Tagged With "Inner Strength"
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Re: Healing Is Never a Solo Journey
Thank you so much Helen, not just for the words, but for allowing your strength to even make a comment here in a public space. I write alot, not just here, but in other groups and blogs, and very very rarely get a reply. And not because people are not reading the Blogs or comments, but we have learned through the years to keep quiet, not to ruffle feathers, keep the stream clear and running with its sweet fresh water that is untainted with perhaps bits of flowing sewage that we can look away...
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Adversities. Resilience. Gratitude.
Adversity can be a powerful word especially when you are a Trauma Counsellor aware of ACEs. This revolutionary study on the impact of our Adverse Childhood Experiences has provided us with so many answers as to why we are the way we are. At least it did for me and the people I work with every day. It has also raised many important questions. One being, how can one build resilience through past adversities? How did I do it? Having done the ACE test and getting a maximum score of 10 on it, I...
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Join Kristin Neff at the Free Mindfulness for Healthcare Virtual Summit May 20-23 [centerformsc.org]
We invite you to participate in the Mindfulness for Healthcare Summit , May 20-23, 2021 hosted online by our partner Mindful Communications and featuring Mindful Self-Compassion co-founder Kristin Neff along with 45 other experts in the mindfulness, compassion, and healthcare fields. This free virtual event will explore how mindfulness and compassion tools and practices support high-quality patient care and the well-being of healthcare workers , with a particular focus on promoting more just...
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A Strengths-Based Approach Brings HOPE to ACEs
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released its first in a series of reports called “Snapshots” after polling 3,000+ parents about their experiences during the pandemic. Surprisingly, while many of the findings were concerning, most people reported a deepening relationship with their children despite the stress and tension they were experiencing.
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The Power of Prayer and Meditation
“The minds who spend hours worshiping God in prayer and meditation are different yet more blessed than others.” – Barbara Bradley Hagerty The power of prayer and meditation cannot be overlooked. In today’s busy life, the importance of meditation and prayer has increased multifold. Not only do they bring much-needed peace to the increasingly materialistic mind, but they also enhance character traits that are essential for success in life. Prayer and meditation are the ways to know the meaning...
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Horses Teach Us How to Connect on a Human Level
I have always loved horses. When I was a young girl I collected plastic Breyer model horses, read books about horses, and even watched television shows that had an equine theme. I think it is their exquisite beauty, their inherent wild nature, and the vulnerable and trusting relationship between horse and rider that is the attraction. I purchased my first horse when I was twelve, spending a year cutting lawns, weeding, and babysitting, eventually raising enough money along with my parents’...
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A Better Normal: Practicing Resilience | Witnessing Ourselves: Grief & Self-Care in Times of COVID-19 Transition
Please join us for our next A Better Normal: Practicing Resilience episode, a live Zoom event! In A Better Normal we imagine and create a PACEs science-informed world together. In Practicing Resilience we fill up our own cups with healing practices for ourselves. Witnessing Ourselves: Grief & Self-Care in Times of COVID-19 Transition Thursday, June 17th, 2021 | Noon to 1pm PDT Live on Zoom | Hosted by Gail Kennedy and Lara Kain Guest: Sandra J. Valdes-Lopez, MDiv, CA, TCTSY-F, RYT...
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The Surviving Spirit Newsletter May 2021
Healing the Heart Through the Creative Arts, Education & Advocacy Hope, Healing & Help for Trauma, Abuse & Mental Health “ Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars”. Kahlil Gibran The Surviving Spirit Newsletter May 2021 http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/pdfs/2021-05-The_Surviving_Spirit_Newsletter_May_2021.pdf Hi folks, Greetings from New Hampshire....spring has arrived and the weather has been all over the place –...
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Four Ways Self-Compassion Can Help You Fight for Social Justice [greatergoodberkeley.edu]
By Kristin Neff, Greater Good Magazine, June 14, 2021 How can we effectively bring about a more just world? Although it may not be obvious at first glance, self-compassion plays a key role in the quest to end sexism, racism, heterosexism, and other forms of oppression. By aiming compassion inward as well as outward, we can better confront the pain of injustice without being overwhelmed, and find the strength and energy to fight for what’s right. Self-compassion helps us cope by accepting our...
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Educators Thrive in the Classroom
It’s back-to-school time and I am so happy to see all the teachers and students back in their classrooms doing what they do best: teaching, learning, and choosing love! September kicked off the start of the school year and thankfully I’ve been able to travel, in person, to visit schools in seven states around the U.S. who are using the Choose Love For Schools program, and to also virtually check in with many more. It made my heart happy to see all those classrooms bustling with activity.
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A life-changing public art project that infused a community with healing
This is the second in a series on how the arts can build resilience in a community. This project, in particular, was one of the top five in my career and still has lasting impact on so many levels.
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Beginning the Healing Journey: Return to the Resilient Zone
Dysregulated stress is central to the ACEs/health outcomes link. The healing journey starts with regulating stress arousal that is stuck on too high or too low.
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Lara Collis
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Adverse Childhood Experiences, the Brain, and Exercise: How exercise strengthens the brain wounded by toxic childhood stress
Even small amounts of exercise can quickly and dramatically improve mood, brain health, brain function, and the ability to cope with stress, while preparing the brain to rewire the hidden wounds from childhood.
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The Importance of Choosing Love Every Day
February is a special month – it’s Choose Love Awareness Month! It’s time to celebrate love and focus on our ability to choose love in our lives! For 28 days the Choose Love Movement shares daily action tips on ways you can bring more ‘Nurturing Healing Love’ to yourself and others all month long and beyond. We also share how you can live a Choose Love lifestyle by incorporating the Choose Love Formula into your daily life: Courage + Gratitude + Forgiveness + Compassion-in-Action = Choosing...
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In Times of Crisis, Draw Upon the Strength of Peace (lionsroar.com)
At many temples in Asia, one encounters statues and paintings of Avalokitesvara , the bodhisattva of compassion. Avalokitesvara is sometimes portrayed as female, sometimes male, so we could say they are transgender—and also transcending gender. In some depictions, Avalokitesvara has a thousand arms, symbolizing all the skillful means they have of responding to suffering, and on each of these arms is an eye in the palm of the hand, the eye of wisdom. We need the eye of wisdom in our palms. If...
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Resilience & Growth after Trauma
There is something very powerful about being able to adapt well in the face of adversity, trauma, stress or pain. Resilience has been defined and used to describe a person who bounces back from intense difficult circumstances. More often than not, with resilience comes deep personal growth that prepares a person for what’s ahead. Resilience drives us to stand strong; it is a process of adapting & moving forward. Trauma can be debilitating. It is life altering. But there is another truth...
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The Healing Power of Strength Training [nytimes.com]
By Danielle Friedman, Photo: Vanessa Leroy/The New York Times, The New York Times, July 7, 2022 When Cheng Xu was serving in the Canadian Armed Forces as a paratrooper and infantry officer, he experienced a series of traumatic events in rapid succession — his best friend and fellow officer took his own life, a soldier under his command was injured during a live fire exercise and a close friend’s father was kidnapped. He felt like the world was collapsing around him everywhere except at the...
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Rest, Healing, & Hope for Trauma Survivors
Note: I've not posted in a while. I can't believe it's been almost three years since I was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer. I miss this community and I miss work. But I am doing well at the moment and I'm SO grateful to still be here (meaning alive and on the planet). It's been A LOT of treatment and quite a roller coaster of medical and other experiences, but that's not why I'm here and posting today. Today, I'm writing today is to reflect on how healing from trauma feels and is...
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30 Day Stress Buster program
After providing evidence-based prevention programs in K12 schools for nearly 20 years through disordered eating prevention and Resilient Schools initiatives, Sharpen is offering a free 30 day Stress Buster program for individuals ages 14 and up.
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Moving Forward After Adverse Childhood Experiences: How to Move from Suffering to Flourishing
Once the suffering resulting from adverse childhood experiences is managed, we can turn toward creating a more satisfying life.
Pursuing the honorable life leads to self-respect and inner peace. Compassion for mistakes, understanding their reasons, and applying integrity skills starts us on the path to flourishing.
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How to Help Survivors of Extreme Climate Events (psychologytoday.com)
By Elaine Miller-Karas MSW, LCSW Building Resiliency to Trauma Psychology Today, September 30, 2022 Mental health can suffer after extreme climate events. KEY POINTS Mental health conditions exacerbated by natural disasters include post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety. After a disaster, the number of people needing assistance from the mental health systems strains or exceeds community capacity. There are simple strategies helpers can use to help survivors restore...
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The Surviving Spirit Newsletter October 2022
The latest Surviving Spirit Newsletter - Hope, Healing & Help for Trauma, Abuse & Mental Health is out - It can be read online via this & you can also subscribe - http://ml.survivingspirit.com/dada/mail.cgi/archive/newsletter/20221012145444/ or this - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/pdfs/2022-10-The_Surviving_Spirit_Newsletter_October_2022.pdf “ If the world seems cold to you, kindle fires to warm it.” - Lucy Larcom “ You cannot seek water from the one who drained your...
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National Family Caregivers Month: Caring for the Caregivers Virtual Summit 2022 Getting UNStuck: Moving From Languishing to Flourishing
Courage to Caregivers will host its third annual Caring for Caregivers Virtual Summit on Wednesday, November 16, and Thursday, November 17, 2022, from 9 am to 12:30 pm ET as part of National Family Caregivers Month. This year’s theme is Getting UNStuck: Moving From Languishing to Flourishing. The event is free for licensed professional caregivers and anyone providing care to a loved one with mental illness. All are welcome to attend one or both days. CEUs are provided for Ohio professionals.
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Lightening the Load We Carry from Childhood: 10 Ways to Forgive the Unkindest Cuts
While the process of forgiving painful offenses from childhood can be very difficult, efforts to forgive bring great rewards. The process begins with acknowledging the pain, applying self-compassion, and taking even small and faltering steps to get the forgiveness ball rolling.
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How Hope is Different from Resilience
Hope is different than resilience. It’s better. In the last of my three posts on why hope is different from other positive traits, today I want to talk about resilience. I’ve exhibited a little hubris when it comes to hope. I’ve said it’s better than optimism, self-efficacy, and, now, resilience. I admit I’m a little biased, but I’m confident the science behind Snyder’s Hope Theory is solid. I’m less certain about resilience. The problem with resilience is a lack of uniformity in how it is...
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Adverse Childhood Experiences and Care for the Soul
Strengthening the wounded soul can improve psychological and physical wellbeing and help to complete the recovery process. Although ACEs, understandably, can numb feelings, including spiritual feelings, once healing has progressed, spiritual feelings can often be successfully cultivated.
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Finding Joy After Adverse Childhood Experiences
Adverse childhood experiences understandably can numb feelings, including feelings of joy, happiness, and pleasure.
Making time to be joyful rewires the wounded brain. Once healing has progressed, the capacity for joy can usually be expanded through the repeated application of proven joy strategies.
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Bouncing Forward After Adverse Childhood Experiences
Once the healing of hidden wounds from adverse childhood experiences has sufficiently progressed, attention can turn to developing a richly satisfying future. Your innate inner strengths, experiences, and acquired skills will help rewire your brain for a brighter future.
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The Trauma Triangle: How Fostering Awareness of Reenactments Builds Resilience
The basic concept surrounding trauma-informed care is this: We all have trauma. Some of us are at a higher risk of experiencing trauma. We carry this trauma with us, and if we do not address it, we will not heal from it. Understanding reenactments is one way that we can continue healing from trauma. Our healing helps us make sure that we don’t traumatize or re-traumatize others due to our own inability to emotionally regulate. In the context of trauma healing, there are three main things we...
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How to Stop Running from, Neglecting, and Betraying Yourself
“Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom.” ~George S. Patton Much of the difficulty and struggle that we go through in life comes from our resistance to change. At some point, we get stuck in painful circumstances, yet we fear facing our reality and doing the work required to ignite a positive change. After all, the enemy we know is better than the enemy we don’t know. “It’s not that bad”, we tell ourselves. So we settle, give up on our desires, try to make the best of what we...
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A Letter to Kyle
To mark the anniversary of the passage of the landmark legislation of the Georgia Mental Health Parity Act, we are sharing a letter written a year ago by Roland Behm, Co-founder of the Georgia Mental Health Policy Partnership, Board Member and Former Board Chair, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) Georgia Chapter. The letter is to his son, Kyle, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2010 as a junior in college and died by suicide in August 2019.
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Rising from the Ashes of Childhood Brutality
Country music artist Allen Karl (Sterner) endured unspeakable childhood cruelty and chaos, yet turned into a caring, competent adult. His story provides many useful insights that can help and inspire others who have endured multiple ACEs.
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Gifting Yourself Peace after Childhood Adversity: After Painful Memories Are Confronted, Healing Continues
Wounds of the heart may persist after troubling memories from childhood adversity have been rewired. Fortunately, pain from childhood adversities can spur us to create a peaceful heart of forgiving, kindness, calm, and purpose.