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Creativity is vital to your holistic wellness and being creative can help you during your recovery. Popular to contrary belief, there are many ways to be creative outside of traditional drawing, coloring, and painting. Whether you consider yourself to be an artist or not, there are several ways you can be creative. Here are some ideas to get you started.

Writing can be an excellent practice during your recovery journey. It provides time for introspection and self-reflection, cultivating self-awareness and self-honesty. One of the best parts of writing is that you do not have to actually be a writer to experience its benefits. There is no wrong way to write and you can do it anywhere, even with a therapist. While writing helps to release tension and reduce anxiety, it can also help you process situations and create peace for yourself.

Perfectionism is an insidious force that makes one believe that they — and others — can achieve perfection. A perfectionist may even understand that perfectionism is an illusion, yet they still cannot let that notion go. Learning how to remove the need to always be or appear perfect can have a powerful effect on your life. Here are some tips that can assist you.

Self-compassion is intricately connected to our sense of individual well-being. It is essential in learning how to care for and understand ourselves — rather than remaining judgemental and highly critical. Self-compassion is the medicine that allows us to create a nourishing, loving relationship with ourselves that fuels our growth and prosperity. This way of relating to yourself may feel strange, especially if it is something you have never done before. However, there are simple steps you can take to begin cultivating a more self-compassionate relationship with yourself today.

Do you have a loved one who is struggling with anxiety and are unsure how to help them? What anxiety feels like, and the impact it can have on a relationship is different for everyone. How best to support someone struggling with anxiety depends on the individual, but there are general ways you can help your loved one.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a condition in which individuals experience obsessive thoughts that are intrusive in nature.  They can lead to the urge to perform repetitive and compulsive behaviors. We often hear about certain types of OCD — such as the fear of germs and contamination, or the need for everything to be in perfect symmetry — but these are just a couple of the vast subtypes of OCD.

Living with anxiety can cause physical and emotional discomfort. The combination of uncontrollable thoughts, intense worry, and physical symptoms — like a fast heartbeat or dizziness — can create even more stress for those struggling with anxiety disorders. If you have experienced anxiety for any length of time, it can be hard to remember a period when you were not consumed by it. You may want to run away from the feelings it produces and pretend as though it does not exist. Although running away from the discomfort of anxiety may seem like the best solution, it is what causes anxiety to continue. Remember that whatever we resist persists. To free yourself from the grips of anxiety, you must lean into the discomfort instead of resisting it. Although this may sound scary, embracing the feelings we are experiencing teaches us that they cannot hurt us. How do you lean in when you want to lean out?

Learning to create balance in your life can be overwhelming, and you may find yourself getting stuck during the process. It may feel like you are constantly trying to get a sense of balance and simplicity into your life, yet never fully achieving it.

How does change affect you? Does it give you a sense of excitement, wonder, and curiosity? Or does it cause anxiety and dread? For most people, uncertainty breeds a sense of discomfort and can lead to feelings of fear and doubt. Although it can be uncomfortable, uncertainty is a constant in life, and there are ways you can feel safe while facing it.

A binge eating disorder is a complex disorder with a number of mental and physical detriments. However, despite the hurdles that it can present, binge eating disorders are common and can affect anyone. While one’s eating habits may be the main focus of one’s concern when coping with the various effects these disorders can present each day, binge eating still has its roots in complex psychological needs that are just as important to address as one’s dieting habits.

You have probably had a blackout if you have ever had to ask yourself, "What happened last night?" after drinking or trying to put the night together with a hazy recall.

Long-term alcohol usage and binge drinking can cause long-term deficits and effects on brain function similar to malnutrition. Binge drinkers or heavy drinkers may neglect their health and make poor dietary choices such as not eating enough or only eating foods low in nutritional value. This can cause Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, also known as “wet brain.”