Welcome to our all-new WorryTree app!
If you’ve installed or updated WorryTree recently then you’ll know we’ve made some really big changes - not just to the look and feel of our app but also to how it works, with some wonderful new features that we’re really proud of!
So today we’re going to break down the changes that we’ve made here, and introduce you to our new look WorryTree!
I am so delighted to be able share another guest post blog as our first post of the New Year! Lesley Salem launched Over The Bloody Moon to provide help and support to women who, like Lesley, are struggling with perimenopausal symptoms like anxiety and depression. Read on to find out more about her journey and how she might be able to help you too. You can follow Lesley on Instagram at @overthebloodymoon!
I’ve recently been trying a new daily practice to help me manage my worries called a thought download. The basic idea of this is spending fifteen minutes, every day if possible, literally downloading all of my thoughts onto a piece of paper until my mind is empty. It’s early days, but I do find this process empties my mind of all the clutter, and then depending on how much time I have I will pick one or two of the thoughts and work them through in WorryTree.
One thing I’ve noticed since I began practicing this technique is that a large number of my downloaded thoughts tend to begin with ‘what if’.
It's been quite a year hasn't it so far? I'm writing this today hours before we hear what the latest set of restrictions are going to be in the UK. Thankfully the schools are back and businesses are open, but the virus is spreading again here and it feels like it's going to be a challenging winter.
These are uncertain times and for many of us, especially those of us with a tendency to worry, uncertainty brings fear and anxiety. I for one am not a fan of uncertainty, and yet everything about our lives is uncertain.
Have you come across ‘worry time’ before? It’s a technique that many people use to help them manage their worries and anxiety.
The principle is this - rather than worrying and feeling anxious throughout the day, you make a note somewhere of your worries and then you schedule a specific time each day when you work through your worried thoughts.
I don’t know about you but my Instagram and Pinterest feeds have been full lately of the importance of practicing gratitude for our mental health. And there really does seem to be some great science behind it.
It’s thought that people who practice gratitude regularly by taking a moment each day to think about the things they are thankful for, large or small, are generally more satisfied with their lives and more resilient in difficult times. In fact Brene Brown, in her 12 years of research, has found that it’s not that joyful people are more likely to be grateful for what they have, it’s that people who are practice feeling grateful are more joyful as a result.
We LOVE a good podcast at WorryTree HQ! Short, bite-sized radio-style programmes, they are perfect for the commute or to keep you company while walking the dog. And there’s so many out there, something for absolutely everyone on every kind of specialism that you could imagine!
But there are so many mental health podcasts out there that it can be a bit of a minefield looking for something that suits you.
So we thought today we'd share with you a round-up of our five favourite podcasts that we're listening to at the moment. We'd love to hear your thoughts on these or if you can recommend a new podcast to us!
This might seem like an odd question, I mean, you’re worrying right? You’re experiencing worried thoughts so you must be aware of them.
That’s not really my personal experience.
It’s only in recent years that I truly realised that worry was an issue for me. I pretty much hadn’t noticed. There had been periods in my life when I had worried a lot, but those had been during times of the Big Life Stresses - heartbreak, divorce, illness, moving house and so on. It’s completely normal to feel stress and anxiety during those times.
There are a number of unhelpful thinking styles that can regularly come up when we worry. They're unhelpful because they're negative and they can lead you into a downward spiral of worried thoughts. We know for sure that thoughts can create feelings, and so you can soon find yourself feeling anxious, triggered by these unhelpful thoughts, and the vicious circle begins.
