 Amidst the chaos around us, have you ever thought about the impact of technology that has set up on all of us? Sadly, we don’t even have time to think about this. Occupied with our busiest daily routines of work and social life, the idea of self-time has bottled out from our minds. And while enjoying all the charm and advantages technology has provided, our eyes lack to see the negative effects it is imprinting on our healthy lifestyle.
Impact of technology on human life There is no debate on the advantages and facilities that the modern world is serving us, and we should be thankful for the advancements of the 21st century that has open doors for us to enjoy the thrill of technology to its fullest. Apart from the entertainment, news, information, and games, the technology has assigned a vast number of global facilities just on our fingertips, whether it be education, employment, business, banking, shopping, food, and the list goes on. In these ways, technology is on the verge of having a complete hold of our lives, and whether we like it or not, we are getting dependent upon it with each passing day. Despite all the ease, joy, and comfort, technology has also developed negative effects on our minds by disturbing our health and lifestyle. It has become a source of depression, stress, anxiety, sleep deprivation, and loneliness in today’s era. The importance of maintaining social connections has made us forget the true essence of moral relationships, and we have lost ourselves in the way of conquering technology. But there is one thing that everyone should keep themselves reminded with, that a human brain is a master of everything. It is the human who invented the technology, and it must be kept under human hold for better purposes. Because it is quite apparent that if we let technology get a grip on us, we will be at our wits’ end. Dealing with technology in the right manner is quite sensitive in today’s environment. But it is very much essential to give valuable time to yourself and morally connect with people around while enjoying the perks of technology in the best manner. Because it is significant for a healthy lifestyle and a healthy mind to focus on the real world more than the digital world. Importance of unplugging technology Having a part of a day without any use of electronic devices will benefit not only us but the future generation as well. For example, the time you give your children while performing different activities with them, such as playing, gardening, solving puzzles, cooking, and reading will be much more valuable and worthy than the thousand dollars I pad that you have gifted your child on his birthday. Here are the few more reasons that will help us to get less effected with technology. Self-care and comfort It won’t be wrong if I say reducing screen time is equivalent to self-care and comfort. The deep dark world of social media has fallen upon us like a threaten lightning in the night. We get stressed over fun activities and tours others are doing by keeping their social accounts up to date while we sit on our couches and get bored of ourselves. Unplugging from the phone, especially from social media, will help you to care about your well-being rather than being stressed on someone else’s. Healthy lifestyle Scrolling through phones and I pads while lying on the bed all day long or spending 8 hours of a day in front of screens while working in an office will eventually lead to several health problems along with weak eye sights as well. It is significant for a human body to release strains on muscles that have been produced while working in the same position for hours. A little time you take out for jogging, walking, cycling, and exercising will be the time worth the day spend in front of the screen. Stress-free environment Unplugging the phone will help you to focus on the blessings you possess rather than comparing your life to others on social media. There is always a dark side of the story, which people do not highlight on social media. And quite often, we stress ourselves out by thinking of the perfections people possess and get envious of their success stories. So it is better to work on ourselves rather than comparing our life to others. Better mental health Technology has triggered a sense of competition above the adrenaline level. And this is the reason why the majority of this generation is suffering from depression and anxiety. The lack of self-love and appreciation has lost in the thirst of getting superior to each other. Therefore it is necessary to minimize screen time up to the right level and focus on meditation, which will help in better mental health. Time to discover your hidden talent Giving less time to social media, video games, or movies will provide you with ample time to work on yourself and be creative. You can discover your hidden talents, or you can learn new skills to help you become a better person. And the time taken out for yourself is always worth anything. Reduce procrastination Unplugging technology will help in reducing procrastination. You can focus on your studies or your work with a full presence of mind at the right place at the right time. Lengthy and time-consuming tasks can be completed early by keeping phones aside as compared to the hours it takes working on while using phones. Better sleeping hours It has been our routine to scroll through phones while we get to bed for sleep. And as a result, we lose the fraction of time that is needed for better sleep. We are not even aware of the disturbance that we create for the biological clock of our bodies. Thus phones, I pads, laptops should be kept far enough to enjoy a peaceful sleep. Strengthen moral connections Spending time with loved ones by limiting the screen times will help strengthen the proper connections with family and friends. People will care about the real feelings and problems of their closed ones rather than caring for the fake life that they portray on social media. A healthy relationship between parents, children, spouses, siblings, and friends will create a better environment to live in. A healthy lifestyle and technology can never run equivalent in the race of life. Priority should be given to a healthy lifestyle while disconnecting from technology to have numerous benefits on various aspects of life. To minimize the negative impacts of technology, we can always focus on the realistic goals and ambitions that we desire to fulfill. To create a valuable change in our health and lifestyle, minute changes in the habits of using technology should be made possible. It will be something your future self will be thanking you for. By Rabia Salman
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 It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and frustrated with the world these days. Your daily routine, career, and social life have been hindered and emotions are running higher than ever before. The kids are home, your spouse may or may not be home (both of which can be challenges in themselves), and privacy or alone time seem like luxuries of the past! You’ve been taking care of everyone else in your family. Despite the chaos abounding each day, you’ve been homeschooling the kids and trying to keep their routine as best as possible, working from home, keeping the house in order, cooking, cleaning...the list goes on and on! Without a doubt, you’ve been doing this without a care of how you feel or what you need, and it has started to weigh you down. NOW, it is time for you to break through the gloom and take care of yourself. That’s right, I’m asking you to be a little selfish from now on and put your mindset and needs on the priorities list, too. After all, how can you be expected to keep everyone else at bay, when you’re close to falling apart yourself? Changing your mindset can help lower the emotional stress you’re feeling during this tough time and find your peace and happiness. Fear is an absolutely natural response to what is going on in the world today, and the best you can do right now is try to stay positive and change your mindset. Rather than focusing on all the work that’s not getting done and the vacations that are being canceled, try to focus on the positive. We finally have time to learn that new skill we’ve been meaning to. We finally have the perfect time to read that new book that has been sitting on the shelf. We finally have time to tuck the kids into bed, have breakfast and dinner as a family, and spend quality time together. It’s easy to focus on the negatives-- fear tends to pervade all thoughts. BUT, if we shift our thinking a little and instead focus on the positive things we can gain from all of this time, it will make these next few weeks more bearable and maybe even something you look back on fondly as a family. Deep breathing can be a key component to a healthy mind and staying mentally sound. When we focus on the way we breathe, our body sends a message to the brain to simply “relax.” When we reach a state of relaxation, our heart rate slows down, our muscles become relaxed, there is a decrease in blood pressure, and increased levels of nitric oxide. 30 minutes of breathing exercises a day can help reduce anxiety, sleep, manage cravings, and control or reduce anger responses. Sounds amazing doesn’t it? Welcome to your happy place! It may be difficult to keep to the things you love during tough times, but it is important to keep your life balanced and as normal as possible. If you have hobbies that you used to do on the regular-- baking, playing a sport, gardening-- make sure you take some time out of the day to keep doing them! Even with the little ones home, you can easily make time by doing one of two things:
OR
Lastly, don’t forget to care for yourself. Rather than sitting around and binge-watching TV all day (even though we can all argue that is a type of relaxation), make sure you take time to exercise, take a walk outside with the dog, take breaks from watching the news, and remind yourself why isolation and self-quarantine are important right now-- to keep those most vulnerable, healthy and safe. You need some help figuring out the best self-care routine and checking out options in the store. Stay healthy friends and remember to take some time to remember yourself!  Health is the truest wealth in life!! I'm excited to introduce our first guest post, my good friend and holistic Chiropractor, Christy Matusiak. Christy is absolutely fantastic at what she does and the provides a true natural approaches to healing, wellness and continued care. Enjoy friends and stay well! Hello! As Jen mentioned, I am a holistic Chiropractic Physician with my practice in Wilmette, IL. My practice is specialized treating a variety of patients and conditions, all with the goal of stimulating healing from within without the use of prescription drugs or surgery. My passion lies in helping men, women, and children overcome ANY health challenge naturally!!! In this blog, I will be sharing my tips, tricks and secrets to achieving health in all areas of your life. Each month I will put out content for your reading pleasure to educate the you on ways to enhance your health nutritionally, physically, and emotionally!
So, in keeping this first one short and sweet, I wanted to encourage you to think about your goals. Health goals, mostly…but the following suggestions can apply to all areas of your life. So don’t limit yourself!
Yours in health, Dr. Christy Matusiak  Alright friends, it’s time for another anxiety tip…#2!
In my last post, tip #1, I shared the importance of recognizing when anxiety shows up. I’m hoping by now all of you have started taking notes in your journals with the points I mentioned, trust me friends, when you start noting the when, where and how things show up it becomes very clear. So, tip two, the food you eat… For those of you who have followed me for a while, you know I am a former obese woman. I was heavy for most of my growing up years into my early twenties. Although I have put back on a small amount of the weight, I have maintained a 130-pound weight loss for over two decades. And, darn proud of this one! What I didn’t know for many many years was how impactful the food I was eating was on my anxiety. What I also wasn’t aware of until the last couple years was the impact of food on depression. Looking back to your journals for a moment, review if you have times your anxiety is sparked after eating. If it is, look at the foods you ate. Are there consistencies? Now I am no medical practitioner, but I can tell you, I have at least four foods I can think of quickly that spark my anxiousness and one of them is considered a “healthy food”. For a long time, I thought, well it’s because I don’t want to go backwards in my weight goals but considering I can eat a burger and sweet potato fries with no sign of anxiety I ruled that out quickly. The four that impact me quickly, Roasted Almonds (raw almonds do not trigger me?). This one took me to a while to pinpoint but after tracking how my foods were making me feel it became very clear. The other three definitely make sense considering they are far from healthy foods, most refined sugars (of course I think we can all agree that sugars are not exactly good for us), pizza (I figured for a long time that this was due to the bread but bread in itself isn’t a trigger for me so it may be the high sodium content?) and Splenda. Oh, and most recently I was triggered quite significantly by what I thought was a healthy option for a protein bar. What do the experts say, you ask? Well, from the research I found there are some consistencies but also some differences. The top that came out in all the articles I read:
Natural whole foods, grass fed meat, fruits and vegetables are always the healthiest options! Finally, let’s look at the other side, what foods are good to reduce anxiety?
Stay well!! Jen  For those of you who have followed me for any amount of time you know I have worked hard to move past my anxiety. After years of letting it build, it took a long time, literally years undoing all the unhealthy, negative self-talk I had in my head.
First, you should know, anxiety shows up for all of us. Even after you have worked on it, there could be something that sparks you or perhaps, health reason because you added edginess. The difference is when you have worked through it you have the chance to redirect it a lot faster. Before I started turning things around, it is fair to say I had a certain anxiousness about me almost all the time. Through time I was able to shake it off after a couple hours, and now, I can generally turn it around within minutes. I say generally my friends, we ALL have bad days. I decided to start a round of Anxiety Tip blogs and will keep it going for as long as I have tips to share. You will get at least one a week, at times more. Hoping these mini tips help turn your anxiousness/anxiety to build a happier, healthier YOU!! You are worth it my friends. Start a journal, I know what you are thinking but stay with me a minute. One very important thing to determine before you can turn it around is when it shows up. Even for me, someone who had anxiousness almost all the time, I needed to pinpoint when/why it was showing up. Of course, there are different things that spark anxiety, at least for me, but there is usually one underlying cause. For me it truly was a lack of self-confidence and positive self-efficacy. In your journal I recommend the following:
I recommend continuing to journal at least until you start seeing the patterns shifting. After that point, I still highly recommend it but adding in more then just when anxiety was sparked. Till the next tip my friends… Jen  When I was in college, we did project in psychology class about how music impacted the mind, thoughts, emotions and body. I remember doing this project very clearly and recall the noticeable reactions to a variety of genres of music. It was interesting at the time but after that study was complete, paper was written, and we were onto the next project I hadn’t given it much more thought. I reflect on music today; it plays a big role in how I manage my energy and mood. And, as I’ve overcome each of my struggles from overthinking and over stressing to anxiety and depression, music has also played a large role.
In my career I often get the opportunity to go out to customer sites. It is by far the most engaging and most enjoyable aspect of what I do. Interacting with people, building relationships and helping find a solution to their issues. But, as with many of us, I have my days. You know the ones where you just want to keep your yoga pants on, curl up with a warm drink and a good movie or book. Or, those days that you’re just not feeling quite like yourself. For me, when these days show up the right music can completely shift my mood. In this case, for me, it’s always upbeat, car thumping kind of music. You know what I’m talking about. It’s that music that you can hear from another car away. And, yes, my friends I am that person you see dancing away while she’s driving. This type of empowering music can completely help shift my mood and take me from feeling like I have to fake a smile for the day to a true sense of joy and optimism. A couple of my favorite go to’s are “Roar” and “This is Me.” Then there is the workout music. I’ve really shifted in this area throughout the years. I used to be a morning and news treadmill runner followed by light weights. In fact, I don’t remember listening to music hardly ever when I worked out. My music time was generally after my workout as I was getting ready for work. Through the years that shifted to podcasts and audio-books which I’ve now learned negatively impacted my workouts. I focused more on learning and not enough on my muscles and what I was doing in the gym. And now, it’s primarily me and my thoughts, hitting a quick hard workout to optimize and move on with the day. When I take a long workout, added cardio or need some ass kicking in my workout, that’s right I am turning it on and turning it up. I am so diverse on this one, I can do anything from “Welcome to the Jungle” to “Eye of the Tiger” and so many in between. The best way I can describe these, they just get my blood pumping. Then there is the good old, working around the house music. If I’m at home, I’m working around the house on something. Whether I’m shooting some new pictures for the website, designing new packages, working on content for one of the businesses in some form or fashion, or doing housework around the house. I generally have music on. It’s funny, as I sit and write this post, I recognize the true diverseness in music that I enjoy. I can go from 60’s and 70’s, to 80’s and 90’s depending on my day and mood. And, each makes me feel very differently, there is the music that calms and brings a sense of Zen, then there is the music that is truly motivating and gives me energy to get things done. And, yes, you’ll often hear my voice singing throughout it all too. From the other side, there is music that can truly take me into a loop of negative thoughts or even depressed moods. The more I started working on my emotional well-being the more I started recognizing what music caused me negative thoughts. Pay close attention to this one my friends. I can now catch when something doesn’t feel right and quickly shift it but it took time. Once you’re aware of it it’s easier to catch. Not only can it help turn around your mood, but it can reduce stress and help calm, reduce anxiety and even motivate. There are also documented benefits of improved cognition to improving memory. So, grab your playlist and start leveraging those benefits a great song can do for you! Stay well my friends! Jen  Sitting in my office earlier in the week, I had a lot on my mind, but it was a GREAT morning so far. Some easy movement on the rebounder, stretches, then getting ready to go while dancing to the oldies, yes, I’m that girl. I was even able to get some writing done on the book before leaving for work, great morning! Then, traffic was decent, so I was at my office more than a half hour early which was great. I was able to get all my follow-ups and emails done before the team even made it in, WIN!! Within the next hour, I felt it, it hit me so quick, if you’ve ever had an anxiety attack, you know the feeling I’m talking about. That feeling, for me at least, that starts in my gut. I feel like I can't even take a deep breath, then start breathing through my chest rather than my belly which makes it even worse. My chest feels tight as though someone is sitting on it and my throat tightens. An uncomfortable tingly feeling stems from my belly right up my neck. It feels completely uncontrollable, then the heartburn kicked in. You should know, I don't get heartburn aside from when I am anxious. In this moment it was hitting me hard. All the energy I had from the morning was gone and all of a sudden, I felt completely exhausted. My body felt gross I felt like I was going to throw up, it came on so quickly.
For years I let these moments take over my thinking and my body. Before I learned how to recognize and redirect, my thoughts would have quickly went to “what-if this” and “what if that.” By the end of a day I would have felt lousy and exhausted. It took over my thoughts and my health for far too long. Now when it happens, I can generally redirect within a matter of 15 minutes or less. And, this day was no different. When anxiety creeps in try this:
If these tips help you, please share them to others who may need it. Together we can bring happiness to others! Much love, Jen  Design your life my friends, you have everything in you to live the life of your dreams! -Jen Zahari It's been a few weeks since my last post and I wanted to get all of you a quick update. I am working to take my blog onto it's own site in order to bring you more tools, ideas and resources while making it easy to navigate. Several more announcements to come over the next few months. I'm over the moon excited about them my friends, it's been a long time in the works. Stay tuned and thank you so much for all of the support you have given along the way. I appreciate each of you!!
 It's not the load the breaks you down, it's the way you carry it! |
Jen Zahari
Supporter of people and growth. I absolutely LOVE helping others see in themselves what I see in them. We all have good in us, we just need a bit of help seeing it at times. 
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