A Word About Mindfulness and Holistic Therapy

A big word that makes people shy away…

Is it nonsense?

Does it work?

What is it anyway?

It sounds like too much work.

I can’t meditate…

This is all new to me…

I like to keep it simple…

The practice has spiritual roots, and it’s been used for stress relief in the United States as early as 1979.

Mindfulness is about living in the present in a nonjudgmental space.

How many times have you driven somewhere and later couldn’t remember how you got there and questioned yourself? That was being mindless.

Being mindful and present in life doesn’t come naturally for most of us, but it can be learned. It’s a combination of self-awareness and stress-reduction relaxation training.

Here’s how it can help…

Meet Denise* – the matriarch of her family…the center. Denise never enjoyed herself at family functions as she was always in charge. This brought her extreme anxiety and anger. We worked together to focus on her ability to slow down using purposeful grounding exercises, learning to acknowledge uncomfortable feelings in her body, positive affirmations, and use the senses of touch, sight, and listening to be a part of the festivities instead of a bystander. Denise learned to delegate and purposefully enjoy her precious moments.

Meet Lisa* – a student with test anxiety that impeded her grades. She would shake, sweat before being seated, and negative doubt told her she had failed already. We worked together on positive self-talk to set the stage for the test, relaxation breathing to calm the nerves, and meditative breaks to ease the stress of the moment and keep her mind from wandering. Lisa learned to shut out negative distractions and accept her fear of testing. She embraced warning signals within her body instead of running from them.

Meet Jeffrey* – overweight and disappointed in his numerous weight loss efforts. Together, we helped him lose 120 lbs using mindful eating techniques. Jeffrey practiced eating without distractions – no tv, no standing while eating. He sat mindfully at the table and practiced chewing at 12-sec intervals to slow his intake. He became aware of portion sizes, mindful of his tendency to bargain with himself for extra portions, and used positive affirmations to keep himself motivated. We used a body scan meditation to enhance his senses and how healthy his body felt after each week’s loss. He learned to listen to body cues of fullness and trust what his body was telling him.

Being “mindful” has many rewards.

When you connect with yourself and loved ones in the here and now, you’ll SAVOR your experience.

Imagine sitting at a table and enjoying this slice of life. The ability to feel gratitude, feel fulfilled, and enjoy this positive experience. Savor it, not let it pass by letting distractions steal your happiness.

Or you are sitting at the beach and using your senses to bring contentment – using mindful appreciation of nature to bring you to a state of peace. Way different than scrolling on your phone and ignoring what is around you.

These simple skills reduce your worry and rumination cycles. You’ll stop wasting precious moments thinking about the endless things you need to get done next week. You know how that goes… and how you feel guilty that you should have had a better time.

When you’re mindful, you can embrace attitudes that free you from your struggles.

Mindfulness can increase the happiness factor. It is proven science. We will focus on ways to include positivity, self-compassion, forgiveness, and optimism to diffuse the negativity.

Studies show that the ability to be optimistic can build your immune system and fight off physical disease. It is a win-win to learn these simple tools.

Techniques for becoming more self-aware and staying in the present…

You’ll be amazed at how in control you can feel using these! We’ll combine them with traditional interventions to give you a modern experience.

Writing prompts…

Seeing your emotions and feelings in print adds tangible depth to your experiences. We will use evidence-based workbook exercises as homework to help you accept the past and look hopefully toward what is next.

Breathing techniques…

We will learn and practice various breaths that will tone down reactivity and calm your nervous system. This is great for anxiety and panic. We even can breathe to create energy that minimizes depression. Best yet, no one will know that you are doing it. You will feel the control immediately.

Stretching…

Stretching and breathing allow us to connect the body and mind. Gentle stretches can reset the body and let the mind process stressors clearly. We will use a body scan to teach you to be in tune with stress that affects the body.

Meditation…

We spend so much time worrying but don’t take time to calm and heal.

Worry and meditation are opposites. Worry depletes us… meditation builds us up. Five minutes of meditation is worth a lot! Forget hours of meditation and breathing… there’s no need. We’ll focus on quick exercises that you can use anytime.

It will be guided with videos so you won’t feel pressured to “perform.” We’ll always go at your pace and comfort level.

Body Awareness …

We live in our bodies but we are we in touch or do we live outside of our bodies? Anxiety, stress and depression can attack our bodies as well as our minds leaving us in pain and fatigued. We can’t heal the body with the mind alone. Somatic awareness is body awareness. This therapy will use our senses, movement and touch through simple exercises to ease the body out of distress.