Often we can see that someone is struggling and yet we don't know how we can support them. It is hard to watch when a person you care about is in pain and this can leave us feeling frustrated and helpless. Below you will find a few resources that you can reference to help out someone you know or even yourself. What Helps What Hurts - This guide offers four steps you can take to help someone who is dealing with depression Option B - This…
After my post in November on Gratitude, I came across this lovely post with suggestions on how to work with gratitude in the midst of difficulty. It seems like a great resource to help bring gratitude to the forefront for the new year ahead. When Gratitude is Hard, Try This Please take a read over there and explore how you can deepen your gratitude practices no matter what you are going through.
As the end of the year approaches, many of us begin to reflect on the year that has passed and what we would like to see in the year ahead. If a health concern is part of your story, please consider joining me, along with Karen Gilbert, an Occupational Therapist, a certified Daring Way™ facilitator, and an all around wonderful human being, as we explore ways to revisit our stories and choose how we write the endings. Rising StrongTM for Health Please visit the Facebook event…
Gratitude practices are becoming more familiar in the world of pop psychology and the pursuit of happiness. Believe me, I know this can feel like a big stretch when you are suffering or in distress and yet there are reasons to give it a try and see how it impacts your life. There is science behind it. In the world of positive psychology, the links between gratitude and happiness are well studied. Much of that research demonstrates links between practices of gratitude and subjective experiences of…
If you are living with a health condition and you are seeking ways to continue to thrive, this weekend workshop might be a good fit. Rising Strong™ for Health Please visit the Facebook event page above or karengilbert.ca for more information and to register.
We are constantly bombarded with messages that we are "not enough". Advertising and social media often reinforce this idea with images of the latest product that we need or the happy times we are not part of. We know that this is a limited perspective and yet it still impacts our feelings of adequacy. Within our health management, the same concept can apply. There are often many tasks or lifestyle changes that are prescribed or recommended. When we are unable to adopt them easily and…
In the ongoing quest for acceptance and allowing for all emotional experiences, I sometimes must remind myself (and those I work with) that distraction is not a dirty word. There are times when the wisest and kindest option we have for ourselves is to choose to take a break from intensity. The key is to use distraction as simply one more tool in our coping repertoire. We can run into trouble if we are constantly avoiding unwanted feelings or situations. There is no way to permanently…
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Throughout 2019, the theme on this blog (and my life) has been self-compassion. It's an important topic for those of us with health conditions as too often we feel our struggles are a burden to others and we neglect to offer ourselves the love and nurture we need. This road can be a hard one and it's okay to acknowledge the struggle as we continue to live lives based on values and meaning This focus started off in January with a link outlining the scientific benefits…
I recently saw this posted on Sharon Salzberg's Facebook page. She is an inspiring Buddhist teacher who is renowned for her work on loving kindness (metta) practices. It's a beautiful reminder of the importance and wisdom of boundaries. We need them in order to be well and to serve ourselves and others. So when we set those limits, aim to bring kindness and love to that experience.