5 Creative Activities You Can Start Today to Improve Your Mental Health

Immune Boosting Winter Citrus Smoothie

Crush your cold with all the colorful in-season produce like blood oranges, beets, pomegranates, and rainbow chard spiced with ginger, turmeric, and cayenne. (via Half Baked Harvest)

Creamy Yogurt Popsicles with Berries

Nurse your sore throat with these healthy popsicles made with fresh berries and just five ingredients! (via The Real Food Dietitians)

15-Minute Asian Cold Remedy Soup

Maybe this soup’s claim has something to do with the hefty dose of fresh ginger in each bite.(via Fork in the Kitchen)

Cold-Soothing Chai Hot Toddy

Your grandma wasn’t lying when she said that a hot toddy is the best cold medicine. This chai-spiced version adds even more warmth to the drink and will lull you into a peaceful night of sleep. (via Baking Mischief)

Honey Chamomile Popsicles

Honey and chamomile are two soothing ingredients for a sore throat or upset tummy. Keep them stored in the freezer, and you and your kids will be more than happy to snack on them while sick. (via Vanilla and Bean)

Immune Boosting Garden Herb Stock

Once you get over your illness, you need to do everything you can to keep your immune system up. This nutritious stock is full of vitamins and minerals that you can drink straight or add to just about any dish you like. (viaOm Nom Ally)

Easy 30-Minute Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

You’ve got to have a solid chicken noodle soup recipe, no matter who you’re trying to nurse back to health. This one has plenty of protein, veggies, and comforting egg noodles to get your stomach settled. (viaAverie Cooks)

Golden Milk

Delicious both hot or cold, this anti-inflammatory drink made with coconut milk, dates, turmeric, and cinnamon is full of medicinal properties that will leave you feeling great in no time. Plus, it's gluten and dairy-free, vegan, and super easy to make! (via Clean Cuisine)

Rosehip Tea

Ripe in late fall, rosehips are high in vitamin C and can help strengthen your immune system. This tea, made with these fruits of rose plants, has an amazing effect on your body, before and after your sick day. (via Give Recipe)

Chicken Lemon Rice Soup

If you're not a fan of noodles or just not in the mood for them, opt for a chicken and rice soup instead. (via Feel Good Foodie)

Turmeric Ginger Chickpea Noodle Soup

Thisimmune-boosting chickpea noodle soup is full of veggies with a flavorful ginger turmeric broth, plus it's ready in about 30 minutes! (via Crowded Kitchen)

All-Natural DIY Pineapple Cough Syrup

No more cough syrup at home? Go for this all-natural alternative. The combination of pineapple, cayenne, lemon, ginger, and honey is more than effective at keeping your coughs at bay. (via The View from Great Island)

Gingery Poached Egg Soup

Sometimes it’s hard to even eat chicken noodle soup when you’re feeling under the weather. This light version will be ready for you to sip in 15 minutes, and it won’t weigh too heavily on your stomach. (via The Kitchn)

Healing Turmeric Cauliflower Soup

The anti-inflammatory properties of turmeric are just one of the reasons this soup is perfect for healing your sick body. If you’re having any trouble swallowing, the smooth texture will be easy for you to get down and digest. (via Simply Quinoa)

Healing Bowls With Turmeric Sweet Potatoes, Poached Eggs, and

Lemon Dressing

When you’re able to eat a little bit more, a big bowl of nourishing ingredients is what you need. This sweet potato and brown rice bowl is full of greens, poached egg, and a lemony dressing to help you feel like a million bucks. (via Pinch of Yum)

Immunity Shots

You could go to a fancy juice bar to get an immune-boosting shot or you could make one at home for a fraction of the cost, and you won’t have to get out of your pajamas. Use your blender or juicer to combine carrot, ginger, lemon, and garlic together into a cold-blooded flu killer. (via With Food and Love)

Cold Buster Citrus Smoothie

If your immune system does give into the office cold, this vitamin C-packed drink will help you recover at lightning speed. (via Seasonal Cravings)

Moon Milk

Getting a good night’s sleep is one of the hardest things to do while you’re sick. This antioxidant-rich warm moon milk recipe features nutmeg and ashwagandha, both of which are known for lulling you into a restful slumber. (via Bon Appetit)

Super Immunity Power Salad

Move over, spinach. This kale salad is here to take the spot as the most nutritious and delicious way to eat your greens. (via The Garden Grazer)

Triple Berry Kiwi Smoothie

Who needs a multivitamin when you could just drink this smoothie every day? One kiwi has over 100 percent of your daily requirement of vitamin C, so you know that you’ll stay healthy through flu season with this as your breakfast. (via The Pretty Bee)

Vegan Vegetable Noodle Soup Recipe

Even without the chicken, noodle soup is good for the soul. (via Veggie Society)

Homemade Hot Apple Cider Recipe

Homemade Hot Apple Cider Recipe

Sometimes all you need is a hot, seasonal drink to get you back on your feet. (via Pink Owl Kitchen)

CREAMY SWEET POTATO CHICKEN SOUP

Sweet potatoes are a great source of vitamin A which! Is great for fighting off illnesses.(via Averie Cooks)

SPICY SOFT TOFU SOUP

Sometimes all you need is a little spice to clear up a stuffy nose! (Takes Two Eggs)

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This post has been updated.

Easy Homemade Sore Throat Gummies

These lemon, ginger, and honey gummies are better than any lozenge than you can get at the store. The natural ingredients will coat your throat and ease any annoying tickles or cough that you may have. (via Hello Creative Family)

Consider This: Reflections for Finding Peace by Nedra Glover Tawwab (October 15, 2024)

Therapist and bestselling author Nedra Glover Tawwab captured my attention with her titles Set Boundaries, Find Peace and Drama Free: A Guide to Managing Unhealthy Family Relationships so much that I always have them on my desk. It's one of the reasons I'm so excited to dive into her new book, Consider This: Reflections for Finding Peace, next month!

It's almost as if she has secret intel, with all the precious nuggets she'll share that will help us center ourselves during tough moments. From friendly reminders to loving, but firm nudges, Tawwab provides guidance on everything from boundaries to finding joy during every moment.

Slowing: Discover Wonder, Beauty, and Creativity Through Slow Living by Rachel Schwartzmann

Author and Slow Stories podcast host Rachel Schwartzmann is here to remind us to slow TF down. Between receiving new information at the speed of light and having busy schedules, it's no wonder we're so stressed! Instead of being controlled by work and business, Schwartzmann wants us to reimagine the way we live and create.

She has poignant essays about the positive effects of slowing down — plus, she introduces readers to other voices who have insight about their own experiences with doing so! There are even "guided practices" to help reignite our introspection and creativity through journaling.

The Perfectionist's Guide to Losing Control: A Path to Peace and Power by Katherine Morgan Schafler

Perfectionists, we've been summoned with a guide that wants to give us permission to stop trying to control everything. It's so funny — this book landed on my radar after stressing about how I haven't felt in control for a long time. See how life works?

Anyway, psychotherapist Morgan Schafler knows we've been spoon-fed ideology about having balance in our lives, and feels like it's actually not helpful in the long run. She even helps categorize different versions of perfectionism: classic, intense, Parisian, messy, and procrastinator. Yes, that's right. Your procrastinating habit is rooted in perfectionism.

Instead of telling you to get rid of a part of who you are, Schafler breaks down why we respond to things a certain way and teaches how to live life so that our perfectionism doesn't necessarily control every single thing we do.

The Secret Language of the Body by Jennifer Mann and Karden Rabin

Do you know the role our nervous systems plays in our bodies? It's basically our in-house communication center for messages between our brains and bodies. It's what triggers or flight or fight mode, which comes in handy if we're trying to escape a bristly bear in the woods, but does nothing for us if we're upset someone cut us in line at Starbucks. Little moments like that lead to nervous system dysregulation and can cause a lot of pain.

Mind-body practitioners Jen Mann and Karden Rabin wrote The Secret Language of the Body as way to help us understand what truly goes on in our nervous systems. They dive into topics like somatic therapy, Polyvagal theory, and how our minds and bodies are connected so we can stop living in survival mode.

The Joy of Saying No by Natalie Lue

You know what's even harder to navigate life with besides perfectionism? It's being a people pleaser and considering everyone else's feelings before you think about your own.

The Joy of Saying No aims to explain how this is often rooted in our childhoods from being known as the good kid to the one who believes overachieving makes them more likable. It's true these roles served a function, but they can also stop us from being who we are as adults. Natalie Lue wants to help us recognize how we continue to operate in people-pleasing mode via six steps so we can reset our connection to others.

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle by Emily Nagoski, PhD and Amelia Nagoski, DMA

I'm going to talk about this book forever! It's one of my go-to reads when I'm experiencing so much burnout I can barely think straight. Sisters Emily Nagoski, Phd and Amelia Nagoski, DMA know that burnout isn't a new phenomenon — nor are they claiming it is. What they do know is too many women continue to experience it and are determined to help us change course.

There's lessons about how to move through our natural biological stress cycles, check in with our brains when we're frustrated, and get intimate with our inner critics who live to remind us that we're not doing enough. It's written so beautifully that you'll feel like you're talking to a friend who majored in psychology, but still has the same down-to-earth attitude you first encountered as kids.

The Sugar Jar: Create Boundaries, Embrace Self-Healing, and Enjoy the Sweet Things in Life by Yasmine Cheyenne

Yasmine Cheyenne's Sugar Jar metaphor is one of the easiest ways for us to realize how depleted we can become if we're not managing our boundaries and healing. From leaving our proverbial jars open, we become subject to energy vampires and moments we don't recognize we need to replenish ourselves until we're on the brink of burnout.

She teaches us how to understand what makes us feel exhausted, how we can press reset, and break up with our own negative habits. Also, she taps into our people-pleasing tendencies so we can find healthier ways to show up for ourselves and others.

What It Takes to Heal: How Transforming Ourselves Can Change the World by Prentis Hemphill

Prentis Hemphill knows the past few years have left everyone feeling off balance which is why What It Takes to Heal was written. It's a call-to-arms to remind us that our healing isn't optional if we want to move forward in the world.

You'll learn how to pay attention to how our body responds to certain things, including our own habits, and you'll figure out how to stop bearing the weight of emotional burdens. But instead of being in isolation, Hemphill encourages you to embrace being part of a community.

Sacred Self-Care: Daily Practices for Nurturing Our Whole Selves by Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes

Dr. Chanequa Walker-Barnes is offering helpful insights for how to being nurturing ourselves in Sacred Self-Care. As a psychologist, pastor, and activist, she's seen how hard it is for people to maintain a self-care practice that helps them navigate life.

As such, she's developed a seven-week guide filled with practices and activities that hone in on our emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual health. With each passing day, you'll receive journal prompts and scriptures that will help set the tone for the day. It's like a devotional from a psychologist's perspective and that can be great if you rely on both therapy as well as religion to get through your days.

You Are Only Just Beginning: Lessons for the Journey Ahead by Morgan Harper Nichols

Morgan Harper Nichols hasn't shied away from sharing her story and encouraging words with others on Instagram which is why it makes sense she's written You Are Only Just Beginning: Lessons for the Journey Ahead. She wants to help us embrace adventurous moments while sharing reminders that hard moments are temporary.

Sometimes all we need is a little courage to keep going when things feel bleak.

The Book of Moods: How I Turned My Worst Emotions Into My Best Life by Lauren Martin

Have you ever felt burdened by mood swings? If so, I completely understand because I often question my own and so did author Lauren Martin. She hit a wall a few years ago even though it seemed like her life was perfect on the surface. No matter what she did, she couldn't shake feeling inferior of irritable. It wasn't only she crossed paths with another successful stranger who felt the same that Lauren begin to seek to understand her emotions.

The Book of Moods: How I Turned My Worse Emotions Into My Best Life is a recollection of Lauren's journey and how she learned to find peace. She talks about varying triggers everyone has faced and blends her own wisdom with science-backed evidence to help us make informed decisions.

Self-Care for Moms by Sara Robinson, MA

Moms are often praised for our ability to be self-sacrificing and resilient in the face of hardship, but I'd be lying if I said it felt like people seem to forget we're human. We do care a lot and have the warm nurturing nature everyone talks about, but we also have our limits lest we fall victim to burnout.

Self-Care for Moms offers over 100 activities designed to remind moms how to pour into ourselves daily. Whether it's a 5-minute phone call or hour lunch with a friend sans kids, it's time for us to reclaim the way we care for ourselves.

How We Heal: Uncover Your Power and Set Yourself Free by Alexandra Elle

Alexandra Elle has shared her moving anecdotes with the internet since Tumblr, eventually becoming a bestselling author who continues to remind us to come home to ourselves. In How We Heal, she aims to help us rediscover peace by focusing on healing.

Broken into four parts, you'll find everything from journal prompts to meditations that tackle our innermost emotions. She even shares bits of her personal experiences so you feel less alone.

Dare to Feel: The Transformational Path of the Heart by Alexandra Roxo

If you're on the other spectrum of emotions that includes burying them, Dare to Feel encourages you to do the opposite. Although you may feel repulsed by the idea of cracking your heart open, trust that it's metaphorical. This is an invitation to connect with yourself, life, and others past a superficial level. You'll come across poems, meditations, and more that help you fall in love with being in tune with your emotions in this moving book.

Girl On Fire: How to Choose Yourself, Burn the Rule Book, and Blaze Your Own Trail in Life and Business by Cara Alwill Leyba

What's self-care without a reminder that you are THAT GIRL? Instead of questioning your worth, Girl on Fire wants you to start remembering who you truly are.

From encouraging you to not see other women as competition to offering tips for how to navigate the vision you have in your heart, you'll learn how not to let life and business get you down.

You'll feel empowered by the end of Girl on Fire and that's the point!

How do Millie Bobby Brown And Jake Bongiovi interact as a married couple?

It seems like Chris Pratt has exclusive intel because he got to see Millie Bobby Brown interact with Jake Bongiovi while they were filming The Electric State. It's apparent Chris and Millie have struck up a friendship full of praise for each other as the former raved about how amazing the Damsel actress is.

"She has such a huge heart, such a love for animals, such a love for her now-husband, Jake, who was on set every day," he said (via PEOPLE). He added that Millie and Jake are "totally awesome and normal people who live extraordinary lives."

In true Chris Pratt fashion, the actor concluded by telling Millie they're going to be friends forever. "...you can't get rid of me." I wonder if that means we'll see Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi go on doubles with Chris Pratt and his wife Katherine Schwarzenegger in the future!

How is Millie Bobby Brown adjusting to married life?

The actress has kept quiet about married life, but she recently shared a carousel on Instagram that hints she's doing amazing. She took fans BTS of life on the set of Stranger Things 5 and snapped a photo that appears to be on a blackboard. I don't know if she wrote "Millie Bobby Brown Bongiovi" in black marker or not, but it's clear she's proud to take on her husband's last name.

It seems like other fans couldn't get over seeing that pic because the comments about it are full of excitement. Fans think her name is "so powerful" and "sweet" which coincides with how everyone feels about her return as Eleven in Stranger Things.

Did Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi have a second wedding?

While the couple was legally and officially married, they celebrated with their closest friends and family with an intimate (and gorgeous, I might add) ceremony in the Tuscan hills of Italy. Millie donned 3 different looks for the occasion, while looking absolutely remarkable! Her main dress, a corseted flowing dream was made by none other than Oscar de la Renta. Afterwards, she wore a tiered sheer dress, the quickly changed into a fun, mini dress for the after party!

The two looked as in love as ever at their lavish ceremony, while none other than "Papa" Matthew Modine, Millie's Stranger Things co-star, officiated the ceremony! The pictures, posted by the couple, showed the stunning countryside of Italy that looked straight out of a movie! Jake posted the photos with the caption, "forever and always, your husband." Could they BE any cuter?!

We're so happy for this gorgeous couple on their big day!

Did Millie Bobby Brown get married?

Yes, Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi are married! Jon Bon Jovi confirmed that the two had tied the knot on an episode of BBC's The One Show. "They're great," says Jon. "They're absolutely fantastic. It was a very small family wedding, and the bride looked gorgeous, and Jake is happy as can be. It's true."

And thanks to The Sun, we know that Jon's wife Dorothea Bongiovi and Millie Bobby Brown's parents were also reportedly in attendance. While Millie has joked that her Stranger Things costar Matthew Modine (who plays Papa on the show) would officiate the ceremony, there's no word on whether any of her friends were at the wedding.

But The Sun also reports that the couple is having a larger ceremony later this year — now THAT'S a party I want to see! "Millie and Jake quietly said their vows in America last weekend," a source says. “They are planning a bigger ceremony in the US later this year but now they have legally married and done all the paperwork. It was a very low-key, romantic affair with their closest family with them as they said their vows.”

How did Millie Bobby Brown get engaged?

During an appearance on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon, Millie Bobby Brown finally spilled the details Jake Bongiovi's proposal, and TBH I totally did not see it coming. "Basically, Jake and I bonded over diving," she says. "He was like, 'Mill, you've got to be up at 8 AM, we're going on a dive'...So we go under and we're many meters down, and he gives me a shell and I turn it over and it's a ring."

"He puts the ring on my hand, and as I go to show him, the ring falls off my finger," she continues. "Jake threw himself into the [water] so deep...He does a cinematic grab, opens [his hand], and he saved the ring." This is one proposal story I could hear over and over again!

When did Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi start dating?

Millie Bobby Brown and Jake Bongiovi have dated since late 2021, but romance rumors swirled once the couple started posting pictures of each other in June 2021. The engagement sparked many reactions from fans, considering their shorter dating-to-engagement timeline and the couple’s ages at the time, Brown (19) and Bongiovi (20).

"Endlessly in love with the year I've had!" Millie says in a 2023 New Years Day Instagram post. "Grateful for my friends, family, donkey (bernard), my doggies, my puppies teeth, and my partner for life. here's to another year with you and the wonderful people and animals around us 🤍 let's do it again but better!"

What did Millie Bobby Brown wear to her engagement party?

Brown wore a Giambattista Valli lace set that we're absolutely obsessed with, and used her own florence by mills line for her makeup!

One user commented on Popsugar's announcement, "Anyone else think he looks like Flynn Rider from Tangled?" and now we're totally getting Flynn and Rapunzel vibes.

What have Millie's friends said about the engagement?

The actress’ friends were quick to congratulate the duo on Instagram. TV personality Jess Wright wrote in the comments section, “Ommmmggggg congratulations!!!!!!!!! @milliebobbybrown this is amazing. So so happy for you darling 🎊✨🤍.” Holly Ramsay, daughter of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, shared her well wishes and wrote, “!!!! Congratulations ❤️❤️❤️❤️.” Sister Tilly Ramsay also chimed in, adding “Congratulations ❤️!! Xx.”

Jake Bongiovi and Millie Bobby Brown are all smiles in their engagement photos, and I am love seeing how happy they are! "I've loved you three summers now, honey, I want 'em all," Millie says in her Instagram post. Considering this is a nod to Taylor Swift's Lover, it makes us love Millie even more!

Standing on a beach, Jake wears a white button down while Millie wears a classic slicked back bun, lacy top, and glazed donut nails. If you ask me, these are the PERFECT summer outfits and I want to replicate them ASAP!

What did Millie Bobby Brown do on her birthday?

Millie Bobby Brown celebrated her 20th birthday on February 19, 2024 at Cathédrale Restaurant in New York, and was surrounded by her closest loved ones for the occasion. She was seen smiling happily next to Jake Bongiovi and we pinched ourselves because they're so adorable together!

Aside from that, Millie Bobby Brown wore the cutest satin mini dress that looks fit for a bride. Could this be a nod to her wedding dress?