It's no secret that regular cardiovascular exercise releases endorphins and plainly makes your body feels better.  While not everyone is destined to be a gym rat or a sports fiend, everyone can make a list of their favorite activities. Think outside the box: for example, maybe you've always wanted to try hiking. Search for local hiking groups. Your brain needs rest. Try wearing a sleep mask and/or listening to white noise to create a peaceful environment. Avoid things like caffeine, alcohol, and drugs. While these substances may temporarily reduce anxiety, they end up making it worse in the long-term. A key component of being “laid-back” is to refuse to let life’s little annoyances rattle your composure.  When you’re getting irritated or angry, pause to think about what’s causing your anger. Psychologists speak of the power of reframing events, of activating the reasoning brain to bring balance to the emotional brain.  If you’re running late for an important appointment, reframe the situation from one of distress and disappointment  into a problem-solving opportunity. Even if you can’t figure out a solution, just considering possibilities will lower the bar on your emotional volume and put you in a more positive state. Many people will come and go in your life; some will make you feel good, others won’t. No matter how much work you do to become cool and laid-back, there will be negative people in the world. Treasure the fact that you can always work to improve your state of mind notwithstanding what stands in your way. Professional counseling might be a good idea if you’re confronted with issues in your life that are too overwhelming to confront on your own.  Some people struggle with clinical anxiety disorders. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) shows itself through an excessive anxiety about everyday things like money, relationships, health, and school.   If you're unsure whether or not the anxiety you're experiencing is excessive, it's not a bad idea to see a therapist and get a diagnosis.  Being cool and laid-back may not be the right goal for you just yet if there are other obstacles you need to conquer first.

Summary: Exercise. Sleep well. Stop sweating the small things. Remember that the only person you can control is yourself. Consider professional counseling.


In the first six to nine weeks after surgery, it is important to avoid heavy lifting, as well as any other activities that may increase the pressure or stress on your abdominal or pelvic areas. Ask your boss for modified duties at the workplace if you have a job that involves heavy physical labor.   Your doctor may advise that you do Kegel exercises to strengthen the muscles in your pelvic area following surgery. Be sure to follow your doctor's advice on when to begin strengthening exercises, and how many to do at a time, so that you do not put undue stress on your pelvic area following surgery. Also avoid sexual intercourse for 6 weeks following surgery, to allow time for a full recovery. If you are overweight or obese, this puts additional stress on the muscles and ligaments within your pelvis and vagina. Being overweight can significantly increase your risk of recurrence of the condition following surgery, due to the continual extra pressure in the area. Therefore, to minimize your risk as much as possible, and to ensure that the benefits of surgery last for as long as possible, you may want to consider weight loss.  Strategies to reduce your weight (if you are overweight) include increasing your aerobic (fat-burning) exercise, and improving the health of your diet, among others.   Click here for more information on how to lose weight safely and effectively if this is of interest to you. You will also want to ask your doctor to treat chronic conditions such as a persistent cough or ongoing constipation, which may put additional stress on your abdominal and pelvic floor muscles. While the specifics of recovery may vary on a case-by-case basis (depending upon the severity of your prolapse), surgery is generally very successful at treating vaginal prolapse. You can return to normal activity fully by six to nine weeks after surgery, and your surgeon can advise you on a plan for a gradual return to activity during this time period.  Note that sexual problems may persist even after the surgery is complete. The surgery will most likely resolve the anatomic problem (the prolapse), but it will not necessarily resolve associated sexual challenges. If you are struggling to get your sex life back on track, you can ask your doctor for suggestions or for a referral to a physician who specializes in women's sexual health and wellbeing. Challenges that are common include pain with intercourse and decreased libido, among other things.

Summary: Avoid heavy lifting and other similar activities while you recover. Consider weight loss to prevent recurrence of your prolapse. Be aware of your expected recovery from vaginal prolapse.


Common gestures allow you to bypass concepts you'll have to express each turn, like categories, so you can get to the good stuff. But it would be unfair if a few players didn't know these, so run through common gestures with all players before starting. Because every word or phrase will fall into a category, it helps to have standard gestures for these. This way you don’t have to waste time thinking up a unique gesture on the spot and can instead focus on gestures useful for the words on the slip.  Indicate book titles by unfolding your hands, as though opening a book. Gesture as though you are cranking old fashioned camera for movies. Draw a square or rectangle in front of you to signify TV shows. Pretend to sing (without actually singing) for song titles. Pull on a rope to raise a theatre curtain to indicate plays. Make air quotes with your fingers when your slip has a quote or phrase. When a teammate is close, allow excitement to show on your face. Use the distance between your fingers or hands to indicate closeness. To discourage teammates on the wrong track, point at them and shake your head “No” or form an X with your arms.  If a teammate is on a roll and they seem like they might say the right word, use a beckoning “come here” gesture or roll your hands in a circle. Moving your hands farther apart usually means “more,” but in some cases, this can also mean the word is “bigger,” like when it has a prefix or suffix. In some situations, your teammates might have the right word, but it might not be in the right tense, or it may need to be plural when they've said it in the singular. When a teammate is close, point to them and then:  Link your little fingers together to indicate a word is plural. Wave your hand behind you in a “way back” gesture for past tense. Do the opposite of this for future tense. By cupping your hand to an ear, you’ll signal to your team that you’re only acting out a word that sounds like the one you’re working on. After that gesture, if you pointed to your eye, it would be obvious the word you’re working on is “I.” The faster you clearly gesture, the more quickly your team will be able to guess your phrase. Practice by playing Charades often so gestures come to you naturally, without wasting time thinking. If you have difficulty clearly expressing yourself through gestures and you really want to get good, take an improv class or a mime class.

Summary: Discuss common gestures with all players. Express categories with standard gestures. Encourage guesses on the right track. Guide teammates to the right tense or form of words. Use similar sounding words to your advantage. Improve your game with practice and speed.


Trapdoors can do the following:  Prevent falls. Prevent mob access to an area. Stop water, snowfall, rain or lava from flowing into an area. Act as an opening for a countertop, such as a bar. It still lets light come through and does not block redstone signals. This is the only way to place a trapdoor. Then you can build around it with other blocks. Right click on it. It will flip back onto the block it is attached to.
Summary: Use trapdoors in your structures. To place a trapdoor, put on the side of a solid block. Open a trapdoor.