Staying well

Easy peasy recipes - please share yours.

replies: 151

Hello BBers Please share an easy recipe you love. If you have a story of where your recipe(s) came from, chat away. Feel free to write your recipe in any format you like! I can't wait to try Mara's specialty Rocky Road..... like yesterday. Here's min... View more

Hello BBers Please share an easy recipe you love. If you have a story of where your recipe(s) came from, chat away. Feel free to write your recipe in any format you like! I can't wait to try Mara's specialty Rocky Road..... like yesterday. Here's mine. A perfect 'day off' meal and absolutely wonderful for Winter. You can prep in the morning and put it together at lunchtime for dinner. I made up the recipe after a few dismal failures lol. I have ideas for any leftover cooked stock mixture later... Beef brisket - the BB easy peasy way. You'll need: 1 beef brisket that fits into your baking tray with some room. 1L beef stock. 2L if the brisket is BIG. Worcestershire sauce. 2 onions sliced anyway you like. Mushrooms sliced thickly - as many as you like. Oil - any type. Salt. Pepper. A baking tray... the best tasting one I've made was cooked in a cast iron, enameled baking tray but any will do. Aluminium foil to cover the baking tray. A frying pan / skillet. Utensils for pan and tray. Oven gloves. Oven & stove top. To cook: Pour cold stock & 2 tblsp W sauce into baking tray. Saute onions in oil in pan & add to baking tray. Brown mushies as above & add to baking tray. Sprinkle salt / pepper over brisket. Brown both sides of brisket in pan then add to baking tray. Cover whole tray with foil & scrunch under edges. Spoon stock mixture over brisket to coat. NB: The stock mixture needs to come up to around half way on side of brisket. Add more stock if needed. Slow cook in warm oven c110C for about 2h. Check. Turn brisket. Repeat. Taste to see if more W sauce is needed. Rest meat for 15 mins. Slice and serve. Note: IF you want a pulled beef effect then you can cook longer until beef is falling apart. Add to sliders, Turkish bread. If this isn't easy for you, sorry! I have a great Boscaiola coming up later that is super easy, promise. EM

Coping with tyrants

replies: 3

"What is a tyrant person? 1 : a ruler who has no legal limits on his or her power. 2 : a ruler who exercises total power harshly and cruelly. 3 : a person who uses authority or power harshly My boss is a real tyrant A "ruler". Overuse of power in a h... View more

"What is a tyrant person? 1 : a ruler who has no legal limits on his or her power. 2 : a ruler who exercises total power harshly and cruelly. 3 : a person who uses authority or power harshly My boss is a real tyrant A "ruler". Overuse of power in a harsh manner. Unlike characteristics ingrown from DNA, tyrannical nature is changeable be it by maturity or learning that being a tyrant gets you into trouble. A tyrant parent might lose their child's love if overly harsh dictatorship/control doesn't wain for example. Tyrants are in every profession and we only know of one with contact or prior warning. Commonly we get surprised when we identify one and are subjected to their methods of control. How do we react? If you're like me in my youth you'd be submissive, obey, followed by anger at why you allowed it to continue without any defensive recoil. I had a work colleague, we were both prison warders 4 decades ago. He was tyrannical to prisoners when normal communication was sufficient. We were friends also but I soon learned that his domineering ways extended to his wife and later- to me. I concluded this was more satisfying to him and far easier than treating others as equals. This disrespect was summed up with him often saying "what would they know"? Yes, arrogance plays a role in the tyrant. So, what is one's options when confronted? Continuation of submissiveness Defend with calm but equal force Reject and abandon Reject was an issue for me because if I didn't converse with pointing out his unacceptable bossiness then I'd be left with guilt and he would continue his behaviour. I found that option 2, defend calmly then give him an opportunity to change was the better choice knowing all along change was highly unlikely. Sadly, to obtain peace in your life our separation from tyrannical behaviour is essential. We cannot change the world, we are not responsible for others behaviour but we are responsible for our own mental well being and freedom from domination. Protect yourself, exercise your right to defend but not mimic the tone of the tyrant. Bid the tyrant farewell and wish them luck for being humble is good. Eliminating tyrants imo is good. Social media is full of them. Use "block" when required. How have you coped with a tyrant? What methods do you recommend? TonyWK

What is the best piece of advice that you have gotten that has stuck with you?

replies: 6

I heard this question the other day and it has been playing on my mind ever since. I would love to hear advice, quotes, books and/or experiences that you have come across that have really changed your perspective or shaped you in some kind of way. I ... View more

I heard this question the other day and it has been playing on my mind ever since. I would love to hear advice, quotes, books and/or experiences that you have come across that have really changed your perspective or shaped you in some kind of way. I think that we all have so much to learn off of each other's experiences and wisdom!

Spirituality - how being in touch with spirituality creates healing

replies: 28

Fellow peers, After a brief conversation with a peer on the forums I was inspired to start a thread on spirituality. For some, spirituality is a very important aspect of the human being and can be a source of great healing, comfort and peace. I am in... View more

Fellow peers, After a brief conversation with a peer on the forums I was inspired to start a thread on spirituality. For some, spirituality is a very important aspect of the human being and can be a source of great healing, comfort and peace. I am interested to hear about peoples spiritual experiences and to share with each other on how spirituality has helped us grow and learn more about ourselves. For example you can discuss spiritual leaders that have helped you, quotes, experiences, philosophies etc. I want to also welcome any form of spirituality and belief that has generated a sense of space and peace. Don't be shy! I will start with a quote by Alan Watts (Buddhist/zen philosopher). This helped me challenge my beliefs on being not good enough, not better enough, not as I should be: "What I am really saying is that you don't need to do anything, because if you see yourself in the correct way, you are all as much extraordinary phenomenon of nature as trees, clouds, the patterns in running water, the flickering of fire, the arrangement of the stars, and the form of the galaxy. You are all just like that, and there is nothing wrong with you at all." Looking forward to hearing from you.

Finding your inner calm

replies: 37

Hi Everyone, This thread is about finding your inner calm, its something I've worked on for the past four and a half years. "One of the best lessons in life is how to master how to remain calm" Mastering how to remain calm takes inner work but once y... View more

Hi Everyone, This thread is about finding your inner calm, its something I've worked on for the past four and a half years. "One of the best lessons in life is how to master how to remain calm" Mastering how to remain calm takes inner work but once you can master it your inner would becomes very peaceful. Its something that needs to be tackled internally, sometimes we 'react' to certain things instead of responding. We all have the choice of how we will respond to something it just takes practice. If something is going to cause you to lash out and react in a negative way, before you do this you need ask yourself is it really worth it? If you can just remain calm in this instance your inner world will thank you for it, our minds tend to race forward with reactions but if you can just allow the mind to do this and "watch it" but let your body and internal self to stay deep seated in "watching" and not responding you will see how your inner calm can start to take place. We all have a inner breath, learn to follow this breath and use it as an anchor and a grounding tool. If we can learn to control our breathing everything becomes more calmer and we have more clarity in the moment. Everything takes practice but if this is something that will eventually bring you more inner peace then its practice well spent.. life is a journey and if we can learn how to master how to remain calm in every situation we win. Practice and perseverance will always get you over the line.

What a wonderful world

replies: 11

One of my favourite songs but the term is so much more. A 19yo relative came to stay recently. His parents are sadly negative about everything in life. So my wife and I returned to our car where he waiting. Puffing I remarked that I wasn't fit (I'm 6... View more

One of my favourite songs but the term is so much more. A 19yo relative came to stay recently. His parents are sadly negative about everything in life. So my wife and I returned to our car where he waiting. Puffing I remarked that I wasn't fit (I'm 66yo), he replied "every part of my body is bad except my lungs...oh, but I do have asthma ". A few seconds of silence "look at that magpie standing in that tree" I said "And my tinea hasn't improved either" he continued "Watch those 2 pups playing, aren't they gorgeous " I said "Are you trying to ignore me" K barked. "Well, I do exercise choice, whereby I don't allow people talking about problems when there is so much to observe in life that is wonderful. So, you have that choice K... if you focus on your tinea so much your head will be down while the colours of a rainbow is missed. If you remind yourself of your asthma too often you'll missed the thrill of breathing air. K mumbled something. I finished my "speech" and googled that song. K realised my intent and joked "ok I get it Tony"... lol. Of course he didn't "get it" but one day he might. I hope I planted a seed he'll one day reap. People that think negative imo waste their lives. Sure we either mental health issues have down periods but that robs us of choice. When we are OK we can choose to focus on the wonders of a wonderful world... TonyWK

Coping with bed rest and maintaining my mental health from covid complications

replies: 2

Hi, I am looking for some ways to help manage or cope, or things to do to maintain my mental health when I am on bed rest after covid complication I have had depression in past, but have been doing well in my recovery so far. But 7 weeks ago I caught... View more

Hi, I am looking for some ways to help manage or cope, or things to do to maintain my mental health when I am on bed rest after covid complication I have had depression in past, but have been doing well in my recovery so far. But 7 weeks ago I caught covid, which led to multiple hospitals for a heart complication caused by covid infection. I’m triple jabbed and never thought I would get this sick, I take all precautions, so it’s been a grieving process. I’m on bed rest until my heart heals which I have been told is weeks too months, and am struggling with the frustration of not being able to do the things I need to do to stay well, and heartbroken not to be contributing to my family in the way I normally would. I am really limited in the amount of movement I can do at the moment, and have to watch my heart rate and blood pressure, but any suggestions of things I can do to maintain my wellbeing would be really appreciated. Do you have any ideas?

Prevention of stress is better than cure

replies: 8

"Stress" and vast word that covers several descriptions of worry, load on the mind and the number of things in life to do. In our daily life we carry out hundreds of tasks from making our bed to turning off the light before sleeping. Many of these ta... View more

"Stress" and vast word that covers several descriptions of worry, load on the mind and the number of things in life to do. In our daily life we carry out hundreds of tasks from making our bed to turning off the light before sleeping. Many of these tasks are mundane however when we fall ill with a mental health issue these same insignificant tasks become hurdles, the hurdles then become a challenge and soon they all gather to become too high to leap over. We then plug away year after year to just manage this state of mind until sadly it all ends with a serious mental breakdown. It is only having gone through that process that I can see clearly that period of many years when the warning signs were ignored. The "fast lane" of juggling work in my case 80,000km a year driving, medication, relationship woes and childrens needs etc. Two psychotic episodes in quick succession was the end of my working life. That was 9 years ago. So what can you do about the build up of stress during that period where you are just maintaining tolerance of life itself? Acceptance- learn to accept that life will not be smooth, it will throw waves of unexpected barrier at any time. Accepting this results in less panic Realise that from the cave man days or even more recently, that life used to have far less activity. Hunt, cook, eat, maintain shelter and care for each other. Since then we've cluttered it all up. This means our mind is full and needs rest and de-cluttering. Leads to- Going back to basics. Remove things that you dont need. Toxic people, clubs and community obligations, reduce addictions and streamline bill paying etc Increase happy things, hobbies, sports etc. Barrack for a team? I made one mistake recently y joining a fotty team on facebook. You simply cant post a comment without controversy- nope, left that group. Leads me to- Learn to care for yourself. Everything that works in life needs care. Service your body and mind with rest and meditation. Start by googling "youtube prem rawat Maharaji". His videos are amazing Help others. You experience in life and your endurance to survive a mental health issue is invaluable. Helping others makes you feel valued. Learn positivity and motivation. Attend lectures. Our minds are open to learning better ways to thrive. Worry only produces ulcers. https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/online-forums/anxiety/worry-worry-worry Praise yourself. You can be your own best friend Comments welcome TonyWK

I feel like just an empty shell

replies: 3

I have two public health and a physiology degrees so I know my covid stuff. I live alone. I have depression and anxiety. I am close to my parents, who are fit and healthy but are in their seventies and my mum has a respiratory illness. They are also ... View more

I have two public health and a physiology degrees so I know my covid stuff. I live alone. I have depression and anxiety. I am close to my parents, who are fit and healthy but are in their seventies and my mum has a respiratory illness. They are also my only family. Exercise is a huge part of my life and I am also wary of the effect of long covid on it. I lived in WA so it was great for a few years. Then at ANZAC day all restrictions were dropped and cases have skyrocketed. I no longer go to the shops, go to the gym, go to painting lessons, go to parties, go shopping, go to the movies or concerts, go on air travel, go to sports training sessions, eat out etc. I miss my friends and wonder if I will ever get to do the things I love again. I really just have this existence all by myself and I feel I have lost my identity. I have a very boring job that I do party from home. Despite all that, one of my parents now has covid and other is likely to follow. I am bracing for them to go into hospital at least in the next few weeks, I also probably have it. I feel I'm now a prisoner wasting my life and worried sick about my loved ones while being powerless to help them and am isolated from society, without being able to do any of the things you can do for mental health. I have tried walking and running on my own but I am now bored of it and it doesn't fulfill me. I feel this will go on forever.

Do you find watching Youtube 4K walk videos a great way to unwind and relax at home?

replies: 3

As we are still in a pandemic, lockdowns and their aftermaths have worn down the best of us. Even then, sometimes we just can't leave our homes to venture into the city or local shopping centre for some reason. On Youtube, there are 4k videos - basic... View more

As we are still in a pandemic, lockdowns and their aftermaths have worn down the best of us. Even then, sometimes we just can't leave our homes to venture into the city or local shopping centre for some reason. On Youtube, there are 4k videos - basically, it's someone who's filming their POV as they walk through cities and attractions. There are hundreds of such videos on Youtube, covering many cities and places across the world. They tend to run for about 30 minutes on average, and it's a great opportunity to do people-watching and contemplating the sights. I used to live in South Australia, and I often watch 4K videos of Adelaide CBD, because it brings back so many nice memories and I feel a release of bottled-up emotions and feel I'm actually there, walking in Adelaide. It's also just interesting to watch the other people walking and any new developments in the area. Does anyone else watch 4K videos, too? I think it's great for people with mental illness who are curious about the world and can get a personal "tour" of any global city.

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A Bouquet for Pearls - share your appreciation for other members

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