My holistic approach to kicking anxieties ass!

Hi my name is Meghan and it's been 1 month since my last panic attack!

These words are so joyful to me, I have severely suffered from anxiety since 2010 . I was on pills, I went to therapy, I tried so much and still couldn't cope. Living a numb life was not for me either I thrived to feel in control! When actually thinking about it I knew I had to share these tips with you guys because I know how disturbing anxiety it can be. 

These are things that assisted me but please note anxiety is different from one person to the next so do ask your doctor and see if these methods will assist you. My approach has become more holistic over the last few months and that's what has seemed to help me.

Just for a quick background on me I suffer from PTSD and social anxiety even walking in a mall would get me feeling light headed. Over the years the symptoms got worse and even attending small gatherings were daunting. Its been a nightmare really. Thankfully for the first time in ages I haven't had the numbing panic attacks, only slight heart racing but these tips usually get me grounded in a few short minutes.

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Catch up with the "ME TIME TAG"

Hello my beauts,

The last time we caught up was in 2015 by 2016 you know somethings waaaay over due. :)

How was your festive season and how has the new year treated you? I hope great, because you deserve great, know what I mean?. Today I decided why not kick start the year with a fun tag about my favorite thing ever ... me time!

Just thinking of me time gets me all smiling, I love the pampering session that renews my mind, body and soul. The zero guilt of me time. So before I ramble over and over lets get started.

What do you watch or read during me-time?

Those in the know, know I love a good book and I am basically obsessed with series. I am currently reading Lunch in Paris by Elizabeth Bard and my series obsession is a hard one but this December I found myself watching Rizzoli & Isles a whole lot.

What do you wear during me-time? 

I am all about comfort during me time yoga pants, baggy top and comfy socks. 

What are your me-time beauty products?

I'm currently in-between products (is that even a thing?) but I usually need a mixture of oils for my hair, bentonite clay mask for my face and my trusty red gel essence nail polish.

Current favorite nail polish? 

I love essence gel nail polish. A new one I recently discovered form their range is the powdery finish no make-up look.

What do you eat/drink during me-time? 

Wine oh wine and savory snacks. Listen alone time for me isn't about dieting its about indulgence. So think crackers and cream cheese, pringles chips yummmm, gherkins, cheese sarmies... more cheese and did I mention cheese.

Current favorite candle?

I don't have any, I need recommendations people! 

Do you ever have outdoor me-time? 

Yes I love taking long walks with my dogs, they are the funniest adventure freaks out there. If you follow me on snapchat you know what I mean. (meghanssilva1 on snapchat)

Would you ever go see a movie alone? 

I actually love it, I used to date a guy who wouldn't see anything with under 8 imdb scores, so I would head to the movies solo on many occasions. (yip I dated one of those kinds)

Favorite online shop? 

SEPHORA and we don't even have a sephora store here in South Africa. That place is addictive.

Anything to add? What else do you do during me-time?

I find my blog to be the epitome of me time, its like a DO NOT DISTURB sign automatically is placed on my forehead. Me time could be a variety of things, its not only the pampering that is needed but the moment to catch a breathe from the demands of life. Everyone should be a bit selfish with their me time.

So now its your turn, please answer one of these questions because I really would love to get to know you all more too. If you have any series or candle recommendations leave that below too ;)

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Must read books of the month

It goes something like this...

The weekly (South Africa) load shedding scenario, you literally without power, most times without warning and if you anything like me nearly out of battery on your laptop and have a long evening of boredom ahead. So you know what I have started doing ? I have started treating it like the universe is forcing me to have a  world off moment.

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Read this when you feeling alone (You will feel better)

This is a topic I am enlightened in if I must say so myself. The 24 year old me would be devastated by the idea of being alone. No friends? no parties? no drag racing? shoot me now I'd scream. But I have grown in heaps and bounds in the last few years and really discovered how to enjoy being alone. Whether you alone because you staying in a new place, got an extremely busy partner, introvert type or in a long distance relationship. I kinda can relate to it all. Learning to be happy and to have a sense of home within yourself really is a great gift. Something not everyone gets. I know people who cannot go a day without making a new friend to escape their own minds and boredom and to be honest I  seriously I cant judge, once upon a time I was like that too.

But that feeling of an empty void needing to be filled doesn't always have to be there. That's my goal and main reason why I chose to write and share more about my thoughts on this topic. Often times you can be surrounded by tons of people and still feel extremely lonely. Its all about being happy with being in your own company. These are my personal tried and tested ways I beat the lonely bug. 

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Read my 5 valuable lessons on long distance relationships!

If you read my insta-recap post, you would've noticed I am now in a long distance relationship. I am often against long distance anything, but Bart had a sudden immediate/ urgent trip which turned into a "I am not returning to South Africa". But instead of us ending things he had convinced me to try the long distance thing. LDR is for some people and for people like me who need affection and to feel like you still in a relationship, not so much. If you an affection loving person like me and thinking of having a long distance romance I hope my lessons can keep the spark alive or better yet read it together with your partner ;).

This is one great LDR site to check out... I wish you all the best if you embarking on this journey and I hope my experience can eliminate future stress for you two love birds. The greatest lesson is asking questions and coming up with a great game plan, how will be in contact, for how long, build trust prior to leaving. That is the key to keeping the love alive. I have more tips including some of my worst moments of being in a long distance relationship, if you curious to read that let me know!

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Motivation | learning more about self love brings me joy!

With so much going on in the world and how our generation is obsessed with outer appearances, I have made it an actual ritual in my life to keep learning and reading. Whether about staying grounded or just self love. It strikes a cord within me.

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Motivational Monday | Untethered soul lessons

There's so many important lessons one can learn in a lifetime. Some stick and some we need to learn more than once, I on the other hand love learning from others. Whether on shows like Oprahs's master class or via books like Untethered Soul and The Secret. We can learn so much if we open to it. Untethered soul by Michael Singer has a great analogy about living a balanced life being similar to sailing or actually a sailboat. Which I thought I just have to share with you guys.

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Motivational Monday!

I got a good feeling this week is going to be a good one and I hope it will be amazing for all of us. This will be just a short and sweet post with a little motivation to get you on the right path this week... hope you like it.

The best reason to start an organization is to make meaning; to create a product or service to make the world a better place. -Guy Kawasaki

~Image source: World tour stories~

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Stop acting so small

Sorry for the silence lovelies but what can I say life just happens and the next minute you look around its been a pretty minute since your last post. I'm so sorry!! Doesn't help that my internet is absurdly slow for the last few weeks and I am juggling a bunch of new ventures. But hopefully tonight I will have a very interesting post up, sharing a sneak peek of "whats in my inbox" so be sure to check back in. How was your long weekend fellow South Africans or for those on the other side of the globe how was your weekend? Share share share in the comments below. Just thought I would end this post with some lovely thought provoking words by Rumi.

" Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion" Rumi

Never forget how amazing you are. Happy Tuesday!!

~Image Via~

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Thank you for the love!

I have to say a huge THANK YOU to everyone of you for the sweet messages. It really made me feel so very special. I was browsing around on instagram when I saw this quote, which I feel is perfect for starting a brand new week and for me a new age. Life is way to short to not spend as much of your time surrounded and filled with love. Be wise about who you surround yourself with and how you spend your valuable time. Anyway with a crazy birthday weekend behind me, I am pretty worn out so I am about to enjoy a little quiet relaxation session. I hope you have a beautiful start to the week.    

"Let no one enter your inner kingdom unless they come with love."

P.s. Happy Mothers day to all the moms for yesterday I hope you got spoiled with tons of love!


~Image credit: Cupcakes and cashmere~

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Happy Birthday to meeee!

I swear I had an awesome post prepared but midday yesterday I got a wonderful champagne filled surprise and the day and night kinda was filled with birthday celebrations. But I do have a very "citrusy" post ready which will be posted tomorrow. So since I am feeling very inspired, thrilled and just excited for what's to come I just thought I would share a quote I got sent for my birthday from a dear friend. I hope it just brings a smile to your dial. Trust me you deserve to smile all day everyday!

The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate - Oprah Winfrey

xo

~Image credit: The fancy pants report~

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Why do women lose themselves more in a relationship?

So if you read the title and thought I'll be giving you tons of answers you wrong, i'm sorry, instead I will tell you a bit about my experience and when I say experience I mean how I feel I lost myself haha. Let me start at the beginning for my very new readers. I took some time (a verrrrrrry long time) from dating I loved being single but then I met a wonderful man and just like that I felt like I was totally off the wagon. So while having a drink with a very good mate, we started chatting about why on earth this happened to me. A strong, independent women who had molded her life exactly how she wanted it to be. 

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8 Reasons being different rocks

Way to often I see people try to fit a mold. You see hair trends come in and we all leap out our seats to try it, even though we know from experience that mohawk look will never suit us. We are on a constant journey to fit in. So this is my statement today STOP TRYING TO FIT IN. Being different is absolutely awesome. You might be wondering why I chose 8 reasons instead of 10 or 5 well 8 is my lucky number. So here you have is y 10 8 reasons being different rocks...

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Motivational Monday

With an amazing weekend behind me I feel ready for the week ahead. Something we all tend to forget is to appreciate and focus on the good moments. Humans by nature focus more on the bad which is why today affirmations is...

Today I chose to focus on the positive, today I chose to let go of the bad things that may happen. I am the owner of my own focus and I chose to focus on what is good.

Hope you have a gorgeous week ahead.

~Image credit: World tour stories~

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Motivational Monday

Hey lovelies, so sorry for the... (insert cricket noises) silence this past week. It was a crazy busy one. To be very honest I loved being busy, have you ever noticed how powerful you feel if you are doing things to benefit your future? There's this burst of confidence that comes over you and boy oh boy I LOVE IT. 

How was your weekend? Care to share? This weeks motivation is...

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Once we believe in ourselves

Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight or any experience that reveals the human spirit. - E.E. Cummings

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Motivational Mondays

There comes a time in ones life where perhaps you start realizing things need to change. Things need to grow and start moving forward. Ever felt that way? I use to have this reoccurring dream. I get into a car and I can not get out of second gear. I am not a dream analyst but it always felt like the universe was saying Meghan you are stuck. We all know in order to grow one has to change and more often than not people are to afraid to admit that whatever they have been doing to that point has been "wrong" or not working and without that acknowledgment we can never learn and grow. 

So this is my motivation for you and even myself for today..

You are in control of your own destiny. Whatever is not working or improving your life YOU can change it.

Sending you tons of good vibes for the week ahead.

~Image credit: Cupcakes and cashmere~

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2013 its a wrap

~In my mind im here~

2013 was the year I decided to fully indulge in blogging. It has also been a year where the beginning and ending changed so much it was unrecognizable. Its been a pretty challenging 4 mnths to say the least and my posts are proof of that so as you can imagine I am so ready for a fresh start. In the words of Khloe Kardashian " I am excited for this year to be over with." whooo oooh

With the new year ahead I feel a sense of calm. Knowing that I get to create a whole new year ahead of me. 

With all that said for you my loves who have supported me in ways I might never be able to repay.I wish that 2014 brings you an abundance of love, joy, peace, good health and prosperity. 

The blog will be back to normal on the 6 January 2013... 

Love & Light

Till then...

~Image Credit: World tour stories~

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Motivational Mondays

Wow so its already December?? this year flew... right? Thankfully my mini break rejuvenated me just in time to accomplish a few more things before 2013 comes to an end. I hope you guys are doing a few things to keep you inspired, rejuvenated and to give you that extra steam you need to finish the year on a great note. If not, here's some motivation to get your week started right.

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Preserve your pride

This post was inspired by one question one of my favorite youtube guru's and her boyfriend answered on relationships. Lets start this by saying women should preserve their pride when it comes to dating and life in general. Let me just say had this post been written before my 2 year hiatus from dating it would of been so different. I was bouncing from one long relationship to another with the constant feeling that I wasn't complete if I wasn't in a "healthy" relationship so I'd waste tons of times with guys who really I should have dumped a year before the actual breakup.

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