Recent articles in Well-being

What if I told you there is a 10 minute exercise you can do to build your brain. This one activity can build grey matter in the part of your brain that makes planning, emotional management, and stress reduction a lot easier. I started meditating for stress reduction 15 years ago and nothing else has helped more. Since then I have helped bring meditation and mindfulness to hundreds of people through trainings, groups, and individual therapy. That being said, when it comes to ...

Duty to Warn By Jenny Holland ​This is a story about integration, action, and psychotherapy. ​Mostly, it is about love. ​As a mental health professional, I am used to taking a role in the advancement and welfare of others on a daily basis through my capacity to educate, evaluate, empathize,and advocate. ​For the most part, a therapist's work is done on a smaller scale—one-on-one in the safety of a confidential, therapeutic setting.  ​It is because ...

How many times have you been in a conversation with someone and they were talking about some scenario where they didn’t have a choice but to do something? How many times have you thought to yourself that you did not have a choice but to do an action you did not want to do? The problem with this type of thinking is that you do not realize the choices you have, and the choices you are making. We make a lot of choices during the day and a lot of these choices we are not conscious of. Some of ...

Money can be such a trigger topic. I so get it, and it use to be me. Until I cleared my money stories, and learned how to become bffs with money. & now it flows to me with ease. Any of these sound familiar? money can’t buy happiness. it buys plane tickets and that’s almost the same thing. In all seriousness, money covers your basic needs for survival. Housing, health, food. As in Maslow's hierarchy of needs, you can’t reach self-actualization if you’re struggling to ...

I was sitting outside in my red and yellow striped Italian hammock this weekend feeling pretty fancy and free. The warm late fall breeze caressed my skin and I gasped a little sigh of delight as I inhaled the Abe Lincoln rose petal that was pretty intoxicating. If you’d told me twenty years ago that I’d have a beautiful family, two gorgeous soul children, a dream roster of soul mate clients, be in the best shape of my life, have a marriage that is magic and loving and own a home ...

  10 Ways to Create a Happier Life More than 2000 years ago, Aristotle, one of the greatest thinkers in the history of western science and philosophy, introduced his theory of happiness before the world. The key question being, "What is the ultimate purpose of human existence?" This is still a very relevant question in today’s society. What do you think the ultimate goal of human existence is? I was curious. Aristole really did pique my interest. So, I decided to ...

It's a classic ADHD situation: You have something to say during a conversation and your brain is racing. You feel anxious because you want to get that thought out before you forget. So you interrupt someone mid-sentence, or finish their thoughts for them. And just like that, the discussion becomes a dilemma. ADHD blurs the boundaries between what you should say, what you shouldn't, and when to speak up. Impulsive behavior, one of the main symptoms of the disorder, can make others feel ...

This is the third article in the series of articles I will write about grief and duel processes. If you have missed the second one, here is the link for it: https://chatowl.com/blog/907/grief-and-duel-processes-part-truth-about-five-stages-grief . This article is a short review of the famous book: On death and dying by Elizabeth Kübler Ross and the “stages” of grief which, have become a major source of misunderstood concepts that have made grieving for many people more difficult ...

This is the second article in the series of articles I will write about grief and duel processes. If you have missed the first one, here is the link for it: https://chatowl.com/blog/896/grief-and-duel-processes-part-1-a-short-introduction . This article is a short introduction to what grief and duel processes are. At the end of the article, I mention one of the mainstays on the subject, which is the Kübler Ross “model” (more on that afterwards) of grief and the book where it first ...

As a recovering people pleaser, it was little uncomfortable writing this article. My approval-hungry behaviour started very early on. I thought I would get over it by the time I reached my 20s but to my disconcertment, it worsened! But to o stop people pleasing felt like having to let go of a part of me, and what would I replace it with? Before I dive into the steps I used to break that stubborn habit, let’s take a few moments to reflect on what people pleasing actually means. What ...