Posts tagged anxious
5 minutes a night to get you happier and less stressed
5 minutes a night to get you happier and less stressed

Not a lot of people know this about me, but I once took an eight-week class about how to cope with chronic pain. The class was run by a hospital, and everything they taught was based in science. I was attending because I had hit my head, and it had led to a slew of health problems, a lot of which entailed chronic pain. That class ended up not only reducing my pain, but also left me feeling happier and more peaceful in general.

One of the tools I learned in the class was intended to decrease stress, anxiety, and depression, and it was the simplest, most elegant nightly activity that I’d never heard of before. So, I thought I’d share it with you. If you have five minutes to spare each night, you can totally do this in bed on your phone (I know, I know, we’re not supposed to be on our phones before bed, but do what you gotta do), or write it in a notebook if you prefer.

Here’s the exercise. Feel free to write down the answers to these wherever it’s convenient for you, and do your best to do this every night.

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Ashley Kirsnerhow to be happier, how to be happy, how can i be happy, how can i be happier, depression, depressed, anxiety, anxious, less stressed, reduce stress, how to reduce stress, how can i be happir, how do i be happier, how do i be happy, gratitude, gratitudes, positive reframing, positive reframe, chronic pain, chronic health problems, chronic health problem, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue, cfs, chronic fatigue syndrome Comment
How to live with uncertainty
How to live with uncertainty

Life can feel so much safer and more comfortable when we’re living in black and white, so our brains tend to cope with uncertain situations by thinking in more black and white terms.

But unfortunately, living in black and white often robs us of the ability to see our reality accurately. And seeing our reality as we wish it were as opposed to how it actually is often leads us to behave in ways that aren’t likely to get us the things we really want, like safety, security, and connection.

So how can we shift our thinking to become more comfortable living in the gray space? I’ve come up with some specific tips.

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Ashley Kirsneruncertainty, limbo, how to live with uncertainty, how to sit with uncertainty, how to be with uncertainty, waiting for diagnosis, waiting for a diagnosis, waiting on a diagnosis, waiting in limbo, how to deal with uncertainty, deal with uncertainty, black and white thinking, cognitive behavioral therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, CBT, cbt, self-care, cost exposure, probability exposure, cbt exposure, CBT exposure, CBT exposures, happiness, resilience, people are happier than you expect, people are happier than expected, people are surprisingly happy, how to be chill, be chill, self care, self-compassion, how to reduce anxiety, how to deal with anxiety, how to anxiety, anxiety, anxious, i'm anxious, I'm anxious, feeling anxious, feel anxious, I feel anxious, feel less anxious, how do I feel less anxious, how can I feel less anxious, cope with uncertainty, how to cope with uncertainty, uncertain, uncertain times, affective forecasting, immune neglect, Dan Gilbert, Daniel Gilbert, Stumbling on Happiness, stumbling on happiness Comments
It’s not just you: Why you feel weird lately
It’s not just you: Why you feel weird lately

If you’ve started feeling odd as we come up upon the one-year-anniversary since a lot of us started quarantining, it’s not just you. You might just be experiencing just one or a few of these things, but some things you may notice are:

  • Sleep problems

  • Strange or unpleasant dreams

  • Irritability

  • A feeling of restlessness

  • Feelings of sadness, anger, guilt, and/or anxiety without a clear cause

  • Flare ups of chronic health issues


Does any of that sound like what your last few days or weeks have been like? If so, then you might be having a trauma anniversary.


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Ashley KirsnerSkip the Small Talk, Skip the Small Talk blog, STST, STST blog, why you feel weird lately, why you feel weird, why do I feel weird, why I feel weird, pandemic, covid, covid-19, covid-19 feels, i feel bad, why do i feel bad, why do I feel bad, trauma, trauma response, trauma responses, trigger, triggers, triggering, trauma anniversary, trauma anniversary reacton, trauma anniversary reaction, anniversary reaction, anniversary reactions, anniversary, covid anniversary, covid-19 anniversary, pandemic anniversary, sleep problems, trouble sleeping, sleeping problems, insomnia, strange dreams, bad dreams, nightmares, irritable, irritability, i'm irritable, why am I irritable, why do i have bad dreams, why do I have nightmares, why am I having nightmares, why am I restless, restless, restlessness, sadness, sad, anger, angry, guilt, guilty, anxiety, anxious, why am I anxious, why am I so anxious, why am I sad, why am I so sad, why am I angry, why am I so angry, why do I feel guilty, why do I feel sad, why do I feel angry, why do I feel anxious, why do I feel nervous, nervous, nervousness, chronic health flare up, flare up, chronic health, chronic health problems, quarantine, quarantine anniversary, quarantining, why do I feel bad all the time, why do I feel angry all the time, why do I feel sad all the time, why do I feel mad all the time, why do I hate everyone, I hate everyone, I hate everything, why do I hate everything Comment