SOVA Blog

by milesfromsmiles

Easy Recipes to Increase Serotonin

October 2, 2020 in LINKS

I don’t know about you guys, but I am in constant need of some serotonin. If you don’t know what serotonin is, it is the chemical in your body that helps regulate mood, social behavior, appetite, sleep, memory, and sexual desire. Depression can be the result of having an imbalance and a lack of serotonin in your body. Obviously, increasing serotonin levels is just one part of coping with depression, a practice that requires a variety of different techniques (all of which are different for everyone) but I thought sharing some quick (college-kid-feasible) recipes would be a fun easy method that many could incorporate into their lives to be healthier both physically and mentally.

Recipe #1: Serotonin Smoothie

  • This smoothie includes raspberries, banana, blueberries, chia seeds and hemp seeds.
  • The detailed recipe (with correct proportions and all) can be found here
  • I love how easy this is to make, I feel like efficiency is really the most important thing for me to be motivated to make food.

Recipe #2: Hearty Salad

  • This salad can easily be made by combining your own preferred proportions of spinach, avocado, tomatoes, turkey and a dressing of your choice
  • More info here 

Recipe #3: Oatmeal with some add-ins

  • You can make oatmeal normally and then throw in some dark chocolate chips, nuts, raisins, peanut butter and/or bananas!
  • I personally love making overnight oats with peanut butter and dark chocolate. Also highly recommend adding these to your oatmeal.
  • I keep frozen fruit blends in my freezer for these recipes. These are great because they are usually cheaper than fresh fruits and contain a lot in one bag.

Recipe #4: Some other notable options

What foods do you gravitate towards to improve your mood? Do you have any recipes or favorite foods that you want to share?

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by milesfromsmiles

Achieving Homeostasis

August 12, 2020 in Educate Yourself

I’m not sure if this will be a relatable experience or not but I’ll write it as a question anyway: Do you ever feel like something’s just off? Like you’re uncomfortable or irritated or tired and don’t know why or how to fix it? Well, if this has happened to you, my advice is to first make sure you’ve achieved homeostasis before looking towards any other possible reasons and solutions.

What is Homeostasis?

Homeostasis is a state of equilibrium and stability, both psychologically and physiologically.

Identify what’s off

Ask yourself questions to hone in on the issue at hand. Some examples include:

  • Am I hungry?
  • Am I following my daily routine?
  • Am I tired?
  • Am I holding emotions in or suppressing them?
  • Am I hyped up or unsure of where to place my energy?
  • Am I breathing irregularly?

Identify the solution

Using the examples above, here are some possible resolutions, respectively:

Think about what’s available for you to eat, and figure out how much you need to eat to stop feeling hungry.

See what parts of your routine were dropped from your day, and see where you can get back on track.

Do you need a nap, or do you need motivation to get up and move your body?

Journal or express your emotions healthily in another way. This is not a waste of time since the alternative option is already hindering your productivity by having the thought loiter in the forefront of your mind.

Exercise, get outside and take a walk, play a sport, etc.

Focus on your breathing. For example, you can inhale for 4 counts, hold your breath for 4 counts and exhale for 6 counts. Do this, or another technique (like the 5-4-3-2-1 grounding activity) until you feel your heart rate has slowed down.

Trust yourself

I think the hardest part of all of this is actually getting up and doing the work required for homeostasis to be achieved. To muster this motivation you must remind yourself that whatever small act it is, it must happen right now, it will improve your day, and you will thank yourself for doing it afterward.

This article is meant to tackle those ruts we get in. For me, they usually take form in me slumping onto my bed in the middle of the afternoon with no motivation to do anything. I feel “tired” even if I’ve barely exerted any energy that day at all. Even if I’m hungry, I tend to lay there for a long while before fixing this problem. There is no benefit to this at all, I’m just sitting in my own misery for longer all because I don’t feel like I have enough motivation to reach homeostasis. But we all do. We all want comfort in our lives and in our bodies. Trust your mind, and you will get there. I hope that some of this article resonates with you and helps you improve the comfort level you feel on a daily basis.

Have you ever felt “off” before for no reason? Has it been happening to you recently and/or frequently? What do you do when you find yourself unmotivated and in a slump?

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by milesfromsmiles

This Doesn’t Have to be the Worst Year Ever

July 14, 2020 in Be Positive, Educate Yourself

I don’t know if anyone else feels this way, but I’m honestly starting to feel like 2020 is the most horrendous year I have ever experienced. It just feels like everywhere I turn things are going worse than usual and nothing seems to be improving any time soon. The largest fault in that kind of thinking, however, is that it is based on external situations. All this craziness is much crazier on a national level than it is on a personal one. I believe this year, and every single day of it, can be whatever you make of it.

Two key strategies have helped me focus on my own growth and not feel burdened with the flaws of the world around me:

1. Keeping my distance

My heart hurts thinking of those going hungry because of this pandemic or the violent acts that Black people have been suffering in this day and age. I can’t control these things. I can only do so much (sign petitions, donate my spare change to organizations, etc.). It is unproductive and detrimental to focus on these massive problems that I can’t solve myself.

My best advice to avoid these topics from getting the best of you would be to limit your exposure to them. This mostly means less time on social media and watching the news. Doing this doesn’t make you uneducated or less woke, it makes you self-aware of your mental health and your limits.

2. Creating SMART goals

This is a great way to better yourself and progressively feel achievement. “SMART” stands for Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant and Timely. Creating goals that are SMART will make them less daunting and easier to accomplish. For example, I have a goal this summer to journal 1-2 times a week. It is specific (I have one notebook that I journal in), measurable (one page or more gets filled), attainable (I have time to journal before going to sleep), relevant (writing my thoughts out is helpful in preventing my panic attacks and crying spells), and timely (all summer).

This year can be one of your BEST ever, for your mind and body. I wish for each of you who read this to walk into 2021 as if you’re in one of those movie scenes, walking untouched away from the mega-explosion behind you (that explosion being the state of the world in 2020).

Do you have any of your own tips for coping with bad outside situations or bettering yourself? What is something good that has happened for you personally recently?

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by milesfromsmiles

Quick Fixes for when you are on the Brink of a Panic Attack

June 23, 2020 in Educate Yourself

Please note that all the content in this post is based off of my personal experiences and is not applicable to everyone.

Recently, I have been having fewer and fewer panic attacks. While my anxiety is situational, my situation has not drastically improved in the last few weeks, I’ve just been learning how to prevent the panic attacks better. This is basically all thanks to my new therapist (she is so awesome) so a lot of this advice is from her, not me, and I felt the need to share it.

There are a million coping skills out there, lots of which are activities. I think those ones are awesome, but I personally have trouble implementing many in my life because, 1) my depression makes me feel less energetic to get up and do things and 2) while they help in the long run for preventing panic or anxiety attacks, they aren’t too great in the short run. What I mean by my second point is that when you are having, or about to have, a panic attack, you are much less likely to muster up the energy to go for a bike ride or do pottery.

In this post, I am going to talk about identifying your warning signs that a panic attack is about to happen, and how to shut that thing down right then and there.

Identifying your warning signs

What do you experience, both mentally and physically, when a panic attack is beginning? For me, I experience a sense that I am in danger, a racing heartbeat, and crying. Knowing that these are the tell-all signs of my panic attacks, I can identify what is happening, and predict what will happen next. Sure enough, the next thing that ensues is hyperventilating, to complement my racing heart. The last couple times I’ve started hyperventilating, I was able to yell at myself (out loud) “NO. NO, we’re not doing this” and I was actually able to calm myself down from there, believe it or not, by doing the next couple of things:

Shut it dOwN

Two main things help me the most to avoid the hyperventilating to worsen and a panic attack to be in full swing:

Identify the Trigger: Use all of your brain energy to try to figure out what caused this event today. It’s easy to remember the first feelings, maybe sadness, anger, or frustration, but try to sift through and find the triggering thought that started it all. Okay, now you have the thought. I highly recommend CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) for anyone not already familiar with it. But in any case, observe the thought non-judgmentally, detached from you. All of your thoughts are valid, the key is believing that yourself.

The 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique: This exercise is super quick and easy to do anywhere. It helps bring you back to the present since my therapist has told me that the past usually sparks depression and the future usually sparks anxiety (again, everyone is different, she was just talking to me).

Here is how to do it:

Find 5 things you See – take the time to describe them each in great detail.
Find 4 things you can Touch – acknowledge how it feels.
Find 3 things you can Hear – acknowledge whether they are loud or soft, or any other characteristics.
Find 2 things you can Smell – acknowledge how it smells.
Find 1 thing you can Taste – this is why I keep mints in my wallet, just in case I need to do this exercise outside my house.

If you aren’t feeling better after doing the 5-4-3-2-1 coping skill, I would consider doing it again, again, always with different things (probably except the taste though).

Some panic attack warning signs/symptoms
5-4-3-2-1 exercise

Do you use any other quick fixes that help you in the moment? What are the signs to you that help you recognize if you are about to have an anxiety or panic attack?

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by milesfromsmiles

Failing Does Not Make You a Failure

May 27, 2020 in Educate Yourself

I came really close to failing a class this spring semester. I’ve never failed a class before, so I ended up associating this one small event with being a complete and utter failure. Ever since then, I’ve been doing my best to challenge that thought and overcome it as best I can.

One week before finals, I found myself staring at a daunting grade in my calculus class: 62%. With COVID-19 going on, my school had given us the option to select pass/no-pass for our final grades after they’re submitted. With this, it just meant I have to do my absolute best on the last two homework assignments and the final for this class, just to keep the D from slipping to an F, and eventually changing the grade to “Pass.” This didn’t seem like a whole lot, but it was, for someone like me who was struggling in the subject well before everything became online.

So there I was, freaking out. Knowing that my chances of passing or failing were 50/50. It was really just a flip of a coin. I was hoping for the best and expecting the worst. And while I had really never experienced testing anxiety before, I could just tell that it would take over the second I started my calculus final, since I had so much riding on that one grade and I was barely comprehending the curriculum as it was.

This last-minute revelation pushed me out of comfort zone: I asked for help. I messaged my advisor and asked if we could have a video call that night so she could help me through my dilemma. She suggested that I drop the class, and explained to me that action entailed the class being erased from my record so that no one would know I even attempted it this spring. I talked to my mom about it and ended up going through with dropping it.

I justified this decision by prioritizing my mental health over the convenience of finishing the class and possibly having the endeavor be over and done with (if I passed).

In the days that followed, I felt significantly better and more at ease, focusing on other final exams and projects that I had a lot more confidence in. I also found myself reflecting on what had gone so wrong for me to reach that anxious brink of my abilities. More than anything, it was my inability to recognize when I need help and seek it out. Calculus (1 & 2) had been my favorite subject and was a large part of the reason I chose my major in the first place. I was in denial when I started to struggle in Calc 3 because I thought I had to be good at it.

Now looking back, I’ve learned a number of things that I will carry with me next time I encountered a similar struggle. These are for acting proactively to prevent a panic attack from ensuing (again):

  1. Acknowledge when you are struggling – you are the only person who can do this, no one can do it for you. Admit this fact to yourself in a judgment-free way. It is simply true, not wrong, bad, or weak.
  2. Appreciate those in your corner and confide in them to seek out advice/help – I knew I had an awesome advisor, but I didn’t know how awesome until I had a call with her at 8pm on a Monday with only a four-hour notice beforehand. I wish I had contacted her earlier in the semester. That way, I might have gotten some much-needed one-on-one help before the problem got out of hand. I also would have learned that I can get accommodations for my anxiety and depression through the Office of Disability Services at my school.
  3. Understand what is in and out of your control – I didn’t mention this earlier but my professor made learning much more difficult virtually and failed to respond to me about accommodations I may need. I’ve also never been strong at learning online, and I had no control over the fact that I had to do that this semester.
  4. Recognize your many other achievements – six years from now, this small hiccup I endured during my freshman year of college will be far off my radar, so why am I letting it define who I am now? You have so much going for you, write down your positive qualities and accomplishments if that helps you believe it.

While I still have to take retake the class to graduate, I will be doing it next semester, in a learning environment (my campus) and will already have some familiarity with the subject. I’m happy to say I don’t regret doing this.

Have you ever had a setback that you let define you as a person? How have you helped yourself change your mentality?

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by milesfromsmiles

Long Distance Relationships

May 5, 2020 in Educate Yourself

So I’ve never written on here before, but I thought it would be a good idea to talk about a subject I’m well-versed in: long-distance relationships. With everything going on these days, many people are forced to experience long-distance unexpectedly. I, however, have been doing this for many months now, both normal long-distance and more recently, military long-distance ever since my girlfriend started boot camp. I’m here to share my top tips for what has worked in my relationship.

Communication

This is absolutely key to any relationship. However, starting long-distance is not something small and it shouldn’t be assumed that both partners will onboard. My girlfriend and I had many “August conversations,” as we called them, where we discussed all our options before I left for college: staying together, taking a break, breaking up, etc. We wanted to make sure we were both committed to the same goal before being miles away from each other. This really helped put into perspective our expectations for one another and the sacrifices that we would be making.

Making time

It is easy to get wrapped in your life, especially when your partner isn’t there to make plans with, but prioritizing the relationship is significant in keeping it alive. Carving out specific times to call or sacrificing missing an event to visit each other may be what it takes to get through this patch of distance.

Get creative

We’re lucky to have so much technology at our disposal, but your phone does not have to be the only channel your relationship operates through. Along with calling, video-chatting and Netflix Party-ing (highly recommend), you can also send each other letters, or care packages, and keep something special from the other person with you. Don’t be afraid to try something new out to see what works for your relationship? For example, if my Marine has a big assessment coming up, I can send her a $5 Starbucks e-gift card since I can’t physically buy her Starbucks myself.

Talk about the endgame, any doubts you have, and everything in-between

Okay yes, this is very similar to the first point, but this is more about the discussions that happen once you have already decided to become long-distance. If you’re worried, tell the other person. Every little hurdle will make you two stronger in the end (if this is true, my girlfriend and I must be Superwoman and Wonder Woman). I also think a big motivator for doing long-distance is thinking about what comes after it’s over. For example, I’m going to get my degree and she’s going to finish with her military term in about four years, but that doesn’t stop us from arguing about what kind of toaster we’re going to have in our potential apartment in Atlanta in 2024.

Trust

The foundation. Allow yourself to trust your partner and remember it goes both ways. This goes for anything. You will get hurt, more than anyone else, if you don’t trust them and don’t have open communication. I can say with total confidence, there isn’t anyone I would make these sacrifices for besides the person I love more than anything.

Here are some other links for more information:

Helpful links: 10 Tips on Making Long-Distance Work

Advantages of Long-Distance

Have any of you ever done an “LDR” or are thinking about it? If you have, what has worked for you? How have long-distance relationships, if you’ve been in one, affected you, whether that’s positively or negatively?

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