Tagged With "mind-body healing"
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Free Virtual Cafes brought to you by the Philadelphia ACE Task Force Pass this invitation along! [philadelphiaace.org]
From Philadelphia ACE Task Force, May 8, 2020 Has your workplace incorporated the science of Stress Reduction & Mindfulness into its Wellness Program? "Incorporating Mindfulness Into Your Work and Life: During COVID-19 and Beyond" Tuesday, May 12, 3:30 - 4:30 pm Eastern Time This interactive presentation will begin with a brief introduction around the science of mindfulness & will provide an overview of various mindfulness practices with ways to implement strategies in your personal...
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From Compassion Fatigue to Healing Centered Engagement: Turning Trauma Informed Values into Action
To pave the way for a truly strengths-based approach to full healing and recovery for both service users and burned out staff, we must educate them on (1) the central role of primal body responses to trauma (past and present), and (2) the early development of adaptive thoughts and behaviors in response to
traumatic experience.
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Fuzzy Slippers: How Do Self-Care as a Trauma Survivor
When I recommend the need for self-care to trauma survivors, they say it can feel like a chore. Some of them even roll their eyes and tell me, “You mean you want me to take care of myself? Ugh. Who has time for that?!” It’s tempting for any person to undervalue self-care. But for trauma survivors, resistance to self-care has much deeper roots. Healing takes a focused, gentle approach. Self-Care as a Practice of Welcoming Your Needs Many trauma survivors learned to do without self-care...
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Get Unstuck - Guided Journal & Online Circle
Sometimes a high ACEs score or history of trauma can have you feeling stuck. You see patterns playing out around you and 'to you' and you can't seem to get yourself out of it. I've been there. I've also gotten myself out of it and used all kinds of tools to do it. I am a certified coach who believes in providing people with tools of their own to move into a place of self-leadership. We all have the capacity to heal. It takes work, self-reflection, ownership of our own behaviors and...
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Healing from Codependency and the Freedom that Awaits
There is no healing without recognition of that which needs to be healed. Someone who has clogged arteries cannot heal those clogged arteries if they are unaware they have clogged arteries. To heal mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically, or cognitively first requires an acknowledgment of some kind of deficit or wound. In order to acknowledge a wound one must become conscious or self-aware of such wound.
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How Improving Mood Can Help Heal
Your mood is tied to your mental and physical health and if you’ve been having some bad days recently you may want to make a few lifestyle changes to improve your overall mood and health. While it may seem difficult to make some of these changes in your life, doing them will have a huge, almost immediate effect on you. Improving your mood and overall mental health will have a huge impact on your mind and body and can make your situation better overall. Doing a few simple things like...
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How to Heal Emotional Trauma (wakeup-world.com)
Understanding Emotional Wounds We tend to think of an emotional wound as the original traumatic experience – as the “thing” that happened to us, but the wound is actually the dis-empowering belief that we developed as a result of the traumatic experience. In the search for emotional security, our natural response to any traumatic event is to make sense of it. We “make sense”of things by creating beliefs. Beliefs that we develop in response to traumatic experiences are Traumatic Beliefs.
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How to Use the Breath to Strengthen Your Mind [mindful.org]
Mind and breath—a shift in one impacts the other. We can train our breath to influence our emotional state, and loosen the grip of stress and anxiety. How you’re breathing can tell you something about your current state of mind—maybe you’re feeling pretty good, thinking about happy hour cocktails with colleagues. Or maybe you’re feeling a bit stressed, trying to wrap everything up before the workday ends. Not to say that all stress is bad, says Emma Seppälä , Director of the Center for...
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How Trauma Therapy Cultivated My Recovery
I was 5 years old when I had my first encounter with trauma. Too young to comprehend the magnitude of the situation, my first grade class participated in a “Good Touch/Bad Touch” workshop,centered around educating and recognizing signs of sexual abuse. I found relief in finding a safe place to lay down the burden I had been carrying. I went straight to the school counselor and told her, in vivid description, the intimate details of my unwarranted molestation. I remember the grueling...
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3 Steps Toward Managing And Healing Anxiety
I've struggled with anxiety throughout my life. A difficult childhood and my highly sensitive personality meant I grew into an anxious kid—there was just too much pain and emotional overwhelm for my young brain to handle. My anxiety most often manifested as perfectionism and people pleasing, so from the outside everything seemed great. I excelled in school and I was a good kid who did as she was told. But there was a war inside me. I felt broken, unable to navigate these huge feelings of...
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Mind Matters: Overcoming Adversity and Building Resilience Two-Day Intensive Training
with Author, Carolyn Rich Curtis, Ph.D. 8:30 AM–5:00 PM $399 for 2-day Intensive Training CEUs are available for an additional charge. Each trainee must have a copy of Mind Matters ($299 plus tax (CA and SD only) plus S/H) As a result of this training , you will learn to teach: Self-soothing skills to manage emotions Ways to analyze stressful thoughts How to deal with intrusive memories Ways to develop a protective lifestyle And you, as an instructor, will learn . . . How to provide a safe...
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Mindfulness app may help address physician anxiety, burnout [brown.edu]
By Kerry Benson, Brown University, April 9, 2020 As novel coronavirus cases continue to increase across the nation, health professionals on the front lines face frightening realities, rising anxiety and the very real potential for burnout. “Health care providers are under tremendous pressure right now,” said Dr. Jud Brewer, director of research and innovation at the Mindfulness Center at Brown University. “Physician burnout was already reaching ‘epidemic’ proportions before this pandemic...
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Mindfulness Stress Reduction Techniques for Healing
Whether you're healing from illness, trauma, or other difficult times, these mindfulness stress reduction techniques can support your healing.
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Morning Meditation
As I continued practicing it, however, I found comfort in releasing the sound into the universe. There were times I would walk around the rest of the day feeling a beautiful energy, a tingly sensation, radiating from my forehead.
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Need 45 Trauma-Informed Practitioners or Clinicians For Study on Using a Brain Regulation Headband-Bellabee Designed To Help Trauma Survivors Regulate Their Brains.
Need 45 Trauma-Informed Practitioners or Clinicians For Study on Using a Brain Regulation Headband-Bellabee Designed To Help Trauma Survivors Regulate Their Brains. All trauma informed practitioners who are suffering with or who work with adults or children suffering with C-PTSD, PTSD, Developmental Trauma, Depression, Anxiety, ADHD & Sleep Disorders are welcome to apply to be considered for this study. The deadline to request and submit your application is: March 20, 2020 As a trauma...
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Need 45 Trauma-Informed Practitioners or Clinicians For Study on Using a Brain Regulation Headband-Bellabee Designed To Help Trauma Survivors Regulate Their Brains.
Need 45 Trauma-Informed Practitioners or Clinicians For Study on Using a Brain Regulation Headband-Bellabee Designed To Help Trauma Survivors Regulate Their Brains. All trauma informed practitioners who are suffering with or who work with adults or children suffering with C-PTSD, PTSD, Developmental Trauma, Depression, Anxiety, ADHD & Sleep Disorders are welcome to apply to be considered for this study. We currently have 41 applicants, and applicantions are approved on a first come first...
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Neuroplasticity and Mindfulness
To understand the treatments for complex post-traumatic stress disorder, it is helpful to understand the interaction between neuroplasticity and mindfulness.
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Opening Up by Writing It Down: How Expressive Writing Improves Health and Eases Emotional Pain
In my last post, I highlighted a book Vincent Felitti mentioned at the CAMFT conference in Orange County. In the same talk, Dr. Felitti also recommended a form of therapeutic writing developed by James Pennebaker to help individuals uncover painful emotions and heal trauma. Pennebaker's book Opening Up by Writing It Down: How Expressive Writing Improves Health and Eases Emotional Pain details the why and how. The Pennebaker method has been referenced elsewhere on ACEs Connection; I thought...
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Parent Handouts updated and available In Dari, English & Spanish
The updated parent handouts are now available in Spanish as well as English and Dari. Here's the blog post with links to all three versions of each flyer. All versions of the Understanding ACEs and Parenting to Prevent & Heal ACEs parent handouts can be downloaded, distributed, and used freely. Both flyers were made with generous support from Family Hui, a Program of Lead for Tomorrow, who is responsible for making the Spanish and Dari translations available. These are updates of the...
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Passing the Baton
Hello, Everyone, I just wanted to let you all know that I’ve decided to step away from my volunteer position as co-manager of the Practicing Resilience for Self-Care & Healing community. In the nearly two and a half years since I’ve held this post, I’ve learned so much and gotten to know (virtually) so many great folks who’ve contributed their wisdom, experience, compassion, and knowledge. I am in awe of you all, your willingness to share and give of yourselves, your strength and courage...
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Self-Compassion Is Your Perfect Present Guidance, Even In The Most Troubled And Turbulent Of Times.
There is one sure form of guidance you can follow every moment of the day, even in today's most turbulent of times, to ensure that you follow the path in life that is truly right for you, truly good for you. The simple way of describing this form of guidance is: making self-loving or self-compassionate choices for yourself in the present moment . Be guided by your heart-sense regarding your every thought and action . When things don’t turn out the way you want them to, instead of blaming and...
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Shattered By The Darkness: Powerful book by a humble man on a mission to prevent what happened to him from happening to other children.
Gregory Williams, PhD, will help change the world by taking this book into medical schools and teaching physicians and nurses about the root cause of most adult illness: childhood trauma. I just read this book in one sitting, save one hot tea refill. I could not stop reading it. Even though there were some passages that evoked anxiety, I couldn’t stop reading it, as I so wanted to learn more about this remarkable man and how he earned a PhD, had a normal family life, and earned the respect...
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Sick and Stressed from CPTSD? Power Up Your SELF CARE (Resilience Series)
I’ve been talking about resilience in recent posts — the obstacles that hold back recovery, and the strengths we need to keep healing. Last week the topic was fear. In this post (and the video that goes with it) I want to go up a layer to the next strength, and that’s self-care . I used to think self-care was just hot baths and chocolate for people whose problems were so small that this would actually solve them. But 25 years of continuous healing and strength-building has taught me that,...
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Sick and Stressed from CPTSD? Power Up Your SELF CARE (Resilience Series)
I’ve been talking about resilience in recent posts — the obstacles that hold back recovery, and the strengths we need to keep healing. Last week the topic was fear. In this post (and the video that goes with it) I want to go up a layer to the next strength, and that’s self-care . I used to think self-care was just hot baths and chocolate for people whose problems were so small that this would actually solve them. But 25 years of continuous healing and strength-building has taught me that,...
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Tell Me Who You Trust the Most
Imagine that you are being held by someone you love (partner, parent, best friend, someone you once knew, or someone you imagine). You are safe and warm and connected. You feel the soothing of presence - the beating of a primitive language. As you find the rhythms of oneness, you know that all is right. You are protected from whatever unknown lies beyond. Close your eyes and feel the exquisiteness...Now imagine that the exquisiteness fails.
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Yoga Transformed Me After Childhood Abuse [yogajournal.com]
How yoga helped me heal from neglect and violence I grew up in poverty in a drug-addicted and violent family. Without necessities like proper food or shelter, and subjected to regular abuse, I ran away at the age of 13. Within two years, I was on the road with a 19-year-old man. Being so young, I was attracted to his antisocial, rebellious past rather than recognizing these behaviors as red flags. Eventually, we called my mother and she threatened him with jail time for statutory rape and...
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Young People are Using Musical Theater to Heal Their Trauma — and it's Working [nationswell.com]
By Monica Humphries, Nation Swell, July 12, 2019. On the drive home from Priya Shah’s first Storycatchers musical, she pulled over to cry. Shah, who now serves as the executive director of Storycatchers, had just seen a musical at the Illinois Youth Center, a juvenile detention center in Warrenville, Illinois. She watched girls tell stories of sexual abuse, battery and neglect. She also saw stories of hope and resilience. “It struck me that these characters I had just watched struggle, joke,...
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Re: Morning Meditation
I haven't yet tried the whole meditation, but I tried a few minutes of it and wow! You are not kidding about the tingly sensation in the forehead! It's quite lasting, and the way I imagine it might feel to be a rung bell, every cell vibrating. The sensation moves concentrically from the head through the torso to the limbs. I'm intrigued -- thanks, Teri!
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Re: Self-Compassion Is Your Perfect Present Guidance, Even In The Most Troubled And Turbulent Of Times.
This is beautiful. I do believe that the heart-sense is indeed the surest form of guidance we have, but for many of us who've experienced childhood trauma, trusting that heart-sense or even finding access to it can be nearly impossible. So many of us have closed our heart spaces out of a need to defend ourselves and survive horrible circumstances, or we've intellectualized everything, getting stuck in our heads (or both). Thanks for these tips on overcoming that, Bob.
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Re: Morning Meditation
While the sensation was a bit unnerving at first (my hyper-arousal at work!), I kept at it and eventually found myself enjoying the tingly reminder of sending my positive thoughts and energy out into the universe. There was a comfort in that. Peace, Teri
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Re: Self-Compassion Is Your Perfect Present Guidance, Even In The Most Troubled And Turbulent Of Times.
Bob, beautifully written. I wish real love could be found in every church. Jesus gave only 2 commandments Love God and Love your neighbor. However, sadly love is the last thing you find in a church. What you get is judgment, meanness, superiority, lack of support. Money is what speaks in most of these houses of God. All you need is 1 kind and loving person to heal. If you are lucky you will find him/her or else the pain never goes away.
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Re: Effective way to do Meditation
Amardeep, thank you for sharing these links here. The Re-Reality site looks to be chockfull of helpful articles. And you're right -- there are many people on ACEs Connection who are very knowledgable on topics such as meditation, and many here who wish to learn more about it.
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Re: The Healing Place Podcast - Missy Garcia: Sexuality, Leadership, Healing
I appreciated what Missy Garcia had to say about how non-sexual types of touch -- stroking one's arms when upset, for example -- provide the sort of pleasure that can soothe emotional upset. I have read that one "tell" when people are, say, fidgeting with their hair or with a pen is that if the object of fidgeting is external -- such as the pen -- then most likely what's causing them turmoil is outside of themselves, whereas if a person is twisting their hair, then something internal --...
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Re: Benefits of Meditation
Thanks for another informative article about meditation, Amardeep. There's plenty of motivation there to keep a dedicated meditator returning to her cushion every day and plenty to encourage non-meditators to give it a go. The reasons to meditate sure seem to outweigh reasons not to do it.
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Re: The Healing Place Podcast - Missy Garcia: Sexuality, Leadership, Healing
Fascinating! I'm betting there's some truth to that theory, as well. I had never thought about using my feminine sexual power to heal my sexual trauma remnants. I loved Missy's ideas of empowerment and leadership growing from that place of hurt by "taking our power back". She certainly has me looking at this from a new angle. Which is why I love these podcast interviews so very much! Thanks so much for taking the time to offer feedback. Peace, Teri
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Re: Toxic Childhood? 5 Spiritual Exercises to Heal the Soul [psychologytoday.com]
Hi Laura, Thanks for sharing this very important article! The mother-daughter relationship is complex, and in many cases informed by the mother's unmet needs, hopes, and aspirations. The unresolved trauma and suffering experienced by a parent will, invariably, shape and inform the trajectory of a child's life. This article allows us to consider, what many might see, as the unthinkable...a mother who does not or cannot provide the love and support that many associate with mother role. I think...
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Re: Toxic Childhood? 5 Spiritual Exercises to Heal the Soul [psychologytoday.com]
Hi, Tosca, Yes, it's an uncomfortable topic for many and it often evokes denial in those who don't wish to face the reality that in many cases, a mother's unmet needs, unaddressed trauma, mental health issues, or other difficulties directly impact her children and often in turn traumatize them. It's taboo in our society (and I'm guessing in many other societies) to view or discuss mothers in any but the most flattering--even idealistic--light. We're not doing anyone any favors or supporting...
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Re: How You and Your Kids Can De-Stress During Coronavirus [pbs.org]
I loved reading your article and it inspires me. I am working on a children's show to do on You Tube to teach kids all the different healing modules. I have been working in a private practice for over a decade in trauma and want to get the sciences that heal my clients out to the kids...since mainstream doesn't really know much about these sciences...thank you for all that you do! Blessings!
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Re: Transforming Trauma: Healing Through Connecting with Animals [psychologytoday.com]
I can tell you from a therapy-dog team handler, Sammie (our labradoodle) was born to help humans (particularly children) heal. She knows immediately, upon entering a room, who needs her love the most. She will snuggle into a child and not want to leave their side until their tears have dried and a smile lights up their face. And when I see she is beginning to exhibit signs of stress (as alluded to in the article), I give her a break (as specified by our Pet Partner guidelines, but also...
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Re: Mindfulness Stress Reduction Techniques for Healing
Love this!!!! Great reminders, Jen. I stopped watching negative news years ago. And being on my summer Facebook hiatus with all its political negativity has been wonderful for my peace of mind. Thanks for sharing. I'll be sure to share it on the podcast social media pages, too. Peace, Teri
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Re: Mind Matters: Overcoming Adversity and Building Resilience Two-Day Intensive Training
Thanks for posting the information about the training here, Kay.
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Re: Mindfulness Stress Reduction Techniques for Healing
Such helpful suggestions. I enjoy knowing there's scientific evidence to back up the techniques too (although I've nothing against anecdotal support). I tried the 3-Part breath and was surprised at how different it felt from the usual slow and steady inhalation. Must be something about the mindful focus on where in the lungs the breath is during the breathing process, I'm guessing. Thanks so much, Jen, for sharing this here.
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Re: Mindfulness Stress Reduction Techniques for Healing
And I just realized, Jen, that recently I listened to Teri Wellbrock's interview with you on her Healing Place podcast. I very much enjoyed your conversation! Also: when I went to check out the Meditation for Healing Sleep on your site, I found the link in your post was erroring, so I took the liberty of correcting it. Hope you don't mind!
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Re: The Healing Place Podcast - Jen Johnson: Everyday Mindful
Great conversation about mindfulness and meditation. You two covered a lot of territory! Thanks, Teri.
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Re: The Healing Place Podcast - Jen Johnson: Everyday Mindful
Thanks so much for taking the time to listen in and offer feedback, Laura. I feel blessed to meet beautiful souls from all over the world who are striving to help others along their healing journey. Jen Johnson is one of those souls.
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Re: Calming Your Anxious Mind Through Rhythmic Movement
Joanna, such great solutions to the problem of wanting to meditate but being emotionally uncomfortable or triggered by trying to sit too long. It's possible to have the best of both worlds -- the benefits of mindfulness meditation AND mindful movement in one. Thank you for sharing your own experience and good ideas with so many of us who can use an alternative to traditional seated meditation. This may encourage some who were hesitant to meditate because of the potential for anxiety to go...
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Re: For Many People with Anxiety, Self-Care Just Doesn’t Work [healthline.com]
Thank you for posting this, Laura. While I appreciate the sentiments expressed by the author and get what she's saying, I always bristle when I read about a backlash to what, in fact, is sound advice. Self-care is important. Period. No one says there's a one-size-fits-all approach. When sound advice becomes a trigger, that doesn't mean the advice is wrong. It means you can use that as an opportunity to take responsibility for why you feel triggered—without blaming the messenger—and use that...
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Re: For Many People with Anxiety, Self-Care Just Doesn’t Work [healthline.com]
You know, Diane, I would regret posting this article, if it weren't for the opportunity for discussion it provides that you have recognized and acted upon. Thank you for that. At first glance, the author's view seems short-sighted and she seems bent on "self-care bashing", perhaps because of her frustration at seeing her anxiety worsen instead of improve as she attempts to "do" self-care. She does, though, come around at the end to this notion: If you feel strongly about developing a...
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Re: For Many People with Anxiety, Self-Care Just Doesn’t Work [healthline.com]
Hi Laura, I love your well-thought-out analysis. Thanks for sharing your insights. I had read the entire article before posting my comment and wonder, as you noted, if the beginning was click bait motivated. At the same time, all articles are worth posting when they raise worthwhile discussion and reflection. I reacted to this article because one of my biggest pet peeves is when authors seem to try to boost themselves/their approach by denigrating others. I see this with a backlash to...
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Re: Crafting Provides Cross-Body Therapy Which Helps Mental Health [blogs.psychcentral.com]
One of the simplest and easiest cross-body exercises is crawling . It is the best mind-body exercise. It requires just a minute, 3 to 4 times a day but it really keeps me fit and has helped me heal my back.