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Live :: Optimistically :: Through :: Universal :: Struggles
4/6/2018 0 Comments ATYPICALDo you know someone who is diagnosed with Autism? Most likely you do. 1% of the world’s population is diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder and the prevalence in the United States is 1 in 68 births. Whether or not you have been personally touched by such a unique and awesome individual, I highly suggest you watch the Netflix series, Atypical. And trust me you are going to love it! I am already jonesing for the season 2! Atypical is a series based on a high functioning high school senior who is on the spectrum. Through the eight episodes, you see Sam Gardner's journey first hand - trying to fit into a world with neurotypical (people who are not diagnosed with Autism). You get an insider’s view on how his mind works, how he processes social situations and what it is like to be someone who has Autism. The added bonus is that you get to see how Sam’s family copes and supports his tendencies and experiences.
All in all, it is a great way to understand what it is like to have a family member on the spectrum. Does it mean that all families have the exact same experiences as the Gardner's, absolutely not. Like many TV shows and movies, the scenes are exaggerated and yet most families can relate to the majority of the situations the series highlights. I loved it so much that I have assigned it to many of my clients who have a family member on the spectrum. My hope is that watching the series will help others build empathy and understanding for individuals who are on the spectrum. It is a great way to see everyday situations through a different perspective. Individuals with Autism, think and perceive the world differently. Wouldn't the world be a better place if we all could understand each other a little better?
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4/4/2018 0 Comments Autism - BibliotherapyApril is Autism Awareness Month. To start the month off, this blog is dedicated to some of my favorite bibliotherapy picture books that help explain Autism to a child with Autism or their family members. Bibliotherapy is using books therapeutically to help one understand situations. I love using books therapeutically as it helps normalize the situation for children and their families. I mean after all, a lot of people must go through __________ experience for them to write a book about it right?
What About Me? - Brennan and Mandy Farmer This book is unique as it is written by a Autism sibling. The main character in the book, explains what Autism is and how he and his brother act and react to things differently. It is a great book to help siblings understand why parents treat their Autistic sibling differently. It also helps the sibling to develop empathy and gives parents great ideas on how they can also make time for their "typical" sibling. All My Stripes - Shaina Rudolph and Danielle Royer All My Stripes a colorful and fun story about Zane the zebra who notices that he is different from his peers. Zane turns to his mom for support as he sees that he is different from the other zebras. His mom helps him navigate his differences and highlights ways he is beautifully unique. Uniquely Wired - By Julia Cook Julia Cook is one of my favorite bibliotherapy authors! She has many books that help explain different emotions, different tendencies or behavioral issues that a child might be experiencing. In her latest book, Uniquely Wired, she beautifully explains how a person with Autism's brain is wired differently. My favorite thing about the book is that she highlights the tendencies a person with Autism may have in a positive way. She describes them as gifts and throughout the book, Zak, the main character is thanked for sharing his abilities. She goes through how someone with Autism may have great memory and be super knowledgeable about a specific topic and how theses topics change over the years. This book really helps those who are reading understand what it is like to have Autism (sensory sensitivities, difficulty maintaining eye contact, stemming behaviors, echolalia). It is a great way to show someone who doesn't have Autism 3/13/2018 0 Comments The Art of Haku This past weekend, I had the honor of hosting a celebration for a close friend. We organized a night of events with her nearest and dearest and her one request was that we all make haku lei. Organizing this event had me thinking a lot about the art of lei making. Lei making is truly an art and a gift of love, when someone takes the time to choose and string flowers to create a lei, their love is strung with every blossom. Each lei is unique and beautiful. Haku is a lei that is worn on the crown of the head. Haku lei are different from typical lei as instead of stringing flowers, you weave and wrap flowers, ferns and leaves together to create a thick and sturdy strand. As I watched (and took pictures) of everyone making their haku, I was amazed at how with the same materials, each person created a haku uniquely their own. An added bonus of watching others make their haku allowed me to see the determination, joy and creativity of each haku maker. We all had the same materials to choose from and yet different things stood out to each of us. None of our haku were identical, in fact each was uniquely beautiful and matched it's creator. The art of haku making reminded me- "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." We often experience the same things, but certain things stick out to us more then others, whether it is a budding rose or a speckled leaf; who we are, our life experiences and our preferences, impact what we see as beautiful. What do you choose to see as beautiful this week? 110 years ago today, the word began to celebrate International Women's Day. International Women's Day is a day that we recognize how far women have come and advocate women's rights. Every holiday or occasion is celebrated differently, today is no exception; some women are on strike in their homes or work, while other women are protesting; I choose to do what I do every day. I choose to empower others (men and female) and hope to make a difference in someone's life. I thought I share some quotes that inspire women equality and encourage females to continue to be hopeful that they can make a difference. I encourage you to celebrate today by staying positive, celebrating the progress of women's rights and continue to empower women to be kind, loving, smart and nurturing. 3/1/2018 0 Comments No Spending FebruaryAs I work on my bullet journal and continue to live out my Word of the Year - CREATE, I find myself being grateful for what I have and wanting less. Since February is the SHORTEST month of the year, it is the perfect month for me to practice something I know I will have a really hard time with. Every day I ask my clients to challenge themselves and create a plan to achieve their goals. Why not do that for myself? My days are busy and I often make compromises to make my life easier (for example - after the gym, go grab take out rather then have to cook). What better way to challenge myself then to do A WHOLE MONTH OF NO SPENDING! (Dude, wish me luck)
This month of no spending has so many benefits with the most obvious being is saving money! DUH! Obviously, I needed to pay my bills, this monthly challenge was more about not spending on things that are unnecessary. What I did to prepare:
I knew throughout the month I'd have to spend money, so I set rules and exceptions prior to the beginning of the month. EXCEPTIONS:
UNEXPECTED BENEFITS:
Was this month easy? No. Yet, I was able to keep my eye on the goal and live with what I have. I had to be open and honest with my loved ones and communicate to them what I was doing. I spent more time reflecting and decluttering then I normally would've and most importantly I stuck with my challenge and that in it's self is empowering! What can you do this month to challenge yourself? What goal is difficult for you to stick to and what can you do to help yourself achieve that goal? {WARNING: In no way is this goal mean to neglect your bills or basic needs - home, food, gas} 2/22/2018 0 Comments World Yoga DayHappy World Yoga Day! Yoga is my go to for a stressful day. Once I am on my mat, the world around me fades away, things that stress me are no longer important. I set an intention for the class, a word or mantra to focus on (peace, release, love) and center my mental focus around it.
Yoga is not perfect, it is a practice. As your journey with yoga starts, it is easy to get caught up in looking around the class/studio and comparing yourself to your neighbor. Do not compare yourself to the next person, each body is different and as you practice yoga more your body will become more flexible and each pose will become easier. Instead compare yourself to yourself. Notice what areas in your body are tight or sore, notice if you have been able to improve a pose or hold a pose longer then before. I love yoga because it benefits your mind and your body. It is a great way to engage in self care and promote your overall well being. For me yoga is the perfect combination between exercise and meditation, it is a way that I can relax my mind and body all at once. It is an opportunity to shut the world out, focus on your breathe and body. As you change the way you breathe not only do you reduce muscle tension but you also improve circulation, digestion and immunity. When you slow your breath you lower stress and provide your brain with more oxygen. By engaging in yoga poses you increase muscle strength, improve posture and decrease muscle and joint pain. Yoga is just so awesome and anyone can do it! Have you tried yoga? 2/14/2018 0 Comments 2.14.18Happy LOVE day!
I don't want to say Happy Valentine's Day as that tends to have the connotation for intimate partner love. Valentine's Day tends to be the one day of the year that people shower their loved ones with flowers, gifts and chocolates. I am all for spreading the love to all your loved ones, but why only today. Instead of wishing you all a Happy Valentine's Day, I will wish you a happy LOVE day! I hope today and everyday you feel the love from those around you. Feeling the love can come in small or large doses. Today at work, I was pleasantly surprised with little acts of kindness and love: an adult client who has Autism baked me a cookie, a trio of siblings bought me a cupcake from their school's bake sale, other clients brought in homemade goodies and kids wrote me little Valentine's cards attached with candy. I noticed how these small acts of love brightened my day. These gifts had no monetary value, instead the thoughtfulness and sentiment behind the gifts were priceless. Taking time and thought into something to give to another person is far more valuable then the price of the item. My hope for you this year is to spread the love all year round. You don't have to spend money to spread the love, you can shoot someone a text, make them a card or just do a lil something for them to make them feel extra special! Love comes in all shapes and forms and wouldn't it be nice to celebrate love everyday! What did you do today to show someone you cared about them? 2/6/2018 0 Comments Bullet Journal :: #bujoislifeWhat is a bullet journal?
The Bullet Journal was created by Ryder Carroll. After many years of journaling himself, he created a short cut to journaling, that can be personalized. With a bullet journal there is no need to spend lots of money on a fancy planner, now you can buy a blank planner and create it to fit into your life. The simplest way to describe it is an all in one planner: to do list, planner, and journal. And the best part is that it can be personalized to an individual's needs. As you personally create a page, you can customize it to fit your lifestyle. Whether you track what you are eating, your sleep patterns or use it to keep on schedule and routine, it can be a helpful tool to help mediate your mood and increase your productivity. One of the benefits of my job is that I have the opportunity to learn from all of my clients. In 2017, a few of my clients started to bullet journal and boy what a difference it made in their life. It gave them a way to track their behaviors, habits and goals and kept them accountable. I saw a dramatic change in their mood and energy levels. they were motivated to be on track, fill out their habit trackers and continue on working on their goals. This blog is dedicated to those clients who introduced me to bullet journaling. You know who you are! REASONS TO BULLET JOURNAL 1 - Keep Organized A bullet journal is a place you can keep everything in one place. To do lists, monthly calendar, shopping lists, chore chart, you can put all these things in one journal and create it to your liking. The main reason why people usually use a planner is to keep organized. Writing lists, keeping track of appointments, and being able to see your week and month spread are all ways to keep organized. Traditionally bujo (bullet journal's nick name) consists of yearly, monthly and weekly spreads. 2 - Stay on track (...and get things done) Habit Trackers. One of my favorite things about the bujo is that you can track certain habits or behaviors. As a psychologist, I feel that it is important to be able to have insight into what is going on. The best way to figure out what is going on is often tracking a behavior. When clients come into my office and I ask how their sleep has been or how their mood is, they do their best to give me an overall summary. Tracking your behaviors or moods can help find patterns that worsen or improve your symptoms. Maybe we never realized before that mid week we are more moody. If we know this, we can implement more coping skills during the middle of the week. Or that our sleep is not as restful or long on Sunday nights as we are getting off our weekend vibes. 3 - Keeps you positive Most bujo templates includes a gratitude log. A gratitude log is a perfect way to practice positive thinking. To end your day with identifying something positive that happened everyday. This is particularly helpful for people who are experiencing mood symptoms as when they think negatively, they feel negative and behave negatively. 4 - Increases Behavioral Activation Behavioral Activation is the act of doing things, whether it is getting out and doing things or completing tasks. Behavioral activation improves our mood as we stay active and focused. It helps us get out of that slum. Bujo allows personalization of daily schedules, it could be for a portion of your day like a morning or bedtime routine. Schedules can be created for multiple things like when's the last time you cleaned the bathroom or breaking down a large task into a smaller task, like decluttering my house! 5 - Brain Dump Brain dump is the bujo concept where you write down anything that is on your brain. This helps clear your mind and reduce anxiety, it helps to improve concentration and help you to accomplish said tasks. It's like keeping a notebook by your bedside to write things down before you sleep. It's one of the best ways to clear your mind and not forget what you have to do the next day. A brain dump is similar to that, but it is not a specific list. Anything goes! (cravings, items to buy, places to see, thoughts or tasks to do, the options are endless). 6 - Inspiration One of my favorite things to add to my collections are quotes. Quotes kill two birds with one stone. They help keep you inspired and motivated and allow you to be creative. I sample new fonts or different lettering, I doodle and draw pictures. This helps drown out racing thoughts you may have and keeps you focused on something positive. 7 - Bucket list it out A bucket list is a list of things or experiences that you'd like to do before you die. But bucket lists don't need to lifetime ones. You can create a bucket list for an upcoming trip, or a time frame (18 before 18). One of my favorite list/pages I like to make is a bucket list. I think about what I want to do and what I would regret if I didn't do and write it down. Creating a bucket list in my bujo not only keeps me on track with living my life without any regrets but it also allows me to have a creative outlet to doodle, draw and create the experiences I hope and wish for. These visualizations inspire me to check things off even more. 8 - Process Journaling is one of my most recommended coping skills. There is something very therapeutic about writing down your inner most thoughts and feelings. Journaling helps a person to open up and process their feelings without being judged. I personally premake pages for special events to encourage me to write and commemorate that experience. 9 - Unplug Focusing on the paper and pen in front of you, helps you tune out the world and all your stressors. Creating logs, spread and trachers allows you to stay focused on goals rather then being distracted by social media, youtube or the newest episode of your favorite show. 10 - No judgment There is no right and wrong way to bullet journal. Your lettering, drawings or pages don't have to be perfect. In fact it's great if it isn't perfect. Imperfection is a great way to practice living and coping with the lemons that life hands us. Instead of getting stuck on the imperfection, transform it to a positive. Create a doodle, turn it into a piece of art. Or leave it as it is. Our bujo's are just like us, no one and no bujo are perfect. For more information refer to www.bulletjournal.com or Pinterest away (just remember don't compare your journal to someone else's) Jump on the bujo bandwagon! I did! I promise you'll like it! 1/27/2018 0 Comments Word of the YearYesterday I was introduced to "word for the year." While talking to my best friend, who lives in San Fransisco, she shared that she and her friends created their dream boards last night. She processed their event and then stated that both herself and her husband have picked a word of the year. Word of the what?< I have never heard of picking a word of the year. Little did I know, this is just another way to set your intention and keep motivated to work on manifesting your goals. The difference is that it combines all your goals for the year and summarizes it in one word. How genius?!
Like with anything that I just find out about, I researched and asked around about this awesome idea. I mean, come on, summarizing all of your goals into one word and letting the world know what your word is brilliant! Luckily, picking a word was easier then I thought as I had just completed my dream board as well as started tracking and breaking down my goals in my bullet journal. As I was talking to my best friend, we shared our years goals and aspirations. After the conversation one word that resonated with me was CREATE. It seemed to be a common theme of my goals; a word that tied all my aspirations together. CREATE a peaceful and welcoming space (declutter) CREATE behaviors with intention rather then being distracted with technology (unplug) CREATE ways for me to track and be accountable of reaching my goals (bullet journal more) CREATE new connections and relationships (network) CREATE my tribe - #yourvibeattractsyourtribe (surround myself with like minded individuals) CREATE time for myself (more self care) Be CREATIVE (draw, doodle, write, paint, calligraphy) Having one word to sum up my intentions for the year, was pretty moving. I immediately included it in my bullet journal and set goals on different ways I can be creative. Selecting, visualizing and sharing my word of the year was invigorating and motivation. What will your word of the year be? I can't wait to find out! 1/24/2018 0 Comments Flu BluesLast week I. unfortunately, got hit with the flu. I can't honestly recall the last time, I had the flu. But trust me, I won't forget about this experience. One minute I am fine and dandy and then BAAMM! It hits me - body aches, fever, coughing, headaches, nausea and sinus pressure. I was devastated, I immediately cancelled my weekend plans and loaded up on all possible cures (OTC meds, orange juice, cuties, ingredients to make soup and bags of cough drops). I was motivated to push through and get this flu in and out! Well little did I know that the flu would feel like death. My body literally was playing for a different team and no matter how much I wanted to be productive or at least binge watch a Netflix series, my body had it's own ideas! How rude! I felt useless! My mood was sour, I neglected my hygiene; I was definitely in the "woe is me" stage. It reminded me of how someone feels when they are going through a depressive episode. I had all the symptoms: sadness, social isolation, fear that it will not get better, a sense of feeling stuck, lack of energy, fatigue, loss of appetite, and sleep disturbances. It's official I had the FLU BLUES!
After 2 days of having the flu blues, I made the conscious decision to turn my frown upside down and try to make the best of my day! I decided to use the time I spent at home to focus on self-care. I made myself a cup of Elderberry Echinacea tea and diffused OnGuard essential oil and holed myself in my home office. It was time to get rid of the flu blues and focus on what I do have control over. Hmm, what could I do that doesn't require physical effort. As I sat at my desk, I thought about all the things I want to accomplish during the year. And then it hit me, being stuck at home was perfect time to dedicate my day to bullet journaling! It was freeing and healing to focus on setting goals, tracking habits and keeping motivated for the year. I turned my flu blues into something productive! I realized how powerful behavioral activation is when you have the blues. After a few hours of being creative, I felt productive, energized and focused! Flu blues I got rid of you! *see a follow up blog, on the benefits of Bullet Journaling. |