Grand Canyon hiking trips require advanced reservations and planning. Securing a permit and campsite inside the canyon ensures a successful hiking adventure.
A World Heritage Site, the Grand Canyon attracts over 4.5 million visitors each year, yet only 2% of visitors explore the park’s inner canyon trails, according to the Grand Canyon Park Profile. The U.S National Park Service maintains three corridor trails that give backcountry hikers access to the base of the Grand Canyon, which can enhance a hiker’s appreciation of this geologic wonder as well as help visitors avoid the crowds during peak season.
Obtain a Backcountry Permit for Hiking Trips in the Grand Canyon
All hikers wishing to reach the base of the canyon and camp overnight must apply for a backcountry permit, available on a first-come, first-serve basis from the Grand Canyon Backcountry Information Center. When applying for a permit, potential backcountry hikers can submit up to three itineraries, specifying the desired dates and campsites their hiking group wishes to use.
Applications are made available four months prior to the intended departure date and must be submitted by mail or fax. While a limited number of campsites are made available for walk-up reservations the day before, campsites can fill up in advance, and hikers without a valid backcountry permit will not be allowed to remain in the canyon area. Permits should be in possession of the trip leader at all times and are subject to review by rangers on duty.
Potential hikers seeking more detail should consult the Grand Canyon Backcountry Trip Planner, an annual publication by National Park Service freely available to the public.
Campgrounds Inside Grand Canyon National Park
Backcountry travelers hoping to hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back should plan on spending at least one night on the canyon floor. Bright Angel Campground, located near the junction of the Bright Angel and South Kaibab Trails, is a convenient site for groups entering and exiting the canyon using the corridor trails of the South Rim. Nestled among cottonwood trees and adjacent to Bright Angel Creek, campers may find themselves sharing their campsite with local wildlife, taking advantage of the shade and freshwater. Campers also have access to flush toilets and drinking water and are within walking distance of the canteen and ranger activities at Phantom Ranch.
Hikers descending from the north rim, or those planning rim-to-rim hikes, will find the facilities at Cottonwood Campground, along the North Kaibab Trail, an ideal resting stop. Indian Gardens Campsite, the third campsite located along a corridor trail, is located almost halfway down the Bright Angel Trail. Hikers looking to break their ascent into two days may want to consider booking a night in this wooded campground in addition to Bright Angel campground.
Arranging Transportation to and From the Grand Canyon Trailheads
During peak season, the South Kaibab trailhead parking lot is closed to private vehicles. Hikers can take the Hikers Express shuttle bus from either the Bright Angel Lodge or the Backcountry Information Station directly to the trailhead. Shuttles depart as early as 4:00 am in the summer months and as early as 6:00 am in winter. Backpackers planning on returning via the Bright Angel Trail can take advantage of the shuttle by leaving their vehicle parked in the Backcountry Information Center parking lot, a mere block away from the Bright Angel Trailhead.
The Trans-Canyon Shuttle runs between the north and south rims once daily and is the only means of public transportation available to those planning a rim-to-rim hike.
Hiking to the base of the Grand Canyon can be a challenging and rewarding experience. By taking the necessary precautions and arranging accommodation and transportation in advance, backcountry hikers can ensure that the memories they create will be those of exhilaration and triumph instead of the panic and fear that can strike unprepared backpackers.
Getting the straight skinny on sensible long-term weight loss, from risk factors to healthy dieting and how much exercise is necessary.
The body needs fat for warmth, shock absorption, and just-in-case energy. Losing as little as 5 to 10 percent of body weight can improve health outcomes. Goals need to be realistic and change consistently over time to achieve results.
The Risk Factors for Being Overweight Include Environment
The amount of fat storage and areas of the body affected may be determined by genetics. Family history also plays a role in learned patterns of eating behavior, as do culture and economic status. Older age goes along with reduced activity for most overweight individuals, who may have established sedentary lifestyles as children.
A fast-paced society pressures people to drive around the block and creates excuses to overindulge in snacks high in fat, salt, and sugar instead of cooking more nutritious meals. Insufficient sleep is associated with weight gain, as are some medications that stimulate the appetite. Quitting smoking improves a person’s sense of taste and smell, requiring vigilance to avoid weight gain.
One-Third of Adult Americans are Obese
That translates to 72 million people in the United States, according to The Obesity Society. Body mass index is a commonly used criterion to determine overweight and obesity by calculating body weight in relation to height in metric measurements. Weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared is the BMI formula; those for whom math is a challenge can use an online calculator. The World Health Organization defines a BMI between 25 and 29.9 as overweight, between 30 and 39.9 as obese, and a BMI over 40 as morbidly obese.
Elevated BMI is Associated With Chronic Health Conditions
Where fat is carried is important. Visceral fat or belly fat consists of adipose deposits in and between the abdominal organs. Visceral fat cells tend to be large, secrete chemicals, and proliferate rapidly. Belly fat poses a greater risk to health than the kind that can be pinched, such as fat deposited under the skin around the waist.
Increased belly fat and high BMI are associated with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, coronary artery disease, stroke, sleep apnea, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, infertility, pregnancy complications, and some types of cancer.
Excess Calories Produce Fat
It takes 3,500 calories to gain 1 lb. of fat. That means dropping only 250 calories a day can affect a weight loss of half a pound a week. Losing one pound a week can be accomplished by taking in 500 calories less per day. Keeping a food diary may help pinpoint high-calorie foods like sodas and chips that dieters can exchange for healthier water, low-fat proteins, high fiber vegetables, fruit, or whole grains.
Adding exercise while reducing calories helps to preserve muscle mass. Birn suggests a minimum of two and a half hours per week of moderate exercises, such as walking, or 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity per week.
Positive Coping Mechanisms Aid Weight Loss
Healthy ways to manage stress may not come naturally to someone fighting the stigma of obesity in society. Cultivation of a social network or support group and regular monitoring increase motivation. Educating others helps develop a positive self-image.
Millions of Americans are overweight or obese. Extra pounds are associated with health risks. Eating fewer calories and becoming more active need to become a way of life and a state of mind in order to achieve lasting results.
When it comes to fat loss, it’s not just about finding motivation for the initial weight reduction. It’s also about maintaining motivation in the long term.
Motivation can come in many forms. What will work and won’t work is up to the preferences and personality of the person who is training; however, finding something that does work will help fitness become a part of life permanently.
Be Specific With Exercise Goals
By constantly reassessing fitness goals, there is always something to aim towards and something to achieve. Without specific goals, there is rarely a sense of achievement, and training from week to week is likely to have very little direction.
Exercise goals can include trying to achieve a set number of exercise repetitions (30 crunches in a row), aiming to improve time or distance (five-kilometer run in less than 20 minutes), a cumulative task (complete a marathon over the course of one month) – anything that conforms to the SMARTER mnemonic.
Hit the Gym With a Fitness Buddy
Training in a large group environment, such as bootcamp-style training sessions and group fitness classes, can be extremely motivating. With many people working towards a similar goal, it can be more challenging and more fun.
Even finding a training partner or personal trainer is a great way of staying on track. Being accountable to someone else may prevent the excuses setting in when time gets tough, and motivation dwindles.
Revamp the Workout Music Playlist
For the last two decades, sports psychologist Dr. Costas Karageorghis (from Britain’s Brunel University) has been researching the effect of music when it comes to sports and exercise.
Selecting workout music of a similar tempo to the exercise pace may help increase efficiency during an exercise session. Benefits may include increased endurance due to distraction, more enjoyment from training, and faster performance.
Find Some Inspiration
This is limited only by the imagination. Inspiration may be writing down a list of reasons why exercise is important. It could be several motivational pictures of people who have achieved weight loss, fit athletes, and focused sports professionals. It may be a recent photograph that changed the self-image.
Whatever method is chosen, inspiration comes down to personal reasons for training.
Exercise Should be Fun
Nobody likes to do things that aren’t fun, and that’s usually the case when it comes to exercise. Whether it’s working out at the gym, training outside, taking up an individual sport, or playing a team sport, there are many activities that will achieve fat loss and weight management.
Gym alternatives include dancing, ice skating, martial arts, rollerblading, skiing, swimming, rock climbing, and dog walking. If exercise becomes boring, it’s time to change the routine.
Acknowledge Weight Loss Achievements
It takes a lot of sweat and hard work to lose weight, so when goals are achieved, it’s important to acknowledge the effort that’s been put in.
If there is a lot of difference between the current weight and eventual goal weight, it’s a good idea to break that key goal into smaller, more achievable goals of no more than five kilograms. Plan for small rewards at each mini-goal (like a facial or massage) and a big reward for the final goal (such as a holiday or new exercise clothes and shoes).
Say goodbye to the endless amount of unhealthy diets that never last and try creating a healthy weight loss plan that really works.
With each new year, more and more individuals are trying unhealthy diets as they are desperate to lose weight. Sadly, people may find ways to lose weight quickly; however, they will most likely gain it all back once they get tired of eating the same old boring foods. It would be nice if more individuals could come to an understanding that the best ways to lose weight include creating a healthy balance in one’s daily lifestyle.
Tired of Trying to Find Ways to Lose Weight Quick Without Any Long Term Results?
In order to follow weight loss solutions that will truly last, individuals must take a deep look into how their weight has become unmanageable. For most individuals, weight gain is a result of a combination of bad habits. Lack of exercise, late-night snacks, and secret hidden candy bar stashes are just a few examples of what might be considered unhealthy habits.
Mose Effective Ways to Lose Weight Include Creating a Healthy Balance to One’s Life
Once an individual understands the combination of bad habits that have been causing their weight gain, the person can create a plan to change those habits and replace them with a new and refreshed healthy routine.
Create a Weight Loss Solutions Goal Sheet
Individuals should try creating a “Weight Loss Solutions Goal Sheet” that can be used for motivation. This sheet should consist of their unhealthy habits with a plan of new healthy ways to lose weight. The list should consist of small steps that can be easily achieved. An example would be:
* Unhealthy Habit #1: 3 Sodas per day. New Goal is to drink one soda per day for the first week, then slowly replace all soda with new healthy liquid.
* Unhealthy Habit #2: 8 P.M. Late night ice cream. New goal is to replace ice cream with fat-free frozen yogurt and eat it by 6 pm.
* Unhealthy Habit #3: Lack of exercise. New goal is to walk a half-mile for the first week and slowly increase walk each week until satisfied with the distance.
Healthy Ways to Lose Weight for the Long Term
The one thing that causes individuals to give up so easily when trying to lose weight is overdoing it and trying to change overnight. This is why the best ways to lose weight include incorporating a lifestyle change in small, easily achievable steps.
Overall, the best ways to lose weight include creating a healthy balance in one’s lifestyle. However, it’s never easy to change overnight, and a new lifestyle is best achieved by creating a plan to change in small steps. So, this year individuals should not allow themselves to get lost in another unhealthy diet that will eventually subside. Instead, they should choose to make a lifestyle change that isn’t so out of reach.
How you store your wine can have a direct impact on its shelf life. This post features proper wine storage tips to improve your wine's shelf life.The following is a guest post from Firstleaf wine membership club. This post is not sponsored, however they did send me a bottle of their wine to try.
The special occasion — a new job, an anniversary, a new addition to the family — is finally here. You’ve been saving a bottle of wine just for this. Maybe you got it at a long ago winery visit. Maybe it’s a bottle you’ve been saving from the day of your wedding.
Now it’s time to finally open it. But wait! The cork has dropped into the wine! Or the liquid looks grainy and separated. Or has an off smell. What happened? Suddenly all the good vibes from the special day are gone.
Unfortunately, improper wine storage can lead to unhappy moments like these. The wine subscription service Firstleaf has put together a guide to make sure this never happens to you.
How to Build Wine Storage covers everything you need to know about keeping wine for longer than a few weeks.
The science behind wine storage
An overview of the main types
How to build your own
Why Is It So Important To Store Wine Correctly?
The flavor of wine is actually quite delicate. Even a few minutes in a hot car trunk could ruin it. But if you store wine properly, it will not only stay delicious, it will develop deeper flavor that you can enjoy when you drink it.
It’s okay to keep wine on the kitchen counter if you plan to drink it in the next few weeks, but any wine you plan on storing for more than six months requires some sort of refrigeration, or naturally cooled location like a basement. Wine must be kept close to 55 degrees Fahrenheit for long-term storage, and most of our homes are a lot warmer than that!
A few other things to know:
Avoid direct sunlight, which can quickly heat the wine up even on cool days
Keep the wine horizontal. This keeps the cork moist. If the cork dries out it shrinks and may drop into the wine.
A wine rack goes in your kitchen or bar area. It has space for 10-15 bottles to lay horizontally. A wine rack is for short-term storage of wine you plan to drink in the next few months. Wine racks must be hidden away from direct sunlight, and shouldn’t be kept next to anything that gets lot, like the stove or your toaster.
Wine Refrigerators
A wine refrigerator is the simplest option for long-term storage of wine. These appliances are designed especially for wine and will hold a certain number of bottles. They keep the wine at the proper temperature and humidity to ensure quality.
Wine Cellars
Traditionally wine was kept in underground cellars, which stayed cool year-round. But many of us live in homes without basements — or if we have them, we heat them. So a modern wine cellar is usually a room that is build especially for storing wine, with custom heating and cooling elements.
How to Build Your Own
There are a few interesting options for DIY wine storage, especially racks. They make a good beginning woodworking project. See Firstleaf’s guide for more details.
Feeling famished can dash a diet. Here are some quick tricks on how to hold off hunger pangs. Stick to the diet, lose weight by minimizing feelings of hunger.
Hunger pangs can demolish a diet.
What is perceived as hunger is often really something else - boredom, worry, stress - that masquerades as hunger, so eating is satisfying feelings rather than true hunger
If the hunger is real, its strength is often overestimated, leading to excessive eating at the next meal.
Either way, the result is excess calories that the body doesn’t really need. So here are some strategies to help stay on a diet, whether the hunger is phony or foody!
Time Factors: When to Eat
“Studies have suggested that eating patterns, which describe eating frequency, the temporal distribution of eating events across the day…may be related to obesity,” according to a group of scientists writing in the American Journal of Epidemiology.
In other words, when you eat is often more important than how much you eat.
Graze - the study quoted above found that people who eat more frequently during the day are less likely to be obese. Eating four or more times a day was the key. The authors didn't say just what their subjects were eating - but give the grazing strategy a boost by eating nutritious snacks. Healthy snacks such as fruits, nuts, and crisp fresh veggies will be the best bet.
Eat Breakfast - The same study found that folks who skip breakfast are almost five times as likely to be obese as those who report eating breakfast.
Eat Early - Breakfast turned out to be important in another study, which found that middle-aged people who had most of their food intake in the morning and less in the afternoon and evening showed less weight gain. The optimal eating pattern appears to involve a hearty breakfast, moderate lunch, light supper, and healthy evening snacks.
“I don’t have time for breakfast” is a common excuse. Got the willpower to be on a diet? Get the willpower to make time for breakfast. Breakfast is important. There are light, fast and healthy alternatives that will kill hunger pangs for hours.
Food Factors: What to Eat
Fad diets come and go, and there is always one magic food or other being touted as “the answer,” but some solid dietary principles are gradually gaining ground.
Fiber - Fiber fills the tummy without adding a lot of calories. That's why Canada's Food Guide (and the Dietary Guide for Americans) puts so much stress on whole-grain foods, which contain a great deal of fiber. A breakfast of yogurt with fiber or whole-grain cereal is a great start to the day.
Fruit - Dr. Barbara Rolls, author of The Volumetrics Eating Plan: Techniques and Recipes for Feeling Full on Fewer Calories, says that fruits high in moisture (such as grapes or oranges) have a low energy density – a lot of volumes containing relatively few calories. They contribute to feelings of fullness. So top that granola with some grapes or mandarin slices and get the best of both fiber and fruit.
Protein - Dr. Rolls points out that protein-rich foods have staying power to keep you from feeling hungry. Nibble on cheese and nuts.
There is nothing new in this. It’s a fact. It’s simple.
To stay healthy and keep the weight down, follow these three basic food factors and take advantage of what science has proven (and what Mother always knew): eat a healthy breakfast.
Is it time for you to go pro as a blogger my bloggy friend? Perhaps! In this episode, I’m sharing my key indicators to look out for that will tell you when it’s time to take the leap from hobby blogging to professional blogging.
One of the questions I’m frequently asked is when it’s time to take the leap from hobby blogging to professional blogging. Although this answer is different for everyone, I thought I’d share my key indicators that it’s time to jump off the hobby blogger train and into the glorious world of professional blogging.
You have more than a love for writing.
When you go from enjoying the act of writing to living it, breathing it, not being able to imagine a day without it, you’ve found that sexy, passionate kind of love that tells you this is something real. Perhaps you and writing started dating casually; suddenly, everything in your life is giving you reasons to write more. So you bump it up to seeing each other on the regular. Before you know it, you can’t stop. You don’t want to do anything else but write. You’ve totally found the one and you can’t go back.
You catch yourself making a plan.
You used to post on your blog when the urge struck, but for some reason you sat down and created an editorial calendar in Excel. You started thinking about what topics would get your readers attention, and you even pondered what the best headlines were for clickability.
You’re making enough money from your blog to quit your day job.
Seriously? If you’re already making enough to pay the bills, why are you still working that pesky 9-to-5? It’s quite possible that you could just do this full time — and perhaps make even more money!
You have to claim blogging income on your taxes.
When you start making serious money and accountants have to get involved, you’re a pro, dude! Just make sure you don’t blow this chance to work for yourself doing what you love — be smart about bookkeeping.
OK, this might not mean it’s time to go pro, but a viral post could be the perfect catalyst to shift into being a pro blogger. You know that saying, strike while the iron is hot? Well, do that!
You ooze expertise.
What happens when you become an expert on something and start posting a bunch about what you know? You’ve found your niche, my bloggy friend. Good for you! If people are picking up all that knowledge you’re laying down, then I think you might be flirting with professional blogger status.
Ideas flutter from your brain like migrating monarchs.
Even though it might not seem like it, the fact that your mind just keeps churning out blog ideas is HUGE! Some of the best professional bloggers can go into any situation and come out with one if not five different blog post ideas.
Self-starting is no problem.
As a professional blogger you have no real boss telling you what to do. Your only boss is you. You have to have the self-discipline to create a schedule and then stick to it — or your readers will tire of your inconsistency and head over to some other blog.
You’re good at interacting with your readers and other bloggers.
The more you engage with your community, the more traffic you’ll drive to your blog. Period.
Words like branding, marketing and reach are in your vocabulary.
When you start treating your blog like a business, you’ve definitely gone pro. Before you know it you’ll be creating spreadsheets of income and expenses, buildings lists of potential sponsors and reviews you want to pitch, thinking of guest post ideas for other blogs, and even having meetings with people to develop your blog into a household name.
Obviously, this is by no means a complete list of indicators that it’s time to take the leap from hobby to professional blogging — but these items scream pro to me.
I once saw bloggers as one of two people: They were either geeks hiding behind a computer writing desperate prose and sending them out to the abyss in search of other life forms or they were stay-at-home moms and ex-journalists begging for sponsorships and free products to review while slaving away at their computers hoping to get fame larger than a Kardashian’s rear end. Regardless of why they were blogging, I saw all bloggers as self-promoters; free spirits; Jacks-of-all-subjects, masters of none.
Since becoming a professional blogger myself, I know that anyone can be a blogger, many are seeking some kind of income from this trade and the lucky ones do make money from it…
I’ve spent an entire week at a computer only to find that I made a paltry $50 and that more than half of that was blown on large iced coffees to keep me awake long enough to keep writing. I’ve sent copies of my posts to “traditional” media outlets hoping they would find my writing amusing enough to give me a decent paycheck and although some did the gigs didn’t last long. I have even accepted assignments about “personal care” products and naughty conventions that made my mother’s Baptist skin crawl so that I could pay a bill. I’ve tweeted, I’ve facebooked, I’ve pinned, I’ve begged for shares and likes and even bribed a few folks to repost some of my posts – I’m not proud of that last one, but one thing has remained:
I wouldn’t trade any of this! Why? Because I love it! Blogging allows me to be myself with all of my quirks, and passion for writing and my ADD and… Squirrel! Hmm, I wonder what will be on the next episode of Blacklist. I think I could really use some more sequins on this shirt I’m wearing but I’m also kind of craving pizza right now. Oh wait! Blogging! Let’s get back to discussing that…
The truth is I am one of those pesky ex-journalists I spoke of earlier. After two magazine internships I was suddenly a newlywed, unemployed graduate with a journalism degree unsure of where my path would take me. Unwilling to accept that my career as a writer was over before it officially began and definitely not willing to move in with my new husband to my parent’s house I stumbled into a part time blogging job and suddenly I was the pot calling the kettle black. The profession that was once a punch line in jokes was now my profession!
Now, I was making some money that was nothing to sneeze at, but still not earning enough to completely abandon my 9 to 5 job office temp job I had taken to make ends meet. I don’t know about you guys but it really frustrates me having to wear pants every day and I prefer blogging from home in my pajamas.
Luckily, at the beginning of 2014 I found the book “The Art of Freelance Blogging” and had an epiphany. Since I couldn’t earn enough money with my own blogs I figured why not start blogging for others? Before I knew it my first client landed in my lap. It was a travel agent that had a blog but didn’t have time to write it and I had the time and the need for income.
Some of my other blogging clients I’ve landed have included real estate agents, shrinks- er I mean psychologists, a golf company and a diamonds company. I’ve covered topics such as how to prepare for the best sex on your honeymoon, how to stage your home to sell it for more money, even what should be in your golf bag.
Between you and me – I know NOTHING about most of these subjects. It’ll be our little secret right? I research the topic and then write a post and voila- money in the bank! It’s like high school- memorize, regurgitate, forget! Only instead of trying to get an A on the final, I’m trying to pay my rent.
In my spare time I still work on my personal blogs but the important thing is I’m making money doing something I love. In fact by the time you read this I will have left my 9 to 5 office job to focus on writing full time!
Do you want to be a professional blogger too? If so, I’d like to invite you to join me on my journey. You’ll see the highs, the lows, the good and bad, the freebies and the fun of this exciting adventure. Maybe together we can both figure out ways to get rich using our gifts of writing these web log thingies that no one ever thought would last. So, let’s throw some words on a screen and send them out into the abyss in search of life forms, or at least making a living.
One thing not enough people talk about is the mental health of bloggers. In this episode, I’m discussing it along with what I do to cope.
The Mental Health of Bloggers
Today, I want to talk about the mental health of bloggers, and the importance of staying mentally and emotionally healthy. I want to cover a few things related to this topic because it’s so very important to me.
Interestingly enough, my own mental health is why there was a gap in my podcasting release schedule. Even though I’m new to the game, I had planned to release a new episode every week for 10 full weeks, at least in this first season of my show.
But, last week, I just could not bring myself to record.
Due to some personal issues, I simply made the tough decision to not even try and record. I now understand why so many podcasters tell people that if they’re going to start their own podcast they need to record several episodes ahead of time.
This way if they wake up one day and don’t feel like recording or they can’t record for some reason, they still have something to release on their scheduled day. Even though I did a lot of research and I had read that little nugget of wisdom from many experts that I admire, I was naive in believing that I could commit and just record once a week anyway.
How hard can it be to record and release a single episode I thought?
Well, when you’re dealing with anxiety and situations beyond your control, and there’s a pandemic going on, yeah….it can be really hard to record and release weekly.
Needless to say, I will be doing things differently by the time season two rolls around. But I digress. Let’s get back to the subject at hand, shall we?
The month of May has been designated Mental Health Awareness Month. According to Wikipedia, “Mental Health Awareness Month began in the United States in 1949 by the Mental Health America organization (then known as the National Association for Mental Health)…Its purpose is to raise awareness and educate the public about: mental illnesses, such as the 18.1% of Americans who suffer from depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder; the realities of living with these conditions; and strategies for attaining mental health and wellness. It also aims to draw attention to suicide, which can be precipitated by some mental illnesses. Additionally, Mental Health Awareness Month strives to reduce the stigma (negative attitudes and misconceptions) that surrounds mental illnesses. ”
My father committed suicide in December 2016 – just two days after Christmas. I don’t tell you this because I want pity, I tell you this so you can understand taking care of our mental health is so important to me.
My dad struggled with mental health problems all of his life, and many of the issues that plagued him, I see in myself. Witnessing his struggles lead me to leaving home as early as I could, and committing to trying to be as positive as possible for the rest of my life, despite everything he displayed.
In the days after his passing, I doubled down on that commitment to try and be more positive, and always look for the light in life. I know how easy it can be to sink into darkness, and fall down the rabbit hole of negativity…
And, I gotta tell you… being a stay at home blogger – it can be damn lonely. In fact, that loneliness, and solitude from the outside world can trigger many of my mental health woes.
Several of my bloggy friends have told me they struggle with mental health issues too. Interestingly enough, I’ve heard it said that creative people fight the most with inner demons. Depression, anxiety, feelings of low self-worth, lack of confidence – the list goes on.
Maybe you can relate.
So what can we do about it? While I’m certainly not a mental health professional and I would never claim to be, I can tell you things I’m doing to try and improve my own mental state.
What I Do When I’m Lonely
I go out and find friends. Okay, so it’s not as easy as going to the store to buy eggs, but when you put in some effort, you can find likeminded people to chat with.
The first place I look is Facebook.
There are literally thousands of Facebook groups for virtually any hobby or interest you can think of.
I love to craft so I joined a bunch of crafting groups.
I love blogging, so I’m in several blogging groups.
I love cooking so, okay…you get the idea.
What I have found in these groups, is that there are several people in them who just want someone to talk to as well.
Another place I look for bloggy friends is networking events and conferences.
I’ll be the first admit, this was easier before coronavirus. But I like to think we’ll get back to having live events soon.
I have met some of my favorite people in the whole world at live events.
The trick with these is to have some questions prepared ahead of time so you can engage with people.
And, don’t try to show off. I’ve learned the hard way that asking more about them than talking about yourself is the best way to go about meeting new people.
Finally, I look in my own backyard.
During the stay at home orders, I found solace in our neighborhood’s dog park.
I found a few women with adorable little dogs and I started looking forward to bring my mutts down to play with them every day.
It gets me away from home, and into nature. And, the conversations that ensue are enjoyable.
In a pinch, if I’m feeling really lonely, and can’t go out, I’ll call family members or friends on the phone just to chat about everything and nothing.
This image was on the top of the Google search results page for “Mental Health Awareness Month” and they had a statement that said Public Service Announcement.
I have really bad anxiety sometimes. To the point where if left unchecked, I’ll have a full-blown panic attack and be pretty much useless for several hours if not the entire day.
Lately, I’ve been obsessed with two things to help me through it.
The first is guided meditations. I love them. My favorite app for finding amazing guided meditations isInsight Timer, but I’ve also found some pretty good ones on YouTube.
The reason I used guided meditations in lieu of just trying to meditate on my own is that I have trouble with my mind wandering, and the guided meditations make it easier for me to focus on relaxing and let the world go.
When I can’t access a guided meditation for whatever reason, I’ll sit silently and just repeat the word release over and over again to myself. It may sound silly, but it was a trick I picked up I think from Brendon Burchard years ago, and in a pinch, it’s really helpful to me.
The other thing I do frequently is what I call my word vomit sessions. I open a Google Document in Chrome and I will turn on the voice typing feature and I literally just start talking about everything going on in my head.
I don’t set a timer, though some of my bloggy friends have recommended that. But, I just sit there and talk out everything I’m thinking at the moment. I don’t censor myself, and I don’t try to have any rhyme or reason. I literally just word vomit all over the document.
Within a few sentences, I already start feeling better in most cases. Other times, I’ll have to sit there for a while and just keep word vomiting until everything is released from my brain. Occasionally, I’ll re-read what I’ve written because good ideas for my business or blog posts I have to write will end up on the page. However, more often than not I will instead release it all, and then not read it again.
I keep this word vomit document on my computer and I’ve dated each entry. Who knows? Maybe one day I’ll go back and read it all and it will make for good material for my memoirs. Then again, it might sound like the ramblings of a person who doesn’t have all their crayons in the box. I’m not sure.
Other Things I Do When I’m Feeling Anxious
Meditation and word vomiting are my favorite things to do when I’m feeling anxious, but other things I do to calm myself down include, but aren’t limited to:
— Going on long walks – I call it pounding pavement. When I’m incredibly anxious and can’t stop fidgeting, sometimes I’ll throw my sneakers on and walk until it hurts. I sometimes won’t even bring my dogs. I’ll just walk and try to focus only on the scenery around me and let go of everything else. I make a point to look at everything I see and really think about it so that whatever is making me anxious is not the focus.
— Taking a long shower – I’m talking the kind where you just stand in the water and don’t even actually soap up. Have you ever done that? There is something about the hot water just flowing that soothes me. I would take more baths, but our bathtub is small and because of that, it doesn’t give me the feel I want from a bath.
— Cooking – I love to cook. But I hate doing it unless the kitchen is spotless, and my husband agrees to clean up after. When I’m feeling anxious I’ve been known to make incredibly elaborate meals just to have something to keep my mind busy, and off of whatever is making me anxious.
— Do a craft – I love working with my hands and creating something from nothing. Lately, I’ve been pretty obsessed with some Dollar Tree craft groups I found on Facebook. The members come up with some of the most creative crafts I’ve ever seen and they mainly use products from the dollar store to make them.
— Take naps – I know – this one isn’t possible for everyone, but when I’m so anxious that nothing else helps, I go take a nap. I’ve recently found a great trick for falling asleep quickly. Here’s the video that explains the trick:
What I Do When I’m Feeling Sad
One of the first things I do when I’m feeling sad is pray. Whatever you believe in doesn’t matter, but for me, praying helps me a lot. I often will begin by saying something like, “Spirits show me another way.” Or “Spirits help me transform this sadness into love.”
Often times when I’m feeling sad there is a feeling of being unloved under the surface. When this happens, I just pray to feel the love that I know deep down is in my life. I remind myself of my husband who loves me, my family and friends, my dogs, and so on and so on.
Other times, I just have to love myself and tell myself it’s safe for me to feel loved. It’s safe for me to be happy.
One thing that helps me when the sadness is just unwavering is to search for comedy videos, memes, photos, and even clips on TikTok. I keep a file on my computer called my smile file. It’s filled with silly images that make me laugh. And, when I’m in a rut, I’ve been known to open it up and go through the images and laugh until I cry.
Speaking of crying. Sometimes, when I’m feeling sad I will give myself permission to just be sad and cry it all out. I’ll go into my bedroom with a box of tissues and simply cry until I have no more tears left to give. It is often cathartic. But, while doing it, I do my best to not let my mind wander to more things to be sad about because then it becomes that much harder to come back from a downward spiral.
Many of the things I do when I’m anxious I’ll also do when I’m sad.
Another thing that helps me a lot is called Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT. It’s also commonly referred to as tapping. I’m so not good at explaining how EFT works,but you can learn more about it here. For now, the Reader’s Digest version of tapping is that you tap on pressure points to relieve stress, anxiety, sadness, etc…
I first learned about EFT from Denise Duffield-Thomas and she is incredible about transforming one’s thoughts about money. I’m sure she’ll come up on this show again soon because her trainings around money have really helped me to not be so afraid of making a living doing what I love.
One of the best resources I’ve found for tapping videos isBrad Yates on YouTube. Brad has videos on tapping through everything from anxiety to debt to unemployment to mending a broken heart. I highly recommend checking out his YouTube channel.
What Does Mental Health Have to do With Blogging?
Now, you might be wondering, what does mental health have to do with blogging? Well, if you’re like me, when you aren’t in a good headspace, you can’t be creative. Work becomes difficult. And everything just feels like you’re trying to run through mud.
Like any job, it’s hard to be a productive blogger when your mental health is suffering. Though buzzwords like self-care only became the popular thing to discuss in what feels like just the last five years or so, it really is important to take care of ourselves.
One of my favorite sayings in the whole world is “You can’t give from an empty cup.” Though I often fight it, I’ve been trying to remember and commit to this sentiment over the last several years because it’s so true.
If we are supposed to put our oxygen masks on first in a dangerous situation, it stands to reason that we must fill up our own cups first if we hope to have anything to give to others. It’s taken me a long time to realize that minding my mental health is not selfish. It’s about making sure there is enough of me to give to myself and others. It’s about making sure I’ll be here when people need me.
Other Things I Recommend for Help with Mental Health
To wrap up this episode, I want to share a few more things I recommend to help you with your own mental health journey. Some of these are things I can honestly tell you I still struggle with, but hey, I’m a work in progress.
First, get enough sleep. As adults, we should be aiming for between seven and nine hours of sleep a night. I will tell you that this has been a serious struggle for me in recent months. I’ve actually been sleeping in a broken pattern where I’ll pass out for a few hours, work, and then pass out again. I’m working on this one y’all.
Second, be mindful of what you put in your body. I’m horrible at this one, but what we eat has been proven to have a direct effect on our minds and hearts. We need to be eating a healthy, well-balanced diet to perform at our best.
Third, and this is a huge one for me is to seek counseling. I hate that the idea of therapy is still so taboo. I am proud to share that I’ve consulted with and sought help from multiple counselors or therapists. We don’t make a big deal out of going to get a physical with our primary care physicians, and we shouldn’t make a big deal out of seeing a therapist or counselor either.
I can honestly tell you, without a doubt, I would be in a much darker place today had it not been for some of the amazing mental health professionals I’ve spoken with over the years. And, there are resources for you if you can’t afford one.
When my dad passed of suicide, I couldn’t work for several months which meant that my income didn’t exist during that time. Here where I live, a nonprofit provided me with free counseling to get me back on my feet. They even helped me handle the financial blows that I dealt with as a result of being out of work.
If you take nothing else from this episode, please take care of your mental health and seek help and guidance when you need it. And don’t be ashamed if you need more help than others. I’d rather everyone go to a therapist and get help with their mental health problems than read another family member, friend, or acquaintance has taken their own life because they couldn’t cope.
It may sound cliche, but the world really does need you. You are loved. I love you. And, I want to see you succeed and thrive.
Conclusion
I hope this episode was helpful. It was meant to be inspiring and break away from the stigma that so many people feel about discussing mental health. I’ll be the first to tell you that I know I struggle with mental health issues and I’ll never shy away from seeking help for those issues.
We all deserve to be here, and we all have a mission and a purpose. But to fulfill that, we have to take care of ourselves first. Alright, that’s all I have for now my bloggy friends.
Until next time, may your page views be high, and your bounce rate be low.
Thank you so much for listening, and I’ll catch you guys next time.
Most bloggers never make money from their blogs. That’s why in this episode, I’m covering 10 ways to make money as a blogger indirectly.
10 Ways to Make Money As A Blogger
What’s up you guys?!? Famous Ashley Grant here, and today I want to talk about how to make money as a blogger. One of the common misconceptions about blogging is that you can just start one day and then make a boatload of cash. Now, believe it or not, this actually is possible. But it’s the exception and certainly not the rule! There are some new bloggers who hit the virality jackpot with their very first post and start making money right off the bat. Again though, these folks are MAJOR OUTLIERS… for the rest of us….
We have to get a little creative if we plan to make money as a blogger. And the truth is we may never make money from our blog itself. In fact, according to Blogging.org, 81% of blogs never make more than $100 directly from their blog over the blog’s lifetime. That’s why many bloggers who are making a full-time living actually are doing it indirectly.
What You Need to Know to Make Money as a Blogger
Before we completely dive in, there are a couple of things you need to know about trying to make money as a blogger. First and most importantly, is that it’s going to take work. If you plan on using your blog as a get-rich-quick scheme, then this episode definitely isn’t for you, and I recommend that you go ahead and skip it.
To Make Money as a Blogger Directly
You can add affiliate links and Google Adsense to start monetizing right away – even doing this though, you won’t make a bunch of money right out of the gate
You’ll need to figure out your niche – the bloggers that make the most money have a niche – in fact, a lack of a solid one is what has prevented me from hitting it BIG
You’ll need to add LOTS of QUALITY posts
You then need to start getting eyeballs on those posts and even that might not be enough
It might get frustrating at times because if you are like most of the bloggers I know, you’ll have days/months, maybe even years, where you’re not making as much money as you would like.
You might not make “real” money for months or even years – maybe not EVER 🙁
It has taken some bloggers years to make more than a few hundred dollars from their blogs
Pro Jon Morrow of Smart Blogger worked 80-100 hrs a week for the first several years, and even now usually puts in at least 60 hours – but he makes $100,000 a month now on his blog! I recommend you read his guide on how to make money as a blogger – HOW TO MAKE MONEY BLOGGING (FREE GUIDE FOR 2020)
If you’re smart you’ve started growing an email list — and that list means you have potential income opportunity. I’ve told you guys before, that I’m really bad about this. I don’t have an email list, even though I know I should.
Think about what product or service you could sell to your email subscribers. Whether it’s your own product or someone else’s for which you get a cut of every sale, you’ve got a chance to get paid.
Recommended reading if you want to use this method to make money as a blogger:
And again, this is not get-rich-quick. Sure, with YouTube you could go viral, and suddenly be able to make an influx of cash. But, like with blogging, this is the exception and not the rule.
If you have a strong speaking voice and think you could reach a broader audience, podcasting might be a good fit for you. While some people believe that it’s just as hard to build a podcast following as it is to build a blog following, others believe podcasting is more appealing in our fast-paced society because no one takes the time to read anymore.
As for YouTube, people love watching videos, so why not leverage that platform to make a little cash? Of course, you will need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watched hours before you can monetize with Google Adsense, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start making money right away. Product links, affiliate links, and links for your services can all be added to your description box!
You could simply read your blog posts to your viewers, tell your viewers about your blog posts, or show what you are writing about. For example, if you have a cake decorating blog you could create videos of you decorating cakes. Craft blog? Create short how-to clips. When you have enough source material, edit the clips into a full-length video that you can sell.
Recommended reading if you want to use this method to make money as a blogger:
Depending on your message and your blog’s niche, you could start making money from speaking at various engagements. Say you’ve got a knack to describing how to build the best chicken coops; you might just be able to land a speaking gig at a farming conference.
Note: In lieu of cash, some speakers are paid with tickets and hotel reservations for the conferences or expos they’re participating in. That’s as good as cash to me, baby. Am I alone in that? Tweet me at @AshleyisFamous and let me know.
Recommended reading if you want to use this method to make money as a blogger:
Develop a large enough knowledge base and you’ve got the opportunity to organize and distribute your knowledge in book form. Thanks to the joy of online publishing platforms like Kindle, Lulu and others, you don’t even need a publisher. You could also sell your book as a PDF downloadable directly from your website. Of course, you’ll use your blog to promote the books you create.
Recommended reading if you want to use this method to make money as a blogger:
5. Hosting Workshops – live and virtual / Teaching Courses
It’s been said that it takes as much effort to write a book as it does to plan and sell a course. Why not do both? Take your lessons from your book and create videos with visual elements and combine them with group coaching to walk your students through every step of what you know. Bonus points if you get an outside sponsor to help subsidize your costs. You get more bonus points if you film everything that happens at the event and then sell the digital sessions. Ah, multiple levels of income potential from one event — it’s a beautiful thing!
Recommended reading if you want to use this method to make money as a blogger:
As a blogger, you have set yourself up as an expert in your chosen field. You could become a consultant in your area of expertise. You might even look into consulting about blogging (although if you’re not making any money at it, you might want to give that potential income stream a pass until you are). Of course, some topics are more profitable than others, but if you’re interested in giving one-on-one advice there might be someone out there willing to pay you for your time.
Recommended reading if you want to use this method to make money as a blogger:
As a blogger, you’re already learning how to use Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. This is a valuable tool that many business owners are looking for. Perhaps you can manage their social media feeds for them and get paid while you do it!
Recommended reading if you want to use this method to make money as a blogger:
I’ve seen bloggers create everything from journals to planners, custom aprons to lipgloss, essential oil blends, spice kits, budgeting planners and so much more. You can easily create digital products with just your laptop and have them ready to sell as fast as you can create them. While physical products will take more time and resources, you can certainly develop those and make money too.
Recommended reading if you want to use this method to make money as a blogger:
Perhaps the skills you have learned from running your blog make you a perfect candidate for a new “real job.” Your blog might be the ideal resume. Should you choose to go back to the dark side 9-to-5 world, you could keep building your blog on the side while bringing in a steady paycheck. If that’s how you want to roll, more power to you!
What are your favorite ways to make indirect blogging income? Please tweet me at @AshleyisFamous and let me know because I’m ALWAYS looking for additional revenue streams!
10. Ghostwriting and Freelance Writing
Now, before you tell me you’re not a writer, take a look at the number of posts you’ve written on your blog. If you’ve formed coherent thoughts into complete sentences, you’re a writer my friend. Maybe not a good one, but a writer nonetheless. With the decent portfolio your blog posts comprise, you can find yourself some freelance writing gigs — becoming a ghost blogger like me or pitching magazine, newspaper and website editors to write content for their outlets with your own byline.
Recommended reading if you want to use this method to make money as a blogger:
