Tag: Health

Daily Habits for Mental Wellness as a Christian – PT. 1

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Hey, hey, everybody! This is Q’Zion, and welcome to The Joys and Trials of a Christian Teen.

There are so many aspects to being healthy . . . not just how much exercise you get or how healthy you eat. Are those things important? Absolutely! But a healthy body is not the only factor of a healthy spirit. That’s where mental wellness comes in. While this is a major topic on my blog, I realized that I’ve never directed a post about positive mental habits for fellow Christians. But that changes today.

As followers of Christ, there are so many ways to please God. And one thing that I know God wants is for us to be healthy–mentally, physically, and spiritually. And implementing healthy, productive habits into our daily lives to boost our mood and gain a sense of self worth is perfect for maintaining mental wellness and deepening our relationship with our Heavenly Father, in the process. Today, I will be listing a few ways that we can do so, with a scripture representing each point. So without further ado, let’s get started!

Practice Gratitude in all Circumstances

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

– 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

For me, showing gratitude as a Christian is not simply just being thankful. It’s showing appreciation–through our actions, thoughts, and words–that God has loved us enough to bless us with salvation (eternal life) and all the other people and blessings that put the icing on the cake. While anyone can practice gratitude, it’s even more critical that we practice this lifestyle as followers of Christ.

By acknowledging the things that we are blessed to have, even in the moments where everything isn’t going our way or we don’t feel our best, we can build on our relationship with God as we give Him glory for all that He’s blessed us with. And the best part is, when we show God that we are thankful, He can (and will) bless us with even more than what we have now. What an amazing Father we serve!

Communicate with God through Prayer

This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.

– 1 John 5:14-15

Praying should be a no-brainer for all followers of Christ. Some people say that they are happier when they spend time with their family and friends. And while our loved ones are all wonderful gifts from God, it’s important that we take time everyday to communicate with the Lord, as well, with the power of prayer.

One of the most common questions that I see about prayer is simply “How do you pray?” Well, the simplest answer to that is have a conversation with God. That could be in the form of thanking Him (another great way to express our gratitude), asking Him for what we need, asking for forgiveness, and even using memorized scriptures to strengthen our conversations. Praying doesn’t have to be difficult, in fact. Even “Thank you, Lord” is a prayer.

Instead of thinking of praying as a daunting task (particularly for new Christians) think of it like this: God has given us the gift of being able to speak to Him whenever we’d like. We can get to know more about Him and better our spiritual and mental wellness while doing so. And when we decide to take that opportunity, we are taking a huge step towards becoming the best people that we can be; both as people and most importantly, God’s children.

Get Your Exercise

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

– 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Although they are most often separated as two different topics, our physical and mental health are more connected than some may realize. For example, if you eat an apple everyday, you will most likely have lower hormone fluctuations (meaning less mood swings) and a boosted mood. While on the other hand, too much stress can suppress one’s immune system and make them more susceptible to diseases.

Our bodies are yet another blessing from the Lord. And the functions of our bodies that seem as simple as walking and breathing are miracles. And because our bodies are such gifts, we’ve got to do what we can to keep them healthy. Exercise (preferably 30-60 minutes a day) is the perfect way to release happy hormones (therefore making you feel more relaxed and accomplished) while keeping our physical health in check. But, even if you get bored during your next jog, you can always play some of your favorite gospel tunes to add worship to your workout!

Understand Who You are In Christ

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

– John 14:27

Having a sense of confidence is something that anyone can struggle with, including God’s children. But the thing is, when we take a look into God’s Word, we notice that throughout the entire book, He is constantly telling us who we are to Him: the apple of His eye, forgiven, loved, saved, strong, made with a purpose, wonderfully made, and worthy to have a happy, eternal life.

While self confidence is something that can take time to build, we can’t help but be grateful when we receive all that God has called us to be. So whenever you need a little bit (or a lot) of encouragement, take time to study who God says you are. Because at the end of the day, that matters WAY more than what anyone else thinks/says about you.

Mental health is critical in our day to day lives, and we should all take time to make sure that we are taking time out of each day to maintain a happy, healthy, and godly state of mind. Hopefully, these simple yet life-changing habits will help you do just that. Please tell me some of your healthy habits (as a Christian) that you do to maintain mental wellness. Also, were any of these tips eye-openers for you?

Have a beautiful and blessed day, everyone! God bless you all and I’ll catch you later! Peace in! ♡

REPOST – Happy Breast Cancer Awareness Month! ♡

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Hey, everyone! This is Princess Q’Zion, and welcome to the Joys and Trials of a Christian Teen! Did you know that in 2020, 2.3 million woman were diagnosed with breast cancer? And sadly, 685,000 of these people died? Breast cancer is the most common cancer worldwide, and because of that, October is the time of year that we acknowledge this as a part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

I did a little digging, and I found this throwback that I had written last year. Considering that breast cancer is so common–and has affected so many people, including some of my family members over the years–I decided to bring it back in this quick throwback. So, if you’re wondering how can we stay prepared and protect ourselves from breast cancer, this post is for you! Let’s get started!

  1. Go to the doctor once a year (at least!) 

Calling all boys and girls, men and women! Everyone! Make sure that you take the time to go to the doctor at least once per year. If you feel any lumps anywhere on your body, especially in or near your chest, tell your parents and get yourself checked out. Although it might be scary, it’s better to get diagnosed before it’s too late and the cancer is more developed. Even if you are healthy, get checked out. It’s better to be save than sorry.

2. Eat healthy. 

One of the best things that we can do for our bodies is to make sure that we have a healthy diet. It not only can help prevent cancer, but also a long list of diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. So eat some vegetables and fruit. Just a little every day! Your body will appreciate it when you do.

3. Don’t smoke! 

Please. Please don’t smoke. It is getting more and more common for teenagers to smoke, or vape. But, even though I’ve never smoked in my life–and I don’t intend to–I want to explain to you right now that it isn’t worth it. Talk to someone who you can confide in about what you are going through. Don’t destroy your body, and love yourself!

I hope you all learned something from this post about Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and how we can prevent ourselves from contracting the common disease. If you don’t take anything else away from this post, remember that it’s important to try to live a healthy lifestyle, go to the doctor frequency, and take care of both your mind and body: keep yourself healthy! Your mind, body, and spirit will appreciate you!

Have an amazing day, everyone! God bless you all, and I’ll catch you later! Peace in! ♡

Run With Me // a summer day at the park

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Hey, y’all! It’s Q’Zion, here and welcome back to The Joys and Trials of a Christian Teen! I hope you all are enjoying the beginning of the brand new school year; I know I definitely am!

Speaking of school, one of my electives that I’m taking right now is Health Opportunities Through Physical Education, also known as HOPE: in short, it’s like P.E., except it goes a bit more in depth with how we can set goals to benefit our physical, mental, social, and academic health.

This week, we have to submit this fitness assessment, where we do a variety of exercises to test our physical endurance, strength, and stamina. One of the largest parts of the assessment was the 1 mile walk/run. Me and Goodmommy decided to get the job done by visiting a local park for the first time.

I’ve got to admit that before I began taking the HOPE course, it had been a long time since I’ve actually went outside and had a good run; probably too long, in fact. But what I love about the course is it allows you to look at your overall health as is, and use the information that you gather from workouts like this to set goals for future improvement.

Our Apple Watches were a huge help in keeping track of our distance and heart rate, while we ran—and took walking breaks, in between. Seriously though; a fitness watch is truly a necessity for anyone who wants to keep track of their physical activity.

Everyone needs to get at least 30 minutes of exercise daily. And while it might take a little extra effort—there’s nothing like taking a walk in the summer breeze.

Walking in nature is such a different feeling then working out in your home. Not only is there much more space to move around, but it’s pretty hard to resist not taking a photo here and there. But can you really blame me? I’ve got to give it to Goodmommy, she found a beautiful park!

And I think one of the things that I love most about this particular location is that it has a lot of statues and other structures that can help you learn about the history of our country, such as past wars and victories. The historical aspect of the park almost makes it feel like an outdoor art museum.

This eagle statue on a podium was probably my favorite of them all. It looks so realistic; I can’t imagine how long it took to make. Plus, can we just talk about how perfect the landscaping is? Now that’s what I call ✨gorgeous ✨!

Overall, me and Goodmommy had such an awesome time together. From now on, we plan on going outside to get some fresh air a lot more often. Next time I’ll be sure to take pictures of us in action. I can already see both me and Goodmommy reaching our fitness goals pretty soon! And I can’t wait to continue to document our journey!

What’s your favorite way to exercise? Also, do you prefer to work out inside or outside? I would love to hear from you all down below in the comments!

Hav a great rest of your day or night, y’all! God bless you all, and I’ll see you next time! Laters! ✨

A warm smile is an act of kindness

Q'Zion5 Comments

There’s nothing like a nice, warm smile that can completely change the tone of someone’s day.

Smiling is a simple way to spread joy, sometimes without even knowing it. And it doesn’t require any money or commitment; you don’t even need to know a person to smile at them.

At times, it’s the simplest things that can make the biggest differences in how we live, act, and think. One smile can make someone else smile, and their smile can make another person smile. It’s a chain reaction spreads a positive result; a message of hope for the future. It doesn’t need to be big or fancy. It costs absolutely nothing in cash to brighten someone’s day with a grin.

Let me tell you a true story about a man who jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge. During investigations, officers found a note that said: “I’m going to walk to the bridge. If one person smiles at me, I will not jump.”

A smile can be all it takes to completely change someone’s life. And guess what, knowing that will make you feel good, too.

It never hurts to smile! In fact, here are just a few reasons why we should SMILE every day. ☺️

Smiling helps us stay positive — When we show off our pearly whites, it helps us to focus on the positive side of any situation. It’s tough to be sad when we have a smile on our face. It automatically decreases stress hormones and releases a chemical called endorphins to make us feel happier.

Smiling is contagious — One of the best parts of a smile is that it’s contagious–when we see a bright grin, we can’t help but replicate the smile on our own face.

Smiling is good for our hearts — Just like laughing, smiling is known to reduce our chances of contracting heart disease. It also helps us remain stress-free, which reduces the amount of strain on our bodies. Smiling is good for the soul, mind, and body.

Smiling is a friendly gesture — A smile is like a magnet; it attracts people to you. Not only does smiling help display our friendly personalities, but studies have shown that it also makes us look more attractive. It’s only natural to assume that someone has a nice personality when they’re smiling.

It costs absolutely nothing to smile — I think this one seriously speaks more for itself. Smiling is a free and kind thing to do. There’s no reason not to smile. If anything, it costs more not to smile than to do so. We have absolutely nothing to loose with a grin–it feels so good!

All in all, it really never hurts to smile. In fact, it does quite the opposite for us and those around us. Why stand by and wait for someone else to smile? Sure, smiles are small–but small things can be powerful.

Let’s be the ones to make a difference, today. Comment #smile in the chat to spread some love.

Have a beautiful and blessed day! Peace in! 💖