Instead of … Try thinking…
– I’m not good at this – What am I missing?
– I’m awesome at this – I’m on the right track
– I give up! – I’ll use a different strategy
– This is too hard – This may take some time & effort
– I can’t do math – I’m going to train my brain in math
– I made a mistake – Mistakes help me improve
– Its’ good enough – Is this really my best work?
– They don’t like me – I don’t need anyone’s approval
– I’m too impulsive – I’m very spontaneous
Proper breathing helps your body break away from the “fight or flight” response. When you are stressed, your breath becomes more rapid and shallow. Deep breathing allows the body to return to a state of calmness and delivers oxygen throughout the body as it stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system.
Deep breathing is a technique that can be used anywhere and anytime. It is best to practice it in a calm state so that when you are stressed, the technique can be easily implemented.
Belly Breathing
Making it fun for children
A panic attack is a sudden episode of overwhelming fear that occurs spontaneously. It is a short period of intense anxiety, often lasting several minutes. It can happen at any moment, whether asleep or awake. It can be emotionally debilitating and terrifying, but not life threatening.
A panic attack is due to high levels of adrenaline. Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and neurotransmitter that activates the fight or flight mechanism in your body. When excess adrenaline is pumped into your bloodstream, you may start to feel the symptoms of a panic attack until all the adrenaline released is used up by your autonomic nervous system. When there is no more surplus adrenaline in your bloodstream, the panic attack subsides.
These are some symptoms that you may experience during a panic attack:
What can you do?
Mental exercise is just as important as physical exercise. Regularly exercising your brain with mentally stimulating novel activities helps brain function (thinking skills and memory) and reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. The best brain exercises challenge you to try something new and develop new neural pathways.
There are many ways you can exercise your brain. You could try:
Many children experience sleep related problems at least a few nights per week. Lack of sleep affects children physically, emotionally and academically.
Here are 3 essential tips to help your child get a better nights sleep.
1. Establish a routine – Regular sleep times are an important feature of creating desirable sleep behavior. A regular bedtime and wakeup time should be established and consistently followed.
2. Nutrition and Exercise– how you eat and exercise impacts the way you sleep.
3. The Setting – Turn the bedroom into a sleep inducing environment. Get your child involved in creating an environment that feels best for them.
If your child continues to have sleep difficulties, you may want to consult your physician.
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage”
– Anais Nin
Spring is a time of new beginnings. It is a time to let go of behaviors that no longer make you happy and commit to making changes.
What are some behaviors that you would like to change? Have you picked up some bad habits? Is fear stopping you from doing something?
What would help you begin that change process? Take the first step.
1. Identify what behavior you want to change and know why you must change it. Consider the reasons why the old behavior just doesn’t serve you anymore and the benefits of the new one. Commit to your new desired behavior.
2. Set yourself up for success by preparing yourself mentally and physically for action. Begin by writing down what you have committed to and posting it somewhere that you can see it often. Be sure to include the “why” you are doing it. Identify any obstacles and triggers that may jeopardize you and write down the solutions for these obstacles. Set up the supplies or circumstances that will help you achieve your desired results, this includes a support system. Join a gym. Throw out the cigarettes and buy carrot sticks and tic-tac’s instead. Set timers. Go buy a week’s worth of greens. Whatever your goal is-take action!
3. Take action. Think. Get clarity. Identify what you want and then commit to taking an actionable step towards your goal daily. This is where the real magic happens.
4. Maintain your new behavior by reminding yourself of the reason it’s important. Satisfaction with your new behavior is dependent upon your expectations. Keep your expectations realistic. Significant change takes time. Change is a process not an event. Slowly but surely you will meet your goals.
Maintain your new behavior for at least 30 days so a new habit begins to take place. And if you relapse to your old ways, just return to the desired behavior. It is not a sign of failure but rather another opportunity to make you stronger.
…Because self-love extends from how we treat ourselves to how we relate to everything and everyone around us.
It’s a small shift in perspective, prompted by a smile or a kind gesture or a “just because” moment that creates magical ripples.
Love requires action and it can be expressed easily through sharing and caring. It inspires kindness, connection and gratitude. It feels good for us. It feels good for others.
Self-love is contagious.
The moment we start celebrating love for ourselves, experiences shift.
Relationships blossom. Health improves. And life begins to feel ridiculously good.
So honor who you are. Stay true to your needs. Do what truly feels right for you. Do it with grace, do it with ease. Do it for others.
Loving yourself is not a one-time event and it certainly does not have conditions. It’s a natural, non-selfish way to attract love and spread love to those around us.
Self- love comes from within. By loving ourselves, we open the doors for others to do the same.
Celebrate… Expand… Share the love.
1. Treat yourself to simple pleasures daily. Little things that truly satisfy you can brighten up your day and make you feel good. Things like taking a long, relaxing shower or hot bath, going for a morning run, clearing out your desk, making someone smile, or maybe just running around barefoot in the grass with your kids.
2. Talk yourself happy. What you say to yourself can have a powerful impact. Replacing pessimistic, negative language with positive affirmations and self-acceptance is a quick way to increase your well-being. With a positive mental attitude you can conquer most anything.
3. Practice forgiveness. Let go of the past. Forgive yourself. Forgive others. Grudges and anger only poison you. To forgive does not mean that you condone the misdeeds of others but it is a way to let go of the pain you carry. Forgiveness is being at peace and not suffering any more. It is a gift for you.
4. Take care of your mind, body and spirit. Your body is your temple. Do it well. What you think and how you process dictates your reality. Create awareness of what you eat, what you drink, notice how you breathe, how well you rest. Make sure to nurture your spirit, for it is what will ground you and keep you connected. Trust yourself to optimize your mind, body and spirit for only you know what it truly needs.
5. Practice gratitude. What are you grateful for? Make it a habit to stop and notice on a daily basis. Counting your blessings is all about appreciation, because nobody owes you anything. It’s not a given. It is a way of acknowledging, connecting and expanding. And, as a side note, science says that practicing gratitude is a simple way to increase happiness.
“You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” Buddha
The hard part about self-talk is that it always feels true. Even though your thoughts might often be biased or incorrect, you tend to assume that they’re facts.
Self-talk is often skewed towards the negative, and sometimes it’s just plain wrong. If you are experiencing depression, it is particularly likely that you interpret things negatively. That’s why it’s useful to keep an eye on the things you tell yourself, and challenge some of the negative aspects of your thinking.
With practice, you can learn to notice your own negative self-talk as it happens, and consciously choose to think about the situation in a more realistic and helpful way.
Learning to dispute negative thoughts might take time and practice, but is worth the effort. Once you start looking at it, you’ll probably be surprised by how much of your thinking is inaccurate, exaggerated, or focused on the negatives of the situation.
Whenever you become aware you’re feeling depressed, angry, anxious or upset, use this as your signal to stop and reflect on your thoughts. Use your feelings as your cue to reflect on your thinking.
A good way to test the accuracy of your thoughts might be to ask yourself some challenging questions. These questions will help you to check out your self-talk to see whether your current view is reasonable.
There are four main types of challenging questions to ask yourself:
1. Reality testing
2. Look for alternative explanations
3. Putting it in perspective
4. Using goal-directed thinking
Recognizing that your current way of thinking might be self-defeating (i.e. it doesn’t make you feel good or help you to get what you want) can sometimes motivate you to look at things from a different perspective.
Changing the way you think about things may not be easy at first, but with time and practice, you will get better.
Try it out – it’s worth the effort. Let me know how it goes.
repost from www.reachout.com
A new school year can be an exciting, yet stressful time in your child’s life.
Numerous thoughts cross their minds about the 
possibilities that await them, both academically and socially. For parents, there are stressors too, such as adjusting to schedules, additional demands and having your child out of your care. As a family, this is a great opportunity to strengthen your connection as you support each other through this journey. Here are some tips to help you manage the stress:
1. Talk about their school day everyday. Ask questions and really listen. Sometimes, your child may want help brainstorming solutions to a situation and other times they may just want you to listen. During this time give your child your undivided attention. Also remember to share their enthusiasm for all the good things that they experienced.
2. Make sure your child has at least 8-10 hours sleep and all the electronics, including TV are shut off 30 minutes prior to bedtime. Mornings can be easy by creating a morning routine, having them set out their clothes or uniforms, getting backpacks ready and breakfast chosen the night before goes a long way.
3. The best way to immediately tone down your stress level is a few deep breaths. The breath is best inhaled through the nose and exhaled through the mouth. Try this as soon as you feel a stressor.
4. Have your child develop a new mantra “I’ve got this.” This mantra will be useful every time they feel uncertain about something. It is used as a simple reminder that it’s ok, they are going to be fine, they can do it! So, before that test that they studied for- “I’ve got this” – before they go talk to that new someone – “I’ve got this”.
5. Social concerns are high for kids. Remind them that not everyone is going to see eye to eye with them and may not even like them and that’s OK! We are all unique and special and the most important thing is that we like ourselves and are nice and respectful to others. Encourage your child to find a group of friends that they feel comfortable with and remind them that over time they can always choose to develop more friendships.
