According to some research, strong religious beliefs coupled with a positive relationship with a higher power are connected to lower levels of disordered eating and body image concern. 
Image from Wrytin.com
We are living through an incredibly divisive time on social media this year.
Whether it was information regarding COVID, and now the protests in cities and towns all over the world, tempers are high on social media.
I wanted to write today about one simple tool to help control any feelings of rejection you may be experiencing:
Pay attention to your heartbeat.
Here's my first question: can you track your heartbeat without feeling your pulse? If you can, you might be better prepared to cope with being excluded in social situations.
If you can't, then try this: the next time you get feeling upset, go ahead and take your pulse by putting two fingers on the side of your neck, directly beneath your ear. Take deep breaths and listen to them, then notice what your heart rate does as you breathe.
That ability to focus inward and recognize your heartbeat is one way to measure what scientists call “interoceptive sensitivity,” or awareness of stimuli inside the body. A 2015 study suggests people with heightened interoceptive sensitivity are less hurt by social rejection than people with low interoceptive sensitivity.
In the study, researchers created situations of social exclusion or inclusion by asking participants to play a game of “Cyberball,” where they passed a virtual ball back and forth with two other players via computer. As the game progressed, in the exclusion situations, the other two players began leaving the study participant out of the game.
As expected, the players who were excluded felt bad, as measured by a few rubrics after the game. But the players who had previously demonstrated better accuracy in detecting their heartbeat felt less bad.
Individuals with higher interoceptive sensitivity are better at regulating emotions, it seems. They can respond more effectively to their body’s nervous reaction to being left out.
Regardless of what your natural abilities are, learning strategies to better regulate emotion can lessen negative feelings for you every day. It is possible to change the way you think, and a mental health professional can help you with that.
To read more about the study, click here.
You Might Also Enjoy...
According to some research, strong religious beliefs coupled with a positive relationship with a higher power are connected to lower levels of disordered eating and body image concern. 
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, isn't about brain wiring--it's how the brain fires. Here's some new info we're learning!
Depression tends to worsen with age. Now, during isolation and COVID-19, it is even more important to help our elderly maintain their mental health.
Scientists are looking into regulating glutamate--a neurotransmitter--to attack OCD symptoms in patients, and the research is beginning to come in.
For decades, mental health professionals have heavily emphasized medication in the fight against schizophrenia symptoms. A groundbreaking new study says we should turn that approach around: Focusing more on therapy than on medication yields better results.
When it comes to sleep, it looks like alcohol has an effect opposite the one many think it has. It turns out that not only is a nightcap a bad way to send you off to bed, your drinking habits overall could be affecting the way you sleep.