The Alternative Guide To Mental Health Care

Your mental health is one of the two most important things you need to manage in your day to day life. Alongside your physical health. And, of course, the two go hand in one. One will have a direct impact,

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The Alternative Guide To Mental Health Care

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The Alternative Guide To Mental Health Care

The Alternative Guide To Mental Health Care

Your mental health is one of the two most important things you need to manage in your day to day life. Alongside your physical health. And, of course, the two go hand in one. One will have a direct impact on the other and vice versa. We are lucky to be alive during an age where we understand more about the science of mental health issues than ever before.

Thanks to a mixture of medical science, technology, and psychology study, we know that mental health issues are a mixture of environmental factors paired with imbalances in the physical functioning of our brains. Depression, for example, is caused by the brain producing monoamine oxidase A, which breaks down the neurotransmitters that would absorb serotonin and dopamine. The two main chemicals needed to make us happy, to put it plainly.

Understanding the science behind issues like depression has allowed us to create drugs that can fight them in the same way we fight off infections. But drugs aren’t the only answer to mental health problems. Most medical professionals will tell you that it takes a lot of things to deal with these issues. Today we are going to talk about some of the alternative treatments you can undertake, alongside traditional therapy and medication, to help deal with your mental health issues.

Keep A Journal

One of the main issues people face when dealing with anxiety or depression is the inability to shut off their brain. They will be bombarded with constant worries or horrible thoughts and feelings. The human brain is like a computer in many ways. And, like a harddrive that is too full, if you don’t declutter your thoughts things will run worse.

Journaling isn’t a magic cure. But it has been proven to help. The idea here is that, once a thought or idea has been written down, the brain will naturally think about it less. The main reason our brains hold onto bad thoughts and information is because it hasn’t been expressed or expelled. For anyone struggling to talk about their issues, this is a great alternative that can relieve some stress and anxiety from your life.

THC And CBD

One of the most popular and effective alternative medications on the planet is hemp. All natural and now fully legal in Canada. Both THC and CBD have been used to great effect in a number of medical studies. And both can be used to help you deal with your mental health issues.

We spoke to Top Shelf; they are a seller of bud in BC, and they told us that a lot of the customer comments they receive talk about how the legalization of weed and CBD has helped people deal with their anxiety and depression in many different ways.

CBD has been shown to improve the brain’s ability to absorb the serotonin and dopamine it produces, which is hugely beneficial when used alongside a regular course of medication and therapy. And THC can help reduce a lot of physical symptoms that can link back to depression and anxiety such as stress, pain, and tight muscles.

Both THC and CBD are natural mood enhancers. Meaning they will easily put a smile on your face. They can also boost your creativity, making them a great tool for creative therapy sessions. Art therapy has been shown to be extremely effective in dealing with mental health issues. So, if creative therapy is something you want to try, we recommend making use of some THC at the same time.

Meditation

There are a lot of misconceptions about meditation out there. Most people assume it is just sitting in silence and not thinking about anything. But that isn’t the case at all. Meditation is about connecting with your body and mind on a primal and intimate level.

The human body and mind are complex organisms. We still do not fully understand either of them. And it can be difficult to truly connect to yourself. A proper meditation session will have you focusing on your breathing while also directing your attention to different parts of your body. Releasing the tension that has built up within. Bodily tension has been shown to make issues like anxiety far worse.

Meditation isn’t about keeping your mind blank. Instead it is about focusing on your breathing and then letting your mind tell YOU what you need to think about. If a specific thought or feeling comes up. Don’t ignore it. Sit with it and think about it. Meditation is the purest way of communicating with your own brain. And has been proven to be extremely effective in dealing with depression, anxiety, trauma, and other issues.

Don’t be annoyed if you don’t get it right the first few times. Try a guided meditation video and take it a day at a time. It will take time to adjust to the intense feelings that can arise from a meditation session done right.

The Complete Guide To Building A Powerful Gaming PC

The Complete Guide To Building A Powerful Gaming PC

As you probably know, gaming is a favorite pastime activity for anyone, regardless of age. Its popularity has increased thanks to advancements in technology. For you to play and succeed in your gaming, you need a reliable computer. Unfortunately, the best gaming personal computer may come at a pricey side. For this reason, it’s important to choose a machine that meets your gaming needs.

Once you are done, you will benefit from your custom-made computer, including saving your pocket. In this article, we will explain what it takes and the process of assembling a gaming computer all by yourself.

Keep reading.

Steps In Creating A Powerful Gaming Machine

Here are the basic and easy steps that will give you your first owned gaming PC to take your experience to the next level.

Do a Thorough Research, Plan and Budget

Before you can begin the process of building your own gaming PC, do thorough research on what it takes and whether the items you need are available in the market.

You will also need to have a budget as some requirements come at a high cost. Additionally, from your gaming experience, list what you want to achieve. This will determine what type of hardware and software you will need.

Shop for PC Components Well

There are five components you need to purchase before you can start to build your own powerful gaming PC.

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

The CPU acts as the main memory of your gaming PC and executes what you prompt it to do. It is also in charge of running games effectively and smoothly. Hence, when deciding the type of CPU to buy, ensure it can perform functions at the fastest speed possible.
One of the features to look out for is a CPU with minimum Intel Core i8 or AMD Ryzen processors. These two have good performance for gaming. It’s necessary to also establish whether it is compatible with other components.

Graphics Processing Unit

The Graphics Processing Unit provides gaming visuals and smooth gameplay. There are many types of GPUs in the market at different prices. Your gaming needs will guide your choice of GPU. To be sure of what you are buying, read the reviews by past users to avoid making a mistake.

The most common options to choose from depending on your expected gaming performance are NVIDIA, GeForce and AMD Radeon graphics cards. Additionally, identify a GPU which has an adequate VRAM, high clock speeds, and efficient cooling solutions.

Random Access Memory (RAM)

RAM enables gaming processes to run smoothly in the background. The size of your chosen RAM will determine the capability of your PC to process many tasks simultaneously without affecting your gaming experiences.

It is advisable to use a RAM with at least 16GB of RAM to have a good experience. However, if you can manage to have a RAM with a higher capacity, the better the performance for online gaming. For example, if you love playing Skyblock online, you will need a PC with 16 GB RAM and above.

Additionally, you should consider the frequency and latency of the RAM modules if you are to get your performing at its best. There are several reliable brands in the market. Some examples include Kingston, Micron, Corsair, Crucial and many others.

Storage Options

Storage basically provides the PC with a space to store files and enable a faster loading and system response. HDDs offer larger storage capacities at a lower budget. Hence, they are good for storing game libraries and files. However, SSDs offer a faster loading time, and the response is much better than when using HDD. You may also want to combine the two for optimal performance if your budget allows.

Motherboard and Power Supply Unit (PSU)

The motherboard is made of a circuit board and is responsible for executing all the processes. It is the central communication point of your PC and connects all the other components to ensure they communicate to deliver outcomes as a team.

When choosing a motherboard, compatibility with your chosen CPU and GPU is very important. You may have all other good components, but if the motherboard fails, you don’t have a gaming PC. Always go for tried and tested brands such as ASUS, MSI, or Gigabyte.

The motherboard will also require a good Power Supply Unit to provide it with power and to all other components. The wattage rating may be key when choosing a PSU to ensure it can sufficiently power and accommodate upgrades.

Assembling Components and Setup Process

After choosing your PC components, you can now start the process of putting them together. You will need to have an assortment of tools, such as screwdrivers and an anti-static mat surface.

Her is the simple assembly process to follow;

  1. Install the Central Processing Unit onto the motherboard.
  2. Install the RAM sticks by putting them in the correct slots on the motherboard.
  3. Fix the assembled motherboard inside the PC casing and connect power cables, SATA cables, and front panel connectors.
  4. Attach the GPU into the PCIe slot on the motherboard firmly.
  5. Connect your chosen type of storage drive.
  6. Connect the Power Supply Unit to all components using the correct wires.
  7. Verify that all connections are done well and close the case.
  8. Connect your monitor, keyboard, and mouse.
  9. Install an operating system and drivers to ensure proper functioning.

After putting everything together, you may start the PC, launch a game and have a feel of your new computer.

Conclusion

Having a gaming computer made by yourself is a good thing to do. At the end of the day, you will have a gaming PC that has what you need to achieve your gaming needs. The benefits of building your own machine include the business for future upgrades and increasing performance at a lower cost. All you need is to do your research well before purchasing the different components to avoid frustrations. We hope that this guide has provided you with all the information you require to start off.

How to Plan and Start Your Own Real Estate Business

How to Plan and Start Your Own Real Estate Business

The real estate market is growing at a high rate and has proved to be resilient regardless of market shocks like the ones witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of this, many people are willing to start a real estate business but don’t know where to start. If you are like them, keep reading for a comprehensive insight into how to plan and start your own real estate business.

Plan

Building a real estate business can be challenging if you don’t plan early. For starters, you may get many leads each day, but the sad news is that you may get zero leads in your first few months. Statistically, most businesses don’t live to see their first birthday.

Like any other business, it’s vital to have a business plan in place at the onset of the real estate business. The main components of a business plan incorporate the SWOT analysis that includes your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

When crafting the business plan, you need to state your goals or objectives and how you plan to achieve them. It must also include how much you need to stake into the business and your revenue expectations.

Another thing to include in the plan includes the staff, business location, registration, and licensing.

Market Research

Market research is a crucial step that you shouldn’t miss when starting any business. The real estate business is overflowing with multiple service providers. However, the key to being successful is knowing your niche and the market.

You can start by identifying the need for real estate services in your area. Market research involves identifying the opportunities and turning them into viable business ideas.

You can gather important information about your prospects or other real estate businesses operating in your area and use the data to gain a competitive advantage.

Promote Your Business

Once you’ve identified your market or area of operation, the next step is to have a marketing plan. This involves identifying the best promotion strategy for your marketing plan should be consistent, especially because your business is a start-up.

Get a unique strategy that will generate new clients in a short period. Be sure to study the market including the performance of your competitors and pricing charts. Look at the numbers and think about the value proposition that will be the foundation of your marketing plan.

As you start looking for clients, you may soon realize that you don’t need to go far to get close to a deal. The best strategy will be to promote your new business to your friends, colleagues at work, and neighbors.

Additionally, some buyers may use online platforms or websites to look for properties to buy. In this case, if you have a property that you’re selling, you can find a house buyer near you by just typing the keyword in your search engine. Subsequently, you’ll get a buyer without much effort which can save money and time.

Build an Online Presence

In today’s world, no business can succeed without having an online presence. The same applies to the real estate industry where companies compete for customers’ attention via the internet.

Most home buyers will visit the websites of real estate companies and their social media pages. Regardless of your marketing plan, an online presence is a key to attracting leads and netting potential customers.

Having a website requires incorporating SEO and targeting the right keywords that will enable your site to rank in search engines. It doesn’t end there because you must be consistent in writing blogs and creating guest posts.

You can revamp your social media pages such as Facebook and Instagram to post houses for sale. Also, run your promotions endlessly and supply your followers with fresh content regularly.

Nurture Your Leads

The real estate market is very slippery and requires being consistent with your leads. Most often, prospects will offer to view the property and may end up not buying the property.

It can be pretty frustrating since there’s money involved. However, you need to identify serious leads and make follow-ups until you close the sale. Remember to ask for their contact and make phone calls or send emails.

You can also enquire about what they need in a property and get a personalized deal for them.

Manage Your Time

Most real estate agents mess up their leads through poor business management practices. Sometimes after advertising your property, you may be required to be present for the customer to view. It can be discouraging when you get to the location late and might end up losing the lead.

You need to manage your time to ensure everything runs smoothly. Automating your processes and having an online calendar can solve these problems, especially in cases where you’re supposed to be in different places at the same time.

Build A Brand

After getting the licenses, the next step is to build a brand that your customers will identify with. Choosing a brand name that resonates with the market is a good idea. If you must work with a brokerage firm, ensure it’s a reputable one that will match your brand aspirations.

Join Real Estate Organizations

When you become a realtor, you must become a member of the realtor organizations such as NAR for you to transact business. After joining, you can now find a mentor or someone who has been in the business for a long time to hold your hand.

Conclusion

As you can see, the real estate industry requires careful planning before putting your hard-earned money. Working smart, having a business plan and a viable marketing strategy will propel you to great heights in a short while. Most importantly, you need to be resilient because it takes time to get prospects and close deals. Hopefully, you can now implement the above ideas as you kickstart your journey into being a realtor.

The Parents Guide To Home Schooling Your Child

The Parents Guide To Home Schooling Your Child

Nowadays, most parents consider having their children attend school at home as their best alternative. The homeschooling option is mainly associated with parents’ lifestyles that may not be compatible with sending the kids to school the usual way. It could be that you are tied at work from morning to evening, and there are no safe means to drop your child to school.

If you choose this mode of study, you must be prepared to take responsibility for your child’s daily learning progress. You should also ensure that the learning experiences are drafted in such a way that meets your child’s demands and preferences. You may opt for a structured curriculum or unschooling approach depending on what you as a family decide.

Therefore, as much as home schooling offers flexibility for parents and learners, there are many other things you need to know before you start. Hence, if you choose this path, this guide will highlight all you need to know about schooling at home, how to get started, and its benefits. Read on.

Getting Started with Home Schooling

Before registering your child for home study, there are several basic things you need to have in mind or meet for it to be successful. Let’s have a look at each.

Understand the Laws and Regulations

Home schooling means your child will stay home indoors during class hours and learn as if at school. You need to do thorough homework on what the legal frameworks in your locality dictate about child education. Do the laws permit children to learn from home without a teacher physically present?

What are the accountability requirements to the government to confirm that your child is learning adequately? You may be required to complete progress reports to continue with the system regularly. As for child care, you will also need to know when the child can stay at home without you or a guardian.

Setting Educational Goals

If your child needs to be successful in schooling from home, it must be guided by predetermined goals and objectives. That includes what you want the child to achieve at the end of learning that will benefit his further education and career life. Hence, you both have to sit down and set a curriculum, specifying what learning areas take priority, guided by your child’s interests and abilities.

You may also include areas that your child isn’t very good at to improve on the same. Alternatively, you may review already existing curriculums and follow them if it meets your learning goals instead of creating one.

Creating a Learning Environment

Many distractions could interfere with learning at home, which needs to be dealt with. One of them is your child’s private learning space to ensure they are focused on studies without external influence. A study room should be dedicated to the classroom and furnished with all the basic resources, such as writing materials, workbooks, and textbooks. For instance, if you live in Nevada, the western region of the United States, and if you own a smaller unit, you may have to sell your house fast for cash in Nevada to purchase a spacious one to accommodate your child’s study room.

In addition to the physical resources at home, it is advisable to take advantage of online learning resources to provide what you may not have at home. There are community programs and libraries that offer online access to their educational content free of charge or at a fee. Children learn better when demonstrations and plays are included in the learning methodology. Hence, adding a multimedia resource will keep your child engaged.

Establishing Effective Time Management

For you and your child to achieve the set targets, time management is very important for every learning activity. Create a timetable of class subjects to be learnt, when they start and end, and allocate time for extra curriculum activities. Developing this daily schedule conditions the child to have learning days that are balanced and education-oriented. Otherwise, if you allow learning anyhow, there will be negative consequences. While following a set schedule is key, teaching your child to be self-disciplined will result in better and more effective time management skills.

Evaluating Learning and Making Adjustments

Evaluation is the only way to determine whether learning has occurred or your child has been using time at home well. That involves assessing the convergence of the learning areas in a given time and how much the child has been able to understand and practice. Regularly examining the child’s learning progress will also enable the identification of the weak and strong areas of learning.
This understanding leads to changing or modifying the vulnerable areas’ teaching strategies to improve performance. Monitoring the learning process will also give you insight into which learning resources to include or do away with. For example, your child may be good at utilising visual ads rather than hands-on activities.

Providing Support and Socialization

As a parent, you also double as the teacher, and that role has to come out clearly for the child to appreciate your efforts. Like teachers, you must master switching roles to make the learning environment friendly and positive. Offer full support to your child but without being sympathetic, or else they take advantage of the family relationship. Learn to use various teaching ways to be unique and lively. Engage the learner freely and offer instructions.

Schooling alone from home can also become boring unless you can connect the child with other children who are learning the same way. Connecting with home schooling communities and group activities provides a social platform to exchange ideas and experiences. It will also require participation in extracurricular activities such as sports, music, and drama plays with other mates to build an all-rounded individual.

Pros and Cons

The main benefit of having your child school from home is the flexibility and freedom to develop learning areas and activities that match your child’s interests, learning style, and abilities. This type of learning provides a personal approach to education, allowing children to become their best in their study areas and at their own pace.

Home schooling also provides the parents and kids with a bond while appreciating the need for education. Hence, you have children who are brought up well in terms of discipline as the parent promotes the values to the child.

Another benefit is the availability of learning resources and support groups from online local communities and forums. These platforms also allow the sharing of learning experiences and the exchange of ideas. Parent teachers also gain handy knowledge from parents who have done homeschooling before.

However, the system has its share of challenges. One is managing and keeping up with the learning processes, which requires total commitment to the underlying responsibilities. It mayn’t be difficult for a parent to multitask between academics, home duties and work. However, with good planning and time management, you can overcome the challenges for the greater benefits.

Which Phone Is Best For Making Social Media Content?

Which Phone Is Best For Making Social Media Content

The advancement in technology has made the mobile phone not only portable and smart but an all-inclusive gadget that goes beyond communication. You would have thought a tablet could do more, but the smartphone is equally good, if not better.

For social media lovers, whether as an influencer, branding to reach a larger audience, or just sharing personal moments with friends, your phone is a great digital asset. However, it must be of the right quality and have minimum features to support your content creation on the move.

In this article, we will discuss how smartphones have become powerful content-creation studios. The blog will also highlight the various features to consider when looking for the best in content creation.

Top Four Picks

If you desire to have your own social media content creation, it may not be difficult to start and gain followers. For instance, if you choose to be a TikToker, you can start with a zero follower and later you can buy followers for tik tok here. To do that you will need to equip yourself with a top notch smartphone.

But before we take you to the best phone to use for social media content, there are general features that are necessary for whichever phone you pick. One of them is the camera quality, which dictates the quality of photos and videos you upload. If you want to make audio-supported content, it must also have audio recording capabilities with sound.

More so, due to the high usage and time taken before completing social media content, the battery capacity must be one that will ensure you can create and post content all day.

And when done with editing, you may want a good storage capacity, as high-quality content can take up a lot of space.

Having understood these basic features, here are our top best smartphones in the market that you may consider.

iPhone 13 Pro Max

Designed by Apple, the iPhone 13 Pro Max is an impressive choice for content creation for both beginners and seasoned social media users. This phone features a three-in-one camera system with a 12MP ultra-wide video and photo capturing ability. The camera also comes with telephoto lenses, which offer a range of capabilities for photo shooting and video recording.

One of the things you will like about the iPhone output is the clarity of colors and cinematic mode, which adds value to the effects on your videos like a professional. In addition, its A15 Bionic chip ensures smooth performance even when making and editing high-quality content.

Finally, as noted, it’s very important to appreciate the power of the long battery life. You will realize that you can manage to do content all day and have up to 1TB of storage to keep your draft content safe.

Galaxy S21 Ultra

A solid brand from Samsung, the Galaxy S21 Ultra model is another top choice for content creators. The phone features a four-in-one camera installation, which comes with a 108MP main sensor. It also has two telephoto lenses, which allow you to capture clear, high-quality photos and up to 8K video recording.

In addition, it has a Director’s View feature that enables you to record video clips from more than one camera simultaneously. This allows you to be more creative in video making and makes them more appealing to the audience.

The unique Exynos 2100, which is also similar to the Snapdragon 888 in the US, will make your video editing even more fancier. Lastly, the large battery capacity ensures you can capture more content before recharging.

Google Pixel 6 Pro

Social media content creators will be excited to discover Google’s Pixel 6 Pro. It’s best known for its outstanding camera performance, even when photos are taken in low-light conditions. This capability is made possible courtesy of its Night Sight feature.

In order to improve the quality of recording, the Tensor processor not only delivers better performance but also makes the phone’s AI features outstanding. Further, the storage capacity is also generous and up to 512GB, exceeding the one for either the iPhone or Samsung.

OnePlus 9 Pro

The OnePlus 9 Pro is manufactured in partnership with Hasselblad. What is most striking for a content creator is the natural color calibration in its photos. This feature allows you to capture images accurately in their natural colors.

For video capture, it features an 8K video recording, giving you manual control over the camera settings. If the battery goes down while you’re creating your content, you can comfortably charge the phone fully within minutes thanks to the Warp Charge technology.

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