This time of year is the time of year where you're getting nagged by your teachers to get your UCAS university application sent off.However, how are you supposed to make the decision on which universities to apply for if you don't even know if you really want to apply?
At the start of my Year 13, I was so sure that I was going to go to university and as far as I was concerned, I had it all planned out - I was going to go to Bishop's Grosseteste University in Lincoln to study primary school education and become a teacher. Looking back now, I’m not sure I ever really wanted the decisions I’d made. I decided I ‘wanted’ to go to Bishop’s Grosseteste because someone I knew also wanted to be a teacher and she was going there so I figured that was what I ought to do too, because why not? As for actually wanting to be a primary school teacher, I’m sure there was a part of me that wanted to do that. I loved and still love kids, I was good with kids and I knew it would be rewarding - or was that just because everyone had said how good I was with kids and every movie about every teacher ever always says how rewarding teaching is? Between entering sixth form and actually sending my application off, I changed my mind on which university I wanted to go to, which subject I wanted to do and even whether or not I wanted to go to university. I applied for Photography instead; at York, Nottingham, Lincoln and UCA. I am unbelievably proud to say I got offers from them all, even an unconditional from York which blew me away. I could hardly believe it! I accepted the offer from York St. John because it just felt so perfect for me. It was a small campus but a short walk from the city centre and all the students I had encountered seemed so happy and nice. When I really deeply started thinking about it, I wasn't sure if I really wanted to go to university anymore, due to all these circling neverending questions and doubts I had.. Was I ready? Was the course right? Would I be happy? I made the decision to defer my entry by a year, so rather than starting in 2018, I would instead start in 2019 - except now I've realised I don't want to go to university. When I was considering university, the open day student who took me on a tour at York gave me the best advice anyone could have given me. She said ‘if you aren’t sure that you want to come to university, don’t come.’ The truth was I wasn’t sure. At all. I didn’t want to spend thousands of pounds on something I didn’t want. I was so lucky to have such a supportive family who trusted me to do what was right for me and my happiness so that was the easy part. When I took the first step to emailing York and telling them I wanted to defer, I was absolutely fine. The true ramifications of deferring my university application didn’t set in until I started looking for a job to tide me over for a year. After failure after failure, rejection after rejection, I started thinking ‘what the hell have I done? Have I just made the most stupid decision of my life?’ I now know that deferring my offer was the best decision I've ever made. If you're one of those people who is currently unsure about whether university is really what they want, I will try my best to help you out by giving you some of the benefits of going to university as well as some of the downsides and then maybe you will be a bit clearer on what is right for you. Advantages: You will get a degree - this is the obvious advantage of the university. By the time you leave, you will have a qualification. This qualification can help you jump straight into a career of your choice and can open up your options, prospects and widen your horizons. Even if the qualification doesn't necessarily reflect your job of choice, it gives you more choices as any degree at all is highly sought after by employers, and they are likely to favour you if that degree is proudly sitting on your CV. You will meet lots of new people and gain new friends - going to university means that you will be surrounded by loads of new people who you've never met before. You all come from different backgrounds with different interests, but these people can become amazing friends.These friends could end up being lifelong friends and stay with you for as long as you live, reminding you of what fun you had at university with them and also giving them the ability to support you in the future, having known you in the past. You get the opportunity to be more independent - by going to university, it is the chance for most people to experience their first shot at independence. Their first time living by themselves, their first time budgeting, their first time having to motivate themselves to work… all of which are things that are new when you turn up at the university. University allows you to learn how to do all these things by experiencing it first hand. You are forced to be independent, but you still have a support system if you need it. You have lecturers and the finance department and student services and your family back home to support you if you're struggling so you're not totally out on your own. You get that independence and freedom without being thrown in the deep end - it’s like the perfect little stepping stone. Disadvantages You end up in thousands of pounds of debt - let's get the elephant in the room out of the way. By going to university, you are paying £9,250, which you don't have, to learn more about your craft. Sure, you can get a student loan, but you are going to end up in debt - a lot of debt. Not taking living costs into account, university costs at least £37,000 for a standard four-year degree course. That's not counting how much it will cost you to pay for accommodation and all the other things you need. You will end up buried in debt, plus it will decrease your future salary as you have to pay that loan back from the money you earn in a career. Although you don't have to start paying your loan back until you're earning £21,000 and it's written off after 30 years of non-payment, it's still a costly burden to carry. You are not guaranteed to get a job - although having a degree will help your job prospects, there are no guarantees. They will only help your prospects if the job is there. If you have taken a degree with poor job prospects and the job or career you want doesn't have an opening then your degree cannot create a vacancy for you to fill. If the job isn't there, you're in the same position as every other unemployed candidate. It could be seen as four years of hard work and burdening amounts of debt for nothing. This is why it is important to think about what degree you're doing and what that means for you after graduating. You have a lack of real world experience - although university gives you plenty of real world experience in terms of budgeting and living alone etc. it doesn't necessarily give you real world experience in the way of careers and jobs. At university, you are in a lecture theatre learning about how you'd do this and how you'd do that without actually doing this and that in a real life career situation. Even if you have a placement year, that is better than nothing, you still have a backlog of support at university that you won't have when you're out there in a job. You will not know what a real job is like until you get a real job outside of university and sometimes, first hand experience is more valuable than knowledge. There are plenty more advantages and disadvantages to consider than the ones I've listed here and you of course will need to consider them, but hopefully this will help you start to make a decision. One of the main things to remember is you aren't weird if you don't want to go to university. There is no law that says you have to go to university and you can still be amazingly successful and have a wonderful job that you love without it. A lot of people I know don't have degrees but are crazy successful. You have to do what's right for you and if going to university isn't right then that's your decision and don't let anyone try to change your mind and force you into doing something you're unhappy in. You do what you need to do to be happy. Remember, we are always here should you need us. You are always welcome to contact us via our social media and the forms on our website. Kenzie
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‘We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Now bring us some figgy pudding, now bring us some figgy pudding, now bring us some figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer.’ I’m back with my second article in the installations of my top three favourite Christmas recipes. Last time, we went spicy but this time, we’re going all the way to the other end of the scale with an extreme sweet explosion. Today’s dessert: Caramel Chocolate Log A chocolate log has always been a classic at Christmas time. For the people who don’t like Christmas cake or mince pies, like me, a good old chocolate log is a sweet delicious, mouthwatering alternative. I am a huge fan of salted caramel or any caramel at all. I love how sweet and sticky it is. It’s definitely not a good thing when you have braces like me (don’t do what I do and break your braces by eating toffee and chewies.) So when you combine caramel and a chocolate log, it is my idea of heaven. You will need: For the cake:
For the filling:
For decoration:
If you make these delicious treats, please post a photo on social media and tag us in it. We'd love to see it! Our social media is: Twitter: @teenswithexp Facebook: Teenagers with Experience Instagram: @teenswithexperience We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Kenzie *TRIGGER WARNING: this article touches on child kidnapping, stalking and being followed so if you are sensitive to these topics, you might want to read a different article.*
We've all heard tragic stories on the news of people being kidnapped or stalked. Sadly, it's not a rare occurrence in the modern age, especially with social media making it so much easier to find out where people are at all times. It was found by the charity Action Against Abduction that 50 children on average are abducted every year and the National Violence Against Women Survey found that 1 in 12 women have been stalked at some point in their lives compared to 1 in 45 men. One of the most well known child abduction cases is the case of Madeleine McCann. Madeleine McCann disappeared from a holiday apartment in Praia De Luz, Portugal, on 3rd May 2007. Madeleine was left by her parents in the apartment with her younger brothers and sisters when she was only 3. Her parents were dining at a restaurant nearby with friends and her mother found her missing around two hours after they had left the apartment. Maddie has not yet been found but police are still searching and receiving funds to look for Madeleine. Not all cases end or start in kidnapping. A lot of people find themselves being followed. I have been followed myself. I was walking my dog and a man in a dark blue shirt and black trousers got out of his car and started walking behind me. I wasn't too worried until I turned back around to walk back the way I came and he ran at me, trying to grab my coat. I had to run all the way home and I was terrified. I had a panic attack and reported it to the police. That's unfortunately not the only time where I have been followed. Another time, I was walking home from a community group I was attending. It was late in the evening, around 9.30pm/10ish and I saw a white van driving alongside me. Cliche, I know. He kept driving alongside me all the way home as I went to cross the road, he stopped and asked if I was okay and if I wanted a ride home. I said ‘no, thank you’ and tried to carry on walking but he parked his van in front of the crossing and asked where I lived. I said ‘not far’ and he insisted I told him and gave him my address. I refused and another man stopped in his car behind the van and asked if I was okay. The man in the van gave up and drove away and the man in the car spent a few more minutes checking that I was alright. These were both scary experiences and being followed is always going to be a scary experience. But there are ways to protect and look after yourself. If someone tries to grab you, all manners are out of the window. If someone tries to take you or touch you and you don't know them, forget everything you've been told about not throwing a tantrum. It is perfectly okay to scream and shout and kick. It gives you the best chance of throwing the person off. Try and find someone to look after you. If someone is following you, generally they will be put off if you're with someone else. So try and always go out with a friend so you're not alone and if you do end up alone, try and find a shop to go in to and tell the owner what's happening. If you can't find a shop owner or even better a police man or anyone else at all, try and find a mum with kids and explain to them that you're being followed and would it be okay if you stayed with them for a while. Make use of a code word. If you're ever in a situation where you feel unsafe, a code word is a brilliant thing to have. Choose a word that you could slip into conversation like ‘apple.’ Make sure your parents and anyone else you might contact in an emergency knows that apple is your code word. Then if you think you're being followed or you feel uncomfortable, ring your emergency contact and start a normal conversation before slipping in your code word. You could say something like ‘did you remember to get apples from the shop?’ and then with that use of your code word, whoever it is will know you're in danger and come and get you. It's worked for me if I've been at a sleepover where I feel uncomfortable or if I've been invited somewhere I don't want to go. It's genius. Run! If someone is following you, your only choice really is run. They might run after you but running is your best chance to get away. If they're in a car, run in the opposite direction. It'll buy you some time as they have to turn the car around. I realise that this article makes it sound very dramatic and scary. Being followed or being kidnapped is scary, of course it is. But finally, try not to panic. Try and stay calm. Usually everything works out okay. You are strong and you are a fighter, my friend. Kenzie ‘We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Now bring us some figgy pudding, now bring us some figgy pudding, now bring us some figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer.’ This is my third and final recipe that I will be sharing this festive season. We've had sweet and spices but today, we're going to put that all together to make the most moreish and potentially diabetes inducing pudding to ever exist. Today's dessert: Rocky Road Cheesecake Pudding Everyone has heard of rocky road and everyone has heard of cheesecake but it's not quite as common to hear them together. If you type in ‘Christmas Desserts’ on a search engine like Google, it definitely won't be the first result to come up. Oh. My. GOD. It's so good though. It's one of the more complicated recipes out of the three but it's so worth it. Here's how to make it. You will need: For the pudding:
For the cheesecake filling:
For the rocky road:
For the decoration:
Our social media is: Twitter: @teenswithexp Facebook: Teenagers with Experience Instagram: @teenswithexperience We hope you enjoyed this series of recipes and finally… We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Kenzie Everyone has their hobbies. Some people like dancing, some people like drawing and other people like something else entirely. A lot of people have many different hobbies and I'm no exception. However, I also have my ‘thing.’ My passion, my love, the thing I've done for most of my life. For me, my thing is acting.
I love acting because it gives you the ability to escape to a whole new world (pun not intended) and forget what's going on in the real world. You become someone else for a little while and you can stop worrying about all your real world troubles because they don't belong to you anymore. While you're playing that character, you are no longer yourself and so those troubles that you normally concern yourself with have nothing to do with you. It's freedom, to be a bit crazy and act a bit daft and not be judged because everyone around you is there to see you do just that. I love following a script, you have directions and text and you know what comes next. It counteracts the unpredictability and uncertainty of everyday life. It's… perfect. There is always a downside to everything. To acting, the downside is when you're rejected in an audition or you don't get the part you want. Whether you're an amateur performer or a professional performer, you shall always have to audition for the show and it is more than likely than you'll get rejected at least once and it's guaranteed that you won't always get the part you want. I know this all too well. I was a part of a drama society for 15 years. In that 15 years, how many big parts do you think I got? Did I get a solo in every show? Did I have loads of lines to learn? No. I could probably count the solo parts I had on one hand. It was devastating for me. It's not like I couldn't act or sing. I sometimes got good parts so I obviously had some level of talent but when I didn't get the part I wanted, it was difficult for me to understand. After going through this experience so many times, growing up and maturing and learning, I have developed three thoughts to turn a negative in to a positive and to help myself deal with the disappointment. First thing to remember is don't take it personally. Whether you act in a professional capacity or simply for fun, the aim of everyone involved is to make the show the best it can be. This means assigning the perfect parts to the perfect people. Often, it's not your fault that you don't get the part you want or any part at all. It's just that you weren't right for that part. Maybe you were better suited to a different part that was smaller but you are perfect for that smaller part. It does not mean you aren't talented. For example - I recently joined a new amateur dramatics group. n the show that we did in October, I didn't have a part at all. However, for the pantomime, I have a part with quite a few lines and two solos. Although I was upset by not getting a part the first time, getting a big part in this show proves that I have some level of talent and that this part is right for me. If you think the director or a member of the casting crew has a personal issue with you and that's why you don't get a good part, you should talk to the person in charge or even take it up with the person themselves. It doesn't need to be a confrontation, just a civilised grown up conversation. The second thing which helps me is reminding myself that there will always be more auditions. One failed audition isn't the end of the world. You can try again for a different part in a different show or you can even try for a different part in the same show if auditions come around again. Just because you didn't get one part doesn't mean you won't get another. Keep trying and you will succeed. As the old saying goes: ‘if at first you don't succeed, try and try again.’ The third, and potentially one of the most important things to remember, is that not being in the show doesn't mean you can't still be involved backstage. You don't have to be an actor to contribute to the show. Shows need sets, props, costumes, ticket sellers - you name it and a show probably needs it in some capacity. Without a set or costumes, the show is just a bunch of people reading from a script on a blank stage. Every bit of a show is just as important as the actors themselves. The first show I did with my new drama group, I was selling tickets and allocating seat numbers and doing the raffle. Without ticket sellers, no one will buy tickets and no one will see the show and then what's the point of even performing. It may not seem as important as being in the show but it is. Hold on to that. Evanna Lynch, the actress who played Luna Lovegood in the Harry Potter movies, is a real inspiration when it comes to auditions and rejection. Two of her quotes really stuck out to me and they could help you. ‘Don't ever give up. Don't see the obstacles, just the way around them. For me, of course, it looked improbable but not impossible. So as long as there was a way, I would not be discouraged.’ ‘I don't want to know what they think of me - there's always going to be someone who won't like it and that'll just upset me. So if I'm happy with it, it just matters if I've done my little vision.’ In short, keep pushing for what you want and believe in your own ability. You will get there one day, and when you do, it'll be amazing. Kenzie Failure is something we all face at least once in our lives. It can be really difficult to deal with. It can cause negative thoughts, poor self esteem, poor self image, a lack of self belief - all sorts of horrible mental health issues. Failing at something can cause you to feel like a failure. But you aren't a failure.
I am no stranger to feeling like a failure. Unfortunately, it's a feeling I have encountered many times and in many different situations. I have felt like a failure because I've gotten a small part in a play or a show when I thought I'd done a really good audition. I've felt like a failure because I've messed up on an exam when I shouldn't have. I've felt like a failure because I've screwed up an audition when I've practiced really hard and done really well until the actual audition. It's a common feeling, but it can be overcome. One time that really sticks in my head of when I've felt like a failure has been when I got a D in my Psychology exam. I've spoken about this a lot in my articles because it was a massive thing in my life for me. I really struggled. To me, a D was a fail. I knew it wasn't but in secondary school, it was drummed in to us that a C and above was a pass and even a C wasn't good enough. It was only good enough - no, we were only good enough - if we got an A or better. So when I got a D, I felt like a failure. It didn't help that all the offers I'd been given for university were BBC. Overall, I ended up with BCD. The thing that kept going over and over in my head was ‘if I was going to university, I wouldn't have got in. I would have been going through clearing. I'm not good enough for any of my universities.’ It was really hard. I beat myself up over that for a good two weeks. It might not seem like a big thing to anyone else but to me, it was huge. No matter how hard it was for me though, I got through it. I fought and stayed strong. Luckily, I had so many amazing people around me to remind me that I wasn't a failure. So I want to be one of those people for you. You aren't a failure. The first thing to remember is that what you perceive as failure may not be as bad as it seems. I know this sounds patronising and cliche but it's the truth. It's like with my D grade. I may have perceived it as a personal fail but in the big picture of things, it was still a pass at the end of the day. In the grand scheme of things, it's not as big of a deal as I made it out to be. That's not to say your feelings aren't valid though. You are entitled to feel however you feel, but remember to look at the big picture too. Number two: failing at something doesn't make you a failure. No one can be good at everything and everyone has a weakness. Failing at something or not being good at something doesn't mean that you are a failure or that you aren't good enough. It just means that it isn't your strength but that's okay. You are still amazing. You are still brilliant. You are still good enough. Something that helps me when I'm feeling down about failing is spending time with my loved ones. Whether it's friends or family, they never fail (pun not intended) to make me feel better. They remind me that I'm loved and valued. They remind me that there is so much more to life than exams or auditions or whatever else I might be feeling down about. They tell me about all the times I've helped them or made their day better just by being in it. When I'm upset, that means the world to me. To know that someone feels that their life is better because I'm in it is crazy to me and it overrides all the bad stuff. Someone loves me, even if I don't love myself. These things won't necessarily help you but they've definitely helped me so they are worth a try. There is another article right here on the TWE website talking about failure and it gives a few more tips about how to deal with it that haven't been included in this article and may help you if these ones don't. https://teenagerswithexperience.weebly.com/evlyns-articles/dealing-with-failure Just remember it's okay to fail. Failure comes with being human. It doesn't make you less of a person. You are good enough, regardless of what anyone or anything else says. Kenzie Starting a new job is truly terrifying. You probably don't know anyone, you have pretty much no idea what you're doing and it's that cliche fear of jumping in at the deep end: jumping into the unknown. That's exactly what I've just done.
In 2017, the Office for National Statistics said that around 3.48 million people in the UK were in employment. That means 3.48 million people who have gone through exactly what you're going through right now. 3.48 million people who have had first-day nerves. 3.48 million people who have jumped into the unknown right alongside you. One thing I can guarantee is that you aren't alone. I recently started an apprenticeship. I am a Digital Learning Apprentice at a local college. I create resources for teachers to use in lessons to help teach and educate as well as train teachers in digital learning software and give advice. This is something I have never done before. Not just the whole digital learning thing, but the whole job thing - full stop. I had never had a job before doing this, so it's safe to say I was terrified. I'd known for a month that I was starting work soon but it didn't fully set in until the night before when I realised ‘oh damn. This is happening.’ I didn't sleep at all that last night before. My mind was working at a million miles an hour all night. What if they don't like me? What if I can't do what they expect? What if I make a mistake? All these things were tormenting me. Everyone says the interview is the hardest part, but for me actually starting the job was worse. In an interview, you're just talking about what you can do and why they should hire you. When you start the job, you have to prove it - you have to prove that they didn't make a mistake. I'm now two weeks in and I know that I had nothing to worry about. I'm still learning and I'm going to make mistakes but they expect that, and when that happens, I pick myself up and fix it. I know how scared you are right now, but I want to help. A hypocrite I may be, for giving you these tips when I've admitted how terrified I was to start. But hindsight is a wonderful thing and now I'm in a position to tell you what may be helpful for you because I'm sure it would have been helpful for me. Number 1. Don't be worried to make a mistake. Everyone is scared of screwing up and doing something wrong. The thing about a job is it's a learning curve. Especially if you're an apprentice. The whole point of an apprenticeship is to learn and improve your skills during the course and to grow as an individual on the job. You won't be penalised for making a mistake, but you will have to fix it. So I say to you, don't be scared to make a mistake. Just be prepared to work your butt off to fix it. That's the important thing: it's okay to make a mistake, just make sure you fix it when you do. Number 2. Ask for help if you need it. As I said, don't be afraid to make a mistake. However, if you need help because you think you've made a mistake or you don't know what you're doing or you're scared to make a mistake then ask for it. Once again, you're learning. You can't expect to be an expert within ten minutes of being in the office. That's just not how it works. Sitting in silence never helped anybody. If you ask for help, you can learn how to do whatever you are struggling with and your employers will probably be happier that you are honest and practical rather than doing nothing because you don't know how to do it. Number 3. Get to know your team. When you start a new job, you join a new company with new colleagues and you become a part of a new team that you weren't a part of before. Something which I feel is really important is to get to know the people in your team. I have a lot of people in my office. I have my line manager, around 6 other senior colleagues and then a fellow apprentice. My line manager was the first person I met and having him there across the other side of the desk is such a comfort. He will help me with my work but we'll also talk about things like football and food and what we did at the weekend. We aren't best friends but I do class him as a friend, and one day I hope to class the whole team as a friend. Some companies have forums or social media profiles for their colleagues to join to get to know each other and have both work-related and non-work related conversations. If you can, join one of these before you start work. If you can't, like I couldn't, just make an effort when you get in the office and try and talk to everyone and learn about them and then you can tell them about yourself. Show how enthusiastic you are about working with them. Good working relationships can really improve both your experience at work and the quality of products and projects you produce. No one ever said that being a part of the working world was easy, it's bound to be difficult at first but it will be easier. As I say, I'm two weeks in and loving every minute. It's okay to be nervous at first, but the most important thing to remember is that you need to be excited and happy to get up and go to work every day. Do something you love. Kenzie ‘We wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas, we wish you a merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Now bring us some figgy pudding, now bring us some figgy pudding, now bring us some figgy pudding and a cup of good cheer.’ You'll recognise those lyrics from the classic Christmas song ‘We Wish You A Merry Christmas’ and a common theme throughout that song is figgy pudding. I don't actually like figgy pudding and to be honest, I'm not sure many people actually know what figgy pudding is. However, there are plenty more yummy puddings and treats that you can have at Christmas. Over the next few articles, I'm going to share my top 3 Christmas desserts with you. I will give you step by step instructions and maybe you can try making one for your family this Christmas. Today's dessert: Spiced Gingerbread Christmas Light Cakes. Spice is a popular trend at Christmas time, whether it's pumpkin spice, ginger or cinnamon. I found this recipe from Zoella on YouTube after she did a video making these cakes. I tried making these for the first time last year and they were delicious. They're quite time consuming and messy, but very cute and fun. You will need: For the cake
For the buttercream:
For decoration:
If you make these delicious treats, please post a photo on social media and tag us in it. We'd love to see it! Our social media is: Twitter: @teenswithexp Facebook: Teenagers with Experience Instagram: @teenswithexperience We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Kenzie Health and fitness is very important for everyone, no matter your age or gender or sexuality. There are many different types of health: mental health, emotional health, physical health etc. While usually I focus on my mental and emotional health and usually that's what we centre on here at TWE, I want to instead talk about my physical health and my physical fitness.
Recently, I have not been happy with my body. There's no reason why I should be unhappy with it really. I'm not overweight, I'm a healthy weight for my height and I haven't got any abnormal body parts like a third nipple or a sixth finger on one hand. However, I've just been feeling really down about my body and my health. I feel like my thighs are too flabby and my stomach sticks out too much and I don't have abs or any upper body strength. So I decided to try and do something about this and that's when I discovered a fitness class called Bounce and Burn. Bounce and Burn is a class which takes place on a little trampoline called a Rebound© where you do a variation of exercises designed to make you stronger, fitter and healthier overall. I had a friend who did a family Bounce and Burn class with her daughter and she invited me along to join her at the adult version. She did warn me that it was very intense and I should prepare to get sweaty. When I first told people that I was starting to go to a fitness class, I was laughed at. I have unfortunately gained a reputation for being lazy and hating any movement at all and being hilariously unfit and never ever doing any form of exercise, not jogging or even going for a leisurely walk. People didn't believe that I was actually going to do it, or at least stick at it regularly. They thought that I might do it for a few weeks but then give it up as a bad job. But they didn't understand my unhappiness with my body and particularly my prominent tummy - they didn't see it but I did. This made me even more determined to give it my all and that's exactly what I'm doing. All exercise has benefits, both physical and mental and more. These benefits include the following:
There are so many more benefits of regular exercise that I haven't spoken about but any exercise at all is better than none. It doesn't have to be the typical going for a run or weightlifting either - it can be fun, like Bounce and Burn! It is always better to go to a Bounce and Burn class in order to do it properly, unless you want to spend money and waste space by owning your own Rebound trampoline but some of the exercises you do at Bounce and Burn can be done at home without the trampoline. Try out some of the following if you can't get to a class:
Exercise is difficult. It isn't meant to be easy and no one ever said it was. It is designed to push your body to its limits and work it harder than it has ever been worked before. But no matter how hard it is or how much you want to give up, keep going because the benefits are endless and it is an amazing feeling to both see and feel the changes in your mind and body. Bounce and Burn is an amazing class. I am enjoying it so much more than I ever thought I could. Yes, I get sweaty. Yes, it's so tiring. But does it make me feel accomplished and happy? Yes, it does. I 100% recommend Bounce and Burn if you have a class near you, but if not, just try and maintain some regular exercise one or twice a week. Find what works for you. Kenzie Everyone experiences anxiety in some form or another. One less common form of anxiety that maybe many people don't know about or experience is phone anxiety.
I particularly experience phone anxiety. I feel very ‘meh’ about talking on the phone and I really hate it. If I can get away without having to take or make a phone call, you'll bet your bottom dollar that I will. One of the most prominent times that sticks in my head of phone anxiety is when I was first referred for talking therapy to help my anxiety. It was a self-referral service so I had to organise a referral. Unfortunately, the only way to do this was by phone as it was a local region-specific service. So I had no choice but to use the phone. It was terrifying and I was such a chicken about. I made the call a good dozen times but, each time got too scared and shut it off about four seconds before it'd start recording a voicemail. It was a disaster. The main thing to remember about phone anxiety or any type of anxiety at all is that it is normal. No matter what anyone else tells you, you aren't weird or worthless or less than for feeling anxiety. Everyone feels anxiety. Nerves are completely physiologically normal. We wouldn't be human if we didn't get jitters and nerves and anxiety. It comes from our fight or flight instinct. We can't stop feeling nervous and it's nothing to be ashamed of. It's survival. That's okay. You do have to be aware of when normal anxiety becomes a mental issue. There's nothing wrong with you if you do have an anxiety or panic disorder. It's just important to recognise that. Here are some symptoms to look for. If you experience them at any point, you made need to see your GP or a therapist for a diagnosis.
There are ways to avoid phone anxiety and one of the ways to do this, one of the more obvious ways, is to avoid using the phone. This can be both good and bad for you. Not using the phone will, of course, reduce your anxiety, making you generally feel better. However, avoidance of fear is not going to solve the problem. Without confronting it, the fear won't go away. You can confront it using CBT or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in order to learn relaxation techniques and learn to cope with your fear in a safe controlled environment. If you are interested in CBT, there are many websites that can provide you with more information and you would need to talk to a doctor or therapist/mental health professional. Don't be afraid of fear. Fear should be afraid of you because you, my darling, are one fierce human. Kenzie |