stress – mayah's site

anxiety

When I tell you, I’m so excited to be making this post, I think excited is an understatement. Last school year, I really struggled with anxiety. I was super anxious, and really my mental health was not the best. At the beginning of 2018, I was not doing that great. I remember debating about going to therapy with one of my friends and I got to the point where I was like that’s really not for em. But after addressing how much I was crying (I would say like three+ times a week) and how I felt overall, I decided I needed to do something. So since therapy just wasn’t for me, I turned to yoga and meditation. I was determined to get closer to myself and to God.

I’ll say this, I’ve been doing yoga and meditating on a regular basis for years now. But what I did was incorporate it into my daily activities. Before I feel it was more of an “i’m already stress i need to release it”, to more of a preventive measure. Like I go to yoga and meditate to continue being in my space and as a process of releasing.

It was life changing, therefore it was uncomfortable. I have changed the way I viewed relationships, love and life in general. I think all of these changes have been positive. I realized how far I’ve come this summer, when I was working at a summer camp. I was discussing with one of my coworkers about anxiety and I thought- “I haven’t had an anxiety attack in months.” I was nervous to go back to school because my mental health and emotional well being were doing so much better, but I realized that I would just have to implement what I learned into my life at college.

This journey has been full of lessons, but the most important one I’ve learned is I have to put myself first. My second favorite lesson was that I need to be where my feet are. Within the last two days, I’ve had a couple of small anxiety attacks (which were not nearly as bad as they used to be). I decided I needed to go to bed earlier, do some yoga and eat a yummy dinner. I almost instantly felt better. I was so proud of myself and I truly feel I’m learning how to take care of myself.

It’s important to take care of yourself, constantly. Doing so will change your life. Trust me, I’ve done it.

hair care 101

hello! my name is mayah and I want to help you with your hair!

I started doing my hair myself about four years ago, and it’s been one of the best decisions I’ve made! I went natural because my hair was limp and damaged from eczema in my scalp and stress. My hair was breaking off and my dermatologist told me the only solution was to start washing my hair weekly. So I pretty much had to go natural, at least on my off weeks (at that time I was getting my hair pressed bimonthly). Eventually, I fell in love with doing my hair and haven’t looked back since. I am so proud of the progress I’ve made on my hair, I want to share my tips and help you! I have a hair section on my blog, but I want this subcategory to be specific to giving information about the science of black hair and how to grow it!

¡Buena suerte!

friends and space

having space is something that has always been really important to me. growing up, i was always with my sister but we both had the space to be our own people. when i got to college, i struggled with maintaining my space. i was scared and alone, so i clung to others whom felt the same (to be frank it’s how all college freshman feel). Throughout this year, I’ve changed. I’ve grown more and more independent and have seen changes in the types of relationships I possess. I’ve realized that space is central for me. I need space to do my studying, meditation and yoga. I need space to breathe and destress. I need my space. But I have realized that by having this space, my friendships have completely changed. I don’t have any really close friends. By this I mean- I don’t have anyone I share everything with (or vice versa). I have friendships, where it’s good conversation and hanging out, but it’s nothing close. This is something I struggled with a lot. I mean everyone wants friends. But I never wanted friends bad enough to sacrifice my space. So it’s distanced relationships and I’m overall fine with that. I’m writing this post partially to get out thoughts that have been on my mind, but in part to discuss something that quiet frankly is taboo. It’s fine to not have a best friend. It’s fine to not have someone to always hang out with. It’s fine to be alone. It’s healthy to be alone.