Inspirations

Week of July 12th

NEW STEPS

When was the last time you tried something new? Or improved your skills in one area? Sometimes it is far too easy to fall into a routine. Although keeping a routine is undoubtably healthy, life can get a bit monotonous at times. We might even feel stuck, or feel less confident in our abilities.

Studies have shown that trying new things is not just for overcoming our fears, it can also help stimulate our brains! It helps boost self-esteem when we feel competent in our lives.

In DBT, we practice a skill called Build Mastery. This skill helps us strengthen our abilities and challenge ourselves. One way to build mastery, is to learn how to do something new! The second way is to improve on a skill you already enjoy doing.

We invite everyone to reach outside their comfort zones this week, and try something new. Some ideas are: take a new walking or jogging route, learn a song on an instrument, picking up knitting.

If you are feeling unmotivated, start with small steps that help you steadily work towards a goal. For example, learning one new word of a language each day, or cooking one new meal per week.

Let’s get out of our comfort zones this week. We would love to hear what new things you try. If there is something you have wanted to try, and felt too nervous to do so, we encourage you to give it a try!

WORDS OF WISDOM

MEME OF THE WEEK

PODCAST
Leaving Comfort Zones
by HBR.org

TED TALK

BOOK OF THE WEEK
(Click below to Purchase Book)

ACTIVITY
Bucket List for Summer Ideas

RECIPES FOR THE WEEK

CONTRIBUTE

Week of June 28th

EXHALE

Take a deep breath in through your nose, and breathe slowly out through your mouth. Do you feel your belly rising followed by the lowering of your chest? Releasing air from our bodies is a natural process we cycle through thousands of times a day. Just like with other daily tasks, we breathe in without thinking and exhale just the same.

When we bring mindful attention to the bottom of our breath, we notice the sensations and get curious about the function of breathing out. One idea that comes to mind is the opportunity to pause the moment before taking in something new. When we stop and observe the moment we are able to slow down and notice just what is, without an attempt to change it. This micro moment of pause affords us time to collect our thoughts, reflect, then get ready to take in new air.

This week we would like you to focus your attention on the bottom of your breath, and notice what happens on the exhale. What comes up when you think of the process of letting something go while simultaneously taking in the new?

WORDS OF WISDOM

PODCAST
How The ‘Lost Art’ Of Breathing Can Impact Sleep And Resilience
by NPR

TED TALK
How Breathing and Metabolism are Interconnected

BOOK OF THE WEEK
(Click below to Purchase Book)

ACTIVITY
Bubble Science by buggyandbuddy.com

RECIPES FOR THE WEEK

CONTRIBUTE

Week of June 21st

PLAY

The sun is shining, school is ending and covid rates are dropping. Accordingly, many people are now taking the opportunity to reengage with their communities. After a draught of social isolation, we are finally seeing many adults and children turning to play with their friends, family and neighbors.

Many of us appreciate that play is important for healthy human development. Its importance cannot be underestimated. We intuitively know it is critical for a child’s development, but despite its many benefits, we rarely connect play with growth. We typically only associate it with fun.

Play is essential to a child’s growth as research has demonstrated that play stimulates early brain development.

One of the many benefits of playing is that it increases a child’s creativity. It also improves vocabulary and language skills. It promotes impulse control and emotion regulation while helping children grow social competence and empathy. In fact, unstructured playtime is a significant opportunity to cultivate social skills.

After months of social distancing, we strongly encourage our community to increase their playtime. Accumulate those positive playful moments! Happy, playful moments are some of the most precious gifts we can offer ourselves and our children.

WORDS OF WISDOM

MEME OF THE WEEK

SKILLS
Please observe and describe the variety of emotions you notice with Summer.
What are the physical sensations you notice? What urges rise and fall?

PODCAST
Wow In the World
by NPR

TED TALK

BOOK OF THE WEEK
(Click below to Purchase Book)

ACTIVITY
Mason Jar ideas by yesterdayontuesday

RECIPES FOR THE WEEK

CONTRIBUTE
(Click below to learn more)

Week of June 14th

SUMMERTIME AND TRANSITIONS

Schools are almost out. The sun is shining brighter. The days are warmer and longer. Summer is about to be in full swing! While summertime can bring us a lot of joy, it could also be a bittersweet experience.

The change of season highlights a period of transition. The ending of the school year includes graduations. Graduations are celebrations of hard work and achievement. Graduations also mean leaving our schedules and classmates behind. Further, summer vacations are typically an escape to relaxing destinations. Relaxing destinatiuons provide a break from our typical day. Vacations also mean leaving our routines and our peers, colleagues, etc. behind.

During this time of transition, we ask you to reflect, through a dialectical lens, on your experience as the season changes from spring to summer. Try to look at the summer from multiple perspectives. Keep in mind there is no one correct perspective. A dialectical lens could look like appreciating the busy schedule of your year, and the people who supported you along the way, whilst also being excited for the Summer season! We may notice a variety of emotions as we mindfully look through this lens. Hence the bittersweet emotions.

What are you most excited about for this summer? What is the hardest thing for you to leave behind? What are you hoping to accomplish?

WORDS OF WISDOM

MEME OF THE WEEK

SKILLS
Please observe and describe the variety of emotions you notice with Summer.
What are the physical sensations you notice? What urges rise and fall?

PODCAST
Summertime Blues
by Audible.com

TED TALK
The Life Long Learner by Bernie Dunlap

BOOK OF THE WEEK
(Click below to Purchase Book)

ACTIVITY
How to make a bird feeder by countryliving.com

RECIPES FOR THE WEEK

CONTRIBUTE
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Week of June 7th

PRIDE MONTH

As the storm clouds of 2020 begin to pass, our team is noticing the connectedness and compassion that communities are displaying to each other. June 1st marks the beginning of Pride Month, which celebrates our LGBTQIA community. Last year, we celebrated Pride Month from afar. This year, communities have the opportunity to come together against the shame and judgment that surround sexuality, gender expression and identity. Pride Month celebrates and encourages each one of us to authentically express who we are.

In addition to embracing our LGBTQIA community, we ask everyone to bring mindful attention to our most critical selves, and how these judgments interfere with self expression. We encourage you to pivot from your inner critic to celebrating yourself in pride through the use of encouragement. What do you notice when you start to look for pride in yourself? What judgments interfere with your fullest expression of self? How can you encourage yourself this week? We can’t wait to hear from you. Happy Pride Month!

WORDS OF WISDOM

MEME OF THE WEEK

SKILLS
This week we would like to encourage our community to use our Mindfulness to increase compassion and non judgement.
Can you pause this week for five minutes each day and practice observing and describing without judgement?

PODCAST
To Be Young and Queer in the Time of Pandemic
by Shiftmn.org

TED TALK

BOOK OF THE WEEK
(Click below to Purchase Book)

ACTIVITY
How to make a color changing sensory bottle by preschoolinspirations.com

RECIPES FOR THE WEEK

CONTRIBUTE
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Week of May 31st

FRIENDSHIP

With new guidelines inviting us to shed our masks in more spaces, we have been more aware of the impact of facial expressions. Specifically, the spontaneous smiles from others remind us of the role of friendliness, and the function of friendship.

Many of us are conditioned to think of friends in terms of quantity, quality, and relationship history. While these can be valuable lenses in assessing friendship, we would like for you to instead focus your attention on defining friendship behaviors, and bringing mindful awareness to the meaning of friendship in your life.

Do the presence of peers help distract you from everyday nuisances? Do you ever find that friendship can help alleviate distress?

For anyone struggling with social anxiety, trauma, and/or depression, topics on friendship can be really hard! Be patient, and see if you can practice being friendly first toward yourself.

How do you know when someone is engaging in a friendly way with you? How do you express friendship toward others? We can’t wait to find out!

WORDS OF WISDOM

MEME OF THE WEEK

PODCASTS
The Top 7 Post Pandemic Friendship Fears
by Player.fm

TED TALK
The critical importance of friends on your happiness | Mike Duffy | TEDxBerkeley

BOOK OF THE WEEK
(Click below to Purchase Book)

ACTIVITY
Super Cute DIY Friendship Bracelets Kids Can Make by projectswithkids.com

RECIPES FOR THE WEEK
Amish Friendship bread Starter Recipe by TastesofLizzyT.com
Yogurt Bites by TheBestIdeasforKids.com
Friendship Cake Recipes

CONTRIBUTE
Click below to learn more

Week of May 24th

BORDERLINE PERSONALITY DISORDER (BDP) AWARENESS MONTH

This week we are highlighting Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Not only is May Borderline Personality Disorder Awareness Month but it is also the birthday month of Dr Marsha Linehan, the creator of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). Although many can benefit from DBT skills, DBT is most known for its evidence based treatment of BPD.

BPD is one of the less understood mental health disorders. The truth is, BPD is more common than people might think; over 14 million Americans suffer with it. A combination of a biological predisposition and invalidation of environmental experiences can lead to BPD symptoms. Most people with BPD have experienced a lot of invalidation in their lives by being denied, dismissed, or rejected of their own emotional experiences.

People with BPD are often stricken with shame as there has been an unfortunate amount of stigma around the disorder. To practice being more supportive, and fight the stigma, we invite you to think about how you show up for loved ones who experience BPD, or for yourself.

Instead of using BPD as a negative description for someone’s intense emotional experiences, we can try validating their experience. As a client, family member, or clinician, what else do you do to bring awareness to Borderline Personality Disorder?

WORDS OF WISDOM

MEME OF THE WEEK

PODCASTS
Conversation Talks on BPD and Recovery | Will Lippincott
by Podtail.com

Blaise Aguirre M.D. on Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, emotional experience, persistence, and taking ownership of your life!
by Google Podcasts

BOOK OF THE WEEK
(Click below to Purchase Book)

ACTIVITY
My DBT House Art Activity For All by lifeworthlivingblog.com

RECIPES FOR THE WEEK

CONTRIBUTE
Click below to learn more

Week of May 17th

SPRING

Spring has sprung and the month of May is hitting its stride this week with giving us sunshine and warmer temperatures. May is also Mental Health Awareness month, and this year the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) is centralizing the theme around not being alone in suffering.

This past year has given citizens of the world a common event to connect on and share in suffering. While the negative impacts of covid may manifest differently from person to person, it is fair to say we have all struggled one way or another.

The story of suffering does not end with acknowledging and feeling the global connectedness of this difficult time. There has been suffering before the pandemic, and there will be suffering when it is over. In addition to observing being together in pain, can we also start to plan and strategize how to skillfully get out of our suffering?

In other words, and in the spirit of spring cleaning: you are not alone with dust mites and closet in chaos. You are also not alone in how you get active in organizing it all.

How do you self-motivate to reduce your suffering? Have you included other people in your plan? We can’t wait to hear!

WORDS OF WISDOM