Mind

Mental health is the talk of the day. A mood is an affective state which is a mix of feelings and emotions. It can be positive or negative. It is affected by your nutrition intake, hours of sleep, and facial expressions.

Your mood affects your personality. Tracking your mood is a powerful way to take care of your mental health. It helps you to appropriately attend to your feelings. Everyone has mood changes throughout the day. Identifying and tracking moods can be an effective tool to ensure better mental health. You can use mood trackers to learn about yourself and your health, self-manage symptoms, and improve your quality of life.

Why should you track your mood?

Gain control of yourself

You can self-manage with good health habits by tracking your mood. You can recognize and be aware of the dangers/problems ahead of your different moods and can control those. Keeping a check on yourself encourages you to work on problem areas. Mood tracking can help you bridge the gap between your thoughts, behaviors, and feelings.

Find out what you need to get the best out of you

If you recognize your feelings, you can understand what is required to take care of yourself. You can control the outcome of your mood. If you are happy, be thankful; if you are sad, share it with a friend. You will respond intentionally rather than immediately by paying attention to your moods.

Identify the patterns and triggers

You need to understand what factors trigger your moods. Triggers are those which bring out emotions and behavioral changes. These may be physical exercise, the food you eat, the amount of sleep, interactions with others, relationships, and the external environment. It’s good to know if there is something specific contributing to a particular mood. Tracking these and making simple lifestyle changes can help you feel good.

Share your feelings with others and their impact on others

“Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness; it has no taste.” ― Charlotte Bronte

Open up your inner child. Share what you feel. This can help you to recognize how other people are affecting you. If you are angry with others, create a boundary and communicate it clearly with them. Also, be grateful to others if you are happy because of them. 

Get support from a therapist/psychiatrist

You can seek out help from a therapist/psychiatrist if you are struggling to manage your emotions. They can easily assess and help you if you share the data of the mood tracker. If you can record how you are feeling throughout the day, it can help identify and guide an appropriate course of treatment.

Keeping a mood chart can tell you a lot about the timing and impact of your different moods. It is only you who can take charge of your life. Start taking note of your moods, their triggers, and patterns, you will see an amazing discovery. You can track these easily on JoyScore’s mood tracker feature and see which activities have the biggest impact on your wellbeing. Give it a try today!

Have you heard someone from your friend’s group or family talk about facing a Thyroid issue, Hypothyroidism? Have you been curious about it or are you someone who is suffering from it? If your answer is yes to any of the above questions, did you know that this issue can be managed by making subtle lifestyle changes?

Hypothyroidism is a condition where your body doesn’t produce enough thyroid hormones, which are required for your well being and is commonly referred to as the ‘Thyroid Issue’. It affects women more frequently than men and also among people over the age group of 60. 

The signs of hypothyroidism vary, depending on the severity of the hormone deficiency. Problems tend to develop slowly and steadily, often over some time. At first, you may not notice the symptoms of hypothyroidism, such as tiredness and weight gain. Or maybe you attribute them to getting older. But as your metabolism continues to slow, you may develop more problems like elevated blood cholesterol level, stiffness or swelling in your joints, and thinning hair.

But it is possible to live well with Hypothyroidism. Bringing about subtle lifestyle changes can help you better manage your symptoms. Here are 4 simple lifestyle changes you can habituate:

Eat a clean and balanced diet everyday

Clean eating includes a diet pattern that comprises fresh, whole foods. These are minimally processed, real foods that are close to their natural state. To keep your energy levels stable it is important to go for a balanced diet which includes, green leafy vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean protein and healthy fats. 

 Exercise Regularly

Moderate intensity workout suits the best to maintain Hypothyroidism. Overdoing it might affect the body’s ability to convert inactive thyroid hormone to the active form. If this process is hampered it can cause visible symptoms of Hypothyroidism. A brisk morning walk or a jog and yoga is recommended. You can try different and simple activities on the JoyScore app as well.  

Meditate for Hypothyroidism

Having a chronic disease, even if it is monitored by the doctor, can be stressful and might do much harm than good. Hence, it is suggested, we take control of our well being by striving for a balanced state of mind. Being in a meditative state helps raise our awareness towards our inner self as well as our surroundings. It consciously helps in reducing the stress that we face in our day to day lives. JoyScore is an app which can help you reach this meditative stage by raising your awareness towards your inner self. 

 Practice restorative sleep habits

Hypothyroidism can make you feel tired all the time. But having a schedule and sticking to it helps a lot. Sleeping at a particular time and waking up early every day- including the weekends, can help you drift off easily at night. Have a warm tea before you sleep as it helps relax your mind and sleep quickly. 

 Joyscore can aid you with implementing these changes through guided meditation, breathing, sleep management, and stress reduction tools. With the help of such activities and games in the app, you may be able to maintain or even reverse thyroid. With JoyScore, you can enhance your living and lead a joyful life. Download the app now. 

The holiday season at times carries unwelcome guests — stress and depression. And it’s no wonder. The holidays often give a dizzying array of requirements — from cooking meals to shopping, baking, cleaning, and entertaining. And with the current pandemic situation, you may feel additional stress by worrying about your loved ones’ well-being. 

With some practical tips, you can alleviate the stress that accompanies the holidays. You may even end up rejoicing the holidays more than you imagined. This holiday season, manage stress effectively with JoyScore. Follow us for more insights on living a stress-free life.

Tips to prevent holiday stress and depression

When stress is at its maximum, it’s hard to stop and regroup. Try to prevent anxiety and depression in the first place.

Reach out. Seek community or other social events or gatherings if you feel lonely or isolated. Many may have websites, support groups, social media sites, or virtual events. They can offer support and companionship. It may also help to talk to a friend or family member about your anxiety. Try reaching out with a message, a call, or a video chat.

Volunteering your time or helping others also is an excellent way to level up your spirits and strengthen your friendship. For instance, consider dropping off a meal and dessert at a friend’s home.

Be realistic. As families change and become nuclear, traditions change as well. Choose a few to carry out and be open to creating new ones. For instance, find new ways to celebrate together, such as exchanging photos, emails, or videos, if your kids or other relatives can’t come to your house. Or catch up on a virtual video call. Find ways to celebrate, even though your holiday plans might look different this year.

Stick to a budget. Don’t attempt to buy happiness with an avalanche of presents. Try these alternatives:

• Donate to a charity in someone’s name.
• Give homemade gifts.
• Start a family gift exchange.

Don’t abandon healthy habits. Let the holidays not become an excuse to indulge. Overindulgence adds to your stress and guilt. Try these suggestions:

• Don’t go overboard on sweets, cheese, or drinks.
• Eat healthy meals.
• Get plenty of sleep.
• Include physical exercises in your daily routine.
• Try stretches, meditation, or yoga for deep-breathing.

Take a breather. Make some time and space for yourself. Find an activity you enjoy doing. Indulge in a move that reduces stress by clearing your mind, calming your breathing, and restoring the internal balance.

Some options may include:

• Take a walk at night and stargaze.
• Listen to soothing music.
• Read a book.

Seek professional help if you need it. You can find yourself feeling persistently sad or anxious, plagued by physical complaints, unable to sleep, irritable and low, and unable to face routine chores despite your best efforts. If these feelings last for a long time, talk to a health professional.

Take control of the stress free holiday

Don’t let the holidays or the festivities become something you dread. Alternatively, take steps to avoid the stress and depression that may arise during the holidays. Learn to identify the causes of your stress, such as financial burdens or personal demands, so that before they lead to a meltdown, you can fight them. You will find peace and joy during the holidays with a bit of preparation and positive thinking. Keep your holiday stress at bay with mindful activities from JoyScore. Download the app now. 

How often in a given day you say Thank you, God. Mostly, it is when we are distressed and in need that we remember God. What about when you wake up in the morning when there’s no inspiration for you? Throughout the year, we see God’s greatness, love, and blessings in such incredible ways, but we are not as grateful as we ought to be, and we don’t express it as often as we ought to do. 

There is one such day, however, in the United States and Canada which celebrates the past year’s harvest and other blessings. This day is called Thanksgiving Day.  An essential Thanksgiving tradition is a big meal with family or friends. Thanksgiving is an opportunity to express our gratitude for the abundance in our lives, whether that’s the good relationships we have with our friends and families, our prospects, and our health.

Expressing gratitude towards God is very important. Every day we wake up, we can still see, hear, walk, and eat. In other words, all the functions we enjoy every day. So, why not wake up every morning and say thank you, God. Do the same during the day also. Something good comes our way, we should thank him. We should live the lives of Thanksgiving all the time. Thanksgiving is offering thanks to God for his forever endurance, love, and blessings under all circumstances.

Thanksgiving Reminds Us to Be More Than Grateful

Let’s help those who need it. Let’s not be mad that the world isn’t helping the needy. Let’s see what we can do as an individual. Compassion is the key, and empathy is essential, and that’s one reason that we should focus on trying to help those in need. It may mean that we are in a space in our lives where we feel we can’t currently help anyone, but certainly, there’s just one person out on the street we can impact. We could change their experience, maybe just for a moment. Thanking God keeps us consciously aware that God is always there in our life and helps us trust him more and more. Thanksgiving is essential to our rejoicing amid suffering. 

For many people, Thanksgiving is a time to be grateful. Gratitude is an attitude, and giving thanks is an action. It appreciates the blessings in one’s life. Gratitude can take us from feeling sorry for ourselves to feeling joy. Doing a daily gratitude exercise will make us happier, more self-disciplined, accomplish our goals, even healthier physically. Perhaps best of all, gratitude frees us from emotional pain. If we want to let go of emotional distress, choose gratitude, or simply if we’re going to feel more happiness, choose gratitude. When we experience more joy, we make the world more joyful.

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We should teach our children gratitude and Thanksgiving very early in life.  It should be a part of our thinking, our experience, and how we operate. This thanksgiving festival, give yourself and others good health and joy, download the JoyScore.