Shot by Jordan Blake

How to Take Care of Yourself When You’re Feeling Overwhelmed

When you’re starting to feel overwhelmed, remember that you can always create a self-care plan. Self-care plans are personal, which can be just the thing for when things feel like too much. Try some of these tips when you’re feeling overwhelmed:

Take a deep breath and step away. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or anxious, a quick way to begin to alleviate those feelings is by doing breathing exercises. If the thing that’s overwhelming you is in front of you, try taking a step away from it to create some separation between you and whatever is making you feel this way. Deep breathing exercises are a great way to promote relaxation and lower your stress response. 

Create a “no” list. Protecting your time and space can help give you a sense of control over your schedule. If you don’t want to do something or have been dreading that virtual happy hour, don’t feel like you have to go. Replace the activities you don’t want to do with something that you’ll enjoy. Healthy boundaries are crucial for your wellbeing!

Be kind to yourself. Remember that feeling overwhelmed is OK, especially now. It also helps to remember that feeling overwhelmed doesn’t have to last. Give yourself some grace – if you don’t get to that chore or have to ask for an extension at work, you can. Your mental health should be a top priority.

Ask for help from a loved one. Your social support network is there for you to lean on if you need to vent or talk things through. Reach out to a friend for a virtual chat or pick up the phone and call a family member.

Write it out. Writing down why you feel overwhelmed or anxious is another great way to help alleviate those feelings. It helps to do this unstructured – having a written stream of consciousness allows you to express yourself freely and getting those thoughts out of your head will be a relief.

via  Mental Health First Aid (MHFA)

Caroline Manya

When You're Feeling Unworthy

In this week's podcast episode, I admit that I believe I'm not worthy of being loved. Absolutely nuts I know. To actually admit that is wild, but to say it out loud on a mic is even wilder. Maybe one day I'll regret saying that publicly. But I had to get it out. And my audience is small and loyal enough to me that they would understand why I would share something like that. I believe my audience is very similar to me. We all share a lot of the same sentiments. I'm sure there's plenty of stuff I say that people disagree with or don't resonate with, but the core of what I share on my podcast has the interest of people. It's me. Being an open me.

But I don't plan on staying in this negative state. I'm working towards pulling myself out of this mindset. I don't want to hate myself in this way. Giving myself nasty things like this to believe is not the kind of life I want to live. I don't deserve that. I know what much. But fighting the negative way you think is hard. But honestly, I might as well try right? What else would I do? I'm not dead yet!

I enjoyed recording this episode because I was able to tie in more thoughts about being delusional. For the past month, I've found a way to bring in delusions into my episodes. I'm obsessed at this point. Living life under circumstances that could entirely be made up in your head is just...it's hard for me to just accept that fully as subjectively good/bad thing to do. Like not every instance of being deluded is bad. But the concept of not seeing and understanding life as accurately as it is truly happening is scary.

I was just beaten, stabbed, and shot all in just the matter of a few days, each day a different incident or attack by an individual in my family and outside of my family by ppl around me, I had to get several stitches in my legs, arms, hands and even some in my face after being jumped and beaten and stabbed, I had a bullet pulled out my leg and my side, I was shot 8 times, 4 times in the legs and 2 times in my right lower abdomen and another 2 times in my left lower abdomen, I been in and out of the hospital including the mental hospital for suicide attempts as well as being harmed by transphobic ppl, I've been struggling paying for costs of a vet visit after my kitten was killed by my moms dog after she had her dog kill her, I've been raped, molested and abused by my family and ppl in my schools and neighborhood and I just get tired of being in this same situation surrounded by poverty, I live in a neighborhood where I'm constantly threatened for being a black trans woman and I have NO ONE TO TURN TO, I've tried getting help finding a new job but it's harder after constantly being fired for molestation at work and sexual harassment and constant work abuse I've been thru whether it was employees or managers targeting me with harassment and bullying within the workplace and it's been hard in general trying to get help with financial situations, paying for medical bills and get med assistance from the government and the city as well as mental health help for therapists, psychiatric help, and safe space havens or shelters, I've also been from mental health facility shelter to homeless shelters and been harassed, abused, raped and molested in EVERY SINGLE ONE, i am currently living in a rundown home surrounded by poverty and bad conditions, rusted bursted pipes, i have no plumbing, no water, no way to get anything to drink, to clean stuff with, i dont have water for dishes to be cleaned, laundry to be washed, or to bathe or shower in or to take a piss or shit in either and there are several dead cats in my basement as well as raccoons from all the holes in the walls, I had to freeze in the winter and was trying to get help from the city with some government assistance and I'VE YET TO GET ANY HELP, ANY THERAPISTS FOR MY MENTAL HEALTH I'M STILL ON A QUEUE, I HAVE NO HELP FOR MENTAL HEALTH MEDS, OR PSYCHIATRIC HELP, I can't seem to afford to get help with much even after succeeding my Gofundme goal because I had to use most of that money for food for me and my cats and keep cleaning products to get my home clean WHICH IS STILL A MESS. so what i need anyone to do for me if yall POSSIBLY CAN, is reblog this as much as you can and please share my links to donation help with pet food, water, meds, med help, mental health help, finding an apartment, getting a bed or mattress, and any daily needs and necessities IF YALL CAN.

My goal is to get at least $2500 to $3000, I know it's alot but rn I need as much as I can possibly get, yall can send anything, nothing is too small it's ALL APPRECIATED. IF PPL CAN SEND AT LEAST 25 OR 30$ EACH IT WOULD HELP OUT SO MUCH, BUT AGAIN ANY AMOUNT IS APPRECIATED. THIS is REALLY IMPORTANT!!....I'M TRYING MY BEST TO SURVIVE RIGHT NOW!

Cashapp: $Slasherstan91

Venmo: Negrophiliac (I know the name's wild 😭)

Chime: $MarsRayL

Paypal: paypal.me/MarsRayL

IG: theestallion

Thee Hot Girl Coach for thee cover of Women’s Health Magazine 💙💪🏽

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Credits: 

Editor-in-chief: lizplosser

Photographer: ramonarosales

Interview: somekindofemme

Stylist: kgsaladino

Hair: kellonderyck

Makeup: lorvida

Manicurist: nailsdid.byginger

Set Designer: carlosanthonylopez of winstonstudios

Design Director: betsyhalsey

Executive Visual Director: fvleroux

Entertainment Director: maxwelllosgar

Production: kindlyproductions

PR Agency: VitalVersatility

Hearst Magazine Entertainment: hmebookings

ARE YOU OR SOMEONE YOU LOVE LIVING WITH MENTAL ILLNESS?

Cool, me too.

I’m assembling a community of like minded humans who can relate to the feeling of their own flesh+bone matter constantly contending with their sentient consciousness in a bid for power and control over their decisions and emotions… and/or humans who love other humans who continuously battle their own prefrontal cortex and endorphin creators for a bid at happiness…

come… rest here, weary traveller. find out more below ⬇️

delivered in a clear & chaotic voice of authenticity, my content centers around conquering challenges made into marathons by, often times common, mental health symptoms.

FIRST EPISODE: MY ROTTING TOOTH THAY ANXIETY AND FEAR HELPED ME AVOID

i didn’t explicitly reveal in the video… but I lived with a rotting tooth in my skull for months until it finally fell out of my jaw, months after my first botched root canal. 🙂

EPISODE TWO: STUPID WACK TAXES AND SHOCKINGLY I END UP MORE POOR!!! BUT I DID IT! (spoiler alert)

this new editing style for the 2nd video is going to land so ✨wildly✨upon your retinas…

i wanted you to FEEL what I feel and understand what those closest to me experience when I bang their lines with a new story of hardship overcome, as friends often do 📱🧠📱

unexpectedly entertaining & a true visual representation, a reflection, of the way I often perceive and process information and life😵‍💫

EPISODE ONE… was the prototype

for a fleshy & meaty ep 2: TAX TORMENT

(because it IS and ISN’T that serious) 🫠

I also fought a bug i guess… because spring sprung all up on me…

SO JOIN ME IN BEING BORDERLINE MANAGEABLE!

You can support the channel by stubbing & turning on notifications so you’ll know when my new video drops. I really really appreciate your not being a jerk about the ad, thanks.

Protect your peace. 🤍🌱

soft life 🌸

I wish peace, money abundance, happiness, and love on who ever is reading this.

IG: Caroline.manya

As a Gévaudan Lycan, June’s design is supposed to give off an unknowable and melancholy energy.

Gévaudan Lycans are mimics, and their emotions alter their form, especially if they have little to no control of themselves when they shift.

The way June was changed into a lycan and her experience during first shift were extremely traumatic, and over time, her lycan form reflected her feelings of loss and self-loathing. She fronts as this charming and confident woman, while holding back her deeper emotions that eventually leached into the form that reflects her true self.

Fear, sadness, loss, and rage all mixed into this one entity she cannot control. Once a month, she's forced into facing all of those emotions, reliving that trauma again and again for nearly 30 years.

Have I stated how much I hate the whole "Strong Black Woman" archetype and how much it's hurt me as a disabled person? I could go on for hours about how much this has such a detrimental effect on disabled black people. (And honestly just any in general who doesn't fit inside the mold.) But honestly, I'm just too tired of being forced into a role that I can't fill. It's taxing for me both physically and mentally. I wish more people would just understand that I can't do it.

Understanding Black Men

The psychology of black men is distorted, and misunderstood through different lenses. Whether it’s through society, generational wounds, slavery, the entertainment industry, or families/communities. We commonly hear about the experiences of black men through wounded black women who had failed experiences, wounded black women who fail their sons, and the societal stereotypes that have existed for decades. It’s a rare occurrence that we hear the experience of being a man through a black man himself. Mainly, due to decades of them being silenced for speaking their truth, and them having a voice would threaten their manhood.

When getting to know a black man, these are some factors to consider: their upbringing, their childhood, their personality, their character, and their spirituality. Understanding the layers of who they are gives you an opportunity to learn them. Getting to know their nature usually comes with compassion, and empathy. Missing out on the opportunity to learn them for yourself, because of the outside noise, leads to ignorance. In order to formulate your own perspective, it requires introducing yourself with openness, considering that the way they interacted with the men in their generation could differ from how you interact with them in your generation.

When communicating with black men of different ages, it requires a different perspective. Comparing him to his low quality father is detrimental to how he will view himself growing up. Talking down on him will be detrimental to how he views himself. Many women will insinuate that it’s not that big of a deal, think about it this way….

Your mother can talk down on you: cursing you out, telling you you’ll never be anything, neglecting your emotional/mental needs, being manipulative, etc.

This behavior comes with a price. More than likely, you’ll struggle with self confidence. You grow out of your hobbies/passions. Your psychological development becomes stunted because of the abuse. Although men and women are built different biologically, the impacts of how men grow up are similar.

The way you speak to a man, can make or break how receptive a man is to you. If you speak negative energy into him, that becomes a wound to his heart. If you invalidate his emotional needs, he shuts himself down emotionally. If you invalidate his concerns/vulnerability, he’s less receptive to communication. If you brag to the world about how worthless he is, he will shut you out to dissolve himself from embarrassment.

We rarely credit black men of all ages for their spiritual responses to what they experience, whether it’s good or bad. This is due to how aware + observant they are. Because of how much they’re used to being neglected, it teaches them to neglect themselves. They are then forced into survival mode to fend for themselves, even if it includes indulging in detrimental behaviors. This plays a major role in them suppressing their vulnerability, which stems from the hardships they’ve been told they needed to endure in the name of “manhood”. Because black men are adultified at young ages, it strips away the humanity of how they exist.

It’s easy for us to be frustrated with black men, simply for existing. It is necessary to open a space for compassion + understanding regarding their stories. They are human beings, who are navigating life in the most effective way they can, or think they can, in the midst of learning who they are as boys, young men, and men. Their silence is mistaken for their lives being easy flowing. Their upbringing neglecting their needs at a young age is mistaken for privilege. Their physical appearance being fetishized, is mistaken for appreciation. If we’ve been given the ability to create a narrative on who they are for the past decades, they deserve to redefine the narrative based on their experiences, their manhood, and who they are as people.

This is a new gofundme I had to make to get help with paying off bills as well as being provided with medical treatments and care, I'm financially unstable again currently and need as much help as possible, I'm also suffering with lupus, chronic depression, autism, schizophrenia, PTSD, Bipolar disorder, chronic back and body aches and pain and just need help allover and am struggling with alot as we speak, it would be a big help if anyone can HELP ME AT ALL, WHETHER IT'S SHARE, REBLOG, RETWEETING ON TWITTER OR SHARING ON ANY SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM IT'S ALL VERY HELPFUL RIGHT NOW and I appreciate it so much! 🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾