Relaxation

“Children need to feel seen. Adults do, too.” ~Unknown As a teenager, I played the flute for about nine years. I never practiced—apart from that guilt-ridden last half hour prior to my weekly lessons. It was important for my parents that their children learned a musical instrument, and so I was given the flute, while

“Some of the kindest souls I know have lived in a world that was not so kind to them. Some of the best human beings I know have been through so much at the hands of others, and they still love deeply, they still care. Sometimes, it’s the people who have been hurt the most

“Being a people-pleaser may be more than a personality trait; it could be a response to serious trauma.” ~Alex Bachert Growing up in a home, school, and church that placed a lot of value on good behavior, self-discipline, and corporal punishment, I was a model child. There could have been an American Girl doll designed

“I have never known a patient to portray their parents more negatively than they actually experienced them in childhood but always more positively–because idealization of their parents was essential for their survival.” Alice Miller, Thou Shalt Not Be Aware: Society’s Betrayal of the Child If we’re born into dysfunctional families and, by some miracle, manage

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.” ~Elbert Hubbard I’m breathing fast; my heart rate is off the scale. I close my eyes and try to fill my lungs with air. My pulse starts slowing down. Still forty seconds of rest left, my timekeeper shows.

TRIGGER WARNING: This post deals with an account of domestic violence and may be triggering to some. “You can’t heal the people you love. You can’t make choices for them. You can’t rescue them.” ~Unknown Every story starts at the beginning. But how far back should I go? Birth? I was born at Our Lady

“It’s not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and to make your happiness a priority. It’s necessary.” ~Mandy Hale I have to start off with how I define the different levels of self-care. There is what I call surface-level self-care. This would be things like getting your nails done and taking a bubble

When you’re in fight-or-flight mode, everything you do or don’t do teaches the brain something about the perceived threat. When you avoid or flee the situation, your brain experiences a wave of relief. The amygdala learns that avoiding that situation is how you stay safe from that threat. This is exactly how you want the

“I have come to believe that caring for myself is not self-indulgent. Caring for myself is an act of survival.” ~Audre Lorde I can’t pinpoint the exact moment when I realized that I no longer needed to fight for my survival, but I do know that it came after several years of prayer, healing, and

“Today I shall behave as if this is the day I will be remembered.” Once again, Dr. Seuss reminds us of the finite nature of life with a powerful punch in the face. If I’m being honest, only about a third of my week am I kicking ass. And that doesn’t factor in the weeks