Nature is a wonderful metaphor for life and the heat seems to be intensifying every day. My air conditioner has broken three times in three weeks! When things heat up and intensify around me, it’s my cue for me to come back down to my baseline.
Read MoreImagine attending a yin yoga class that’s intended to help you connect to your insides and notice all the things that are happening internally rather than externally. When I first started practicing yoga, I needed the group to help hold me accountable. Whenever I tried to practice stillness on my own I would tune out to distractions like the phone, or washing machine or even hearing the mailman pull up to our mailbox as a reason to stop focusing inward. Attending the class where the mat was laid out for me I was invited to sit or lay down and find a position where I could be still for a few minutes was incredibly helpful.
Self-care and finding the right “recipe” for feeling good is vital for one’s wellbeing. Like a cooking recipe, there is not one ingredient that makes me feel good, fulfilled, healthy, safe, etc. My self-care recipe is made up of many ingredients. This recipe works best when I use regularly, if not daily, instead of something that is done after I already feel bad.
Read MoreChildren learn about themselves and the world around them by observing and imitating the adults they are surrounded by. When parents talk openly and honestly about their own mental health and normalize this conversation, children can learn from a very young age that it is okay to talk about their mental health and well being without feeling ashamed of themselves. It is important, then, for parents to model what it means to talk about mental health in order to normalize this conversation.
Read MoreFriendships can be tricky. For some of us, it can feel like an extension of family. If that’s the case, we might also then treat these relationships the same way we treat family and re-enact unhelpful ways of communication we learned growing up. We might avoid hard conversations, medicate together, let people cross our boundaries, or keep things “light.” When it comes to bringing up mental health with our friends it can feel uncomfortable, and one might think “it’s not my place.” However, the biggest mistake I see people make is just pretending their friend isn’t struggling, and perhaps talking about their friend’s behavior behind their backs, hoping it will go away, or they slowly just talk to their friend less and less.
Read MoreWhen I was first introduced to meditation, I was not a believer in its benefits. I thought the only form of meditation was sitting cross-legged in silence or with some soft music playing in the background while muttering “hummm” every few seconds. When I reflect back on this, I realize that I didn’t “believe” in it because I didn’t understand what it really was and how it helps the body.
Read MoreApril is Stress Awareness Month! When I learned that this month is dedicated to bringing awareness to stress I thought, “Wow, this is coming at a very good time in my life!” Between the stress of the COVID-19 pandemic and all of the uncertainty, changes, and challenges present in the world over the past year and recently selling my home and moving to accommodate a two week closing period, I have experienced a great deal of stress.
“E-motions are energy in motion. If they are not expressed, the energy is repressed. As energy it has to go somewhere. Emotional energy moves us as does all energy...To deny emotion is to deny the ground and vital energy of our life” --John Bradshaw
Read MoreThe New Year inevitably brings with it resolutions. Maybe you pledged to lose weight, stop smoking, stop using your phone so much, and be a “new you.” Or, you’ve tried resolutions in the past, and they haven’t worked, or maybe you’re sick of hearing about everyone else’s!
Read MoreWhat are cognitive distortions? They are irrational thoughts or beliefs we have about ourselves and the world around us that are reinforced over time.
