GABA receptors. (89) In double-blind, placebo-controlled trials, St. John’s wort often performs better than antidepressant medications at reducing depression symptoms, with up to 10 times fewer reported side effects. (90, 91, 92, 93) Of note, St. John’s wort should not be taken concurrently with SSRIs, nor should it be combined with light therapy because it may increase the body’s sensitivity to light.
However, if you are breastfeeding, St. John’s wort might not be the best choice. Even though it is found in breastmilk at “undetectable to low levels,” breastfeeding infants whose mothers supplemented with St. John’s wort had higher instances of drowsiness, colic, and lethargy. (94, 95)
Talk with your provider about other supplements that might be useful for postpartum depression:
Sam-e, which may be especially helpful for women with MTHFR mutations
Vitamin D
Motherwort
Rhodiola
Eleutherococcus
Saffron (96, 97)
Chamomile (98)
9. Set Up a Personal Support Network
Being a new mom can be isolating. In other cultures, women are surrounded and cared for by other women and moms after giving birth. In modern Western societies, extended family often lives far away, and the concept of a “village” helping to raise children is disappearing. Couple that isolation with inadequate parental leave policies and poor sleep, and you have a recipe for depression. Ideally, a postpartum woman would have an extensive support network from friends and family, a generous amount of worry-free leave from her job, and multiple home visits from a medical practitioner as she recovers and adjusts to her new life. (And that’s how it is in many countries around the globe—but not in the United States.)
Most American women only have one checkup four to six weeks after giving birth, although the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists now recommends that postpartum care be an ongoing process with multiple follow-up appointments. See if your provider is willing to follow a more holistic care model, which would include:
Multiple follow-ups post-birth
Blood work to monitor nutritional stores (beyond iron) and hormone statuses both during and after pregnancy
Full thyroid blood panel during and after pregnancy
Physical therapy referral, if needed for pelvic floor dysfunction or diastasis recti (separation of the abdominal muscles)
Mental health referral, if needed
If you are pregnant, set up a support system as best you can before birth. Here are a few tips to help you get started:
Accept any and all offers of help. Have a list ready for errands that friends and family can run or chores they can do.
Have a freezer meal baby shower. Get everyone together to help you prep dozens of nutrient-dense meals and snacks so you won’t be tempted to eat easily accessible processed foods.
Begin a meditation practice. The Headspace app can help you get started.
Identify nearby lactation consultants for support if you plan to breastfeed.
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I want to close this article with assurance that if you (or a loved one) are suffering from postpartum depression, you are not alone. I urge you to please speak with your healthcare provider immediately about these and other options available for you to get help.
Now I want to hear from you. Have you dealt with postpartum depression? What treatments did you find helpful? Let me know in the comments.
The post How to Ease Symptoms of Postpartum Depression with Natural Treatments appeared first on Chris Kresser.
Source: http://chriskresser.com January 19, 2019 at 08:22PM
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Various Health Care Packages For All Your Needs!
With unprecedented times arriving with unpleasant health circumstances every now and then along with the unexpected COVID troubles shooting our doors, we must be prepared with everything for the best of our health. Be it possessing details of easily accessible health packages online, details about first aid medications and precautions, along with keeping contacts of a doctor, you must keep yourself ready at any hour! We, at Trulabs firmly believe that being prepared gives you mental strength and emotional power to deal with the troublesome situations at hand, whatever disease you or your loved ones are affected by. Keeping in mind the demands for various lab tests and online booking convenience for anyone affected, Trulabs experts have curated specified health care packages for your needs. Here is a detailed description of a few of the most essential ones:- 
(1) Active Care: 
This package is suitable for people of all age groups and is usually for people who possess a weak immune system and have to generally deal with day-to-day stress and fatigue. If you observe any symptoms of continuous exhaustion, any sort of bodily troubles due to blood impurities, or feel feverish, among other common symptoms of insomnia and sleeplessness, doctors usually suggest you give this test. It has 25 tests and gives you a complete idea of haematology, thyroid profiles and delivers reports with Lipid Profile, S.Uric Acid, Calcium, Serum Glutamate Pyruvate Transaminase (SGPT), SGOT, Creatinine Serum, Alkaline Phosphate, Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN), Urea, Gamma Glutamyl Transferase (GGT), Bilirubin Direct & Indirect, Total Protein reports. 
(2) Fitness Care: 
It is ideal for people who need to trace & control their physical health. It is a comprehensive evaluation of almost 82 parameters of your body. An economic package to analyze your immunology(Vitamin B12), haematology, hormones, vitamin(Vitamin C majorly), urine tests, heart diseases, and thyroid profile. 
(3) Evergreen Care: 
This health analysis package is ideal for senior citizens, who require to get a comprehensive health check-up done. It has a total of 66 tests including 13 tests for biochemistry, 27 tests for haemetology including Iron Studies - Iron, TIBC, Transferrin Saturation(3 Tests), Glycosylated Haemoglobin (GHB / HBA1c), Complete Blood Count (CBC), 3 tests for thyroid profile, 18 tests for pathological routine tests, and E.C.G. for heart analysis.
(4) Complete Care: 
It is ideal for people who are getting their health check-ups done for the first time. Experts observe that amateurs to the entire body check-up usually are scared of certain tests, and can not really get all the tests listed and done one by one. This package becomes an ideal choice for these people. It includes 58 tests that help you get an idea of your diabetic profile and routine check-ups like blood pressure, thyroid, haematology, Vitamins, and other essential examinations. 
(5) Women Package: 
This package is for women belonging to all age groups and is ideal for women’s regular health checkups. It has 79 tests and includes Biochemistry-Fasting Blood Glucose, Lipid Profile(8 Tests), Liver Function Test(11 Tests), Folic acid, Kidney Profile; Haematology- Iron Studies - Iron, TIBC, Transferrin Saturation(3 Tests), Glycosylated Haemoglobin (GHB / HBA1c), Complete Blood Count (CBC)(27 Tests); Immunology(Vitamin B12); Special (Pathology)- Vitamin D3 ( 25 OH Vitamin D Total ); Hormones - Leutinizing Hormone (LH), Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH), TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone), Estradiol, Prolactin; Routine (Pathology)- Urine Microscopic Routine(18 Tests); Heart Diseases - E.C.G. 
You can opt for a Women Advanced Package as well for a more detailed analysis which also includes tests for serology apart from the other essential tests. 
(6) COVID Care: 
There are basically three different packages in this category: Covid Well, Covid Support, and Covid Profile. All of these packages are applicable for all age groups.  
(a) Covid Well: 
This package has 54 tests including Sars-Cov-2 Spike Protein (IgG) Antibody test for immunity and Covid infections, apart from various liver function tests, haematological tests, and kidney profiles.  
(b) Covid Support: 
It has a total of 35 tests including serology analysis, haematology, ferritin test, Interleukin 6 test, in addition to the biochemistry tests like Serum Glutamate Pyruvate Transaminase (SGPT), Blood Glucose Level ( Random ), Lactate Dehydrogenase ( LDH ).
 (c) Covid Profile: 
It has mostly all the tests provided by the Coviud support package but with 34 tests including all the essential tests that are usually recommended for Covid analysis. 
(7) Heart Care Package: 
This package is also for all age groups and is ideally taken in cases of heart risk involvement. It ideally has 6 lab tests involved including Homocysteine, High Sensitive C-Reactive Protein (hs-CRP), Lipoprotein(A, Apolipoprotein-A1, Apolipoprotein-B(1 Tests), Apo B: Apo A1 ratio. It gives you a clear picture of your heart’s functioning. 
Blog Source URL: https://trulabs.in/blog/various-health-care-packages-for-all-your-needs
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