Lift

May the holidays find peace and joy growing in your lives and homes.

If not, that’s okay too. As Charlie Brown famously said, “I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus. Christmas is coming, but I’m not happy. I don’t feel the way I’m supposed to feel.”

With everything going on in the world today, you’re not abnormal to be feeling a little (or a lot) down. Please reach out if you need additional support–to trusted friends and loved ones, or to coaches or therapists in our apps. We’re all in this together, so let others help you carry your load, okay?

We hope the holidays can be a time of hope and healing for you and your loved ones.

From all of us at Lift, happy holidays.

This holiday season, make taking care of yourself a priority so that you can experience as much joy and peace as possible.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you’re overwhelmed by holiday stress, sadness, or loneliness, reach out to a trusted loved one or seek professional help.

Don’t over-schedule yourself. It’s tempting to try to do it all, but a full schedule is a recipe for increased stress. Don’t be afraid to say no.

Don’t get overwhelmed by gift-giving. Set a budget and stick to it, or consider hand-making gifts or writing heartfelt letters or cards.

Don’t neglect health habits. Keep up the behaviors that you know make you feel good, like getting enough sleep, exercising, or taking time to rest.

Don’t forget to check on your loved ones. Even if you aren’t struggling this holiday season, someone close to you might. Reach out to those you love.

Mental health is just as important as physical health. Don’t forget to make your mental health a priority this holiday season.

The holiday season can be tough for people with anxiety. It's not uncommon to feel overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle of the season, feel pressure to meet expectations or fulfill traditions, feel lonely or isolated, or worry about financial stress.

Luckily, there are also many good strategies to deal with extra holiday stressors. Some helpful strategies include: setting realistic expectations for oneself and others, planning ahead and making a schedule to avoid feeling overwhelmed, practicing self-care and setting aside time for relaxation, reaching out to friends and family for support, and talking to a mental health professional if needed.

Take a deep breath and remember that it's okay to set boundaries and prioritize your own well-being.

The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy and cheer, but for many of us, they can also be a source of stress and anxiety. And that's perfectly okay!

It's important to remember that it's not a requirement to love every moment of the holiday season. In fact, prioritizing self care during this time of year is crucial for maintaining our mental health. So if you're feeling overwhelmed, take a step back and do what's best for you. Treat yourself to a relaxing bubble bath, curl up with a good book, or just take some time to breathe and recharge.

It's okay to not enjoy every moment of the holidays – what matters is that you take care of yourself.

Cozying up with a cup of hot cocoa, snuggling under a warm blanket, and enjoying the simple pleasures of life – that's the essence of hygge.

As the winter months set in and the days get shorter, embracing this Danish concept can be a powerful way to combat seasonal depression. So light some candles, gather your loved ones, and savor the warmth and comfort of hygge. It's the perfect remedy for those winter blues!

As the days get shorter and the weather gets colder, it's important to remember the power of sunlight in combating seasonal depression.

Soaking up those rays, even on the gloomiest of days, can have a big impact on our mood and overall mental health. Don't let the winter blues get you down – get outside, enjoy the sunshine, and keep shining bright!

Depression getting you down?

TRY MORE movement. Your find feels better when your body feels good.

Getting out the sun helps even more. Try taking a quick walk in the sun if you can.

TRY LESS screen time. Digital overload makes depression and anxiety worse.

As a bonus, lessening your screen time also helps improve your sleep, and better sleep also helps fight depression.

What other tips do you have for helping with depression?

From our family to yours, happy Thanksgiving! We hope you have a wonderful day filled with gratitude and love 💙

This is it. The week of gratitude. So, what are you grateful for?

What are you doing this year to give thanks?

My first thoughts are usually some grand gesture of gratitude, but sometimes the most effective things are something small. This week, try just doing something small, whether it be sending a call or text, dropping something off, or helping around the house.

It will have more of an impact than you think.

I want to share a little excerpt from Harvard Health Publishing, from the article entitled ‘Giving Thanks Can Make You Happier.’

“In one study, [Dr. Robert A. Emmons and Dr. Michael E. McCullough asked all participants to write a few sentences each week, focusing on particular topics.

One group wrote about things they were grateful for that had occurred during the week. A second group wrote about daily irritations or things that had displeased them, and the third wrote about events that had affected them (with no emphasis on them being positive or negative). After 10 weeks, those who wrote about gratitude were more optimistic and felt better about their lives. Surprisingly, they also exercised more and had fewer visits to physicians than those who focused on sources of aggravation.”

There’s no doubt that gratitude makes us feel better, so why aren’t we expressing gratitude all the time?

Check out the rest of the article here:

https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/giving-thanks-can-make-you-happier

3 days into our gratitude challenge and loving it!

It may be a bit cliche to make our posts in November about gratitude, but we’re going to do it anyway.

This month we’re doing an internal gratitude challenge. Each member of the team at Impact Suite has been given a stack of sticky notes and the challenge to fill them with anonymous gratitude notes to place on coworkers desks with the goal being to have no sticky notes left at the end of the month.

Showing gratitude to those around us helps build a better community, especially in the workplace. Acknowledgement of the strengths of those around us, as well as the things they’ve done to help, grow positive attitudes and make work a better place to be.

Stay tuned this month as we share the gratitude journey that our team goes through and the benefits that gratitude gives.

Hey. Don’t think about yellow elephants.

Don’t do it.

You thinking about them yet? That’s what happens when we try to fight our negative thoughts. They inevitably sneak in, almost invisible. Like a yellow elephant in a field of bananas.

Instead, what happens if we feel them and acknowledge them? We can move on. Isn’t that what we want?

So instead of not thinking of yellow elephants, look at that yellow elephant and say, “Wow, a yellow elephant,” and move on.

Who doesn’t love watching hamsters on a wheel? Those little suckers just keep running and they don’t know that they’re not going anywhere. They just tire themselves out, so much so that sometimes fall over and get spun around in the wheel themselves.

But did you know that’s something we as humans do, too? We get stuck in rumination cycles where we run over the same event or phrase over and over again until we get totally worn out. It’s not very good for your mental health to get in these cycles.

If we can remove our thoughts from these negative feelings, we can improve our overall well being. Not going to lie, it’s easier said than done, but I have faith in you!

How often do you ask the simple questions? Like ‘how are you doing?’ And ‘how’s your day going?’

With life as chaotic and crazy it is, it’s sometimes difficult to remember that those around you have lives that are just as complex as yours. Today, give it a try. Ask the simple questions. You’ll be surprised how comforting those are to your friends and family.

The Raise Digital Safety Conference is tonight; trust me, you don't want to miss it!

Get your tickets now at

Conference Join us for an evening event designed to empower a new generation of parenting in the digital age. Our lineup is jam-packed with expert speakers from multiple disciplines addressing the topics you care about most: mental health, screen time balance, cyberbullying, and more. Don’t miss out on the m...

The science around mental health challenges is more hopeful than most people know!

Incremental lifestyle changes in key areas such as nutrition, physical activity, sleep, and healthy relationships can spark better mental health. And that’s great news! Don’t be afraid to share it. But remember, making lifestyle changes can be challenging for anyone, and even more difficult when someone is sapped by depression or overwhelmed by anxiety. Patience and understanding is key.

How’s your current support system? What are ways you can improve those connections?

Whether you try connecting with an old friend, or making the effort to strengthen a bond with a current acquaintance, do what you can to intentionally expand and “curate” your own support system: like a good library, treasuring the relationships and connections you need to feel supported, and to grow in your own emotional wellness. Connection is a critical part of finding deeper healing in all of our lives.

When something or someone is lost in our lives— a job, an opportunity, especially a relationship or person who is dear— it does something to us: mind and body. Yet many expect that they should be able to just “move forward” and “get over it,” so they can efficiently “get back to normal.”

But grief doesn’t work that way. Even if we ignore it, and even if we shove feelings away—it will still have an influence on our life, especially if we short-circuit the process. How can we help others— and ourselves— understand how to navigate intense and painful loss well, so we can really get back to the many important responsibilities around us?

One of the most important things to remember is that everyone grieves differently, and trying to force yourself or someone else to “get over it” and get back to normal does little except apply painful pressure.