People worldwide are experiencing a connection recession—loneliness. In the United States alone, 61 percent of adults report they are lonely. Life far beyond the planet's surface, floating in the vast expanse of space—it sounds thrilling and adventurous, doesn't it? But in reality, it can be a story of isolation and loneliness, as astronauts have reported.

So how do these space pioneers combat the loneliness that often accompanies their groundbreaking missions? And how can you bring the lessons down to Earth and apply them for yourself?

If you grew up journaling, or have never journaled before, you may have heard of this as a mental health tool but may wonder how it relates to anxiety and difficult thought cycles. Thought cycles can be caused by a desire to control or work out the possibilities of something that, frankly, may not be able to be controlled at the moment. Other times, ruminating thoughts can occur because we are replaying a moment that we wish went differently, or we can be avoiding a feeling and instead, thinking about it, which makes it seem like we’re tending to it. Much of the time, this may be a natural cause of life. Anxiety can come in many forms.

If you’re reading this, you may be struggling to reach a goal or complete a task. You’re not alone – lack of motivation is something we all are faced with at some point in our lives. Whether you want to start exercising, quit smoking, do the laundry, or to finish a work project, you can find yourself dragging your feet or even planting your feet firmly and not budging at all.

At some point, the distress of procrastinating becomes greater than the distress of starting the task. It creates a lot of discomfort when one part of us desires to get the task done and another part of us would rather do anything else — this can leave us feeling ambivalent, frustrated, nervous, or useless. Some avoidance is expected at times, but is it recurrent or at a level that creates distress and prevents you from functioning in certain areas of your life?

How often do you find yourself in a situation when you say to yourself, “I need to really…”

…go to the gym
…eat healthier
…go to bed earlier
…exercise
…spend less money
…be happier

If you listen carefully to our inner dialogue as well as to others, “need to,” “should,” and “have to” statements are often part of our daily lexicon to help keep ourselves in check with certain desires and motivation. The problem with these all-or-nothing statements is that they are implying that what we are currently doing is far from being our perfect selves.

While most people relate seasonal affective disorder with the dark days of winter, summer time can also trigger this disorder. In fact, for many people, the summer months are the most difficult: 10 percent of those diagnosed with Seasonal Affective Disorder suffer symptoms at the brightest time of the year. The summer’s brutal heat, bright light, and long days can contribute to depression for the opposite reasons that the winter does. Like typical SAD, the change of light can affect a person’s circadian rhythm, which may disturb overall health and sleep patterns.

Kindness is a virtuous characteristic and a learned behavior that is often instilled by our caregivers at childhood. It is an interpersonal skill that often requires courage, strength, and occasional sacrifice. From a young age we are taught to be considerate, compassionate, and thoughtful towards others, either through direct interaction or by observation. Our heroes, whether fictional or real, often exhibit selfless and altruistic qualities that inspire us to hope, dream, and be our best.Thus, kindness and compassion can become instinctive behaviors that we learn to exclusively associate with others while forgetting about ourselves. Even our heroes often practice self-sacrifice at the expense of their well-being. By focusing on kindness as an act that is meant for others we tend to exclude the ideas of self-care and personal compassion from our daily routines.

June is LGBTQIA+ Pride Month, which celebrates everyone in the LGBTQIA+ community. This year marks the 54th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, otherwise known as the Stonewall Uprising, which saw members of the LGBTQIA+ community fight back against harassment from the police in Greenwich Village in June 1969.

While more and more people in the U.S. voice support for gay and lesbian rights each year, many people still do or say things that, however unknowingly, hurt the very people they mean to help. Here are 6 ways to be a better LGBTQIA+ ally during Pride Month and beyond, according to PFLAG, a national organization of LGBTQIA+ allies.

Most people can identify stressors in their lives that increase anxiety: paying bills, looking for a new job, ending a relationship, for example. However, some people might be surprised to learn that food can significantly impact our mood and increase anxiety.

Eating foods rich in protein, antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids are known to fight depression and other mood disorders. However, on the flip side, eating the wrong kinds of food can cause depression, anxiety and worsen existing symptoms.

If you have panic attacks or suffer from a mood disorder, it’s helpful to identify which foods may trigger or exacerbate symptoms. As a general rule, the following 5 foods should be avoided if you suffer from anxiety.

Most of us, it is safe to assume, have felt some level of impact from the current political and social climate. The seemingly endless news cycles, radio reports, newspaper headlines, social media campaigns, and regular day-to-day interactions with colleagues, friends, and family bring about daily reminders that are hard to avoid. Whether we like it or not, this cycle of negativity can creep into our daily existence, and bring about unwanted stress, anger, worry, defensiveness, and offensiveness.

While many are feeling powerless in the larger context of world events, there are ways you can help yourself to create a bit of peace and quiet in your mind, and allow yourself some space from the noise.

While going through the hustle and bustle of daily routines we rarely stop and think about our thinking and about the impact that thoughts have on our feelings, emotions, and behaviors. Experts estimate that on average a person experiences roughly 2,500 to 3,300 thoughts per hour for a grand total of about 50,000 thoughts per day. That’s a whole lot of thinking and a good deal of it relates to personal worry, fear, anxiety, and dread.