inner pieces

Are you in your Happy Place?

The unfortunate truth is that urban planners aren’t thinking of your happiness when they create places to live. It’s up to us to weigh the positives against the negatives when choosing a place to live and making the most of it when we’re stuck.

by Katarina Wajda

How to Recover from a Depression Relapse

My last post in 2019 was to tell my triumphant story of weening off of antidepressants. A couple months after, I faced a current of change.

I had fallen into a downward spiral.

Months into this scary downturn, I managed to pull myself away from a full-on relapse before it got out of control, using principles of behavioral science and neuroscience.

by Katarina Wajda

Me, Off Antidepressants

After almost ten years on antidepressants, this was a step that I wanted to share. It’s a way to let people know that maybe we don’t have to resign ourselves to a reliance on pills. If they make you feel better or they don’t make you feel better, maybe it’s not the only way.

by Katarina Wajda

Ending the Negative Thought Loop

I was plagued by negativity. The more negative thoughts I had, the more depressed I became and the more depressed I became, the more negative thoughts I had. It was a vicious cycle of unhappiness.

To break the cycle and get to where I am today, I had to start addressing my thoughts. I had to identify with a new motto, write a new story, and create a new default setting for my inner dialogue.

by Katarina Wajda

How to Manage Stress Naturally

As part of my path to being happy, managing stress was, and still is, a huge factor in my success. The goal is not to eliminate stress, but to work with it. It’s impossible to get rid of stress because as long as we are modern humans, we’re going to face situations that provoke it. Learning to cooperate with my response to stress is how I’ve taken control of my emotional well being.

by Katarina Wajda

Momentum: 6 Simple Ways to Motivate Yourself

I have some good news and some bad news about motivation.

The bad news is that motivation isn’t a muse bestowed upon the worthy. The good news is that motivation is a skill. You can generate motivation, just like you can cultivate happiness and relationships. If that sounds like it takes work, well, it does. But the results are unquestionable.

by Katarina Wajda

Why We Need Pain and How to Use It to Your Advantage

If bodily pain helps us survive by warning us about a physical problem, then emotional pain also evolved to help us survive.

Some people handle pain by spiraling into self-destruction while others not only overcome, but excel in extraordinary ways.

by Katarina Wajda

Nature and Nurture: Surrounding Ourselves with Happiness

It’s clear that there’s no one internal or external factor that causes depression. That may be unfortunate to some, but I believe that should give us hope; we’re not completely beholden to our genes or our life experiences.

If environmental and external factors constitute any significant portion of depression (and research seems to tell us they do) then we can focus on manipulating our personal environments to be happier.

by Katarina Wajda

Grown-up Fairy Tales: How and Why we Should Stop Comparing Ourselves to Others

The fairy tales we took for truth are still all around us – just in different forms.

So how do we overcome the constant pressure of feeling like failures in comparison to other people? How do we reclaim the magic in which we once believed and find our own happy ending?

by Katarina Wajda

Outside Looking in: Make Better Decisions by Taking Yourself out of the Picture

You’re still unhappy, and your friends are sick of hearing you complain like a broken record.
Fortunately, there are ways to counteract our self-deceptive biases and ultimately make healthier decisions.

by Katarina Wajda

How to Fall Asleep in 15 Minutes or Less

Imagine being able to fall asleep whenever you want.
I accidentally figured out the secret to falling asleep.