History of Mindfulness

Loving Yourself Quotes

Reading quotes has always been something that have helped me feel inspired. Here I've collected some of my favorites that I hope will be impactful for you as well.

"Love who you are, embrace who you are. Love yourself. When you love yourself, people can kind of pick up on that: they can see confidence, they can see self-esteem, and naturally, people gravitate towards you." - Lilly Singh

"It sounds like a cliche but I also learnt that you're not going to fall for the right person until you really love yourself and feel good about how you are." - Emma Watson

"It's not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself and to make yourself a priority. It's necessary." - Mandy Hale

"I'm working on myself. For myself, by myself."

"Forgiveness is an act of self-love"

Eating Well & Yoga

Eating Well is more that just eating your fruits and veggies. Its about eating to fuel and honor your body. Appreciating your body for what it does for you, and how it works for you in harmony when its respected. A practice that helps encourage this is yoga, which teaches awareness of the body’s functions and feelings. This practices is especially impactful when you've been disconnected from the body and mind connection.

Yoga can be an effective method of emotion regulation and distress tolerance (two pillars of DBT). Practicing yoga, mindfulness, and therapeutic services can help you by

• Increased attentiveness to one’s body functions and feelings

• Improved mood and decreased irritability

• Improved body image and self-confidence

• Greater sense of well-being

• Increased feelings of relaxation

• Improved ability to focus

• Improved sleep patterns

• Diminished impulsivity and irrational thoughts/behaviors

• Increased optimistic outlook on life and positive mind-state

• Improve ones relationship with self

I offer yoga classes, both individually and as a group. Contact me for details

Where to look

When our emotions get the best of us, we often struggle to utilize our logic/reason to help us solve problems or create opportunities for ourselves. We may forget to utilize what we already know, and who we typically look to for advice or help.

With that said here are some ideas you may have not considered:

Your community; whether that is your yoga buddies, your co-workers, your online communities, the PTA, your running club, or your book club.

(Now you don't have to share your problems with these communities if that's not what you want to do, but what you can do is strike up a conversation about therapists or groups that they may be aware of. Your network is potentially endless when you start the conversation that will help you get your needs met.)

Your access to the internet opens up doors you don't even know exist, look at websites like Thumbtack, Craigslist, Facebook, Twitter, or Psychology Today to name a few.

Your old fashion newspaper; look up support groups, or therapists in the classifieds or even the "things to do section" of the paper

Shop for a therapist or a group counseling like you would a car, there are many options out there, and if the first one doesn't feel right, or isn't in your price range, find someone who is. Also remember that you're worth the time and cost to attend services, if you don't make an investment in yourself, how can you invest in other things in your life?

When you can't always get what you want...

You know when you were a kid, everyone would tell you that "you're gonna miss this time", and you felt like telling them "nah, being an adult is gonna be awesome, because I will make it so". Well turns out, perhaps they were right... On the other hand maybe its all a matter of perspective, and you're life is actually pretty amazing?

Ask yourself, do you have love in your life? Do you have time to do things that you enjoy? Do you feel safe?

If any of these answers is "no" or "not really", then its time to change this perspective, and start giving these things to yourself. Since what's missing from childhood is these things typically being handed to you. If they weren't handed to you, you probably found a way to cope with not having them, but as an young adult or adult these coping skills are now more maladaptive then they are helpful. (This is common for most people, since typically emotional intelligence is something that needs to be worked on just as academic intelligence is).

So....

Ask yourself what did my parents or guardians give me as a child that I now have to provide myself?

And, what coping skills worked as a child, but are now interfering with my happiness and success?

Give love, time, and safety to yourself. Validate, encourage, and comfort yourself. Looking for others to provide it to you, is a struggle, so its healthiest to put that support on yourself first, then continue to look for those qualities in others.

As far as maladaptive coping skills that are no longer working, well that can be a variety of things, some that you may not even be initially aware of. Which is why I recommend talking to an objective person that help provide you deeper insight. Other ways are by journaling your thoughts and behaviors to see if there is a link between feelings that you crave or are feeling and the behaviors you act on. Mindfulness is an excellent way to slow yourself down enough to notice these behaviors and thoughts. Meditation, yoga, or simply being in the moment are excellent ways to practice mindfulness.

For further suggestions connect with me here